Rod Roddenberry Talks Importance of Inclusion in the ‘Star Trek’ Franchise

variety.com:

Wilson Chapman editorGrowing up, Rod Roddenberry wasn’t a huge fan of “Star Trek.”Although the series was created by his father Gene Roddenberry, and starred his mother Majel Barrett as Nurse Christine Chapel, Roddenberry was born after the original show was cancelled, and spent his childhood watching series like “Kamen Rider” and “Dukes of Hazzard.”Roddenberry spoke about his relationship with the “Star Trek” franchise at the Variety’s Changemakers virtual summit.

In a keynote conversation, Roddenberry talked to Steve Shapiro, senior vice president of City National Bank, about his work as the CEO of Roddenberry Entertainment and his Roddenberry Foundation.The episode of the series that really showed Roddenberry the power of the series was the Season 1 episode of TOS “The Devil in the Dark,” which finds the crew of the USS Enterprise faced with a bizarre, seemingly violent creature in a mining colony.

The central twist of the episode sees the crew discover that the alien is actually an intelligent being, protecting the eggs of its children — a twist that blew Roddenberry’s mind as a child. “That was the first time a story, where there’s a twist and it makes you think, and it makes you reflect and it makes you go, ‘My God, we could be that dumb, we have often have been that dumb.

We often are that dumb. And hopefully in the future will be less oblivious,” Roddenberry said. “So that was my first click into what fans meant when they said ‘Star Trek’ was intelligent, thought provoking, and in some cases, perhaps life changing.”During the panel, Roddenberry, who serves as an executive producer for the recent “Star Trek” shows on Paramount+, discussed the importance of diversity and inclusion in the “Star Trek” franchise.