Is 'Woman In Cafeteria' Janice Rand, or not?
- Thread starter Lance
- Start date
No.
No royalties are owed to a writer for this character, since Rand dates back to the Writers' Bible of TOS. The royalty rule is more for a one-off guest character in an episode written by an outside writer, who gets turned into a recurring character in other writers' scripts, ie. T'Pau, Locarno, etc.
And it's not a "misnaming". It is a cameo and a kind of in-joke. As I said, the script itself doesn't specify that it's Rand. Not listing the character's name is part of the in-joke. It was a directorial choice to use GLW as Rand. The scriptwriter had no idea the director would add an existing TOS character to the scene. He could have used an extra, but he used GLW.
Some cameos in movies go uncredited, even though the actor has lines eg. Whoopi Goldberg in "Generations" and "Nemesis", and Noel Neill and Kirk Allyn as Lois Lane's parents in "Superman: The Movie" (dialogue restored for TV premiere).
I always assumed it was Rand, because the scene works better emotionally that way.
That bit isn't about her uniform and rank. It's about: "Hey, look, it's Janice--from the old show--and she's getting all choked up about what happened to the Enterprise. What a nice moment!"
I don't think you're supposed to be paying attention to her insignia at that moment.
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It was clearly meant to be Janice in STIII they just ret-conned her rank. They did the same to O'Brien. I can live with it.
And glam make-up or not, Grace looked good in TMP IMO. Too much glam make-up on an older woman doesn't look as good to me. In Basic Instinct 2 Sharon Stone was caked in so much make-up it looked a bit odd. Shortly after I saw her talking with Dev Patel on a red carpet beaming away, wrinkles and all and she is still incredibly beautiful without the make-up.
And glam make-up or not, Grace looked good in TMP IMO. Too much glam make-up on an older woman doesn't look as good to me. In Basic Instinct 2 Sharon Stone was caked in so much make-up it looked a bit odd. Shortly after I saw her talking with Dev Patel on a red carpet beaming away, wrinkles and all and she is still incredibly beautiful without the make-up.
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The OP question is what do we think. Based on what I've read here and my own opinions, it seems the answer is a clear yes. It's Rand.
Grace Lee Whitney told me in person that, when she complained that the studio stills of Majel and Persis had been photo retouched, she was told that Majel pulled rank (ie. as the boss's wife), and that Persis actually had it in her contract that she had control over her images.
Oh, and sorry to necro a thread. Just noticed the date.
I always took her as being Rand. If anything, I'd think of her appearance in TVH as being someone else. The shot we get of her in TSFS is a lot more dramatic and to the forefront.
As far as I'm concerned it's her. It's the same actress FFS. Why would it be anyone else? Why would the film go to the effort of focusing on her, then her give this expression of 'bloody hell Jim's been at it again and fucked the ship big time this time' - if she truly was just some random then neither of these things would have occurred.
I'm inclined to think not. Rand's rise though the ranks is tough enough to figure out just from her canonical appearances; from Yeoman to Transporter Chief to Chief Petty Officer to somehow Lt. JG and Lt. Commander at the same time (where she also mentions that it took her three years to make Ensign). If she's also a Commander in STIII but somehow goes back to being a noncom by the very next movie, forget it.
If we rate the costuming department above all else, Valaris and Miles O'Brien are non-canon. And I'm pretty sure some other Next Gen, Voyager and DS9 characters never wore their correct rank insignia either.
I was just about to say this. Rand's appearances are contradictory because nobody cared about her backstory. But just because it's onscreen at the end of TMP, doesn't mean McCoy transfers to science and Spock to medical.
Those characters had dialogue and were identified by name. In the STIII Spacedock scene, the costuming is all we have to go on.
I'd say the classic Trek actress brought back in what were essentially a series of reunion specials would be the primary thing...
For the longest time it never even occurred to me that it was Rand and had always wondered who that lady was and why she was so prominent in that particular scene. It wasn't until, I believe, the text commentary on the SE DVD from Okuda that pointed out it was Grace-Lee Whitney.
I think the red hair was throwing me off. And when I see it now, it's just so obviously her.
I think the red hair was throwing me off. And when I see it now, it's just so obviously her.
