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How would Gene feel about the commercialization of Star Trek?
picardtheiii
Member Posts: 151 Arc User
Hello fellow Captains!!!
I'm curious how everyone thinks Gene Roddenberry would feel about everyone capitalizing on the success of Star Trek for monetary gain.
I remember quite a few references in his shows where the desire for monetary game had been "forgotten" or otherwise "surpassed".
Yet everything about STO is created for the sole purpose of putting wealth in the pockets of the makers.
Comments? Thank you.
This post has been edited to remove content which violates the Perfect World Entertainment Community Rules and Policies . ~syberghost
I'm curious how everyone thinks Gene Roddenberry would feel about everyone capitalizing on the success of Star Trek for monetary gain.
I remember quite a few references in his shows where the desire for monetary game had been "forgotten" or otherwise "surpassed".
Yet everything about STO is created for the sole purpose of putting wealth in the pockets of the makers.
Comments? Thank you.
This post has been edited to remove content which violates the Perfect World Entertainment Community Rules and Policies . ~syberghost
Post edited by picardtheiii on
0
Comments
Co-Leader of Serenity's Grasp
No that can't be right I remember reading somewhere he was a "Humanist".
He'd LOVE how STO's money grabbing, provided, of course, he was getting a cut of it. If he was still alive, he would've talked CBS into letting us have the ships/things we want (T5 Connie, Android as a playable "race") for a jacked up price so he could get a piece of the action.
Having an idyllic vision of the future and wanting to profit from it greatly are not mutually exclusive. The reason Gene hated the fact that he sold the IP to Paramount wasn't their misuse of it... it's the fact that he didn't make any money off it later on. He never thought the franchise would have a revival in the late 70's.
And Majel, wonderful moneygrubber that she was, continued to profit from his really really terrible ideas after his death (remember Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda and Earth: Final Conflict?).
Roddenberry had a great vision and concept with Star Trek. But he was not a saint, personally or professionally. He was a Hollywood TV guy, with all the emotional and financial mores that are now cliche for Hollywood TV guys.
His contribution to culture and to SciFi in general cannot be overlooked, but then again neither can L. Ron Hubbard's....
Quite brilliant, really, since this was long before the "product placement" we have nowadays.
Funniest thing I've ready in quite a while! LOL!
...what would make him sad is the loss of the integrity. The loss of the message. It's ok if the message of Star Trek is on the side of a cup you paid an outrageous amount for... but if the message was ever lost, that would be damning to the human race as a whole.
Even if Gene needs to convince you to pay for it, or if you can get it for free without merchandise attached, that message of peace, hope, love, and seeking to be a better person at all times in all things, is what is important.
But how would Gene feel about those who were wealthier having an advantage over those who weren't? Is that "humanist" point of view after all then?
Do your own research. Find out how charitable Gene was towards his underprivileged brother with all the money he made.
TOS was great for its time, and for its audience, but let's face it... when Gene was allowed a heavier hand in the development of anything Star Trek post-TOS, it was awful.
The first movie is horribly boring, and the first two seasons are largely the worst parts of TNG. Once Gene let go of Star Trek, it started becoming something really good again, and something more relate-able to the audiences.
Gene didn't know how to make something "timeless", and as said before in this thread, he wasn't exactly a paragon of integrity. We really shouldn't worry about what he would or wouldn't say, since he turned into the anchor around Star Trek's neck anyway.
Didn't you know? It's the justification people use to whine about STO and modern Trek in general. It's called "Appeal to Authority". A dead authority is even better because then the person doing the complaining can claim that their interpretation of the dead authority is unassailable and thus they can treat everything they don't like as blasphemy against the word-of-god. Expect to see "he must be spinning in his grave" used more than once by such a person.
To be fair, if Gene's body is hooked up to a Thanatropic Generator, then perhaps Cryptic might be doing society a very important service.
I mean, just about every existing holiday is nothing but a marketing event now, same with every major fandom, Transformers, Gundam, DBZ, South Park, Star Trek..
All of it revolves around money now, no matter what the original creators made it for.
He wanted to get rich as much as anybody, he had strained relationships with his family and was in no way shape or form the ideal person. He lived in the real world with the rest of us.
Yes he had a wonderful vision of the future where mankind had put aside its differences and stopped fighting each other, but when you really think about it, how unique is that vision? The vast majority of people want a world without violence and war. Just most of us are not tv writers.
Star Trek has been commercialized for decades. go to any convention, buy any memorabilia, get any actors autograph and you pay through the nose. Gene would have had no problem with that. yes he probably would not like the overall direction of the story in STO but I'm certain he would not have liked DS9 either, or some of the later parts of TNG either, but they are what they are.
So every other game about Star Trek, every Trek-line of miniatures, costumes, books, gadgets, playing cards, christmas ornaments etc...was for the sole purpose of having people enjoy it and to spread the vision of a brighter future. Oh those times when I could see a Star Trek movie for free at the theatre or were able to enjoy hundres of episodes without a single commercial break...
Really. If it weren't for the purpose of making money, Star Trek would never seen more than a pilot episode.
Transformers, DBZ and Gundam were made to better the world? Wow, that just made my day
They bettered MY world.
I also love that you left 'South Park' out of your objection. :P
Transformers? I can't recall any recent Transformers movies but the animated 2006 one years ago...
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers_%28film%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers:_Revenge_of_the_Fallen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers:_Dark_of_the_Moon
It was just an example of fiction that has been continued for the sole purpose of milking it for money, DBZ, a 30 year old anime, is still getting remastered left and right, look at DB Kai, look at all the new DBZ games STILL coming out 30 years later.
Same with Gundam and Transformers, it's almost as old as Star Trek and still new series are coming out.
You monster! I was quite happy having erased the memories of those films from my mind
Give me back my blissful ignorance!
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Did any of them have dinobots in them? I'm not making the effort to watch them without getting some "ME GRIMLOCK!" action out of it.
But he would have absolutely hated the lack of story and genocide that the Feds do
That's what MMO's are about.
Killing things.
But is Star Trek all about committing herbicide and looting there freshly fried body?
Thirty minute toy commercial. Thirty minute toy commercial. Thirty minute comic commercial. Thirty minute Libertarian Party commercial. Hour long way for Roddenberry to bed starlets and pocket some cash.
It is not, yet STO is first and foremost, an MMO.
Star Trek is the theme of the MMO, it does not change what an MMO is about.
Roddenberry didn't invent that, either. It was very common (and still is) for creators/producers to write lyrics for a theme song, even if they are never used.
Transformers is a merchandise driven franchise. It was created by Hasbro as a half hour commercial to sell their toys to kids.
We live in a Capitalist society, like it or hate it, and it costs money to live, feed ones family, have nice things and stuff.
Doesn't mean he was twirling his mustche and,cackling evilly. Doesn't mean he didn't want to see the world become the paradise, free from Greed and poverity, it means he didn't live in that world.
In some ways Star Trek reminded me of Tommy Douglas' Social Gospel. Tommy preached that a New Jerusalem on earth, what he called paradise, was possible. He then went on to become the greatest Canadian (not just just my opinion) the guy that started universal healthcare amoung countless other wonderful acts.
I'm not Christian, but I do share the belief that Earth could be a Paradise, were vary close to the tech to make it so, we just need the political will and a willingness to slowly let go of Capitalist vision of the world and the idealizing of the rich and being rich as desirable.
We have to let go of this drive to keep up with the Jones, learn to focus inward on personal growth and personal evolution, and helping each other.
One suggestion is too look up Tommy Douglas' Mouseland on youtube if one wishes to know the first step. Its a funny parabe.
Also a nice step would be to stop defining people by thier job, instead defining them by there Passions. That girl at Walmart isn't simply a cashier, maybe she a Ice Skater, or a Volunteer for sick animals, or a painter, a good friend ect...
Gene had the vision, but lacked the ability to take that vision to the Political level.
Right now people are in a scarcity mind set that encourages hording. We need a mentality that encourages shares. Many in the 1% want to encourage the scarcity mentality to manipulate things to protect thier unearned privledged position and endless greed.
An example of Greed getting in the way of a better world is that research for viagra like drugs have no shortage of funding, while funding for Draco, medicine that could possibly cure almost any viral disease, from HIV to Ebola, to the common cold, struggles for funding. Some fear big pharma will use iys money to bury Draco so it never sees the light,of day as a threat to its huge exploitive profits.
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