It's been a week since I put the script for Star Trek's "The God Thing" online. The final result of a month of trying to get this thing verified, a few false starts for making it available publicly, and one last final sprint of proofreading to get it online.
But what did I actually think of it?
Generally, I think it's safe to say that despite the common reaction to bits and pieces of The God Thing being, "This is a terribly silly idea that wasn't going to go anywhere," the script is actually serious about its premise. For the most part, it’s played straight and has some genuinely chilling and thoughtful moments. There are some spots where it does veer really deep into silliness and, well, Gene is gonna Gene. But in the end, this was a serious attempt the make a movie that asks "What if God was an alien?" The premise was big in the early 1970s, with Chariots of the Gods? style books everywhere, and The God Thing tries to examine that idea in a truly Star Trek way.
The Good:
I really enjoyed some of the more creepy moments of the script.
The extent of the God Thing’s influence within Starfleet is pretty chilling, too. Starfleet is still just going about its everyday business. Admirals and officers going about their work, and casually saying they're doing it for the greater glory of God.
Random people coming up to Kirk, fully knowing he's on his way to secretly meet with his old crew members, quoting scripture. Assassination attempts on Kirk that come very close to succeeding, only failing when the assassins "prove God's love for Kirk." Another involves two people dressed as doctors assassinating an Admiral while a child looks on, knowingly brandishing a crucifix. I was getting some serious The Omen or '70s-era James Bond vibes from these scenes.
For all its silliness, the oil-covered women athletes turned assassins scene is very much a Gene Roddenberry moment. But what was surprising was how it was handled. It's a silly moment that's actually handled rather well. The dialogue is chilling and plays on Kirk's womanizing, with one of the athletes telling him "You've always loved women like us, Jim. Wouldn't this be a frightening way to die?" They know him, they know what he likes, and they're going to use it to kill him.
I was really happy with how Uhura was shown in the script. She was a Captain in her own right, confident in her command, and actually complains when the God Object forces them all back in their old uniforms and ranks. The Object also speaks through her, and I would have loved to see Nichelle Nichols thundering out "I AM THE BEGINNING! I AM THE NOW! I AM FOREVER!"
The first half of the movie is really well done.
The Bad:
The last half of the movie is where it kind of goes a little off kilter.
The 20th century theme park section is pretty goofy, and Scotty drunkenly running a 20th century bar complete with showtunes just feels very not-Scotty. I could see one or the other, but not both.
The behavior and motives of the God Thing become increasingly confusing. Oftentimes, it's helping Kirk get the crew back together, other times it's interfering. While the explanation of "It's gathering Earth's finest, because if it can take over them, it can take over anyone" is floated around, it's already taken over many people. Even the ending is confused enough that the Visitor itself tells Kirk it isn’t sure why it’s giving him the final “gift.”
Something that I consider "Bad," though I’m not sure it actually would have been one if the script had been completed, is a subplot using the Spock/Chapel relationship to explore Spock’s humanity. It’s dropped very quickly. I personally suspect this was added during revisions, since the revisions stop at page 86 and the subplot never gets a real payoff. That said, Gene seems to think exploring humanity with Chapel involves a lot of sex.
The Ugly:
When I was first studying the Gene Roddenberry versus Harold Livingston writing styles for The Motion Picture, there was one thing I really leaned on to determine who wrote what: Gene likes a slower pace, and to explain the story to the audience. The God Thing is full of scenes where the action stops for a crew briefing, explaining things that just happened. While this is kind of a necessary evil for sci-fi, it's done so often, for things so obvious that it starts to slow the action down.
With the script now published, I've had some time to really think about its place in the creation of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. There were definite themes Gene was exploring in the early 70s. Genesis II's "Robot's Return" is essentially The Motion Picture without the Star Trek set dressing, set completely on Earth. The God Thing seems to be a first attempt to take the Robot's Return idea and put it in space. The Object is very much an early analogue for V'Ger, and even the trip inside the Object mirrors the trip inside V'Ger. The Visitor, while not exactly the Ilia-probe of The Motion Picture, is similar. And of course, Spock's exorcism of his human half is moved almost directly into the movie.
One last thing before I finish up here. The last third of the movie, where the Visitor visits the Enterprise and takes on the image of Jesus, was one of the strongest examples that this script was legitimate for me. Kirk meeting Jesus should sound silly given the information and anecdotes we've heard over the decades. However, on reading this third of the script, I was really feeling echoes of the Original Series episode "The Savage Curtain." In that episode, Kirk greets the image of Abraham Lincoln, giving him full honors for an American president when he absolutely knows Abraham Lincoln cannot exist here. For most of the time Jesus is aboard the ship, Kirk affords him every courtesy and freedom appropriate to the figure he resembles, while knowing full well that this is not actually Jesus.
In all, I was fairly impressed by the script, but can totally see why this was not going to fly for a Star Trek film in 1975.
If you read the script, what did you think of it?
If you haven't read the script, you can read it here:
http://www.dolari.net/scripts/97506.30%20-%20Star%20Trek%20II-OCR-Transcription.html#StarTrek #TheGodThing
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