Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Is Star Trek Erotica Part of the Official Canon?

From the Secret Logs of Mistress Janeway to those 1980s-era Star Trek porn, are the various Star Trek-themed erotica that’s already out there truly part of the official Gene Roddenberry canon?


By: Ringo Bones


From the perspective of the Star Trek pundit, Star Trek-themed erotica – both “official” and “unofficial” - are often perceived to have sprung from Captain Kirk’s role of being a “ladies man” with various females of various alien species. Or maybe it is a critique of the “precocious sexuality “of your typical collectible-obsessed Trekkie or Trekker – but as of present – is probably no longer the case. But it does leave us hardcore Trekkies and Trekkers wondering whether the various Star Trek-themed erotica that’s already out there is part of the official Star Trek canon established by Gene Roddenberry?

Though Roddenberry has been a stickler when it comes to human on human conflict of his utopian 23rd Century United Federation of Planets’ administered universe, strict censorship laws of network TV – in the 1960s and now - has always relegated the “interesting” inter-species sexual practices in the Star Trek universe relegated to the privacy of the Federation crew’s bunk. But this haven’t prevented the release of a slew of Star Trek-themed sexually-explicit hardcore porno during the 1980s – though whether or not they are in violation of Paramount’s taskmasters’ strict copyright laws in another question altogether.

From the Secret logs of Mistress Janeway, Gorn Porn, Klingon Mating Rituals and various elaborately set-up Borg S& M bondage gear to rival Lady Gaga’s concert stage – or the offerings of San Fernando Valley – had slowly infiltrated into the Victorian-like tranquillity of Trekdom since the mid to late 1980s. Sadly, Gene Roddenberry passed away in 1991 before he can formulate guidelines governing evaluation procedures for Star Trek-themed erotica’s inclusion into the official Star Trek canon. Such guidelines governing Star Trek-themed porn would have made today’s Trekdom more interesting.