Gene Roddenberry Biopic

[UssGlenn]

There was a single 11-episode season History Channel Roddenberry series a couple of years back (Nov 5, 2021 - Mar 31, 2022) that touched on some of the topics that people want to see. It was called "The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek". Amazon has it available for DVD here.

The fact that it never got a higher-end BRD release probably means that it didn't have the highest viewership that they would have liked (despite its relatively high Amazon & IMDB ratings), probably because you had to get a specific streaming service at the time to see any episodes after the pilot. Can't remember which one - a boneheaded move by any measure by the producers and their pro-streaming overlords. Consequently, it's likely to be the closest we'll ever get to such a project being made.

For the record, Center Seat was filled with regurgitated myths and misconceptions about Trek's history. And considering Roddenberry's role in creating some of those stories, I have no confidence the makers of his biopic would be concerned with actually getting the facts right, especially when the facts aren't as interesting as the myths.

 

[Kor]

There's no "probably" about it. Rightly so, period.

Still would've made for an interesting watch, though. What made Mad Men work was that they didn't pretend the sexism and racism didn't exist, but they didn't portray it in a positive light either. If they could find a way to depict it without celebrating it, then they'd have something.

I think people need to see that the Great Bird wasn't so great, even though he had a good idea for a show (since we're obviously still talking about it 60 years later).

I've found that some viewers aren't necessarily nuanced in their thinking, and they believe that the very act of depicting certain behaviors is condoning those behaviors. Mad Men got some online criticism back in the day from certain people who weren't paying attention, claiming that it was celebrating and glorifying the sexism and racism of the era simply by showing that it existed. And when I was younger, an older family member got on my case about watching M*A*S*H because it was "about war."

Kor

 

[137th Gebirg]

For the record, Center Seat was filled with regurgitated myths and misconceptions about Trek's history. And considering Roddenberry's role in creating some of those stories, I have no confidence the makers of his biopic would be concerned with actually getting the facts right, especially when the facts aren't as interesting as the myths.

I understand and agree. However, I still stand by my final summary statement in that post: "It's likely to be the closest we'll ever get to such a project being made."