How do you see the Enterprise?

[plynch]

Weird question, I know, but an incident just taught me that two people can look at the same thing and see very different things.

To me, what is called the secondary hull sort of looks like the main part that supports that big beautiful saucer, and also supports the two engines.

But I just realized one can see the primary hull as definitely primary, a big saucer sorta dragging behind it the secondary hull which itself drags along the engines via nacelles.

How do you "see" it? Is there yet another way?

 

[sbk1234]

I agree that I always saw the secondary hull as the part that seemed to support the rest of the ship. Obviously they named it the primary hull since the majority of crew and departments are put there.
As for how else to see her, I see her as a well-made, impressive ship, that by itself wasn't any more or less unique that any other ship in the fleet. It was the exemplarary crew that made the difference - not the ship itself.
When Kirk described the ENterprise saying "She is a beautiful lady, and we love her," as well as his severe ship love/obsession, I personally find that rather immature.

 

[Nerys Myk]

A disc and three cylinders.

 

[Christopher]

Well, since the ship is in weightless space, nothing's really supporting anything.

To me, the Enterprise (assuming we're talking about the original) is simply an iconic shape. It is self-defining. Although its "neck" reminds me of the neck of a horse with its head raised proudly, and its nacelle pylons suggest the wings of a bird preparing for a downstroke.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Well, since the ship is in weightless space, nothing's really supporting anything.

To me, the Enterprise (assuming we're talking about the original) is simply an iconic shape. It is self-defining. Although its "neck" reminds me of the neck of a horse with its head raised proudly, and its nacelle pylons suggest the wings of a bird preparing for a downstroke.

Pegasus!

 

[Alrik]

When Kirk described the ENterprise saying "She is a beautiful lady, and we love her," as well as his severe ship love/obsession, I personally find that rather immature.

I don't know if I would go so far as to call it immature. A lot of people develope an attachment to things like their homes and cars. Considering the fact that due to how tough and powerful Enterprise was, coupled with the talents of her crew, she was alway able to bring them safely home. I guess I've always looked at Kirk's feelings about Enterprise similar to what the Lone Ranger's was about Silver. Kind of his trusty steed in a way.

 

[scotpens]

A disc and three cylinders.

You must have all the passion and imagination of a chartered accountant.

In designing the Enterprise, Matt Jeffries went through dozens of shapes and combinations of shapes, but kept coming back to the saucer. So, conceptually at least, the saucer is the main part of the ship. One early configuration had a cylindrical hull above the saucer and two long engine pods below. When the drawing was turned upside-down, the ship suddenly looked much more dynamic and powerful. Voila! The most famous fictional spacecraft in history was born.

. . . To me, the Enterprise (assuming we're talking about the original) is simply an iconic shape. It is self-defining. Although its "neck" reminds me of the neck of a horse with its head raised proudly, and its nacelle pylons suggest the wings of a bird preparing for a downstroke.

I once read that G.R. wanted the Enterprise to look as majestic as a clipper ship under full sail, and it certainly gives that impression when viewed head-on from below as it approaches the camera. To me, the engine nacelles atop those tall, slender pylons suggest sails and masts. And the aft end of the engineering hull with the shuttlebay doors strongly resembles the stern of an 18th-century frigate. All that's missing is a rudder. All part of the fabled "Hornblower Effect."

When Kirk described the Enterprise saying "She is a beautiful lady, and we love her," as well as his severe ship love/obsession, I personally find that rather immature.

IMMATURE??

As Scotty might say: "Laddie, don't you think you should . . . rephrase that?"

 

[Nerys Myk]

A disc and three cylinders.

You must have all the passion and imagination of a chartered accountant.

:

Writer and artist actually. But with a weird sense of humor.

 

[Christopher]

When Kirk described the ENterprise saying "She is a beautiful lady, and we love her," as well as his severe ship love/obsession, I personally find that rather immature.

Uhh, he said that line to the Mudd's Planet androids in an attempt to confuse them with illogic. You don't think Spock really believes logic is a field of pretty flowers that smell bad, do you?

 

[scotpens]

A lot of people develop an attachment to things like their homes and cars. Considering the fact that due to how tough and powerful Enterprise was, coupled with the talents of her crew, she was alway able to bring them safely home.

That sort of emotional attachment to a machine is especially prevalent in the military, where many a fighting man has depended on his airplane, his gun or his Jeep to get him through hellish situations. Remember this classic World War II cartoon?

http://www.stripes.com/02/nov02/mauldin/images/_maul35.jpg

 

[Hambone]

I see all Federation starships as a saucer (or saucer-like shape) with "stuff" attached. In most all the starships we've seen, the saucer shape is the one constant.

One thing that's particularly attractive (and a design challenge, no doubt) about the Enterprise is its lack of a "face". I don't like spaceship designs that have "eyes" or a "mouth".

 

[3D Master]

The engineering sections "supports" the saucer and the nacelles, that's the way I always saw it. In all incarnations of the Enterprise in fact.

 

[sbk1234]

When Kirk described the ENterprise saying "She is a beautiful lady, and we love her," as well as his severe ship love/obsession, I personally find that rather immature.

Uhh, he said that line to the Mudd's Planet androids in an attempt to confuse them with illogic. You don't think Spock really believes logic is a field of pretty flowers that smell bad, do you?

I do think he really felt that way about that particular metaphor. He stated on several occasions that any person was expendable, but the ship was not. It was nice to see that he matured some by the time of the movies, since he was able to sacrifice Enterprise to save his crew.


And do you mean to tell me that logic ISN'T a field of pretty flowers that smell bad?!

 

[Christopher]

He stated on several occasions that any person was expendable, but the ship was not.

I just searched Chakoteya's transcript site for the word "expendable," and there was only one occasion where Kirk said anything close to that, in "The Paradise Syndrome":

Scotty, if the deflector isn't activated within twenty minutes, get out of orbit. Get the Enterprise out of the danger zone. The landing party is expendable. The Enterprise isn't.

And you've completely twisted the meaning of his words. What he meant was that he was willing to sacrifice himself, Spock, and McCoy rather than endanger the lives of the other 427 people aboard the Enterprise. It wasn't the ship he was trying to protect, it was the hundreds of human lives it carried. He absolutely WAS NOT saying that the ship was more important than the people aboard her. He would never say such a thing. That is anathema to the way James Kirk thought about the people under his command.

 

[A beaker full of death]

When Kirk described the ENterprise saying "She is a beautiful lady, and we love her," as well as his severe ship love/obsession, I personally find that rather immature.

No Navy experience, I take it. Or serious commitment to anything larger than yourself.

I knew there were a lot of things about TOS that modern viewers didn't get, but this just makes me sad.

 

[A beaker full of death]

I don't know if I would go so far as to call it immature. A lot of people develope an attachment to things like their homes and cars. Considering the fact that due to how tough and powerful Enterprise was, coupled with the talents of her crew, she was alway able to bring them safely home. I guess I've always looked at Kirk's feelings about Enterprise similar to what the Lone Ranger's was about Silver. Kind of his trusty steed in a way.

No. It wasn't about him at all. The ship didn't serve him. He served it. That was his duty. Kirk was a creature of duty, despite the modern misconception that he was some kind of space cowboy.

 

[Captain Robert April]

That's why a proper "origin story" should focus on the ship. The actual crew is secondary; the Enterprise is the actual main character.

And in JJ's movie, the Enterprise was horribly miscast.

 

[sbk1234]

When Kirk described the ENterprise saying "She is a beautiful lady, and we love her," as well as his severe ship love/obsession, I personally find that rather immature.

No Navy experience, I take it. Or serious commitment to anything larger than yourself.

I knew there were a lot of things about TOS that modern viewers didn't get, but this just makes me sad.

No navy experience, that is correct. As for serious commitment to anything larger than myself, I'd call my commitment to my marriage and family a serious commitment. However, as much as I do have attachments to inanimate objects, they can not in any way be as important to those of living beings.

 

[Nerys Myk]

That's why a proper "origin story" should focus on the ship. The actual crew is secondary; the Enterprise is the actual main character.

And in JJ's movie, the Enterprise was horribly miscast.

It's a main character. As important as Kirk, Spock or McCoy, but not more important. And to Kirk as important as Spock or McCoy.

As for an "origin" story focusing on the ship. Nah, can't see that happening. Not in a movie. Though B&B original plan ofr Enterprise was to spend a year or so on Earth building the ship and the crew.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Which goes back to a point I've made on numerous occasions, that Star Trek isn't all that well suited to the movies.