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The Politics of Star Trek
Claremont.org ^ | 08/25/2015 | Timothy Sandefur

Posted on 09/02/2015 5:26:11 AM PDT by DFG

Leonard Nimoy’s death in February brought to a close his unusual career continually playing a single role for half a century. Between 1966, when the television show Star Trek premiered, and 2013, when the movie Star Trek Into Darkness hit the screens, Nimoy portrayed the franchise’s beloved first officer, Mr. Spock, in two TV series and eight films.

As he acknowledged, the key to Star Trek’s longevity and cultural penetration was its seriousness of purpose, originally inspired by creator Gene Roddenberry’s science fiction vision. Modeled on Gulliver’s Travels, the series was meant as an opportunity for social commentary, and it succeeded ingeniously, with episodes scripted by some of the era’s finest science fiction writers. Yet the development of Star Trek’s moral and political tone over 50 years also traces the strange decline of American liberalism since the Kennedy era.

(Excerpt) Read more at claremont.org ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: dcfontana; kirk; leonardnimoy; roddenberry; spock; startrek
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To: freepertoo
The Landru society, I think was ST’s version of Christianity. “The body” was the clue for me. I love TOS, but I think this one is glaringly obvious. Roddenberry was no Christian.

It was obvious to me that they were a Satanist-like group. Devil and witch films were pretty popular in the 60s. And that is precisely how they dressed in the films, robes with hoods.

61 posted on 09/02/2015 7:13:14 AM PDT by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
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To: freepertoo
After more thought, Landru looked more like Lenin, with the computer generated hologram standing in for Vlad's waxy corpse on public display. That makes the minions more like the KGB.
62 posted on 09/02/2015 7:15:46 AM PDT by SoCal Pubbie
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To: Mad Dawgg
"Dig 3 graves up there...I'll explain it to you later"

Don't recall that line from Star Trek. It sounds more like something from an old Clint Eastwood western.

 photo Clint Eastwood get 3 coffins ready 01_zpsrlxv3pjf.jpg

"Get 3 coffins ready..."
___________________________________

 photo Clint Eastwood get 3 coffins ready 02_zpsb5wmhtcm.jpg
___________________________________

 photo Clint Eastwood get 3 coffins ready 03_zpsrpomxezf.jpg

"My mistake... Make that 4 coffins."

63 posted on 09/02/2015 7:25:23 AM PDT by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
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To: DFG
Bah, humbug.

A 4,700-word dissertation on STOS with the only reference to Nazis being "Conscience of the King"?!



And nothing about Chicago mobs, when its biggest mobster currently holds America by the throat?!


64 posted on 09/02/2015 7:38:06 AM PDT by treetopsandroofs (Had FDR been GOP, there would have been no World Wars, just "The Great War" and "Roosevelt's Wars".)
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To: Buckeye McFrog

It was definitely one of Roddenberry’s themes. It is why “Genesis II” and the follow up movie “Planet Earth” didn’t become TV shows.


65 posted on 09/02/2015 7:42:42 AM PDT by tbw2
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To: IYAS9YAS

Yes, I realize Roddenberry was involved in Star Trek till his death.

And it was not until he died that the writers were able to break free of his non-violence edict and save TNG.


66 posted on 09/02/2015 7:43:06 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: KC_Lion; GraceG; SevenofNine; Norm Lenhart
I knew I was going to like DS9 after watching one of the very first episodes:

"Picard would never have hit me..." (wounded voice) -- Q
"I'm not Picard" -- Sisko
DS9 Episode: Q-less

67 posted on 09/02/2015 7:44:08 AM PDT by Kartographer ("We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.")
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To: tbw2

I was always disappointed that the back-door pilot on Star Trek featuring Robert Lansing and Teri Garr did not get picked-up as a series. Looked like it would have been a fun show.


68 posted on 09/02/2015 7:45:53 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Kartographer

DS9 was the best because it was the closest to the Human condition, while TNG just ignored human nature at every turn.


69 posted on 09/02/2015 7:51:24 AM PDT by GraceG (Protect the Border from Illegal Aliens, Don't Protect Illegal Alien Boarders...)
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To: Buckeye McFrog
And it was not until he died that the writers were able to break free of his non-violence edict and save TNG.

Sorry, I misunderstood. I thought you mean the TOS. I liked many aspects of TNG, but it was too often too liberal. There were many episodes I thought were very good, too.

70 posted on 09/02/2015 7:53:32 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (I got nothin'.)
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To: IYAS9YAS; Buckeye McFrog

I actually skipped right over “TNG” in your first post.


71 posted on 09/02/2015 7:55:03 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (I got nothin'.)
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To: GraceG; KC_Lion; SevenofNine; Norm Lenhart
DING...DING...DING WE have a winner!!!

Bashir: What I want to know is, out of all the stories you told me which ones were true and which ones weren't?
Garak: My dear doctor...they're all true.
Bashir: Even the lies?
Garak: Especially the lies.
72 posted on 09/02/2015 7:56:46 AM PDT by Kartographer ("We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.")
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To: Kartographer; GraceG; SevenofNine; Norm Lenhart

Garak should have had his own show.


73 posted on 09/02/2015 7:58:05 AM PDT by KC_Lion (This Millennial is for Cruz!)
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To: Kartographer

It was proof that competition improves quality, in DS9’s case, Babylon 5.


74 posted on 09/02/2015 8:01:09 AM PDT by tbw2
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To: ArtDodger
In the 60’s, I remember an article about some NASA scientists invited to the stage to observe the bridge and give their thoughts.. They filled out a questionnaire and all the NASA guys agreed that in 200 years, Man would have space travel, phasers, warp speed, but not a one believed that we would have doors that open and close automatically!

I'm thinking that has to be an urban legend. Automatic-opening doors were invented in the Fifties, and the first one was installed in 1960 - source. All the supermarkets in my hometown had them when I was a young kid (early 70s).

75 posted on 09/02/2015 8:06:00 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (I got nothin'.)
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To: freepertoo
The Landru society, I think was ST’s version of Christianity. “The body” was the clue for me. I love TOS, but I think this one is glaringly obvious. Roddenberry was no Christian.

That's a bit of an oversimplification. Return of the Archons had more of a "cult" vibe than a Christian one. Don't forget, vestiges of a Christian wedding ceremony are seen at the opening of Balance of Terror (in the ship's chapel) and Bread and Circuses closes with the realization that Christianity was spreading among the neo-Roman population.

As for Roddenberry, well, his personal behavior made it clear that he was uncomfortable sticking to the straight and narrow.

76 posted on 09/02/2015 8:11:21 AM PDT by Charles Martel (Endeavor to persevere...)
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To: DFG
Gene Roddenberry was a secular humanist and the original "Star Trek" was quite anti-theistic. "The Apple" is in part an attack on G-d and a celebration of the serpent (at least the chrstian "luciferian" version).

As a non-theist neither Kirk nor anyone else in the stories has a standard by which to judge anything whatsoever as right or wrong. All non-theistic "standards" are in the end purely arbitrary.

That the old Roddenberry humanism turned into the current new age paganism is no coincidence.

77 posted on 09/02/2015 8:16:51 AM PDT by Zionist Conspirator (The "end of history" will be Worldwide Judaic Theocracy.)
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To: ETL
It is a spoof on Red Shirts and their chances of returning alive when they beam down to a planet.

In Star Trek, red-uniformed security officers and engineers who accompany the main characters on landing parties often suffer quick deaths.[2] The trope first appears in the episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" (1966).[3] Of the 59 crew members killed in the series, 43 (73%) were wearing red shirts.

78 posted on 09/02/2015 8:19:49 AM PDT by Mad Dawgg (If you're going to deny my 1st Amendment rights then I must proceed to the 2nd one...)
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To: TexasFreeper2009
That depends on how you define liberalism.

To a old liberal (pre-1960) the liberals of today would be considered commie anarchists.

The "old liberals" went right along with all the changes in liberalism as they happened. Does anyone recall Hubert Humphrey objecting to abortion? Doesn't Jimmy Carter support "gay marriage?"

If FDR were still with us, he'd be wheeling his 133 year old carcass at the head of a pro-bestiality parade.

79 posted on 09/02/2015 8:25:31 AM PDT by Zionist Conspirator (The "end of history" will be Worldwide Judaic Theocracy.)
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To: IYAS9YAS

When they ditched the whole “peace and understanding” thing and started battling the Borg, I thought TNG got very good.


80 posted on 09/02/2015 8:30:24 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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