William Shatner lived in an idealistic future for many years when he played the Starfleet Captain James T. Kirk. Created by Gene Roddenberry, the show was known for its optimistic view of the future, which saw increased diversity, harmony, and professionalism coupled with the spirit of discovery.
However, the world itself has probably not gone in the same direction as Roddenberry hoped, although there is still hope as the show was set in the 22nd Century. With global warming an ongoing crisis and several countries declaring a climate emergency, Shatner feels that Roddenberry would be extremely annoyed at climate change deniers.
William Shatner Had A Depressing Revelation When He Went To Space
While William Shatner boldly went where no one had gone before in Star Trek, he did that in real life too when he went to space at the age of 90. The Captain Kirk actor became the oldest human at the time to venture into space when he joined Chris Boshuizen, Glen de Vries, and Audrey Powers on Blue Origin’s trip to space funded by Jeff Bezos.
The actor admitted experiencing the overview effect when he went to space and had a conversation with Bezos about the trip. Thanking the Amazon founder for the trip, Shatner mentioned that he did not want ever get over the feeling he had when he went to space and, mentioned that he saw death when he saw space (via AP News).
Shatner said that he was also filled with deep existential dread upon seeing the Earth from outer space as he noticed the fragility of the planet. He mentioned in an op-ed on The Guardian that witnessing the Earth made him feel sad about the resources being depleted by humanity. He wrote,
This was an immensely powerful awakening for me. It filled me with sadness. I realized that we had spent decades, if not centuries, being obsessed with looking away, with looking outside. I played my part in popularising the idea that space was the final frontier. But I had to get to space to understand that Earth is and will remain, our only home. And that we have been ravaging it, relentlessly, making it uninhabitable.
Reflecting on the future, Shatner also wrote that he was afraid of the world that his generation would leave for his grandchildren and pledged to protect the Earth in any way he could.
William Shatner Said That Gene Roddenberry Would Be Annoyed With Global Warming Deniers
The one thing that made Star Trek stand out from the rest of the futuristic sci-fi franchises was its hopeful view of the future. Gene Roddenberry had envisioned a world filled with humanity evolving to accommodate diversity and still manage to retain their sense of curiosity. He envisioned a Utopia where interpersonal conflicts were minimal.
While the world has now become increasingly polarizing, it might not resemble the Utopian vision of Roddenberry yet. Much like himself, Shatner believed that if the Star Trek creator was alive today, he would be equally angry with the state of the world and how people would be reacting to it. Talking about climate change deniers, Shatner told IGN,
He would, like all of us, would be angry, hurt, disappointed, so many negative emotions about how… Christ’s sake, in our American government today there are people that say there’s no such thing as global warming. It’s idiotic. All the corals are bleached because of the hot water, the air, and the plastics, which we thought would save us are all infecting us.
The actor also mentioned that though Roddenberry was a tough guy, he was still battling many personal demons.
Star Trek is available to stream on Paramount+.
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