Star Trek meta

[trinityvixen]

Now with spoilers!

So, indeed, I ended up going to see Star Trek again with my mother on Mother's Day. Although she definitely was game to see it again (she'd already seen it! I love her), we were really making an excuse to take my dad. He was very adorably put out that my mother and my sister had gone without him. So we trundled off to the IMAX near their house on Sunday. As I was telling alizzy, the fact that he liked it a lot baffled me in the extreme. Not because I didn't think he should, just that I'm used to my dad and I never agreeing on movies we like. I'm so used to be defensive and being ready to fight with him about why I'm totally justified in liking a movie, that I was stuck in this abortive protest mode when he had only good things to say about it. I still kinda wanted to fight--I had prepared arguments in my head--and no one was going to fight with me. It's a very weird feeling.

Anywho, seeing the film twice solidified some things for me. After picking apart the film with moonlightalice, I had a lot to look for in a second viewing. I think the fact that we had different opinions of the same movie really helped me to focus on what I wanted to see from the film beyond just being entertained. (Which I still was.) Her review is up at Tor.com, with all of her reasonable criticisms. (Spoilers in that link!) And give darkling1's review some love, too.

One thing I looked for especially were instances of racism in the movie.

One of the things that I couldn't swear to on a single viewing but otherwise mostly believed was that the general ill-will generated in Spock's direction from Kirk and McCoy was not, as such, racist. McCoy is iffier than Kirk on this issue, as he repeatedly, in a fit of pique, will insult Spock by referring to some aspect of Spock's biology--calling him "pointy-eared" or "green-blooded" before some other obviously unflattering curse. "Bastard" seemed to be their favorite. Sure, that skates by as far as the MPAA is concerned, but given Spock's parentage--which I'm still not certain either Kirk or McCoy was entirely aware of--it seemed an even more stinging barb to fling in Spock's general direction. (That Spock was not, in fact, a bastard does not change the fact that he seemed to have been treated as though he were.)

McCoy being slightly off-color seems to gel with my understanding of the character. (Most of which I get from the movies, as I've only seen a smattering of TOS episodes.) It's not right, and I would argue his remarks are inherently racist, given that he regards Spock as inhuman. While he doesn't use any particular anti-Vulcan slurs, references to racial attributes are most definitely racist. (Just ask Don Imus.) I don't excuse McCoy, though part of me defends him as not being a hateful racist but merely a passive one. That's not really great, but it's better. And even though his actions in Star Trek VI will never exist in this universe, he does come around when the chips are down. I expect that grudging respect will soften McCoy's tone over time, just as it did in the TOS series.

So what about Kirk? As far as I can tell, he only ever resorts to a lazy slur once. (He might have done more than once in those scenes where he and Spock are shouting over each other, but I didn't hear it distinctly.) It's still not good, but he seems to banish the less-than-PC vocabulary ever after. I attribute this to the fact that he's a) not really a racist (anybody can slip once); b) he does, actually, respect Spock even as he violently disagrees with him (probably because Spock, if not Kirk, can admit that he is wrong and let bygones be); and c) he gets a rapid lesson in not prejudicing himself against Spock after the mind-meld with Spock's older self. Kirk gets a pass.

What I find interesting is the blatant racism of the Vulcans. I don't know Star Trek well enough to know to what degree this is or is not already established, but it's quite the jarring effrontery to their outward claims to emotion-free logicality. Then again, it is pretty clear that Vulcans are not the emotion-free species they like to believe themselves to be. I am reminded of Mr. Darcy's line in Pride and Prejudice: "Yes, vanity is a weakness indeed. But pride--where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will be always under good regulation." The Vulcans have plenty of which to be proud, and they are, by Darcy's definition, most definitely superior when it comes to the mind. It does not preclude them from being vain, however. They do not simply enjoy their superior status; they take pains to remind someone who is not like them that he/she is less than they are. Even Spock is not immune to this way of thinking, though when it is, as it must be with this type of vanity, turned against him, he balks. But put him in a situation where he can appear more Vulcan (i.e. with anyone except another Vulcan), and he recapitulates this prejudice unless the other person has proven him/herself worthy of respect. It feels very real, Spock's internalized sense of racial superiority that is, at the same time, self-hating. All racial vanity is, in its way, self-debasing. Believing that one needs to be the superior race is a sign of weakness of character.

It is interesting then, that a series which venerated the Vulcans as the shepherds of humanity's space age would be so frequently seen in a negative light. This is itself a bit of subconscious racism on the part of the filmmakers. Star Trek did a better job overall of making alien crew members more present than they were in previous installations, which isn't saying much, but the crew of the Enterprise is still almost entirely human. (That we see.) Portraying Vulcans as being vain and racist leaves room for the Federation, with its handfuls of alien cadets, seem the paragon of liberal thinking on race. (McCoy notwithstanding.) It's a sort of cheat to make the humans look better if you take a race as near unto perfection of body and mind as the Vulcans and lower them by making overt their racist underpinnings. I don't have a problem with this as far as it allows us to understand that the Vulcans, like all beings, are prone to faults. It lets them be more relatable (dare I say more human?), which is a considerable feat considering their array of super-human abilities and emotional control. It doesn't change the fact that this provides a short-cut to making the humans look better by association.

This set-up is also recapitulated, as some have pointed out, in the way that Spock, rather than Nero, is the main antagonist to Kirk throughout the film. Nero should have been the antagonist--god knows, he gave Kirk plenty of reason to hate his guts--but Nero was merely an instigator while Spock was a motivator. Spock's actions provoke all of Kirk's. Spock is the one standing in the way of the human hero realizing his destiny. I was pleased the first time I saw the movie that they did not choose to make the Klingons the enemy, as that comes with rather loaded, codified racial baggage within and without of the narrative. Still, aliens managed to be the real bad guys here--whether you blame Nero or Spock.

Yay, I got that meta out of my system! Now I can go read fanfics!

Comments

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

McCoy in TOS is constantly referring to Spock's alienness. I just watched "The Naked Time," in which he makes all sorts of whining remarks about why can't Spock's physiology just work like a normal person's. But I see this more as him being cantankerous rather than being racist. And in a way, he's calling attention to the elephant in the room. By constantly calling attention to Spock's other-ness, he is serving the function of diffusing underlying tensions. Kind of like the guy at ICON who cosplays at "token black guy."

(As a total aside, how fantastic is that episode? With Spock having a breakdown about never telling his mother he loved her since such displays of affection are in bad taste, and how every time he feels friendship for Kirk he is ashamed. Oh, there's a reason why this was the first slash fandom.)

I think from a Vulcan perspective, they probably see their racism towards Spock as completely logical. Vulcans are superior to humans, therefor full-blooded Vulcans are superior to mixed breeds. Logic. And it seems like Spock has internalized a lot of that. But his choice to go to Starfleet rather than stay on Vulcan seems like a deliberate choice to escape the inherent racism of Vulcan--or seen another way, to be able to see himself as superior by surrounding himself with humans. Interesting.

Since Vulcans do see themselves as superior, there is probably also a lot of pressure not to dilute their race by interbreeding. Probably even more so now. Which brings up some interesting repurcussions when you bring in Pon Farr. It might actually make it impossible for Vulcans to live outside of Vulcan colonies now since there would probably be a lot of fear about them breeding with other species if they aren't with Vulcans when they get Pon Farr. Fun stuff to explore... Oh, the fic will be great.

the TOS series
You realize you just said "the the original series series."

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

You realize you just said "the the original series series."
Allow me to address this first: see my icon.

By constantly calling attention to Spock's other-ness, he is serving the function of diffusing underlying tensions.
That's a fair point. In Wrath of Khan, McCoy says Spock can't do something because it would kill any human, and Spock points out how funny it is that McCoy isn't reminding him he's not human this time. So McCoy's baiting is not really mean-spirited.

I don't want to condemn McCoy as a racist. I think he's being deliberately and/or unconsciously insensitive. He could just be blinded by privilege--humanity is nearly running the universe in his time, so it might be hard to remember that the Vulcans are responsible for bringing humanity to the stars in the first place. Humanity is in the teenage moment of their maturity. They think they know more than Mommy and Daddy. Teenagers are spiteful little pricks sometimes. McCoy also has an ethnocentric bias. He hasn't, aside from joining Starfleet, had much interstellar practice at being otherwise. (And if his paranoia about space travel had persisted, he might not have learned.) He can get better, is the point.

I think from a Vulcan perspective, they probably see their racism towards Spock as completely logical. Vulcans are superior to humans, therefor full-blooded Vulcans are superior to mixed breeds. Logic.

An understandable argument if an invalid one: value judgments on evolved characteristics are inherently illogical. Evolution moves towards fitness at all times, so no being is superior, only highly adapted to its environment. (And perfection is impossible without continuous changing of the base creature. Ask the Borg.) As soon as the value judgment on evolution moves off of specific attributes (and sometimes before then), calling an entire being "superior" versus another being with a different evolutionary niche is a meaningless construction. A shark may be a near-perfect predator in the ocean, but on land it couldn't even breathe, much less defend itself. That this Vulcan logic is illogical doesn't surprise me.

But his choice to go to Starfleet rather than stay on Vulcan seems like a deliberate choice to escape the inherent racism of Vulcan--or seen another way, to be able to see himself as superior by surrounding himself with humans. Interesting.

What I love about Spock being "a child of two worlds" is how Vulcan he appears to humans, and how human he seems to Vulcans. The prejudices do go both ways. Considering that the human prejudice elevates his intelligence (even as it alienates him personally) whereas the Vulcan prejudice dismisses his intelligence and represses his personality, it's no wonder Spock would look for peace away from his father's people.

As for Vulcan purity issues, I think of BSG and go, "There's no way they can survive w/out out-breeding, pon farr or no." Even with tightly controlled breeding programs, Vulcans are almost certainly doomed if they do not branch out, genetically. The saddest thing to me? Is that they might have a large measure of success breeding with their closest genetic cousins, but they never will because those would be the Romulans.

What I'd like to see answered in sequels/fanfic is what part does Spock play in the future of the Vulcan race? Do they include him because they assume they can breed out his human attributes with time and they need all the breeders they can get? Is he the model by which they must expand? Do they shun him entirely and refuse to allow any Vulcans to mix with any other species, using him as the reason why, as you suggest? Would Spock's effort to rescue/preserve the collected wisdom of the Vulcans (by saving their council) buy him any political capital? What guidance will the older Spock provide? Oh yes, so much that can be explored...

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

they might have a large measure of success breeding with their closest genetic cousins, but they never will because those would be the Romulans.
Somebody needs to write about this! This is fantastic. If the books of the reboot do not address this, that is a major failing. You can make so much of political factions within the Vulcans to try to preserve their race by bringing the Romulans back in. Especially since a Romulan destroyed Vulcan--though I don't know how widely known that is, since he wasn't the "call up the doomed and gloat" type.

I think one of the most interesting things about the Vulcans as a whole is how much they are blinded by their belief that they are superior. I think the only Vulcans with a chance of seeing that dismissing non-Vulcans out of hand is wrong are Spock and maybe Sarek.

As for Spock's position politically with the Vulcans--I think Sarek will certainly lobby for him, as will SpockPrime, but keep in mind he's in a relationship with a human right now. I think that would largely be seen as him rejecting his Vulcan half and "going native" with the humans.

As for the dominance of Vulcans versus humans in the Federation, I don't know if this is supported by the extensive Trek canon, but I see humans as being the explorers of the Federation, but the Vulcans as being the architects of the empire. In my head, Vulcans have the key positions in the Federation, but have kind of outsourced the heavy lifting bits to Starfleet, which is based on Earth and (for budget reasons) dominated by humans. I'm not sure if I think humans are the dominant race.

This also brings up something Spock said--that only 10,000 Vulcans escaped. Which means, for a race so aware of the rest of the universe, that they were pretty damn insular. If you blew up Earth, at this point in the Federation, that probably wouldn't even kill the majority of humans in the galaxy, let alone drive them to extinction.

(Oh--another thought. From the backgrounds we know for characters in Starfleet, there is not only a bias towards humans, but Earth-born humans. Kirk is from Iowa, Picard is from France, Riker is from Alaska. Funny how underlying prejudices creep in even when the writers are trying to make a utopian future.)

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

You can make so much of political factions within the Vulcans to try to preserve their race by bringing the Romulans back in. Especially since a Romulan destroyed Vulcan--though I don't know how widely known that is, since he wasn't the "call up the doomed and gloat" type.

It would be a real test of how true to their logical devotion the Vulcans are to see if they could do this. It is known that the ship that attacked the Federation (and the Klingons) was captained by a Romulan. What has not been made known--far as I could tell--was that Nero was from the future. At the very least, the Enterprise crew and SpockPrime know, but whether that went out widely or not, I can't say. In the interest of not provoking the rest of the known planets to attack Romulus, they might suppress the information. Would the Vulcan High Mucky-Mucks keep the secret if they need the Romulans to breed? And would they be able to turn to that solution if needs be or will pride and vengeful-mindedness prevent them?

I'll chirp if I find any fic about it. Predictably, people are mired in shipping hot people together right now. I hope the political stuff will come out later.

The issue of Vulcan insularity is surprising in a way. After all, they're the ones who so routinely scanned systems looking for advanced cultures that they found Earth when Cochran had his warp test. But maybe such explorations are merely formalities to generate scientific data/satisfy curiosities. Either way, 10,000 is a tiny number--again, with BSG in the background, there were easily five times that number not only in space but on FTL-enabled ships. So Vulcans appear to be freakishly isolated, and the question is do they hold to that or expand in the interest of not repeating a past mistake?

As for Spock's position politically with the Vulcans--I think Sarek will certainly lobby for him, as will SpockPrime,

Lobby in which way? For his inclusion or for his freedom? We know SpockPrime believes that Spock needs to be with the Enterprise crew, so he would probably resist efforts to derail Spock from that course (especially after risking the freaking Earth on Spock and Kirk making nice). Sarek's voice might be distrusted because while Spock might be a mistake, it was Sarek's mistake to make (i.e. Sarek, not Spock, is the one automatically compromised by humanity).

But then there's this:
but keep in mind he's in a relationship with a human right now. I think that would largely be seen as him rejecting his Vulcan half and "going native" with the humans.

That, to me, would place Spock in a similar do-or-die sort of situation similar to the issue of whether to pull the Romulans into the Vulcan breeding circle. Either you can rebuff Spock for going native as you say, or you can officiously demand to repossess him to prevent Sarek's bloodline from disappearing in Vulcans entirely. The tipping factor will be SpockPrime, I suspect. Spock seemed willing to swallow the ignominies of the past and return to help the Vulcans rebuild and abandon his career at the Federation. SpockPrime was the one who told him not to, and he followed that advice. My sense is that SpockPrime wouldn't insist that Spock return to any unfeeling breeding program or anything, but if something were to happen to SpockPrime, might not Spock return to provide the assistance that his older self could not?

(As for humans being from Earth, surely there have been some space-borns? Tasha Yar was from the crazy rape planet! That's...er...one!)

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

My guess is that the party line will be that it was one Romulan acting independently. But they might have to acknowledge it was from the future because of the technology, to try to prevent widespread fear that Romulans have this weapons capability. (WMD?)

There seem to be two ways the Vulcans can go after this--to become even more insular to try and preserve their genetic lines, thier culture, and their traditions; or to try to integrate into society, in the hopes that by distributing their knowledge and culture, it will be preserved by becoming part of the majority culture. And looking at our world, there are examples of both. How this conflict plays out within the Vulcan community will determine how Spock is viewed.

SpockPrime I think would be an advocate for reaching out to the rest of the universe, but I wonder how widely his part in the destruction of Vulcan is known, and whether that would be used to dismiss him, or whether it would not be a factor, since it would be illogical to blame him for the implementation of a plan thought up by the Vulcan High Council.

Then there's another thought. Assuming that only 10,000 Vulcans survived (and that line, I think, could mean 10,000 Vulcans total, or 10,000 from Vulcan, but there are other Vulcans out there), then the Vulcans that remain would be of two types. One--ambassadors and dignitaries, sent as envoys to the Federation, who clearly remain loyal to the Vulcan High Council and traditional Vulcan values. And two--misfits, pariahs, outsiders--Vulcans that for one reason or another decided to leave their parent culture, like Spock. If so few live off the homeworld, then there must be a huge cultural value placed on staying on Vulcan, which means those who did not would be the revolutionaries. So not only do you have only a few Vulcans left, facing enormous decisions over what path their race should take, those who are left are from diametrically opposed ideologies.

Like I said, if the tie-ins don't explore this, it would be a crying shame.

I expect the long fic dealing with the politics to come, but there's only been time so far for pornlets. It takes months for there to be epics! Hopefully the momentum will keep up, rather than with Iron Man, where it's really petered out.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

So not only do you have only a few Vulcans left, facing enormous decisions over what path their race should take, those who are left are from diametrically opposed ideologies.

Love this! It's all extremely logical--naturally, the types who would leave Vulcan, if Vulcans are otherwise so insular, are the dignitaries doing their duty and the rebels unable to stay in their own people's society. Of 10,000, you could easily have a half-and-half mixture, and my guess is those pariahs won't be too keen to further traditional Vulcan society. If they're even a significant fraction of that 10,000, they could end the possibility of preserving Vulcans as were.

[avram]

Haven't seen the movie yet, but speaking as someone who's seen every episode of the original show: It's true, Vulcans aren't as logical as they claim. What they are for the most part is stoic.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of the pleasure in taking the Vulcans off their high horse comes from the schadenfreude we feel when hypocrites are exposed. The Vulcans aren't as logical as they pretend to be. So long as they have an ego, they cannot be as free from the compromises of pride et al. that they claim. Spock's perspective allows us to see this because he comes from within the Vulcan tradition but is still held as an outsider.

Interesting point about stoicism: Spock's father makes it clear that Vulcans do have emotions--deep and penetrating ones--but he is the one who most impresses upon Spock the need to control those impulses that he admits are more powerful than most would suspect. The issue then becomes that Vulcans appear to be emotionless only to non- or compromised-Vulcans like humanity or Spock, respectively. In order to fit in with Vulcan society, therefore, Spock must be what humans assume Vulcans are, not what Vulcans actually are. Because Spock is part human and tempestuous enough as a result to read the sublimation of his emotions as repression rather than just control their expression.

[bigscary.livejournal.com]

Vulcans, if anything, seem particularly eager to give humans the "Really, we're more passionate than you, and therefore MUST control ourselves so rigorously". If it is true, and not justification for their "religion", then it makes Spock, once again, very interesting -- he is able to experience emotion not because his humanity gives him emotion, but because his humanity tempers his emotions to the point he can experience them without entirely succumbing to them. One gets the feeling, for example, that Amok Time would have gone much worse for everyone had Spock not been a half-breed.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Funny how the "we control ourselves for your benefit" wasn't where the new movie took the Vulcan culture. Only Sarek hints that Vulcans have any emotion at all. But in light of this sort of background, it makes some sense out of his instructing Spock to be more controlled. Sarek must have feared that his son, being half human, wasn't able to control his Vulcan violence because of human weakness when the opposite is true--thanks to a human prediliction towards venting his outrage, Spock doesn't have to repress his emotions until they are so violent.

Alas, since his only emotional outbreaks were violent, it was hard to tell that from this movie.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I still don't get SpockPrime's plan about this--you, Kirk, must be the captain, so what you need to do is get me so mad I completely lose it. ... Don't tell me SpockPrime didn't know how badly that would go.

Kinky.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I think it was all an excuse for SpockPrime to show up at the end and have a joke with himself at Kirk's stupidity in believing him. Somebody didn't read their time-travel theory textbook as closely as he ought to have done!

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

Or maybe SpockPrime just enjoyed strangling KirkPrime so much (in "Amok Time") he wanted to guaruntee that his younger self got the same opportunity.

Alternatively, Spock hasn't been in this timeline for very long. It's possible (though not likely after the mindmeld) that he thinks Kirk is further out of the academy than he is, and is therefore freaked out that he's not yet captain. Cause otherrwise, why the machinations to get him to be a captain? Career progress takes time.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

Vulcans do have emotions--deep and penetrating ones--but he is the one who most impresses upon Spock the need to control those impulses that he admits are more powerful than most would suspect.

This is the defining divide with the Romulans, no? That Vulcan emotions are so powerful and so overwhelming, that Vulcans have chosen to distance themselves from them to try to avoid the devestation they can cause when they let their emotions go. Whereas Romulans embraced those emotions. Which is why Romulans are the better villain--all the logic and strategic strength of the Vulcans used with complete capriciousness.

[avram]

Except that Romulans don't seem all that passionately emotional themselves. They're stoic and controlled, like the Vulcans, but in the service of xenophobia and war.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Doesn't sound to me like Romulans are all that far removed from Vulcans then. Save for the warmongering, Vulcans are so racist and dismissive of non-Vulcans in this movie as to make them essentially xenophobic (on their own planet; they are capable of working with others elsewhere, but the homeland is not for the infidel it seems).

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

It's perfectly possible to be capable of working with other races and still be completely intolerant of the presence of the other in their own community. I could point to examples in our world...

I haven't seen enough about the Romulans recently to know, but I seem to remember there being discussion of the seperation between Vulcans and Romulans being because Romulans embraced emotion and Vulcans repressed it.

I am beginning to lament that my main Trek show, TNG, has no Vulcan main characters, cause I just find their whole culture and their role in the Federation fascinating.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Aside from Spock, I don't find Vulcans all that interesting. He's the only window into their culture that isn't fogged over because he doesn't have the same level of control as they do. I hardly remember any of the other Vulcan characters ever losing their cool long enough for me to figure out their deal.

Reserve, stoicism, repression--these are things that are only really alluring if you think they are hiding something explosive. With Vulcans, they are, but the explosion happens but rarely. With Spock, it's like Old Faithful.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I know you hate Enterprise, and even for me, who liked it, T'Pol was the worst part, but there was one interesting episode. In a previous episode, T'Pol meets Vulcans who have embraced the power of their emotions, which, when combined with their telepathy, is feared will lead to madness. Traditional Vulcan beliefs are that if you embrace this at all or mindmeld with someone who has, you are forever tainted. Essentially--you have mind AIDS. In that ep, T'Pol is mentally raped by one of these Vulcans. In a later episode, her Vulcan superiors find out about this and try to decomission her because of teh mind AIDS. She won't admit that she mindmelded against her will, because that would validate their prejudice.

So (in a terribly heavy-handed allegorical way), you get a glimpse into the deep-seated prejudices that drive the stoicism of the Vulcans. And you get a look at what some of these Vulcan rebels still left might look like.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

....and you get to give what is an essentially asexual character a rape plotline. Greeeaaaat.

Not that it's not interesting with the rest of it, but yeaaah...

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

T'Pol? Not asexual so much. She had a major romantic plotline through the later seasons.

Plus, you can't have a female telepath without her being mind-raped. It's the rules.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

The rules seem to be that you can't have a female character without her being raped. Sigh. I'm sorry, I'm overly sensitive to this since I read a comprehensive list of female characters--just in comics!--who'd been assaulted. Then there's the fact that I watch Heroes and there are only two female characters total but they've all been raped (or nearly so). Sigh some more.

[ecmyers.livejournal.com]

In what I saw of Enterprise, the Vulcans are very negative towards humans every chance they get.

God help me, I'm tempted to finish watching that show now that my life is so steeped in Star Trek again.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

How far did you get into Enterprise? I mean, if it's not far, I would suggest staying away. If you almost finished it, then maybe it's okay to put it to bed. I've been considering revisiting Voyager myself. I did enjoy what I saw while it was on. (Though, again, I only got involved because of the Seven of Nine plotline which was, for as long as I was watching, pretty good.)

[ecmyers.livejournal.com]

I saw the first season and some of the second, and select episodes from the last season when it seemed to improve. I was gifted with Chinese DVD bootlegs of that and Voyager (if you want to see it), which is good because I never would have paid for either.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I appreciate the offer, but I have to get to a point in a "good" series where I like it before I start tackling stuff I know was probably not as good as I remember. (This being my problem with TNG these days.) So until I finally get more involved with DS9, probably better to wait.

And yeah, good on you for not paying for those. Totally not worth it.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I actually liked Enterprise.

I think I'm the only one.

[moonlightalice.livejournal.com]

Two things:

Something a Twitter friend pointed out to me that I never noticed before was how disturbingly the new film wiped out "alienness." I don't want to spoil the film here but you know what I'm talking about. In addition, Spock's entire character art consists of him basically shoving aside his Vulcan nature to embrace the "normal" and "ideal" humanness. It, too, felt antithetical to the rest of Trek, which is all about embracing what makes you different and accepting and celebrating that.

[moonlightalice.livejournal.com]

Uh, second thing (hit post too soon!):

The Vulcans have emotions. Their history is that they were on the edge of self-destruction: barbaric, violent, on the brink. One guy led a kind of movement towards logic and reason as a way to pull back from the brink of self destruction. It gave them civilization and order where there had previously been none, and since then it's become a hallmark of what saved and perpetuated their species.

Those who rejected this philosophy went off and founded Romulus. They're emotional, violent, and unstable, and their history is much closer to the Roman Empire. But they're cousins, still, and all those things exist in both of them.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

It's neat--that interconnectedness. It also explains why Nero wasn't keen on going back and stopping disaster so much as tearing shit up and making Spock's entire race--well, both of them--suffer for his failure.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I don't think this Trek "wiped out alienness," though, as I said, I do think that the diminution of other races to make humans look better was sort of obnoxious. But that's hardly anything new to the franchise as a whole. (Aliens are frequently shown to be the moral inferiors to the human Federation types.)

As for Spock, they took him in a new direction where he would start, at an earlier age, to embrace the compromise of humanity. While that can read as a rejection of his Vulcan heritage, I don't think the movie entirely repudiated it. For starters, being Vulcan, even half Vulcan, is really useful. The human side is more a pressure valve for letting out the really violent stuff as you mention Vulcans have. I think it just shows that stoicism and repression aren't safe habits.

[mithras03.livejournal.com]

Aside from all the excellent debate, I love how you worked in Pride and Prejudice :-P

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

It fit! I couldn't believe how well it fit! I totally thought of that immediately as I tried to work out how there was a difference between being, admittedly, rather awesome, and being so full of yourself as a result. Oh, Mr. Darcy, is there nothing you can't teach us?