Memory Alpha:AOL chats/Ronald D. Moore/ron066.txt

Subj: Answers Date: 10/23/97 5:55:41 PM From:  RonDMoore

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This particular sovereign has no garments. Blowing up consoles and panels has become a Trek cliche and yes, you would think that they'd have put circuit breakers on the Bridge by now. It's a cheap (in terms of $$) way of creating excitement and injuries on the ship and I'm sorry to say that we haven't come up with something more creative over the years. We have thought up other notions, like blowing holes in the hull or sending out plasma blasts, but they both involve expensive opticals and/or complicated on-set effects and we usually aren't willing to spend the time and the money involved to do them. I guess our bridge panels were designed by the same Starfleet engineer who decided to remove the seatbelts.

<< In that quark episode, it seems very easy for a klingon woman to get a divorce. She slugs him, spits on him and says something. The old slug, say and spit thing. :) So when worf wanted to marry keylar, why didnt she just marry him, slug him, say whatever and spit on him so that he could keep his honor and she wouldnt have to stay married?>>

That would've certainly not satisfied Worf's sense of honor and I doubt K'Ehleyr would've tried it.

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Parts 5 & 6 of the six episode arc are more closely linked than the others and are considered a two-parter. We don't have any others on the board right now, but we could still do them later in the year.

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Not yet.

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We've got a doozy in the works that may or may not be considered a time travel episode, depending on how you look at it. How's that for vague?

<<"Waltz" - an intriguing Dukat story, thematically linked to "Duet" ? OK, I'm excited. Make my day - tell me that the other partner in the waltz is Kira? >>

Sorry, the other partner in the waltz is not Kira.

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My mistake. "You are Cordially Invited..." is episode # 7.

Subj: Answers Date: 10/23/97 6:26:00 PM From:  RonDMoore

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Well... no. The Mistress of a Great House wields considerable power and influence in Klingon society as I currently see it. The fact that she is not the titular Head does not mean that she does not make most, if not all, the decisions regarding the running of that House and how it functions internally. It probably varies from family to family and depends more on the individuals involved than it does on strictly observed codes of behavior. As Dax pointed out in "Soldiers of the Empire", the Klingons are as diverse a people as any other. Some Klingons take ritual and tradition far more seriously than others, just as some take the very concept of honor far more seriously than others. While we've seen female warriors many times, I also think there's nothing wrong with women who may not choose to be warriors in the literal sense. (Just as there was nothing wrong with the man who chose to become a Klingon "lawyer" in "Rules of Engagement.")

I think that there's an unfortunate tendency to apply contemporary notions of American sexual equality to this ancient (and oh yeah, fictional) race. They have a long and complicated backstory that probably does not replicate our own history of male/female relations. They do have different notions than we do for the "roles" of men and women in society, but using terms like "co-dependency" confuses the issue and implies a similarity with today's culture that does not exist. As I've said many times, the Klingons hold many values that are at odds with contemporary norms: expansion by conquest, blood feuds, subjugation of enemies, rule by oligarchy, condemnation of children for their parents' sins, exaltation of a warrior cult, etc. It only makes sense that their take on male-female relations is less "enlightened" than ours.

My belief is that woman are greatly valued, honored, and respected as equals in Klingon society even if it doesn't seem that way at first blush. If you had to apply a contemporary concept to their culture it would be something like "separate but equal" (this is an admittedly imperfect analogy, since the concept as usually applied stems from Brown v. Board of Education and dealt with racial issues). The Klingons see men and women as having certain separate roles in their culture, but probably view them as equavilent.

For instance, while a man may lead a Great House and serve on the High Council, I don't think that this *political* power is seen by the Klingons as intrinsically superior to the *social* power wielded by a Mistress of a House who may approve or disapprove all marriages, decide who's having children and how they will be raised, and in general have the last say on all matters related to the internal operations of the House and family. Klingon family affiliations are considered paramount in their society, so it only makes sense that someone charged with running a House should be considered at least as important as the person charged with making political decisions for the Empire. This is in stark contrast to our own culture which has traditionally given men power over both the political and the social aspects of society until very recently.

<< I was wondering what your feelings are on the issue of competition, specificly as it pertains to DS9 and B5...do you feel, as some sadly do, that to be a fan of one you must turn away from and rebuke the other?>>

I say competition is a good thing and I've never seen any reason why people can't be fans of both.

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Not while I'm around.

Subj: Answers Date: 10/23/97 6:41:16 PM From:  RonDMoore

<<Another matter: while I know there is time pressure to do each episode, can you please get someone who knows MATH to go over the scripts and correct the glaring mistakes at least?? For example: In Scorpion 1, Janeway gives the order to go to the site of the borg battle some 5 light years away at warp 2 !... If the trip to the borg battle in Scorpion took only 2 weeks at warp 2, that's about 130c - warp 2 is supposed to be 10c. If we called it 128c then warp 2 = 2^7 = 128c. And warp 8 = 8^7 = 2097152c. It would take Voyager 10.44 days at that warp 8 to travel 60,000 light years. Cool, they'll be home by the end of the fourth season assuming that they make any progress only once every six episodes. Getting the math right WON'T hurt the story.>>

I should point out that we have gone out of our way to NEVER say exactly what the "warp factors" mean. There is NO established formula for this sort of thing that I'm aware of and so your calculations are meaningless. We also have a science advisor who comments on every script and does correct our math when necessary.

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Yes, there will.

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I don't think the Founders appreciate that Odo was well treated by the Bajorans. (Actually, Odo was treated like a test subject, now that I think of it, anyway!)

Subj: Answers Date: 10/24/97 5:44:51 PM From:  RonDMoore

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This is a notion that's come up several times in our story discussions. We don't have any definite plans to do it, but it's a possibility.

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Morn talks all the time... just never on camera.

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We will be going into reruns the first week of December and then returning to first-run episodes the week of December 29.

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The short, yell out the ritual words and yer-hitched version is still valid, but we felt that there was probably also a more formal ceremony that could be used as well.

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I address this in the wedding show -- Dax has been through five Trill weddings and she's a little sick of it, frankly.

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We're talking about Keiko right now.

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There's no way this is going to happen. The decision to kill off Susan was discussed at length and was not taken lightly. Susan will not be resurrected. Mirror Susan is another question altogether...

<<So what YOU are saying is that both the Star Trek Encyclopedia and ST:NG Technical Manual are NON-CANON [regarding warp speeds]. Page 372 of the ST Enc. and page 55 of the ST:NG Tech Manual should be ignored? Have you informed Mr. Okuda, et al that their work is non-canon? And your "science advisor" either doesn't know his/her job or is busy doing another job and doesn't get a chance to comment on every script, at least not before filming.>>

"... we'd like to make it very clear that it is not our intention for this document to serve as a straitjacket, limiting the options of future writers."

-- Mike Okuda and Rick Sternbach, Authors' Introduction, Star Trek The Next Generation Techinical Manual

Also our science and technical consultant is doing his job quite well and will continue to do so. I'll pass along your compliments and high praise for his speed and accuracy.

Subj: Answers Date: 10/24/97 5:56:40 PM From:  RonDMoore

<< One reason female klinfans have been so hurt over the diminishment of the Klingon women is because they didn't start out as a male-dominant culture; and a large contingent of female trekfans has admired and identified with them for close to 30 years. ( Or at least, with the warrior archetype.) If the species had been created sexist from the start, you'd probably find about as many female Klingon fans as you find female Kazon fans.>>

I think in fairness, I should point out that the Klingons were exceeding sexist when they were created. In "The Trouble with Tribbles", Koloth says something to the effect that Klingon vessels don't have certain... ah, luxuries, and then makes the hourglass shape of a woman with his hands -- implying that not only don't Klingon ships have women on them, but that the boys can't wait to get their hands on a few for, er... liberty. In fact, there were no women seen in TOS at all until Mara's appearance in "Day of the Dove" and it was implied that she was only there because she was Kang's wife. And I believe she was the last Klingon woman in the entire franchise (excluding TAS, which I'm not that up on) until "A Matter of Honor" on TNG. The first really fleshed out female character was K'Ehleyr and she wasn't even a full Klingon and disdained the ways of her people in any case. Given the established backstory, I think it's even perfectly understandable that more than a hint of male dominance has crept into the way their culture has been portrayed over the years. Some of the overt sexism can be rectified (as I've promised) and some will have to be written off as part of their cultural history.

<<Where the heck is ROM?>>

Rom will be in "Behind the Lines", "Favor the Bold", "Sacrifice of Angels" "You are Cordially Invited", and of course, "The Magnificent Ferengi."

Also, on the subject of the latter episode and cool guest casting -- Iggy Pop as a Vorta. Need I say more?

<<Ira Behr mentioned in Cinefantastique that you would be doing a story this year about "Dax and her next host." Did you decide not to do this episode, or is it still on the drawing board? >>

It's still on the drawing board.

<<Does Garak make any appearances after "The Sacrifice of Angels" in the first half of the season?>>

I don't believe Garak will be seen again until the second half of the season.

<<Have you guys figured out a way to keep Nog around after the arc?>>

Yes.

Subj: Answers Date: 10/24/97 6:13:41 PM From:  RonDMoore

<<The films had some Klingon women, didn't they? The woman who gave... whassisname...Rev. Jim... the plans for Genesis was a Klingon.>>

Yep. Forgot about her. "Valkris," I believe. But even in this film (Trek III) there were no women seen serving on the Bird of Prey, so the first actual warriors weren't seen until "Matter of Honor." (And their actual roles on the Pagh were never mentioned.)

Subj: Answers Date: 10/25/97 12:10:13 AM From:  RonDMoore

<<About that cut scene in Sons and Daughters... [with Kira and Dukat, discussing Damar] you mentioned that the show was very tight, and there wasn't much else to cut. What about the opening Worf/Dax scene... it was cute... but I'm not sure it had much bearing on the rest of the show-- certainly not as much as the cut scene (kira/damar/dukat) would have on the whole war arc.>>

Good notion, but still not workable. Opening the show on the Klingon bridge without Dax and Worf even being mentioned would've been very awkward and slightly confusing. No one is saying that the Damar/Kira/Dukat stuff wasn't interesting and fun, it just wasn't *essential* to the story and so it had to go.

<<Once again we see TPTB showing complete and utter disdain for the fans!!! If it wasn't for the fans, there would be no Seinfeld, and if it wasn't for Susan, Jerry and George wouldn't have gotten the pilot deal at NBC, and then the show never would have been produced at all!!* You owe this to me -- er, us, Ron!! BRING BACK SUSAN!!!!>>

Don't get me wrong -- I liked Susan. I loved Susan. No one was a bigger fan of Susan than me. But her death meant that George could go in new directions in his life, explore bigger themes and ideas than he ever could with her. Ultimately, it was a choice that had to be made and I stand proudly behind that choice. Susan is dead. Get over it.

<< <There are a lot of fun stories that have been told on Star Trek that simply wouldn't have been able to exist if they need to be scientifically plausible.<

ROTF LMAO  Yeah, right. Oh, and scientific accuracy would reduce the amount of treknobabble.>>

I think you meant to put the "rolling on the floor licking my ancient oatmeal" acronym after your last comment, because that's the real joke.

<<Will there be any chance of seeing [Jeff Combs'] two trek alter egos face to face in "The Magnificent Firengi" i would love to see weyouns reaction to firengi he plays>>

No, Jeff will only be playing Brunt in this episode.

<< <But even in this film (Trek III) there were no women seen serving on the Bird of Prey, so the first actual warriors weren't seen until "Matter of Honor."<

Well. . . there was "Vixis" from ST5. The first officer, no less.>>

I thought about Vixis, but unless I'm mistaken, Trek 5 came out after "Matter of Honor" aired. (Or am I wrong? Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller?  Anyone?) Vixis, I believe is the first Klingon woman to be clearly identified as a warrior in the entire Trek lexicon, since the roles played by the women in "Matter" were never explicitly stated. In either case, Trek 5 or "Matter" is pretty late in the game to first establish that female warriors even exist, so I think it's fair to say that the Klingons were clearly a male-dominated culture in the Trek mythos for quite some time.

<<Just wondering.....any chance we might see some more big name guest stars 'sides Iggy? >>

Not yet.