Actually, I think their idea was to have their own luke/leia/han or harry/hermione/ron dynamic. It was no triangle, just the hero having a male and female friend (for Kirk to have a female best friend is as new as Spock - nerdy guys are hot too - having a girlfriend) who have a romantic relationship with each other. It makes for a funnier and more inclusive set of interpersonal dynamics that isn't, for once, only about the bros like tos was.. and I love it for this reason too.
Kirk seems to even support their relationship or looks concerned when it seems they have issues. In both stid and beyond you have little moments hinting this aspect such as when Spock is in the volcano and they beam him aboard, and Uhura asks Kirk if he's ok from her station because only Kirk and Mccoy could join Spock to the transport pad. And of course in beyond Spock only needs to remind Kirk that Uhura is at the base too to convince his captain to let him participate to the rescue mission. Notice that even McCoy, who would be the least one to let injured Spock do that, understands.
I would've loved it if they explored their trio a bit more, but of course some trek fans must perceive everything that isn't about the original trio and white dudes status quo as a threat to the latter, and beyond frankly went backwards when it comes to JJ's more contemporary dynamic with Uhura. It's back to the guys and their feelings only.
This is one of those hints that trek is stuck in the past and at one point, the audience inevitably feels like as much as the writers try to put new things, they are too scared to truly invest more into them and do something big, thus advance the characters as their own version, rather than a tos homage forever. You arent truly allowed to know these characters better, in way. It's frustrating.
If they want to copy marvel, they better start with the ABC when it comes to ensembles, dynamics, and the hability to develop several at once without making things mutually exclusive.
Anyway, jj&co subverted different tropes in the first movie and they deserve kudos for that. Kirk doesn't get the girl being one, the nerdy guy being the love interest and not reduced to hero's sidekick only is another. The aspect that the romantic subplot is given to the two characters who were less a given in that sense (in her case because racism would prevent her to ever get a romance in the 60s) - in spite making the most sense. The fact Uhura truly wasn't interested about Kirk not even after he has his hero moment and earns her respect as captain and friend. The fact she already is with someone who is his opposite.
And of course, the playing with expectations and prejudice, if you will, when it comes to the more introvert, nerdy character like Spock who is assumed being unfeeling and 'bad boyfriend' material just because he doesn't fit with Hollywood's idea of a male romantic hero.
Maybe to some it's nothing, but to see someone who is more introvert about their feelings, or doesn't express them like others do, being portrayed as someone who is able to love and get loved for who he is, well, that's important for me. I had always been annoyed by fandoms' lame habit to headcanon aliens and introverts as asexual people or those who are a failure in relationships (aside from the fact that even if Spock were asexual- which is contradicted by canon anyway - , it doesn't mean he'd be incapable of falling in love, make a relationship work, and have sexual agency. Some people don't seem to understand the different layers of what asexuality really is )
The issues between him and Uhura are more about the aftermath of the Vulcan diaspora than Spock being 'weird'. In no point the narrative makes it seems Kirk or Mccoy or the other humans would be better than Spock as love interests. Uhura seems to accept him for who he is, all while still calling him out on his sh*t when he is being an ass .. because this, too, is a way to not 'other' him and thus treat him as a person instead. Respecting his culture doesn't mean accept everything he does (especially negative things) and worship him; vulcans must have different personalities too and have their own uniqueness as beings just like the humans.
In general, it makes more sense for trek to represent humans as aliens too because, well, in the fictional reality of trek they are.
Last edited:
