"The Next Generation," on the other hand, had just two women in its regular cast throughout the bulk of the series, and just one character of color in LeVar Burton’s Geordi La Forge. Takei has become a cultural icon, but it’s easy to forget how little character development he was given on screen, to the point where he was omitted from some episodes altogether. "The Original Series," for example, may have been lauded for its inclusivity, but there was only one woman on the bridge.
BLACK ACTORS ON DEEP SPACE NINE CAST SERIES
While "Star Trek" has almost always been ahead of its time in terms of diversity portrayal on-screen (with the notable exception of "Enterprise," which regressed somewhat in terms of representation), the different Trek series do reflect the time in which they were produced. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stop trying to do and be better.
It’s worth looking at what Trek has taught us, both on and off-screen, to help us grapple with what being inclusive really means as often, societal realities fall short of the ideal. As Roddenberry’s son, Gene "Rod" Roddenberry, Jr., said in "The Fifty Year Mission," an oral history of "Star Trek" by Mark Altman and Edward Gross, IDIC is "one of the backbones of the original series” and focuses on the idea of “universal acceptance."īut what does "universal acceptance" mean? That’s a difficult question and one that many still struggle to answer today. While it’s since been labeled a marketing ploy intended to sell merchandise (Roddenberry ascribed this philosophy to the Vulcans on screen), that doesn’t mean IDIC hasn’t had a lasting impact on the franchise.
Roddenberry believed in an idea he termed as IDIC, or "infinite diversity in infinite combinations." The fundamental belief behind IDIC is a celebration of the diversity the universe has to offer.
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