One William Lehman wrote something stupid about Star Trek:
Say what you will about the SJW Glittery hoo ha crowd, they get this. I speculate that they get it because while we (the guys that grew up watching STOG and said “Hey those doors are COOL, how would you do that for real? Those communicators, could you do that?) went to engineering and hard science classes and started building the future that we wanted, the aforementioned individuals where going to the soft sciences (not real sciences at all in my NSHO) and studied how cultures work.
David Gerrold who, as you know Bob, was actually there at the time as one of the scriptwriters, slapped him down quickly:
I was there. I know what Gene Roddenberry envisioned. He went on at length about it in almost every meeting. He wasn’t about technology, he was about envisioning a world that works for everyone, with no one and nothing left out. Gene Roddenberry was one of the great Social Justice Warriors. You don’t get to claim him or his show as a shield of virtue for a cause he would have disdained.
Most of the stories we wrote were about social justice. “The Cloud Minders,” “A Taste Of Armageddon,” “Errand Of Mercy,” “The Apple,” “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield,” and so many more. We did stories that were about exploring the universe not just because we could build starships, but because we wanted to know who was out there, what was our place in the universe, and what could we learn from the other races out there?
A very Annie Hall moment:
Of course for those of us who paid attention to sf fandom during that time and long after, the idea of Star Trek of all things hold up as an example of hard science fiction ruined by the social justice warriors, is hilarious. Quite a few fans, the sort of people now screaming about SWJ’s, had no time for the series whatsoever while its fandom was literally run by their greatest enemy: women.
It’s all part of an inept kulturkampf of course, run by people with the barest connection to science fiction fandom as a sort of out of control offshoot of Republican fundraising. The worst part about it is that useful idiots like Lehman actually believe the nonsense they spout.
Charlie Martin
February 21, 2015 at 1:03 amOh good God. Were you born stupid or did you need special training?
Those of us who *were* fans then — from your picture, there’s no way you were watching, rapt, in September of 1966 –know that in fact Trek fandom is the perfect counter example of most of the nonsense that’s being pushed on the whole topic. Yes, Trek fandom, from Bjo on, heavily involved women. But then SF fandom was anything but unwelcoming; hell, we practically fell over ourselves welcoming women. And during that interval when women were supposedly excluded, if you actually check the lists of actual nominees and awards, women were getting awards in equal or greater numbers to men.
So, sonny, if you’re going to tell us what fandom was like in the 60’s and 70’s, at least try to get your facts right.
Keith Glass
February 21, 2015 at 7:19 pmA perhaps awkward question. This “future that works for everyone”. HOW does it work ? What MAKES it work?
Without the seamless technology that MADE the Federation work, there wouldn’t have been any Boldly Going. We’d all be mucking about, looking for some particularly nice filth, while our betters are prancing about followed by a guy knocking some coconuts together. . .
And,, by the way, since you probably like Green Energy, you might want to try burning all those Straw Men you made.
Me, for example. First con in 1975. Been to cons on three continents. Reader since the 1960s.
And I’m a Libertarian, not a Republican. . .
Martin Wisse
February 21, 2015 at 7:58 pmIt’s not the technology Keith, and you know it, it’s your attempt to set up Star Trek as in opposition to everything that’s to do with Social Justice when it’s the poster child for liberal science fiction and all that good stuff you as a “libertarian” (which doesn’t make you look better) object to.
It’s laughable and that’s why it was so great to see David Gerrold, who was there actually making Star Trek, slap you down.
Charlie, the figures are against you regarding how welcoming fandom was to women, as are the continuing revelations about the omnipresent sexual harassment at cons and such.
Cat
February 22, 2015 at 4:16 pmThe background called for a whole lot of technology that didn’t exist and that may not even be possible (I’m looking at you, shields, and at you, transporters.) But Martin is quite right; the stories were about social justice issues. And were deliberately written that way.