Spock and Uhura [SPOILERS]

[Rii]

Re: What do you think about the Spock and Uhara romance?

But by the way the movie was portraying the relationship, they've already acted on those feelings and nearing the end of the movie, they had no problem of showing it publicly.

Consider the circumstances involved. In one Spock's mother has just died, and in the other Spock himself is heading into a situation from which he may well not return. I wouldn't be surprised if the moments we observed in the film were exceptional within the context of the relationship itself.

 

[Carpe Occasio]

Re: What do you think about the Spock and Uhara romance?

I could see Spock and Uhura in the turbo lift, alone. But on the transporter pad, in front of everybody? No.

 

[Wheo]

maryh - I completely agree.

Even if the entire "relationship" didn't come out of no where, nothing ever really happened in the Original Series, for many of the reasons already stated. It just irks me, because it was just kind of...there, all of a sudden (in the movie). Then, the next time they're seen together, they're practically making out. -_- TOS Spock would never do that in front of other people. I just don't think they should have thrown the "romance" in there.

 

[Cakes488]

Re: What do you think about the Spock and Uhara romance?

Well I love how these new threads just pop up every minute because it gives me a chance to say again that I find it repulsive and JUST WRONG.

Why repulsive?

Because I wanted it to be me in the trasporter room *sniff sniff*

Because the Spock I know (and love) doesn't want to love anybody...the man is all business. I don't care about the few minutes hinted at in Charlie X or how he banged Leila whatever her name is before he was in star fleet...fine then they shoulda had cadet Leila doing Spock -- i found no need for Uhura to be the main love interest.....she needs to be on the bridge doin her thang...not down Spocks pants and this is where they could of introduced someone "new" into the mix.

I know he's only going out with her because of her linguistic skills wink wink...

 

[Classic Fan]

Re: What do you think about the Spock and Uhara romance?

I liked it, it was different and as said, completley left-field.

It was fresh to have a legit romance, especially with Spock, we havnt seen anything like this since when Chappel used to flirt with Spock in TOS. Even though it was only playful and she liked him, nothing ever came of it in sotry lines, despite the potential of the situation.


It was Kirks reaction on the transporter pad that made me giggle. The way looked at them both, as if she was helping Spock suit up/sort equipment etc, then double takes and gives a "WTF "


Still, least its better than the Scotty Uhura romance in Trek V.

 

[QuasarVM]

Re: What do you think about the Spock and Uhara romance?

It's a shout-out to something that was hinted at in the TOS episode Charlie X, where some very playful flirting between Uhura and Spock was going on in the rec room. The fact that Spock actually smiled along with Uhura in that scene allowed the writers of nuTrek to build upon that hint and run with it. As such, a Spock/Uhura romance certainly did not come out of left field.

And there was Spock/Uhura flirting in The Man Trap as well...

 

[Warp Coil]

I have absolutely no problem with the Spock/Uhura relationship. I'm not one to complain about "canon". I get that this is a thinly-veiled reboot and that this new Star Trek universe is going to be different from TOS. I'm okay with that. I'm not looking for everything to match up to 40+ years of Trek history. So putting these two characters together is fine by me, especially since it was so unexpected. I really liked the moments that these two characters shared. I also really liked that Kirk kept chasing after Uhura, and eventually discovered her in the arms of his nemesis (Spock, at the time).

 

[CommanderRaytas]

Re: What do you think about the Spock and Uhara romance?

I thought this was the best Trek romance yet. The way they portrayed it was very sweet and compelling. Loved it.

 

[elektralyte]

Re: What do you think about the Spock and Uhara romance?

Because I wanted it to be me in the trasporter room *sniff sniff*

Because the Spock I know (and love) doesn't want to love anybody...the man is all business. I don't care about the few minutes hinted at in Charlie X or how he banged Leila whatever her name is before he was in star fleet...fine then they shoulda had cadet Leila doing Spock -- i found no need for Uhura to be the main love interest.....she needs to be on the bridge doin her thang...not down Spocks pants and this is where they could of introduced someone "new" into the mix.

I know he's only going out with her because of her linguistic skills wink wink...

I wish it were me too. Want some cookie dough ice cream?

 

[Iconian]

It looks like I'm the only one who says NO NO NO to any publicly displayed Spock romance because it is just too far strayed from TOS canon and I don't think the change is for the good.

I can handle some change in Trek and don't want to see the same thing over and over again but there is a certain psychological appeal to the old Spock that is being overlooked in favor of making him extra "hot".

Is this the same Spock who said in The Naked Time that "I never told my mother that I loved her", "I was ashamed of my Earth mother (and the feelings she represented)" and "I've spent my whole life hiding my feelings"? Here we see him publicly displaying affection by kissing a woman? Would not have happened in TOS. I could accept that the writers might want Spock to correct some of the mistakes of his past, but there was an appeal to him struggling with his emotions that is being overlooked.

TOS Spock's appeal goes well beyond being hot for the ladies. He also appealed to anyone struggling with their feelings. Adolescents drew inspiration from him to get through turbulent times. Scientists, computer geeks, nerdy intellectuals gravitiated to him because he was a loner struggling to repress his feelings in favor of being pure logic. He was also a loner because he didn't fit in anywhere - a feeling almost everyone experiences at some point in their lives, and many drew inspiration to persevere through those times from him. He appealed to the bi-racial, multicultural folks out there who felt torn and different. He appealed to those who were not yet comfortable with their sexuality, yet could not just ignore it (made him even hotter).

Making Spock so human, and so accepting of emotion that he would kiss Uhura publicly makes him too normal and well adjusted. Spock needs to be different, torn, uncomfortable with his feelings, struggling internally, psychologically unbalanced etc. He needs to be the one who secretly longs to be loved but simply cannot express this -- yet. He is logic over passion embodied but he struggles with this and we only rarely get glimpses of that struggle.

Not sure how the Spock/Uhura thing advanced the plot at all. For me it only served to mess up what TOS Spock and Vulcans represented, and the appeal that the Old Spock and Old Vulcans had for many. What will they do if they bring in Chapel? Another thing being overlooked is Spock's extremely high principles and commoitment to them. He wants to be a pure Vulcan, thinks their way is vastly superior to the human way, and has committed to it, a commitment the Old Spock would never take lightly. Guess I'm very uncomfortable with Spock showing emotion and any episode of TOS where he did always made us uncomfortable.

I agree. Spock wouldn't fraternize with a subordinate in public. Young Spock is a stubborn sob. Logic above all else. Even the destruction of Vulcan and the death of his mother wouldn't change that. If anything, he would embrace logic even more. It seems the new writers are just messing with Trek 1) because they can; 2) to amuse the masses by making an iconic character like Spock emo.

 

[Logical Leopard]

It looks like I'm the only one who says NO NO NO to any publicly displayed Spock romance because it is just too far strayed from TOS canon and I don't think the change is for the good.

I can handle some change in Trek and don't want to see the same thing over and over again but there is a certain psychological appeal to the old Spock that is being overlooked in favor of making him extra "hot".

Is this the same Spock who said in The Naked Time that "I never told my mother that I loved her", "I was ashamed of my Earth mother (and the feelings she represented)" and "I've spent my whole life hiding my feelings"? Here we see him publicly displaying affection by kissing a woman? Would not have happened in TOS. I could accept that the writers might want Spock to correct some of the mistakes of his past, but there was an appeal to him struggling with his emotions that is being overlooked.

Yes, it's the same Spock who said he was ashamed of his mother. But it's also the same Spock who grabbed Kirk by the arms and shouted "JIM!" in Amok Time. It was an incredibly stressful time, when he believed that he killed his best friend. How much more stressful do you think losing your whole planet and becoming one of the last of your race is? Good enough reason for your emotional side to kick in? I think so.

This doesn't make Spock "hot" it makes him just in touch with his human side. I totally buy the relationship. Uhura is brilliant, she loves music, like he does, and under the right circumstance - Uhura studying under him, instead of being just a shipmate, he had full opportunity to learn more about her, and seek her companionship.

 

[Tralah]

I don't believe that they have already been sleeping together especially as his student. I think it is more likely that they simply became friends during that time together. There was undoubtedly some underlying sexual tension, but I don't think it's likely Spock would have acted on his feelings, and in the original timeline he did not obviously. In this new timeline however events have changed, and the lost of his homeworld, mother, and I assume T'Pring with whom he was betrothed, make it the relationship and his reaction to Uhura very believable to me.

 

[Holodoc]

I don't particularly dislike the relationship, though it does seem to come out of nowhere. What I did dislike, however, was Uhura's behaviour in the turbolift. The sheer aggrsesiveness of her advances was... unseemly. To me, it came off as less 'let me comfort you' and more 'let me take advantage of you in a moment of weakness.' Especially since he shows no indications of actually wanting comforting, and subtly shuts her right down as soon as he can. Maybe if Spock had reached out for her first, or if she just hadn't got all clingy and kissy from the word go...

 

[maryh]

Yes, it's the same Spock who said he was ashamed of his mother. But it's also the same Spock who grabbed Kirk by the arms and shouted "JIM!" in Amok Time. It was an incredibly stressful time, when he believed that he killed his best friend. How much more stressful do you think losing your whole planet and becoming one of the last of your race is? Good enough reason for your emotional side to kick in? I think so.

This doesn't make Spock "hot" it makes him just in touch with his human side. I totally buy the relationship. Uhura is brilliant, she loves music, like he does, and under the right circumstance - Uhura studying under him, instead of being just a shipmate, he had full opportunity to learn more about her, and seek her companionship.

Agreed about Spock shouting "Jim" but look what happened immediately afterward -- he denied any feelings in the matter and claimed it was all just logical. That sums up what Spock is and part of his appeal. We all know that Spock has emotions below the surface. Trying to get to them to show him he does have them -- and they aren't so bad was a timeless, enjoyable theme in Trek. Keeping his loss of composure and emotional lapses minimal is important to making the times he shows emotion so memorable and worth the wait. A Spock openly kissing Uhura in front of Scotty and Kirk negates all the appeal of Spock's emotion/logic battle. I could handle the temporary lapse in the elevator, but not the later one where they kissed deliberately in front of people.

An emotional Spock WILL appeal to the audience, but I feel it is not a long lived appeal. The Quinto/Spock fan-girls are all gushing about the kissing scenes. But after the initial shock for us TOS fans, and the hotness of the kissing scenes for Spock/Quinto fan-girls, the long lived appeal of the cool, logical, psychologically repressed, emotionally denying, sexually inhibited Spock may be lost permanently.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Re: What do you think about the Spock and Uhara romance?

Discussion underway here:
http://trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=91401

"... like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500."

How is that "like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500"?

The OP (Joe Washington, in this case) wanted a discussion and opinions on Uhura and Spock's relationships. I merely pointed out where one was taking place where others had already posted their thoughts, where he could further find and engage posters.

If I wanted to hand out tickets, I'd have been snarky and snide, coming up some "clever" quip.

 

[trampledamage]

I don't particularly dislike the relationship, though it does seem to come out of nowhere. What I did dislike, however, was Uhura's behaviour in the turbolift. The sheer aggrsesiveness of her advances was... unseemly. To me, it came off as less 'let me comfort you' and more 'let me take advantage of you in a moment of weakness.' Especially since he shows no indications of actually wanting comforting, and subtly shuts her right down as soon as he can. Maybe if Spock had reached out for her first, or if she just hadn't got all clingy and kissy from the word go...

Give them both a break!

What I liked about the turbo-lift scene is that you do see Spock trying to figure out what his response should be - to indulge in her attentions or to remain the stoic Captain.

At that point he goes for staying "unemotional" but he definitely responds to her comfort before he reaches that point.

 

[Logical Leopard]

I don't particularly dislike the relationship, though it does seem to come out of nowhere. What I did dislike, however, was Uhura's behaviour in the turbolift. The sheer aggrsesiveness of her advances was... unseemly. To me, it came off as less 'let me comfort you' and more 'let me take advantage of you in a moment of weakness.' Especially since he shows no indications of actually wanting comforting, and subtly shuts her right down as soon as he can. Maybe if Spock had reached out for her first, or if she just hadn't got all clingy and kissy from the word go...

Aggressiveness? Uhm, if you ask me, that's just women. And that is why I LOVED the scene so much, is because it's probably one of the most realistic displays of emotion I've seen on Trek. As I've posted before, I've been in a similar position, and I believe that sometimes when men go through tragedy, their wives/significant others can be so overcome with emotion for them, even though it's not their tragedy, so to speak, that you end up with a scene exactly like that. She wasn't taking advantage of him in the least, because as the "assignment" scene demonstrated, this was already an established relationship - to what extent, we dont know, but there was something going on enough to for Spock to question whether or not he should give Uhura a prize position on the Enterprise.

I do not know of a single love scene in all of Trek that was as realistic as that one.

 

[Sky]

Agreed about Spock shouting "Jim" but look what happened immediately afterward -- he denied any feelings in the matter and claimed it was all just logical. That sums up what Spock is and part of his appeal. We all know that Spock has emotions below the surface. Trying to get to them to show him he does have them -- and they aren't so bad was a timeless, enjoyable theme in Trek. Keeping his loss of composure and emotional lapses minimal is important to making the times he shows emotion so memorable and worth the wait. A Spock openly kissing Uhura in front of Scotty and Kirk negates all the appeal of Spock's emotion/logic battle. I could handle the temporary lapse in the elevator, but not the later one where they kissed deliberately in front of people.

I agree completely. Spock's appeal is in his conflict, his issues, his difficulties in both accepting and expressing his emotions. Here they went too far in dismantling what essentially is interesting in Spock.

 

[Claudia]

Actually, the Uhura/Spock thing is the only issue I really have with this film. I didn't read any spoilers beforehand, so it came a bit a propos of nothing... Call me prude or whatever, but for me it would have worked better, especially considering Spock's character, if a relationship between them had only been hinted at with glances or subtle dialogues, not fully shown (especially then the transporter scene - BTW, what does Kirk say to Spock after Uhura leaves? And what's Spock's response? I didn't catch that...). I'm not opposed to this relationship - just the way it was established in the movie.

 

[Logical Leopard]

Agreed about Spock shouting "Jim" but look what happened immediately afterward -- he denied any feelings in the matter and claimed it was all just logical. That sums up what Spock is and part of his appeal. We all know that Spock has emotions below the surface. Trying to get to them to show him he does have them -- and they aren't so bad was a timeless, enjoyable theme in Trek. Keeping his loss of composure and emotional lapses minimal is important to making the times he shows emotion so memorable and worth the wait. A Spock openly kissing Uhura in front of Scotty and Kirk negates all the appeal of Spock's emotion/logic battle. I could handle the temporary lapse in the elevator, but not the later one where they kissed deliberately in front of people.

An emotional Spock WILL appeal to the audience, but I feel it is not a long lived appeal. The Quinto/Spock fan-girls are all gushing about the kissing scenes. But after the initial shock for us TOS fans, and the hotness of the kissing scenes for Spock/Quinto fan-girls, the long lived appeal of the cool, logical, psychologically repressed, emotionally denying, sexually inhibited Spock may be lost permanently.

True, Spock's "lapse" in Amok Time was short lived, but losing Kirk pales in comparison to losing his entire planet, and your race going from six billion to 10,000 or so. Oh, and his mother included in that total of deaths. That messes with your head, no matter who you are.

Plus, through his mother, he's lost his strongest link to his humanity, forever. If he had a relationship with Uhura of substance, it is natural that he would gravitate to her. I don't want to make it sound like a Freudian, reverse Oedipal thing, but when you can't run to mommy anymore, who do you run to for comfort? If his mother had survived and his father died, I bet you would have a scene with him crying in his mother's arms.


Vulcans repress their emotions, but they've been described as stronger than humans. So if something happens to break that repression, suppressed emotions will surge forward. I would be willing to believe that was the first time he ever kissed Uhura. The circumstances make it totally logical, and totally in character for Spock.


But for those of you who hope to see more Spock/Uhura, or Spock/Chapel, or some combination of the two, I think that if the writer's are smart, the natural progression of this is that Spock will draw away from Uhura emotionally. Now that the tragedy is over, and he's one of the last of his race, I look for a renewed stoicism that could dwarf Post-Death Spock in STIV.