This site will show you how powers of persuasion can be discovered and examined inside Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek. The same holds true concerning Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica. Ronald D. Moore had producer and/or writer responsibilities on three of the Star Trek television spin-off series and two of the Star Trek motion pictures. Therefore, if there is any science fiction television franchise that has earned the right to be called a successor to the persuasive power in Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek, it most definitely is Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica. You will learn here what the 21st century version of Battlestar Galactica has to teach us about the persuasive power of science fiction space adventures on television and in movies. Battlestar Galactica persuades audiences about politics and religion using science fiction storytelling techniques pioneered by Star Trek as explained by writer Woody Goulart. Battlestar Galactica, Ronald D. Moore, Woody Goulart, Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek, science fiction, sci-fi, space opera

 

After what happened on September 11, 2001, it was a science fiction space adventure on television--not the news media organizations--that chose to use the medium of television to challenge the way people think about things like terrorism, the occupation of a country by a foreign military force, suicide bombers, insurgents, and the oftentimes violent political agendas behind supposedly peace-loving organized religions. The name of that science fiction space adventure is Battlestar Galactica and it appeared on television screens in 2003 in the United States, and later in Canada, Europe, and Australia. But, Battlestar Galactica in the 21st century would never have been possible to accomplish had it not been for another science fiction space adventure on television in the 20th century. That, of course, would be Star Trek.

Hello and welcome to Trekology.com. This site is very rich with many exclusive details about Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek and Ronald D. Moore 's Battlestar Galactica . I recommend that you bookmark Trekology.com since you may not be able to take it all in during just one visit.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Woody Goulart, and I am the writer of Trekology.com. I also am co-author, with Wesley Y. Joe, of a forthcoming chapter entitled "Inverted Perspectives on Politics and Morality in Battlestar Galactica," to be published in June 2008 as part of a nonfiction book about science fiction and politics. You can read excerpts online here.

While this is not a fan site, I honestly think that fans of Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica will have a terrific time visiting Trekology.com. Learn why I created Trekology.com.

What if God is a Toaster?
Politics and Religion in Sci-Fi


Years ago, I conducted an original research study in which I examined how sci-fi space adventures embed persuasive messages about politics and human behavior. This research led to my creating Trekology.com. My goal is to share my research findings and related commentary with you here online about how science fiction space adventures deal with political and religious issues in its stories.

Gene Roddenberry and Ron Moore


I believe that one of the single most important sci-fi space adventures of all time certainly is Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek, and that is why the made-up word trekology is the title of this site. Also see: About Trekology.com. I also am a huge fan of Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica. Because of his work on both Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica, I think Ronald D. Moore has earned the right to be called "the next Roddenberry."

Roddenberry believed that sci-fi in the 1960s was perfect for telling stories on television that contained political viewpoints and commentary. Here's what he said about television in the 1960s before Star Trek: "Television was very afraid of anything that had to do with sex, politics, religion, war, controversy...We were severely restricted and as a result we hid a lot of our theme statements. In fact, the whole idea of doing Star Trek was to be able to write about things we wanted to talk about. We figured if we went to a strange planet and did it, why, it would somehow get past the network censors, and indeed it did."

Ron Moore recently said the exact same thing about Battlestar Galactica: "The networks are terrified of controversy. But in sci-fi, they don't notice or care so much -- you get a free pass."


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