A defence of Kirk's 'Why are you talking to me, man?'

[Bishbot]

Until this movie proves me wrong, I'm gonna chalk up Transformers to two words - Michael Bay.

You should - having listened (suffered through?) Bay's commentary for the film, I've said in multiple Transformers threads that pretty much everything that people thought was stupid or out of place was a Bay rewrite. He often says "Oh, I thought that would be funny," or "I heard about an incident like this and had to put it in."

Wait. So some are making an issue out of Kirk saying "man"? Seriously?

Then I guess I must have dreamed that scene in WNMHGB where Gary Mitchell says, "Hey, man, I remember you back at the Academy..."

Thanks for remembering that. I was watching the episode just the other day and that line made me chuckle, thinking of these discussions, but when I came to use it as evidence, I forgot the context.

 

[soot]

Let's see if I can boil at least my thoughts down:

Do I.....

Enjoy the work of JJ Abrams? Nope.
Enjoy the work of Orci/Kurtzman? Nope.

Which means I'm a little nervous about what they do with my favorite sci-fi series.

See, I can totally understand that. Those are two perfectly valid reasons to be unenthusiastic about the movie. I just don't see why people seem to want to harp on things that should be completely unobjectionable, like the line in question, or registry numbers.

The equivalent would be more enthusiastic people saying "Glossy floors! This is going to be the best movie ever!" or lauding the "originality" of young Kirk being a bit of a rogue. I'm not seeing that, I'm just seeing people getting excited over the aesthetic, tone and ideas that are hinted at in the trailers.

 

[Kemaiku]

As much as I do complain about this movie, having a young juvenile delinquent being turned down by the girl he was eyeing and beaten up a fair bit in a barfight utter a very common, long used slang phrase is pretty low on my list of things to be worried about.

 

[Nardpuncher]

I don't mind the line at all, and the one good thing is that Chris Pine delivers the line quite well as far as I can tell.
I mean, this line is something that we could've possibly heard coming from Anakin in Episode III or something like that, and those kind of lines all sounded awful. Pine seems to have said it well.

 

[Kemaiku]

I don't mind the line at all, and the one good thing is that Chris Pine delivers the line quite well as far as I can tell.
I mean, this line is something that we could've possibly heard coming from Anakin in Episode III or something like that, and those kind of lines all sounded awful. Pine seems to have said it well.

I've heard similar remarks from several other people about the delivery of his lines, one thing I think we can look forward to is a Trek movie without two hours of stiff or lame dialogue delivery...hopefully.

 

[Sean Aaron]

Let's see if I can boil at least my thoughts down:

Do I.....

Enjoy the work of JJ Abrams? Nope.
Enjoy the work of Orci/Kurtzman? Nope.

Which means I'm a little nervous about what they do with my favorite sci-fi series.

Ditto, well, except that I don't really care if this movie is good or not.

 

[I am not Spock]

Their writing is very impressive.

Don't have any issues with the line, but I wouldn't go that far.

Uhura: “I’m impressed, for a moment I thought you were just a dumb hick who only has sex with farm animals.” Kirk: “not only.”

The above is clumsy in that Uhura's line is obviously structured to lead in to Kirk's response rather than being something someone would actually say. It also seems unnecessarily crass, although it's possible that could be justified in context.

Are you serious? That above mentioned line is in the movie? That's some serious ass-rape right there. That line really doesn't seem to fit in the Trek universe.

 

[Rii]

^ Yeah, it's from the footage that was screened for certain folks a while back, the bar scene with Kirk hitting on Uhura.

 

[M'Sharak]

^ Yeah, it's from the footage that was screened for certain folks a while back, the bar scene with Kirk hitting on Uhura.

See the Empire review of the screening - Clip 1.

I'll wait until I see how it plays out on-screen before I get too excited about it.

 

[Kirk1980]

The Empire review has my head reeling....and I don't know if it's in a good way yet.

Although the reviewer's tone got me a little pissed (insulting Doohan's accent for no good goddamn reason and forgetting Sulu's hand-to-hand combat skills)...the plot elements just seem.....

Let's just say I'm glad I believe in miracles.

Russian whizkid? Oh....Wesley Crusheritz? I don't know, the more I hear about all this film's 'new' elements, the more the same it seems to me.

 

[Borgminister]

^ Yeah, it's from the footage that was screened for certain folks a while back, the bar scene with Kirk hitting on Uhura.

See the Empire review of the screening - Clip 1.

I'll wait until I see how it plays out on-screen before I get too excited about it.

I think it is a funny line, actually... and I dare say the movie-going public is gonna be shocked in a good way about it, and perhaps even loosen up to the idea of enjoying a Star Trek movie.

And judging by the content, I'd say it'll be rated PG-13. Just like First Contact... a pretty successful movie.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

That's some serious ass-rape right there. That line really doesn't seem to fit in the Trek universe.

Any behavior that fits into our universe and doesn't fit into the "Trek universe" indicates a deficiency in the Trek universe rather than the opposite.

 

[M'Sharak]

^ Yeah, it's from the footage that was screened for certain folks a while back, the bar scene with Kirk hitting on Uhura.

See the Empire review of the screening - Clip 1.

I'll wait until I see how it plays out on-screen before I get too excited about it.

I think it is a funny line, actually... and I dare say the movie-going public is gonna be shocked in a good way about it, and perhaps even loosen up to the idea of enjoying a Star Trek movie.

And judging by the content, I'd say it'll be rated PG-13. Just like First Contact... a pretty successful movie.

The rating is indeed PG-13, and I think it can be both a funny line and a particularly James T. Kirk line, if delivered with the right amount of Kirk cockiness and bravado.

The notion of a divide between the fleet personnel and the "townies" such as is described in the review (and the potential for brawls to break out) is as perfectly believable today as it has been for decades and centuries past, and I don't see it being any less plausible two and a half centuries in the future. Even when there isn't a fight breaking out, that sort of half-taunting banter between Starfleet cadet Uhura and young-local-destined-for-better-things Kirk wouldn't be at all unrealistic.

 

[VOODOOXI]

I don't see the point in making a big deal out of a two second line from a tv commercial that may or may not have been taken out of context, but at face value it does seem out of character for Kirk.

I am ok with it as long as the film does not turn into "Top Gun" in space.

 

[Aragorn]

KIRK: "I feel the need..."
KIRK AND SCOTT: "The need for warp speed!"

CHEKOV: "Spock, you stink."

SULU: "You two really are cowboys."
KIRK: "What's your problem, Sulu?"
SULU: "You're everyone's problem. That's because every time you go up in the air, you're unsafe. I don't like you because you're dangerous."
KIRK: That's right! Hikaru... man. I am dangerous."

PIKE: "April lost it, turned in his wings. He was number one. Now you're number one."

KIRK: "Excuse me, miss?"
MCCOY: "Don't worry, I'll take care of this."
KIRK (singing): "Beyond the rim of the starlight, my love is wandering in star flight. I know he'll find, In star clustered reaches, Love, strange love, A starwoman teaches."

 

[Rii]

SULU: "You two really are cowboys."
KIRK: "What's your problem, Sulu?"
SULU: "You're everyone's problem. That's because every time you go up in the air, you're unsafe. I don't like you because you're dangerous."
KIRK: That's right! Hikaru... man. I am dangerous."

Kirk: Well, I just happened to see a Bird of Prey fire...
McCoy: We!
Kirk: Uh, sorry Bones. We happened to see a Bird of Prey fire while cloaked.
Spock: Where did you see this?
Kirk: Uh, that's classified.
Spock: It's what?
Kirk: It's classified. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.

 

[WendellM]

I laughed to myself thinking about this the other day. I was watching "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and Gary Mitchell says "man" in a fairly similar manner... its been around a while.

That line in the trailer did sound odd to me at first. But you're right. I did a little searching, and...

Mitchell to Kirk: "Hey, man, I remember you back at the academy - a stack of books with legs."

Scott to Mudd in "Mudd's Women": "Your vessel's breaking up, man."

Kirk to McCoy in "The Return of the Archons": "Think, man. The Enterprise. The ship. Remember?"

Kirk to Hengist in "Wolf in the Fold": "Well get on with it, man! Just don't stand there!"

Scott to Spock in "That Which Survives": You'll be killed, man!

Scott to Dickerson in "The Savage Curtain": "Are you daft, man?"
Scott to engineering lieutenant in "The Savage Curtain": "Give me that again, man. I cannot hear you."

McCoy to Spock in "All Our Yesterdays": "Think, man. What's happening on your planet right now, this very moment?"

McCoy to doctor in ST4:The Voyage Home: "My God, man! Drilling holes in his head's not the answer."

 

[Kirk1980]

Well, to be fair, the context these 'mans' are delivered is pretty different.

The Mitchell one comes close to the more I guess....informal? tone being used by Kirk in the trailer.

The others were more exclamatic and 'hard'.

There is precedent, though, of a sort.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Kirk has a host of archaic expressions inthe old series, for instance in "The Trouble with Tribbles" he tells Federation Rep Baris that he'll have the man in irons if he doesn't shut up. The movies paly a bit on that aspect in Trek 2 with Bones telling Kirk to get back into space before he becomes a part of his collection of antiques. It is possilble to look at Kirk's character as one who takes a lot of thought and reflection on the past in dealing with where he is in the present. One oddity or trait of that habit is a use of archaic expression and outlook from time to time.

 

[Sean Aaron]

I think the dialogue in this film needs to address the serious "groovy" deficit from the original TV show.