Was Corvette Kirk Trying to... (spoilers)

[Croz]

Was Corvette Kirk trying to commit suicide?

Second time I saw the scene, it struck me that way.

He's stuck on earth with his stepdad, his mom was "off-planet." He's racing fast as can be in the car. No worry at all when the top blew off. He didn't stop or try to show off when he saw his friend, and he was racing at top speed toward the cliff.

At the last second he yells, and then jumps out.

Struck me like he was trying to go out in a blaze of glory and couldn't do it.

Any thoughts?

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

It seems to me he simply wanted to wreck his stepdad's car.

If he really wanted to commit suicide, he wouldn't have looked back with that smug grin of "look, I got his car, ain't I cool?".

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

It looked to me like he was having trouble driving it to begin with, when the cop told him to pull over he lost control and crashed through the gate, and couldn't figure out how to stop when he saw the quarry coming up.

 

[Icarus]

Yeah - and he didn't head for the cliff intentionally - he turned down that road to get away from the 5-0

 

[Icarus]

It looked to me like he was having trouble driving it to begin with, when the cop told him to pull over he lost control and crashed through the gate, and couldn't figure out how to stop when he saw the quarry coming up.

I don't buy this one, considering he knew how to take it out of gear, pull the e-brake and jump out the door

 

[nx1701g]

This is why I liked the novelizations description (and I hope its included in the directors cut as a deleted scene). Kirk was pretty much a suck up to his stepdad up until then and George (renamed Johnny) running away changed all that.

 

[indranee]

oh, yes, he knew how to drive that thing!!

he was trying to wreck his stepdad's precious car.

 

[indranee]

This is why I liked the novelizations description (and I hope its included in the directors cut as a deleted scene). Kirk was pretty much a suck up to his stepdad up until then and George (renamed Johnny) running away changed all that.

interesting. so does the novel say what he was trying to do in that scene?

 

[Franklin]

It looked to me like he was having trouble driving it to begin with, when the cop told him to pull over he lost control and crashed through the gate, and couldn't figure out how to stop when he saw the quarry coming up.

That's how I saw it. I don't think he intended to enter the quarry. I also doubt he was trying to destroy it (or himself) considered how flustered he seemed when the roof flew off and that he was blasting music as he drove.

He also didn't seem suicidal talking to the offficer. He sounded like a punk.

 

[indranee]

he seemed flustered to you when the roof flew off?!

to me, he seemed triumphant.

 

[USS Triumphant]

to me, he seemed triumphant.

Hey!

I had nothing to do with any of it.

 

[USS Gettysburg]

Can we get back to the fact that he wrecked a 400 year old car! A 1960's Corvette! One of the most gorgeous cars ever made! That's just wrong JJ, wrong. Why couldn't it have been a Dharma VW Van or something! Anything else!

That thing is beyond classic in Trek time, that thing should have been in the Smithsonian. Every time I saw the trailer I would shake my head. Such a waste of a beautiful car. Couldn't he have taken his father's hovercraft out and blown it up or something!

By the way the title of the song playing is Sabatoge. From watching Lost, JJ picks his songs very carefully. Something tells me Kirk wanted to blow that car sky high after taking it for a joy ride.

 

[Trekker4747]

Wrecking the Corvette served no purpose.

Except one.

It was done to tell the audience that this wasn't your father's Trek and that the "new Trek" is throwing the old one off a cliff and starting over.

The car was of the same vintage as TOS, being driven by a "new Kirk," and we even have the car's owner on the phone telling NewKirk that if he "puts one scratch in the car I'll be pissed" (or similar sentiment) obviously Kirk's stepfather/the man on the phone is meant to be the fans.

So that's the purpose of the Corvette scene. It was JJ's way of telling you that this was a new Trek and he was tossing out everything that has came before it no matter what the fans were saying. It was JJ's middle finger to all of us.

 

[urbandk]

Young Kirk was trying to outwit the Robot Policeman. "Wrecking Corvette. Does not compute."

 

[USS Gettysburg]

It was JJ's middle finger to all of us.

He's got one hot middle finger then...

 

[urbandk]

Wrecking the Corvette served no purpose.

Except one.

It was done to tell the audience that this wasn't your father's Trek and that the "new Trek" is throwing the old one off a cliff and starting over.

The car was of the same vintage as TOS, being driven by a "new Kirk," and we even have the car's owner on the phone telling NewKirk that if he "puts one scratch in the car I'll be pissed" (or similar sentiment) obviously Kirk's stepfather/the man on the phone is meant to be the fans.

So that's the purpose of the Corvette scene. It was JJ's way of telling you that this was a new Trek and he was tossing out everything that has came before it no matter what the fans were saying. It was JJ's middle finger to all of us.

I thought it was his high-five to all of us. I liked it.

Besides, the Beastie Boys are Trekkies, as my avatar proves!

 

[indranee]

me too!

 

[Trekker4747]

Wrecking the Corvette served no purpose.

Except one.

It was done to tell the audience that this wasn't your father's Trek and that the "new Trek" is throwing the old one off a cliff and starting over.

The car was of the same vintage as TOS, being driven by a "new Kirk," and we even have the car's owner on the phone telling NewKirk that if he "puts one scratch in the car I'll be pissed" (or similar sentiment) obviously Kirk's stepfather/the man on the phone is meant to be the fans.

So that's the purpose of the Corvette scene. It was JJ's way of telling you that this was a new Trek and he was tossing out everything that has came before it no matter what the fans were saying. It was JJ's middle finger to all of us.

I thought it was his high-five to all of us. I liked it.

Besides, the Beastie Boys are Trekkies, as my avatar proves!

Yeah. It was a high-five to all of us by taking a car made in the same year TOS came out, had someone screaming about not putting a scratch in a prestine car, and then having said prestine car made the year TOS came out thrown off a cliff.

It was JJ's way of saying "forget about everything you've known and seen before. I'm tossing it out. This is MY Trek and I'm doing it MY way!"

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

Can we get back to the fact that he wrecked a 400 year old car! A 1960's Corvette! One of the most gorgeous cars ever made! That's just wrong JJ, wrong. Why couldn't it have been a Dharma VW Van or something! Anything else!

I agree with you. I'm just glad they didn't use a '73 corvette; It would have made my eyes water almost as much as the kelvin scene.

 

[Jeri]

By coincidence, I just finished listening to this part about five minutes ago. Yes, Jim did have a fleeting desire to end it all, but survival instinct won over at the last moment.

The car belonged to George Kirk, the father. The stepfather is apparently a jerk to George, Jr., while Winona is off planet. The two of them fight, and George, Jr., was running away.

So the kid on the road that Jim passes is indeed supposed to be George, Jr. And earlier while Jim was washing and waxing the car, George told Jim that he thinks the stepfather is making Jim wash and wax the vette, so he can sell it!

Things are not happy at the stepfather's house, and Jim can't handle it that his brother is leaving home. So he takes the car and makes a mad dash. It's uncharacteristic for him, because he is actutally the "good" kid, who gets good grades.