more TOS viewing
May. 28th, 2009 03:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kindkitI've been watching Star Trek: TOS for the first time and writing up my reactions, but this is the first time I've remembered to cross-post here at DreamWidth (previous posts can be found at my LiveJournal if you're interested).
Spoilers for "Court Martial," "The Return of the Archons," "Space Seed," "A Taste of Armageddon," and "This Side of Paradise" under the cut.
Court Martial
Yay, another court martial! This means the return of the pretty pretty princess outfits, aka the Starfleet dress uniforms.
The plot was exceedingly silly. But there was a woman lawyer! Who did her job well even though she was (of course) in love with Kirk. And who got to wear a skirt of a length that did not display her underpants. This was of the good, as was the casting of two actors of color to play admirals. It's interesting that the show can so clearly and deliberately dismantle ideas of white superiority yet (generally) reinforce male superiority with such zest. I suppose part of it's an accident of history, since the show aired before second wave feminism had made much of an impact. And of course even now over 40 years later, it's still common in many circles to claim innate differences in the abilities of men and women; people who can recognize that same argument as nonsense when talking about race often accept it about sex. But still, I'm nonplussed by the show's failure to follow through on its own ideas.
The Return of the Archons
What, were all the Starfleet costumes delayed at the dry cleaners? Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. I enjoyed seeing the cast in their old-fashioned suits, and Sulu was blazing hot in his Regency clothes at the very beginning. (Clearly they were borrowing some other show's costumes and either ran out of Old West suits or couldn't find one to fit Takei--it was lampshaded with a line written in for Sulu about how somebody had screwed up his clothes.)
And it was fun to see Kirk give a computer a nervous breakdown. Where Zoe (from Doctor Who) destroys hostile computers with mathematics, Kirk soliloquizes them to death. *snerk*
Space Seed
The first episode that had me saying, "kill me now." Did we really need a female character who's incompetent at her job and yearns for the domination of an alpha male? I was also really uncomfortable with how the episode bought into the pseudo-science of eugenics. How, 20 years after Naziism, could some writer have thought it was a good idea to present "breeding the master race" as (a) possible, and (b) morally ambiguous-verging-on-acceptable? The presentation of Khan as the bad guy was halfhearted at best; Kirk sympathizes with the murderous bastard enough to let him have his own planet to be Fuhrer of, for fuck's sake. I like to think Spock's comment at the end about how he's like to know how it'll all turn out in a hundred years was a tactful way of saying, "Kirk, you absolute moron." Whatever trouble Khan ends up causing Kirk in The Wrath of Khan (for which I am relatively unspoiled, so please don't tell me), Kirk deserves it. Drooling over the greatness of would-be tyrants = seriously uncool.
A Taste of Armageddon
Could've been titled "Mutually Assured Destruction Is Great!" It was weirdly militaristic for a Star Trek episode: diplomats are idiots and the only way to establish a real peace is through military action. I did love David Opatoshu's performance as Anan 7, though. And I found him kinda hot. I blame Doctor Who for giving men a men-with-goatees fetish.
This Side of Paradise
Oh, Spock. The show keeps breaking you into little bits, and that breaks me into little bits. "I don't belong anymore." "For the first time in my life, I was happy." *weeps*
Until this episode I didn't know what to think about the typical fanfic characterization of Spock as, well, a giant woobie. But now I see that his woobieness is completely canon. Behind all that self-control he feels deeply and is tormented by loneliness and sadness (after all, when the other alien emotion pollen breaks down his control in "The Naked Time," he can't stop crying). There's a Tragic Mulatto aspect to this that makes me a bit uncomfortable politically, but I think it's not entirely as simple as that. Spock's not so much caught between two worlds as he is internally caught, trying to live up to a standard of Vulcan behavior that I suspect few Vulcans, full-blood or not, ever meet (this last bit is based largely on Diane Duane's novels so is fanonical in a sense). Spock is in a sort of authenticity trap because he can never be Vulcan enough. Part of my growing personal fanon here is that he left Vulcan so young (and that part's canonical, isn't it?) that he never figured out that adult Vulcan lives don't adhere perfectly to the culture's ideology. Psychologically he's still a kid trying to be perfect, trying to obey the law of the father and inevitably failing.
Returning to the episode, I didn't entirely believe Spock's insta-love for Leila Kalomi. I think Spock's line "I can love you" is very telling--with his self-control gone, he suddenly, desperately needs love and belonging, and she's offering it. But he seems to be trying to steer things into a three-way relationship that includes Kirk. That's why he keeps trying to talk Kirk into accepting a dose of the pollen; it's why he and Leila plan to meet Kirk when he says he's beaming down. (And there are [deliberate?] suggestions of polyamory throughout the episode--everybody loves everybody else, we're told again and again.)
It's significant, too, that when Spock explains to Leila why he won't return to the surface with her, he doesn't just cite his loyalty to Starfleet and the Enterprise, but also his personal loyalty to "that man on the bridge." It's not just love vs. duty; there are two loves that pull Spock in different directions. (Incidentally, the awkward conversation between Kirk and Spock after their fight was just brilliant--Spock trying to get reassurance that Kirk didn't mean the things he said, and Kirk trying to offer it, but neither of them quite daring to say it directly.)
My overall reaction to the episode is fairly conflicted. Here's the thing: I don't see what was so bad about Planet of the AlienSex Pollen MDMA Paradise. So what if the colonists didn't accomplish anything big? They had, as the leader kept insisting, everything they needed. They were happy without any drawbacks except not being ambitious anymore. It seems like a decent tradeoff to me.
There seem to be a lot of Trek episodes like this that warn about false happiness. Is this some kind of 1960s thing? "Oh my god, people are too damn happy! We must warn them about the dangers of that!" I can spot the drugs metaphor, of course, and maybe the whole business is a way of saying "Hey kids, don't smoke pot!" But if so, the episode failed, because it made being a stoned lazy hippie look awfully appealing, and a life of ambition and achievement look pretty damn grim.
(Oh, I should also mention my headdesking at the idea that you can colonize a planet with 150 people. A species with that small a breeding population is doomed as hell.)
*****
Spoilers for "Court Martial," "The Return of the Archons," "Space Seed," "A Taste of Armageddon," and "This Side of Paradise" under the cut.
Court Martial
Yay, another court martial! This means the return of the pretty pretty princess outfits, aka the Starfleet dress uniforms.
The plot was exceedingly silly. But there was a woman lawyer! Who did her job well even though she was (of course) in love with Kirk. And who got to wear a skirt of a length that did not display her underpants. This was of the good, as was the casting of two actors of color to play admirals. It's interesting that the show can so clearly and deliberately dismantle ideas of white superiority yet (generally) reinforce male superiority with such zest. I suppose part of it's an accident of history, since the show aired before second wave feminism had made much of an impact. And of course even now over 40 years later, it's still common in many circles to claim innate differences in the abilities of men and women; people who can recognize that same argument as nonsense when talking about race often accept it about sex. But still, I'm nonplussed by the show's failure to follow through on its own ideas.
The Return of the Archons
What, were all the Starfleet costumes delayed at the dry cleaners? Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. I enjoyed seeing the cast in their old-fashioned suits, and Sulu was blazing hot in his Regency clothes at the very beginning. (Clearly they were borrowing some other show's costumes and either ran out of Old West suits or couldn't find one to fit Takei--it was lampshaded with a line written in for Sulu about how somebody had screwed up his clothes.)
And it was fun to see Kirk give a computer a nervous breakdown. Where Zoe (from Doctor Who) destroys hostile computers with mathematics, Kirk soliloquizes them to death. *snerk*
Space Seed
The first episode that had me saying, "kill me now." Did we really need a female character who's incompetent at her job and yearns for the domination of an alpha male? I was also really uncomfortable with how the episode bought into the pseudo-science of eugenics. How, 20 years after Naziism, could some writer have thought it was a good idea to present "breeding the master race" as (a) possible, and (b) morally ambiguous-verging-on-acceptable? The presentation of Khan as the bad guy was halfhearted at best; Kirk sympathizes with the murderous bastard enough to let him have his own planet to be Fuhrer of, for fuck's sake. I like to think Spock's comment at the end about how he's like to know how it'll all turn out in a hundred years was a tactful way of saying, "Kirk, you absolute moron." Whatever trouble Khan ends up causing Kirk in The Wrath of Khan (for which I am relatively unspoiled, so please don't tell me), Kirk deserves it. Drooling over the greatness of would-be tyrants = seriously uncool.
A Taste of Armageddon
Could've been titled "Mutually Assured Destruction Is Great!" It was weirdly militaristic for a Star Trek episode: diplomats are idiots and the only way to establish a real peace is through military action. I did love David Opatoshu's performance as Anan 7, though. And I found him kinda hot. I blame Doctor Who for giving men a men-with-goatees fetish.
This Side of Paradise
Oh, Spock. The show keeps breaking you into little bits, and that breaks me into little bits. "I don't belong anymore." "For the first time in my life, I was happy." *weeps*
Until this episode I didn't know what to think about the typical fanfic characterization of Spock as, well, a giant woobie. But now I see that his woobieness is completely canon. Behind all that self-control he feels deeply and is tormented by loneliness and sadness (after all, when the other alien emotion pollen breaks down his control in "The Naked Time," he can't stop crying). There's a Tragic Mulatto aspect to this that makes me a bit uncomfortable politically, but I think it's not entirely as simple as that. Spock's not so much caught between two worlds as he is internally caught, trying to live up to a standard of Vulcan behavior that I suspect few Vulcans, full-blood or not, ever meet (this last bit is based largely on Diane Duane's novels so is fanonical in a sense). Spock is in a sort of authenticity trap because he can never be Vulcan enough. Part of my growing personal fanon here is that he left Vulcan so young (and that part's canonical, isn't it?) that he never figured out that adult Vulcan lives don't adhere perfectly to the culture's ideology. Psychologically he's still a kid trying to be perfect, trying to obey the law of the father and inevitably failing.
Returning to the episode, I didn't entirely believe Spock's insta-love for Leila Kalomi. I think Spock's line "I can love you" is very telling--with his self-control gone, he suddenly, desperately needs love and belonging, and she's offering it. But he seems to be trying to steer things into a three-way relationship that includes Kirk. That's why he keeps trying to talk Kirk into accepting a dose of the pollen; it's why he and Leila plan to meet Kirk when he says he's beaming down. (And there are [deliberate?] suggestions of polyamory throughout the episode--everybody loves everybody else, we're told again and again.)
It's significant, too, that when Spock explains to Leila why he won't return to the surface with her, he doesn't just cite his loyalty to Starfleet and the Enterprise, but also his personal loyalty to "that man on the bridge." It's not just love vs. duty; there are two loves that pull Spock in different directions. (Incidentally, the awkward conversation between Kirk and Spock after their fight was just brilliant--Spock trying to get reassurance that Kirk didn't mean the things he said, and Kirk trying to offer it, but neither of them quite daring to say it directly.)
My overall reaction to the episode is fairly conflicted. Here's the thing: I don't see what was so bad about Planet of the Alien
There seem to be a lot of Trek episodes like this that warn about false happiness. Is this some kind of 1960s thing? "Oh my god, people are too damn happy! We must warn them about the dangers of that!" I can spot the drugs metaphor, of course, and maybe the whole business is a way of saying "Hey kids, don't smoke pot!" But if so, the episode failed, because it made being a stoned lazy hippie look awfully appealing, and a life of ambition and achievement look pretty damn grim.
(Oh, I should also mention my headdesking at the idea that you can colonize a planet with 150 people. A species with that small a breeding population is doomed as hell.)
*****
