Rod Roddenberry examines his father Gene’s legacy and how “Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations” is Star Trek’s backbone
Rod Roddenberry appears at the Star Trek Las Vegas convention in 2019. Image Alison Pitt
MAY 9, 2021 - Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry recently shared some thoughts with the Motion Picture Association on his father’s legacy, as the centennial anniversary of Gene Roddenberry’s birth approaches. In an interview with the MPA website “The Credits,” Roddenberry spoke to the ideals originally instilled into Star Trek by his father, ideals which Rod believes have elevated and defined Star Trek ever since.
Foremost among them, Roddenberry noted, is diversity. “The backbone of Star Trek is really the IDIC philosophy,” he said, referencing the Vulcan concept of “Infinity Diversity in Infinite Combinations”. Looking at the diverse nature of the original cast, and also classic episodes like “Devil in the Dark” and “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield,” Roddenberry pointed out how The Original Series spoke to divisions humanity still struggles with, but also showed its potential to move beyond them. “Star Trek wasn’t necessarily about the aliens or the starships. It was about humanity,” he said.
Roddenberry also described how Gene Roddenberry’s commitment to diversity lives on in the current iterations of Star Trek. “No matter what your ethnic, gender, socio-economic, religious, political background is, it should all be represented at some level on Star Trek. That’s what humanity is and needs to be. That’s what Star Trek is.”
In the interview Roddenberry, who serves as chief executive officer of Roddenberry Entertainment, and executive produces the various new Star Trek series on Paramount+, also spoke to his father’s vision for how futuristic technology could mirror real possibilities, he offered some insight into his relationship with his father, and tells how “The Great Bird of the Galaxy” lives on, both in the characters he created and in very real scientific initiatives from the Roddenberry Foundation, which Rod founded in 1999.
You can read Rod Roddenberry’s full interview on The Motion Picture Association’s website, at motionpictures.org.
Jack Brown is a contributing writer for Daily Star Trek News on the Roddenberry Podcast Network. Jack teaches at a small film school in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and also helps to manage his wife's career as a novelist and speaker. In his spare time he writes fiction, cooks, and watches classic movies.
