Hi,
I'm an actor singing a song that refers to Star Trek. I know very little about Star Trek, and I'm hoping you can give me some insight. Here are some of the lyrics:
"All I want is to serve aboard the Enterprise. Strange New Worlds: I'd explore them all with fresh new eyes. We'll make peace with the Romulans on Galnok Three. I'll be home as we chart and roam the galaxy. So please, Cap'n Picard, my life is hard, I'll be your personal guard! Just bring on the Klingon; I'll show that Worf what a warrior means! And I can look down on this stupid town, and laugh at the clown who's standing in the yard again in a pastel yellow cardigan and ugly white jeans!"
Are there any really specific Star Trek gestures that might go along with these lyrics? For example, how would I (a guy dreaming of breaking free of himself) make peace with the Romulans, or greet and prove himself to Captain Picard and Worf? What else should I know about these lyrics that might help me act the song really well?
Thanks!
Well, here's some background info for you:
If you're singing about Captain Picard, then your character is from the 24th Century. In this era, Humans have united into a single world government, and then Earth joined with numerous other worlds, including the Vulcans (the guys with pointy ears -- Mister Spock's people) to create an interstellar democratic republic called the United Federation of Planets. The Federation operates Starfleet, which is its combined military/exploration service, and whose captains can also function as diplomats when Federation ambassadors are unavailable. The Federation was formed in the 22nd Century; Captain Kirk and the crew from the original STAR TREK were set in the 23rd Century; THE NEXT GENERATION, which features Picard, was set in the 24th Century.
The Federation is neighbors with two other major interstellar powers: The Klingons and the Romulans. The Klingons are those guys with the bumpy foreheads. They're a feudal society that engages in violent imperialism and conquest; they're big on the idea of being noble warriors with a strong code of honor. During the original STAR TREK, the Federation's relationship with the Klingons was akin to that of the United States's relationship with the Soviet Union: Mutual hostility in a cold war that never quite got hot. Eventually, the Klingons had their own equivalent of Cherynobl, and that led to them becoming allies with the Federation by the time of the 24th Century.
The Romulans are an alien culture with a long history of hostility towards Humans and Klingons both. They're actually the same biological species as the Vulcans, but they're a completely different culture and empire; about 2000 years ago, the Vulcans adopted a philosophy/religion of emotional suppression and nonviolence, and those Vulcans who disagreed with it left the Vulcan homeworld for another star system, settling there and becoming known as the Romulans. Humans and Romulans fought a bitter war in the 22nd Century that resulted in a stalemate before the Romulans withdrew behind their borders in nearly complete isolation for another hundred years. By the 24th Century (the era Captain Picard is from), the Romulans have alternated between periods of almost complete isolation behind their borders, and engaging with the Federation and Klingons in "cold wars" and border skirmishes. The Romulans are big on espionage and try to manipulate other governments a lot.
Jean-Luc Picard is the commanding officer of the starship
Enterprise, which is the most famous and accomplished starship in Starfleet. Its missions often include exploration, making first contact with new aliens, engaging in diplomacy with known aliens when Federation diplomats are unavailable so far from home, supporting new Federation colonies on previously uninhabited worlds, and defense missions against hostile aliens. Picard is famous for his diplomatic skills and for his military accomplishments in defending the Federation. He and his officers aboard the starship
Enterprise have saved Earth and other Federation worlds a number of times. Equate the
Enterprise and Picard with, say, a famous aircraft carrier and its captain.
Worf is a Klingon whose parents were killed while he was a child in a Romulan attack on the colony where he lived. A Federation ship was helping look for survivors and found him; because he had no family, the Human who found him was allowed to adopt him and raised him in the Federation. He serves in Starfleet and is the
Enterprise's chief of security. He's big on Klingon honor and being a warrior, in spite of the cultural conflicts that can sometimes cause living among Federation species.
Realistically, your character wouldn't actually bring peace with the Romulans. To make a real-world comparison: If your character is serving aboard the
Enterprise, equate that to an officer aboard an aircraft carrier -- obviously he wouldn't get to decide the fate of U.S.-Chinese relations, and neither would your character get to decide the fate of Federation-Romulan relations. What he's talking about, more realistically, is impressing Captain Picard with his diplomatic skills when interacting with alien cultures when they first meet new aliens while exploring; he's engaging in musical hyperbole when he talks about making peace with the Romulans.
If he's talking about wanting to show Worf what a warrior is, he's engaging in bravado about how he'll beat Worf up and how that would make him such a tough guy, since Worf is a badass mothafucka as chief of security.
If your character is basically a guy living in a small town dreaming of a better life, that basically means that he's fantasizing about enlisting in Starfleet the way one might join the Navy; he's specifically fantasizing about meeting and impressing Captain Picard in the same way a new recruit might fantasize about meeting or impressing a famous military officer. Realistically, to join Starfleet, he'd need to pass their entrance requirements, including physical fitness, knowledge tests, and psychological examinations, and then undergo training either to be an officer at Starfleet Academy for four years (think going to the Naval Academy or West Point) or by serving as a non-commissioned officer. After undergoing training at the Academy, he would then receive an assignment either on a starship, at a starbase (think a Navy port base), or at a ground support facility.
There are no specific "Star Trek gestures" to go along with these things. The only true "Star Trek gesture" would be a thing that actors playing Vulcans do; when their characters greet or depart one-another, they raise their hands and hold them with palms facing the person, then separate the middle and ring fingers to create a "V" shape, while holding the thumb out separate from the rest of the hand. This would not be an appropriate gesture to associate with any of the lyrics you cite -- especially if your character isn't a Vulcan who's saying hi or goodbye. Again, in terms of gestures, just equate it to a kid who's dreaming of joining the Navy and becoming an accomplished explorer/officer.
Does that help you any?
