McCoy did have a line, though, and Boma crossed it when he made the comment to Spock about he'd insist on a burial even if it was Spock. While McCoy could have been a bit better, Boma was most certainly the worst of the shuttle crew with Spock.
I need to rewatch the Galileo Seven episode...
As for McCoy, I always took it as "silly" banter between two officers that respected each other and knew they were using moments of informality, and both of them would otherwise have engaged in examples of racism, either personally or across the entire species (One would say "Vulcans ___", the other "Humans ___"). But McCoy knew enough of Spock's mannerisms. So had Kirk. As had Spock innately knowing theirs. There are episodes that definitely show the big three being disgusted by actual racism, so there's clearly a contextual difference for what is a very multifaceted situation between two complex characters, three when Kirk is added. I also refuse to use the term "bromance" except I think I just had. But "silly" in terms of 23rd century people.
The fact Spock tells often of how he controls or even "buries" his emotions comes into play; Vulcans are not dissimilar to humans in that regard, once these outer layers are put to the side. Being biologically compatible in terms of reproduction also lends a hand in all this. And other body parts, but those aren't important right now. (Besides, fans in the 1970s had a field day fathoming what things might look like... Even drawing the bits too and, you guessed it, there's a prominent drawing from 1979, and I vaguely recall a spined version from a few years earlier, but the fandom stretches far and wide in terms of artistic creativity, and/or lack thereof, regarding this sort of thing. But I digress.)
Vulcans in the 22nd, 23rd, AND 24th centuries have come across as patronizing.
True! Not always or necessarily by design.
For example, Captain Solok from DS9's "TAKE ME OUT TO THE HOLISUITE" was definitely patronizing. "I've come to expect inefficiency with stations run by humans." His first scene already makes it clear how he feels about humans. With the other stuff we learn about him, a case can easily be made of Solok being racist.
The Holosuite episode definitely rides on a viewer being able to accept Vulcans as being more than pure logic. In theory, with Spock and his complexities at the fore, one would think it'd be easy. Even easier the moment one recalls Sybok...
...Except it wasn't easy at all and the result of this late-entry DS9 episode is a self-indulgent mess that wants to be "light entertainment" but feels more like a foul ball. That Holosuite episode clearly shows either a script telling the actor to be hubris-driven haughty, or the actor chose that, or the director was playing Fizzbin that day. It all felt out so of place.
As much as VOY and ENT could be middling and variable in quality, Tim Russ and Jolene Blalock definitely improve the matters no end and almost consistently compensated for other elements that (IMHO) weren't working. (Suzie Plakson as a runner-up, though she was on screen as Dr Selar for a couple of minutes only.) Indeed, VOY exploring Vulcan lore is a definite high-point for the show, with care and thought put into it, just as much as season 4 was with exploring Seven's humanity.
Regarding the subject... no, McCoy was not racist. If he were, we would NEVER have seen him defend Spock at every occasion. Or save his life multiple times. Or knock him unconscious so he could sacrifice himself to save Spock.
^^this, x2000.
This whole idea of trying to judge a show or movie from over half a century ago with current standards is not only unfair but does a disservice to the show/movie.
That too. So much was different five decades ago that it is impossible for direct correlation. Indeed, "Balance of Terror" - which was somewhat progressive for its time - shows a couple marrying on ship, with the only expectation subversion being the one who predictably dies, so in this episode it's a pico fermi thing. Now if they'd shown Angela dying and how Robert would have reacted
might have been more interesting, but only because that would not have been shown on tv before and, TBH, Kirk's addressing down Stiles was a far more important use of screen time.
But the most anyone can do is to actually live in the time period in which the episode was made, or read up enough and try to emulate the experience to really understand. I wasn't there at the time, but trying to remember what the sixties were like after reading and talking definitely helps put TOS into a more interesting light, especially for concepts that haven't held up against the passage of time.
I mean, geez.
