Chapel in the movies

[Pauln6]

I feel bad for Chapel and Rand. Their exclusion (for whatever reasons) from Star Trek II after appearing in TMP led to them not being thought of as part of the "core" TOS cast to the public at large, despite the aforementioned later appearances.

This is how I feel. I was disappointed that the writers of the new movies felt the need to re-write Chekov's age to include him instead of introducing him a couple of years further along in the timeline. They gave Chapel only a name-check (as a nurse and not a scientist) before writing her out in a rather insulting way and Rand, who was easily old enough to have been Pike's yeoman and/or could have been redrafted as a security guard, has got no movie time at all.

The effort that they put in to upgrade the female characters has been pretty deplorable beyond showing us that Uhura can fight and shoot a bit, and that was always true.

 

[Nightowl1701]

Rand was redrafted as a security guard in the IDW comics. (My casting pick would have been Hayden Panettiere.)

 

[Pauln6]

Rand was redrafted as a security guard in the IDW comics. (My casting pick would have been Hayden Panettiere.)

Or rather a security trained crewman posted as a yeoman - my principal criticism there is that she hasn't yet been used as a fleshed out character or been given any actual yeoman duties. She's also been missing for about the last year (possibly because they do finally intend to use her in the third movie or more likely want to keep their options open and so the comic writers are steering clear for now).

It was very curious that they chose to expressly torpedo Chapel's continued contribution to the franchise though. I'll admit I wanted her to be reintroduced as a biologist rather than a nurse so she would have her own niche and not be forced to hang off McCoy's arm to contribute to a story. However I was unpleasantly surprised at the astonishing lack of respect they gave the character, especially coming at a time when Majel was very ill. Showing Chapel some respect would have been a nice tribute IMO.

 

[Nightowl1701]

I'll give Abrams and company the benefit of the doubt when it came to ST-XI. They likely meant to come back and include a more solid cameo for Chapel (and/or Rand) in the film, but the WGA strike torpedoed the possibility (preempting even reshoots). And with STID and Carol almost explicitly filling Chapel's place in the crew, they probably figured "Eh, nobody we pick is gonna live up to Majel anyway" and shoehorned her into a joke about Kirk's reputation as a lothario just so no one would ask "why no mention?"

 

[Lance]

^ Tbh, I'd almost have rathered she hadn't been mentioned at all in STiD, than have been written out in such a way (as being just another notch on Kirk's bed-post).

 

[borgboy]

I was hoping for a modest role for Chapel and Rand. I'm still pretty disgusted at the way they wrote Chapel out off screen in such a tacky way. I agree, it would be better not to use the character at all that to treat her like that. It's an ugly reminder that the movies could do better with their female characters.

 

[Mudd]

While Rand appeared regularly for most of the first season of TOS, she was discontinued as a character after "Miri." Chapel was an occasional, recurring character. Neither was a "core member of the cast."

 

[Maurice]

Rand was intended to be in the top of the 2nd tier characters, like McCoy, but then they obviously couldn't figure out how to use her in the show, so she rarely had much to do, which is apparent from the episodes she appears in, regardless of what the truth is about why the character/actress was dropped.

 

[TheAlmanac]

While Rand appeared regularly for most of the first season of TOS, she was discontinued as a character after "Miri." Chapel was an occasional, recurring character. Neither was a "core member of the cast."

Chapel was in nearly as many episodes as Chekov (particularly if you count TAS), but I think playing the numbers game kind of misses the point about how/why it would've been nice to see more of them in the movies.

Besides, none of that stopped the makers of TMP from including them.

 

[Pauln6]

While Rand appeared regularly for most of the first season of TOS, she was discontinued as a character after "Miri." Chapel was an occasional, recurring character. Neither was a "core member of the cast."

Rand was the female lead. She was most definitely a core member of the cast even if she only survived for the first half of the first season.

If they can replace Shatner, they can certainly replace Majel! No, the issue here is that Hollywood writers are still quite sexist. They think that having a couple of highish profile women is as good as having a diverse integrated cast.

Having read the recent City on the Edge of Forever adaptation, it's frustrating to see that sixties sexism stood in the way of what could have been a great character and that 21st century sexism is standing in the way of what could be a great character... La plus ca change...

 

[Lance]

Rand was also featured prominantly in the pre-series promotional photos alongside Kirk and Spock. It was clear that they had some idea of Grace Whitney being an important part of the fabric of Star Trek, and the love interest role in "Dagger of the Mind", which goes even further with the Kirk romance angle, was written with Yeoman Rand in mind (before circumstances unfortunately required a rethink).

The theory that Rand was let go "because it limited story-telling possibilities for the captain" is something I've come to regard as nonsense (and clearly a case of creating a more palatable story for public consumption than the truth).

I think it's regrettable. I know people who hate Rand and think she's got some truly corny dialogue in "Miri", but I *liked* the idea of the captain having this kind of on-again/off-again, unattainable romance thing going on. It was only beneficial to the character of James T. Kirk to have that kind of regular internal conflict. I seriously doubt it would've led to anything over time, let's face it Spock/Chapel never did, but still, what there is of Kirk/Rand in season one is quite interesting... it's almost a shame the JJTrek movies parachuted Carol Marcus in there instead of doing something with the Janice Rand character.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Yeah, it seems Rand got Chuck Cunningham'd; anyway TV Tropes lists her in their examples.

 

[EnriqueH]

I actually thought Whitney gave a great performance in Miri, which was otherwise not the best episode because of all the annoying kids. But Whitney actually gives the episode some re-watchability.

 

[borgboy]

It's still all too common to have a movie with five lead character, with only one of them being a woman. I think it's a shame that the new movies haven't had a place for Chapel and Rand, and I agree that Rand added something to the original series that was lost with her. I like the dynamic with her and Kirk, and I don't see how having her around with both of them attracted to each other but unable to act on it due to their positions, would've taken anything away from storytelling potential.

 

[MacLeod]

^ You've never sat and listen to two women talking clothes, have you?

"I haven't wore these yet, just got 'em at this hot botic. Now this headband I did wear once."

"It's so cute."

"Isn't it !!!"

Like most men, I tend to just automatically tune that out.

Tune what out?

 

[EnriqueH]

Careful, guys.

The Ghostbusters will show up any second to cross YOUR streams.

Or worse:

Who knows, Timby may show up and call you misogynist!

 

[Peach Wookiee]

Careful, guys.

The Ghostbusters will show up any second to cross YOUR streams.

Or worse:

Who knows, Timby may show up and call you misogynist!

You have received a warning for trolling, EnriqueH. Back off. This is unacceptable behavior.

 

[EnriqueH]

Ok, well, you guys obviously don't understand my sense of humor.

Busting chops is an everyday thing with me, (giving AND receiving), but I guess it's not for everybody.

 

[Maurice]

Interestingly, after Grace Lee's contract expired there's a first season memo where Roddenberry suggests they could maybe bring her back in as an occasional guest player (minus the space basket weave), so that was in his head but for some unknown reason they didn't act on it and we got the yeoman of the week for the rest of season one.

 

[Dukhat]

Ok, well, you guys obviously don't understand my sense of humor.

Or maybe you're not as funny as you think you are.