Efrosian Federation President

Discussion in 'Star Trek Movies I-X' started by c0rnedfr0g, Sep 6, 2018.

  1. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

    Joined:
    Nov 4, 2001
    Location:
    AI Generated Madness
    Longinus, JonnyQuest037 and Kor like this.
  2. JonnyQuest037

    JonnyQuest037 Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 6, 2005
    Location:
    Verona, New Jersey, USA
    "Whoever" is @DavidAGoodman, and he's a member here. His profile says that he hasn't posted in a while, but maybe he'll be kind enough to answer this question for us.
     
  3. Starfury

    Starfury Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Oct 11, 2006
    As a kid I just found it odd, that the president not even once called someone a dumbass.
     
  4. JonnyQuest037

    JonnyQuest037 Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 6, 2005
    Location:
    Verona, New Jersey, USA
    That 70's Show was still seven years in Kurtwood Smith's future. At the time he was still best known as Clarence Boddicker from Robocop.
     
    Marsden likes this.
  5. Tosk

    Tosk Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2001
    Location:
    On the run.
    I never mistook the Prez for a Klingon, but I also never realized he was blind 'til it was pointed out to me. So, y'know.
     
  6. Phil123

    Phil123 Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    May 18, 2017
    Location:
    London
    Never confused me, and I've loved that movie since childhood. When it comes down to it, a great deal of Star Trek aliens are bumpy headed variations.


    I really liked the president, and the callback to ST:IV
     
    RedAlert and Bry_Sinclair like this.
  7. WarpFactorZ

    WarpFactorZ Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 10, 2013
    Location:
    Configuring the Ontarian Manifold
    Yes, one of my favourite lines from TUC is: "This president is NOT above the law!", which was a clear homage to Boddicker. I laughed out loud when I heard that on opening day.
     
    JonnyQuest037 likes this.
  8. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 10, 2005
    Location:
    Confederation of Earth
    Blind? How do you figure that? :confused:
     
  9. Tosk

    Tosk Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2001
    Location:
    On the run.
    I didn't figure it at all, that's just apparently the intention of the filmmakers. (Presumably his glasses work somewhat like Geordi's VISOR.)
     
  10. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 10, 2005
    Location:
    Confederation of Earth
    Where did you hear that?
     
  11. Tosk

    Tosk Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2001
    Location:
    On the run.
    I honestly can't recall where I heard it for the first time, but MemAlpha says it came up on the DVDs Okuda text commentary. So either there, or someone else who mentioned it here. :)
     
  12. Bry_Sinclair

    Bry_Sinclair Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2009
    Location:
    Scotland
    It's backstage notes that Efrosians are either blind of have very poor eyesight due to the conditions on their homeworld. The silvery-haired aid see at Khitomer was meant to lead him around and I think there was a deleted scene that showed this.
     
    JonnyQuest037 likes this.
  13. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 10, 2005
    Location:
    Confederation of Earth
    The Saratoga helmsman didn't seem to be blind...
     
  14. Tosk

    Tosk Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2001
    Location:
    On the run.
    He does do a lot of staring though. ;)
     
  15. johnnybear

    johnnybear Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2014
    Obviously the Efrosians weren't affected by the Augment virus then, or were they? :bolian:
    JB
     
  16. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2004
    Location:
    New Therin Park, Andor (via Australia)
    Many years ago, on this board, we tracked down Kirk R Thatcher (the punk on the bus in ST IV), who was also an associate producer on the movie. It was his job to write captions for publicity shots and he named the alien makeup used on the ST VI Federation President as "Efrosian", as a joke namedrop for Mel Efros, the Production Manager.

    I love the irony that Starfleeters are biased against Klingons but their own Federation President is also bumpy headed. The glasses and stark blue contact lenses were originally intended to convey that the President's alien eyes rendered him blind in certain lighting.

    When the makeup was used (with white contact lenses) in ST IV, Nick Ramos' character was described as a male Deltan in the novelisation...

    See my old blog entry:
    http://therinofandor.blogspot.com/2006/11/truth-about-efrosians-pard_116269248336471480.html
     
    JonnyQuest037 likes this.
  17. Tosk

    Tosk Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2001
    Location:
    On the run.
    But they aren't against them because of their foreheads, are they? It certainly wasn't the case in TOS at least. :)
     
  18. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2004
    Location:
    New Therin Park, Andor (via Australia)
    Of course not, but many dark-skinned people reported increased harassment by white people after 9/11. The people of Cheron in TOS and Andorians of ENT also made sweeping value judgements based on appearance.
     
  19. Sci

    Sci Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2002
    Location:
    Montgomery County, State of Maryland
    In retrospect, I find myself thinking that it would have been better for the Federation President in TUC to be another species; Efrosians do look more similar to Klingons than would be preferable if you're making a major motion picture aimed at a mainstream, non-Trekkie audience base.

    Personally, I'd go for an Andorian -- a very alien look, a strong visual contrast between him and the other alien races in the film, easy to pick him out from a distance, and generally I just think Andorians look cool.
     
    RedAlert likes this.
  20. JonnyQuest037

    JonnyQuest037 Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 6, 2005
    Location:
    Verona, New Jersey, USA
    It never occurred to me that Efrosians resembled Klingons until I came across this thread. It's only a slight resemblance at best, IMO -- It only goes as far as "long hair, bumpy forehead," a description that could apply to any number of Trek aliens.

    And the Efrosians really don't look much like the STVI version of Klingons, who, generally speaking, didn't have the huge hair that the Klingons in TNG and the other movies did. Chancellor Gorkon's hair was pinned back, General Chang was bald with a tiny ponytail in the back, Chang's daughter Azetbur had a skullcap, the commandant of the prison camp on Rura Penthe was largely bald with some stringy hair, and Brigadier Kerla and Col. Worf both had straight hair that was tied up. Pretty much every Klingon you see in STVI had long, straight hair that was kept flush to the side or tied back in a pony tail. Even the Klingon Ambassador played by John Schuck had his hair pinned back, and he was probably re-using the same wig he wore in STIV. Now compare all of those with the huge wig that the UFP President had. There's just not that much resemblance.

    The chances of casual fans being confused was pretty limited. It's only because you're more of a hardcore Trek fan that you're even making this association.
     
    Therin of Andor likes this.