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The First “Concepts” of Childhood
Ts
(Romanian)
My first perceptions of “Science Fiction” were developed based on „Startrek”, „Doctor Who”, and „The Twilight Zone” (mentioned in the previous episode).
Let’s take the first step through what would be “Startrek”…
The Star Trek series, created by Gene Roddenberry, was an innovation in science fiction for its time, bringing complex themes such as space exploration, diversity, ethics, and interspecies relations to the fore.
Roddenberry’s “engine” was the fact that he was an avid reader of science fiction and was influenced by authors such as Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, and Arthur C. Clarke (and many others), influences found in themes such as colonization and space exploration, artificial intelligence, technological ethics, moral dilemmas and “ordinary” encounters with extraterrestrial civilizations.
Let me also mention the fact that Roddenberry “was born” “fueled” by the “Golden Age of Science Fiction” (which took place in the 1930s-1940s), “propelled” by the “New Wave of Science Fiction” (a literary movement that emerged in the 1960s and tackled more complex and philosophical themes)?
Without forgetting the sci-fi cinema of the 50s and 60s, with films like “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, or “Forbidden Planet” that had a significant impact on the genre…
Then, “imperceptibly”, the classic adventure films (such as those of Errol Flynn and many others), “westerns” (serials such as “Wagon Train” and cowboy films) intervened, which influenced the narrative structure, the aesthetics, and the atmosphere of Star Trek, with an emphasis on exploration, adventure, and confrontations with unknown “enemies”, or the adventure films with “big “science fiction” correlations (such as the already existing and released “Doctor Who”, “Twilight Zone” or the “forgotten” “Flash Gordon”, or “Buck Rogers” with his world, starting from the “original” movie, then, the series, including comics, toys, etc.) that inspired many “themes” similar to those of “Startrek”, such as travel in time and space, encounters with extraterrestrial beings, but also visual and narrative elements of the series, such as spaceships, costumes, and special effects.
Then, why not incorporate Roddenberry’s humanistic ideals and values, such as tolerance, equality, and peaceful space exploration, into Star Trek? These values were inspired by historical events of the 20th century, such as World War II and the Cold War (among others, as if we were discussing “associatively” Tolkien, in another time and another dimension).
Many other “initiating elements” can be “identified,” but let’s face it, “StarTrek” was an innovation at the time of its release, Star Trek brought many new elements to the science fiction genre, breaking existing conventions, inducing the creation of a unique universe, and enduring, which continues to inspire and fascinate audiences for over 50 years.
A universe that manifested itself through the series:
- „Startrek” (the “initiator” series — 1966–1969)
- „Star Trek” (1973–1975)
- „Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987–1994)
- „Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993–1999)
- „Star Trek: Voyager” (1995–2001)
- „Enterprise” (2001–2005)
- „Star Trek: New Voyages” (2004–2023)
- „Star Trek: Oddysey” (2007–2011 — the “worst” rated “serial”, in the long series of “serials” and “feature” films, which has an “average” much higher than 7)
- „Star Trek: Intrepid” (2007 — present)
- „Star Trek Continues” (2013–2017)
- „Star Trek Renegades” (2015–2017)
- „Star Trek: Discovery” (2017–2024)
- „Star Trek: Short Treks” (2018–2020)
- „Star Trek: Picard” (2020–2023)
- „Star Trek: Lower Decks” (2020–2024 — animated series)
- „Star Trek: Prodigy” (2021–2024 — animated series)
- „Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” (2022 — development and in the present)
And the list would go on…
Or the universe that can be “described” through “feature” movies such as:
- „Star Trek: The Motion Picture” (1979)
- „Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” (1982)
- „Star Trek III: The Search of Spock” (1984)
- „Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” (1986)
- „Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” (1989)
- „Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” (1991)
- „Star Trek: Generations” (1994)
- „Star Trek: First Contact” (1996)
- „Star Trek: Insurrection” (1998)
- „Star Trek: Nemesis” (2002)
- „Star Trek” (2009)
- „Star Trek Into the Darkness” (2013)
- „Star Trek Beyond” (2016)
- „Star Trek: First Frontier” (2020 —the worst rated “movie” in the long series of “series” and “feature” movies, which has an “average” much higher than 7)
… including a new series „Star Trek: Starfleet Academy”, and a “feature” movie “in development”, „Star Trek: Section 31” (to be released in 2025).
And the list could go on…
Let me remind you how many “elite” nominations or awards in the world of cinema, television, writers, etc. have been “earned” (including by the “screenwriters” who developed all these creations)?
Remember the “unlimited” supply of “board games” that debuted in 1967, and in 2012 attracted, for example, the inclusion of an “extension” in “Catan”? Or the so-called “Tabletop wargames” that “debuted” in 1972 and attracted the launch in 2013 of a new “manifestation”… Or card games… Or “pinball”, “electronic” games, “casino”…
Let me also mention the “tons” of literature “related” to the “Startrek” world, of “fan fiction”, the number of fans who still “show up” more numerous and stronger than you can imagine, at all kinds of festivals “celebrities” (like “ComiCon” or others, who have “requested” including Google to include the “Klingon” language in their translator, for example), etc.?
Then, there is the world of video games, which comes with a considerable “representation”… a world that debuts in the “zone” of “flight” simulators since the 60s, with the last “release” being in 2017…
Then that of computer games (or “console” video games, for the “forerunners”, including “handheld”, then PS, Xbox, blah, blah), which comes with a “text-only” since 1971 (for “any” “production” on consoles, the first appearance is in 1979)… With a “huge” list of productions, the last being released in 2023 (for consoles, the last release is in 2022)…
The world was completed by that of RPGs (Role-Playing Game) in 1978, the last release being in 2017…
Without forgetting the “newcomers” games on “mobiles”, which debuted in 2009…
All with their scripts or scenarios, which involved writers with “numbers” and “efforts” impossible to estimate…
I hope you “got” the idea of what could be correlated with “early childhood concepts” in terms of “science fiction”…
From the perspective of the real world, perceptible to each of us, you can imagine that the “world” of Star Trek has already generated thousands of billions of dollars in revenue throughout its history, even if we only consider the franchise (the “Startrek” brand being one of the most famous worldwide), which has survived for decades and continues to be popular all over the world…
Without forgetting the “collateral effects”, perceptible or not, of those who are currently writing “science fiction”…
Merticaru Dorin Nicolae
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