In Memory Of...

[FredM 0]

August 19, 1921 - October 24, 1991

 

An anniversary passed on Friday and I must admit I was somewhat sadden I'd even forgotten...

 

Hopefully you'll take a minute to thank the one who helped introduce us to this "Wagon Train to the stars" we've come to love.

[Seiben 0]

I forgot as well.  May he live long and prosper in our memories.   :rolleyes:  As noone really dies if we have them in our memories.

[T'Aniz Jozef 0]

THE GREAT BIRD OF THE GALAXY !!     :rolleyes:      THE GREAT BIRD OF THE GALAXY !!     :D    THE GREAT BIRD OF THE GALAXY

 

A man of extraordinary vision.  I am grateful for his life.   :shy:

[ens_tino 0]

An extrodinary man with a creative imagination and I consider him my mentor.

[Dumbass 0]

In my view the movies and TNG got better after he died. My biggest criticism of the early seasons was they were too much like TOS. But to say Star Trek got better because of his death would be like saying Fords got better because of Henry Ford's death. It just wouldn't be accurate.

 

If you want to see the inpact Roddenbury had on the series just look at Star Trek today as opposed to Star Trek during his life. TOS, early TNG, and the first 6 movies made possible everything afterwards. But if we were to draw a line at the point of his death and just consider everything afterwards do you think it would be capable of generating the kind of excitement it did while he was alive? I don't think so.

[Nemesis 0]

In my view the movies and TNG got better after he died. My biggest criticism of the early seasons was they were too much like TOS. But to say Star Trek got better because of his death would be like saying Fords got better because of Henry Ford's death. It just wouldn't be accurate.

 

If you want to see the inpact Roddenbury had on the series just look at Star Trek today as opposed to Star Trek during his life. TOS, early TNG, and the first 6 movies made possible everything afterwards. But if we were to draw a line at the point of his death and just consider everything afterwards do you think it would be capable of generating the kind of excitement it did while he was alive? I don't think so.

You also have to consider what Roddenbury wanted to do compared to what he was able to do because of budget and social restrictions and I think he did pretty good with what he could muster. The reasn TNG got better was not that the new producers were better abled then Roddenbury is not true for they can get away with the more serious issues that in the 60's people didn't want to touch upon because there was already enough going on outside tv land. Another change you might notice in trek is the women at first they were mere sex objects there to get in trouble (comm officer and Chapel not included and we all know why) but did you see any female captains no but when you see TNG there are several women doing the same job as males and wearing the same uniforn not those funky mini-skirts. The uniforms were also a symbol of male control in trek for when you look at it how are you supposed to kill evil bad aliens in a mini-skirt a little hard isn't it. Oh and one last thing Kirk says "Where no man has gone before" and Picard says "Where no one has gone before" this are all signs of great social change which allowed the series to fit Roddenbury's original vision.

[T'Aniz Jozef 0]

In TNG, the pilot episode, ENCOUNTER AT FARPOINT, look real hard and you'll see something interesting: Men wearing mini-length dresses! :D Apparently Roddenbury wanted to be all-inclusive. But even in the mid-80's, that was taboo, aside from Uncle Miltie (Milton Berle). And, I once read an interview where Roddenbury admitted his original treatment of women in TOS was sexist. But we can't apply today's standards...the 1960's was sexist! Actually, just to have a woman in a command position on the Bridge was a breakthrough, as it was to have an Asian, as it was to have an Afro-American. Star Trek also has the first inter-racial kiss ever seen on TV, in PLATO'S STEPCHILDREN. It's hard to imagine how it was back then, society has so changed. But Star Trek gave women a lot more respect than most 60's shows did. Young women watched the show and became inspired to do more with their lives than society prescribed. It could really be said that TOS helped bring about the social change. Not single-handedly, but it was one factor. Female astronauts have admitted to watching TOS in their youth and deciding that career was for them.... The series may look limited now, it was radical then. :rolleyes:

[Atragon9 0]

Another change you might notice in trek is the women at first they were mere sex objects there to get in trouble (comm officer and Chapel not included and we all know why) but did you see any female captains no but when you see TNG there are several women doing the same job as males and wearing the same uniforn not those funky mini-skirts.

Well, don't forget that Roddenberry's first pilot for Star Trek (the one that became the core of the two-part episode, "The Menagerie") had a female XO. So don't blame him for relegating women to sexist and support roles only - blame the 'suits' at NBC.

[Nemesis 0]

Well, don't forget that Roddenberry's first pilot for Star Trek (the one that became the core of the two-part episode, "The Menagerie") had a female XO. So don't blame him for relegating women to sexist and support roles only - blame the 'suits' at NBC.

Ummmm A9 that was my point I was blaming society and the TV people not Rodden bury :rolleyes:

[Grom 0]

But we can't apply today's standards...the 1960's was sexist! It's hard to imagine how it was back then, society has so changed. But Star Trek gave women a lot more respect than most 60's shows did. Young women watched the show and became inspired to do more with their lives than society prescribed. It could really be said that TOS helped bring about the social change. Not single-handedly, but it was one factor. Female astronauts have admitted to watching TOS in their youth and deciding that career was for them.... The series may look limited now, it was radical then. :D

I'm really not trying to open a can of worms here...although it may seem so. :rolleyes:

 

I'm trying to grasp what you're attacking here. Are you attacking sexism or the view of the traditional roles of men and women?

[Nemesis 0]

I believe both Grom :rolleyes:

[Grom 0]

I believe both Grom :D

Well, in my eyes, the two are very different. I actually see them as polar opposites. That's why I asked. :rolleyes:

[T'Aniz Jozef 0]

Neither Grom... Merely stating the history ::she says raising a Vulcan eyebrow::.

Other than that, I was praising Star Trek: TOS for being in the forefront of change...and commenting that what looks old, sexist, and traditional to us now, was in fact radical, pro-woman, and untraditional back then. It's not an attack, it's an historical comparison.

 

::raises Vulcan eyebrow::In the statement of facts there is no emotion, Mr. GromVic. :rolleyes:

[T'Aniz Jozef 0]

I've included a very edited (by me) sales write up of a book called WOMEN ASTRONAUTS. This review can be found at a website called "Everything Space Astronomy And Space News." Please note the part about 1978, nearly a decade after TOS was canceled...this was the big break through...your encyclopedia can give more info. :

 

AUTOGRAPHED by the author. This book is a must for any girl or young woman who wants to learn about women astronauts. ... In 1963, Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space. But few people know that several American women also tried to get into space in the early 1960's but never became NASA astronauts. Read their story and how attitudes towards women in space changed with the 1978 selection of six women astronauts. Put the CD-ROM into your computer and watch America's first woman astronaut Sally Ride rocket into space, Shannon Lucid float on the Mir Space Station, and Susan Helms work on the International Space Station.

PS to author Laura Woodmansee....You go girl! ... and, click here to see our female astronaut action figure.

 

As I said above...there is no attacking...this is a matter of historical fact. NOW women can choose a traditional lifestyle or a career...almost any career. THEN women did not have such choices available... . That is history, not opinion, not attack... Studying the life of Sally Ride, the first female astronaut, will illuminate that. ::Vulcan eyebrow still arched:: Nor were there women in high command places in the military. That was society...then. My point is that Roddenbury helped to bring about a change in society. He was not alone, but he and other forward thinkers were on the cutting edge. Roddenbury's Uhura actually inspired Mae Jamieson (sp?) to become the first Afro-American Woman Astronaut. Without a doubt, the world would be a different place without the brave vision of Roddenbury.

 

We have much of what we have today thanks to Gene Roddenbury and other men and women of extraordinary vision. :rolleyes:

[Webmaster 20]

Here's to the man for the reason we're all here in the first place. :::raises a glass:::