Spoilers STAR TREK BEYOND

[Malaika]

I'm recording my impressions of the character.
They wrote that character henpecking at Spock in typical style and that as prominent as she got. The main trio got prominent and dynamic roles in this film. I've no personal objections to making Uhura more prominent if that's what it is upsetting you about my post. But nuUhura isn't particularly prominent in these films and if you're seeing something else then I think you've been watching a different brace of films than I watched!

aren't you being contradictory? in one breath, you admit you are talking about your impression (meaning personal and subjected to your own, possible, biases) but then you make it seems this is how the writers objectively wrote it and anyone seeing things differently had watched another movie.
If you think Uhura didn't get a more prominent role than tos Uhura did AND the secondary male characters in these movies did, even though the writers themselves said that, showed that and the media kind of collectively recognized that since 2009, I don't know what to tell you. I surely don't want to make a list of all the things Uhura did in these movies because, frankly, I'm sick and tired of having this argument and the fact itself that people have to constantly 'remind' some people this stuff, all the while the same people overrate the dudes' contribution to the plot, makes this point moot and a loss of time because it's obvious that people's selective memory about Uhura has little to do with what is 'written' and so called 'objectivity'.

and I don't know what you refer to with 'The main trio got prominent and dynamic roles in this film', what main trio? Kirk, Spock, Bones? because if that is the case then, again, gotta disagree here. I don't see where McCoy's role had been more prominent and dynamic than Uhura's - and surely if it were, I think many of the tos purists wouldn't complain that 1) they saw too little of him 2) Uhura 'replaced' him in the trio. In terms of the main guys, Uhura is basically Spock's friend/girlfriend while McCoy is mostly Kirk's friend.
I understood it ages ago that some fans project tos over the reboot (and this, in my opinion, is the biggest problem this fandom has) but I'm afraid I don't have that same amount of suspension of disbelief some have (and yes, even some interviewers) and I can't pretend that these characters have the same exact dynamics when objectively they do not. I'm not going to just pretend that in these movies Spock and Bones are Kirk's yin and yang and developed like that when, if anything, they changed Kirk and Spock to the extent they don't even have the same dynamic with each other, let alone have those supposed roles that fanon attributes to the 'holy trinity' characters. I see no id, ego and supergo here. (and maybe, just maybe, I like the reboot precisely because it's not too stuck with those supposed roles characters must have according to some people in the fandom)

 

[Paradise City]

Kirk and Spock dominate. Scott is very visible too. McCoy is there or there about. Uhura doesn't dominate the screen. She gets a bit-role and much of her presence involves henpecking at Spock. Although she does seem to leapfrog Sulu in prominence compared to old Uhura on Team TOS. But still a bit role. Sure, my view is subjective but I'm quite confident that I'm within the general boundaries of being correct on this.

You seem to be hyperventilating wildly accusing me of being a moral criminal (I'm sexist!). lol, it's just a film and it wasn't me that wrote the damn thing, haha.

 

[Trekkin]

She gets a bit-role and much of her presence involves henpecking at Spock

...by calling him out for having a death wish, helping save a civilisation, negotiating with angry Klingons, followed by stabbing said Klingons in the balls and getting in a firefight.

All topped off with a loving serve of 'beaming down onto a flying vehicle to repeatedly shoot Khan in the face.'

Do you know how many times Uhura disagreed with Spock in STID? Once, with one additional backhanded sentence in front of him. Do you know how many times Kirk bickered with Spock? Literally every conversation, except for the engine room scene. Fuck me, he's even involved in the previously mentioned argument.

 

[Paradise City]

...by calling him out for having a death wish, helping save a civilisation, negotiating with angry Klingons, followed by stabbing said Klingons in the balls and getting in a firefight.

All topped off with a loving serve of 'beaming down onto a flying vehicle to repeatedly shoot Khan in the face.'

You know how many times Uhura disagreed with Spock in STID? Once, with one backhanded sentence in front of him. Do you know how many times Kirk bickered with Spock? Literally every conversation, except for the engine room scene. Fuck me, he's even involved in the previously mentioned argument.

She's still a bit player and secondary to the other four members of the cast. And if Kirk and Spock where a homosexual couple, their arguin' would constitute henpeckin' too. If Uhura and Spock where merely peers clashing in a platonic professional relationship, then we're good to go.

 

[Malaika]

Kirk and Spock dominate. Scott is very visible too. McCoy is there or there about. Uhura doesn't dominate the screen. She gets a bit-role and much of her presence involves henpecking at Spock. Although she does seem to leapfrog Sulu in prominence compared to old Uhura on Team TOS. But still a bit role. Sure, my view is subjective but I'm quite confident that I'm within the general boundaries of being correct on this.

You seem to be hyperventilating wildly accusing me of being a moral criminal (I'm sexist!). lol, it's just a film and it wasn't me that wrote the damn thing, haha.

doing the most with so little here.

('moral criminal' tho!)

...by calling him out for having a death wish, helping save a civilisation, negotiating with angry Klingons, followed by stabbing said Klingons in the balls and getting in a firefight.

All topped off with a loving serve of 'beaming down onto a flying vehicle to repeatedly shoot Khan in the face.'

(let's play this game)
.. she also is the one who intercepted and translated a transmission from a Klingon prison planet in her spare time, and if Kirk hadn't heard her talk about it and she hadn't been there on the ship to support his theory to Pike and Spock, they'd be all dead now.
.. when her vulcan boyfriend illogically overcompensated and assigned her to a different ship than the one she was supposed to get on thank to her academy credits, she called him out on it and made him correct his mistake, this versus the movie showing that the only reason Kirk got on the best ship, or any ship at all, was because his best friend acted unprofessional and sneaked him aboard the ship with him.
.. she comforted her vulcan boyfriend when he lost both his mother and home planet. She asked him what he needed, respecting him. She didn't treat him as a freak for trying to use control to cope with his grief (and even in stid when she called him out on his behavior she did that in terms of him being OOC for the guy she obviously knew, and having a death wish that would be illogical for a vulcan, let alone a human, she never made it a point that if he was flawed or he did mistakes, it was because he's an alien and thus 'weird'. A contrast with the way McCoy in tos and Kirk in aos constantly treat Spock and demand him to be human)
.. she got promoted as chief communications officer by Pike because he deemed her more competent than the other officer. and I may remind, she got a promotion because of her skills alone while most of the male characters saved for Spock and Chekov got a promotion either because Pike was their mentor, the chief officer was unavailable, or sick or dead or emotionally compromised, or, in Scotty's case, because while being on exile he ran into the dude who took him to the ship with him and became the acting captain by making the previous one emotionally compromised.
.. she overcame her initial prejudice against Kirk and came to to respect him as a person and captain.
She showed concern for him and compassion when Pike died, as well as when his friend was in danger. She risked her life to stop Spock from killing the only person who could save her captain and friend. She also saved the above mentioned boyfriend too.
...and frankly, she was the only crew member, beside the security officers, of the away team on the way to the klingons home world whose skills could be useful to the mission.

now, I'm trying very hard to remember what exactly Scotty and Mccoy did that made them such more prominent, dynamic, important, characters in the first movies compared to Uhura (and Sulu and Chekov), but I fail. The fact that some are non stop complaining that Uhura replaced the secondary character(s) and demand to have the original trio restored and put her back in the background where she's only defined by her station, perhaps should be, alone, a hint that I'm within the general boundaries of being correct on the fact that she was a more prominent character among the secondary characters, and if there is a 'third lead', it's her. And if there is a 'main four', it includes her not Scotty.
The fact itself that people are harping on her getting more screentime through her connection to Spock and non stop concern troll about her being his girlfriend, all the while demanding MCcoy to get more screentime through his relationship with the leads, speaks for itself too.

oh and, again, when it comes to people 'henpecking' Spock, I think it's pretty safe to say that the reboot K/S dynamic, regardless it being platonic, is entirely based on that and Kirk wins that award abundantly in both movies. I don't see what difference it makes if it's a platonic or romantic relationship.
But I'm sleep...

 

[Franklin]

Kirk and Spock dominate. Scott is very visible too. McCoy is there or there about. Uhura doesn't dominate the screen. She gets a bit-role and much of her presence involves henpecking at Spock. Although she does seem to leapfrog Sulu in prominence compared to old Uhura on Team TOS. But still a bit role. Sure, my view is subjective but I'm quite confident that I'm within the general boundaries of being correct on this.

You seem to be hyperventilating wildly accusing me of being a moral criminal (I'm sexist!). lol, it's just a film and it wasn't me that wrote the damn thing, haha.

"Henpecked" means constantly criticizing and giving orders to a mate. When was Uhura ordering Spock around? If anything, she was upset because Spock was not listening to her and even defying her. All she did was express concern for him and was upset at the path his life seemed to have taken, that he seemed to have a death wish -- or more properly, he didn't mind recklessly endangering himself. I mean, who in his right (Vulcan) mind puts on a heat-protective suit and repels down into the mouth of an active volcano? No matter how noble the reason.

As you said, your view is totally subjective. Just like a discussion about art it is. (Frankly, I'm not that impressed with the Mona Lisa, for example, and the "Old Masters" are overrated to me.) You really can't be in the "general boundaries" of being "correct" if it is subjective. You can believe you are part of the consensus opinion on this, or in the majority of opinions in this area, but that still does not make you "correct" on a subjective matter. Just sayin'.

 

[Trekkin]

Hmmm, Uhura's less important than Scotty in STID. The same Scotty who literally sat out around 15-20 minutes of the film.

Also, good to know that sex turns any argument (no matter how necessary) into 'nagging.' That's...a very mature attitude.

Also, 'bit player' has a set definition. No one from the new main ensemble fit it. Even Pike and Marcus don't fit it.

 

[Paradise City]

"Henpecked" means constantly criticizing and giving orders to a mate. When was Uhura ordering Spock around?

It means criticising too? Well there you go.

 

[Paradise City]

As you said, your view is totally subjective. Just like a discussion about art it is. (Frankly, I'm not that impressed with the Mona Lisa, for example, and the "Old Masters" are overrated to me.) You really can't be in the "general boundaries" of being "correct" if it is subjective. You can believe you are part of the consensus opinion on this, or in the majority of opinions in this area, but that still does not make you "correct" on a subjective matter. Just sayin'.

You can be in the general boundaries of being correct. There are layers of subjectivity obviously.

 

[Paradise City]

Hmmm, Uhura's less important than Scotty in STID. The same Scotty who literally sat out around 15-20 minutes of the film.

Also, good to know that sex turns any argument (no matter how necessary) into 'nagging.' That's...a very mature attitude.

The routine of sexual relationships are often absurd. Oversensitivity are a general feature in those kind of relationships. It's compounded by the fact that Spock is Uhura's professional superior. If Uhura was Spock's superior now that would be an interesting way to approach it.

 

[Trekkin]

Triples posting. We've reached that stage.

The routine of sexual relationships are often absurd. Oversensitivity are a general feature in those kind of relationships. It's compounded by the fact that Spock is Uhura's professional superior. If Uhura was Spock's superior now that would be an interesting way to approach it.

No. Emotions are complicated. Once you've done it enough to know where to comfortably put your legs, sex is pretty straightforward.

Well, except for those who like it a bit more...absurd.

 

[Malaika]

I don't know why anyone would consider Uhura less important than Scotty in stid. They both saved the day (she almost did it twice) in different points of the movie, but he really isn't more prominent as a character or better developed or with a generally more active role than her, nor he really got to show his skills as an officer more than her. Not to even mention he isn't part of the second most important and talked about dynamic of the movie (and basically part of the backstory of one of the main characters). He had a little friendship dynamic with Kirk, but it wasn't more important or prominent than the one between kirk and bones, and even kirk and uhura.. and generally seemed to play with the idea of Kirk being friends with his crew. I feel this is one aspect (the kirk/scotty friendship) Pegg kind of overrates a bit (stuff he said both about stid and star trek beyond) and might reflect in the way he wrote stb in not just possibly sidelining Uhura in favor of his character, but possibly ignoring that Bones was Kirk's biggest friend after Spock. The dynamic he seems to believe Scotty and Kirk had is something that the reboot already had with Kirk and Bones.

anyway, Uhura was promoted as the third character or considered as such by the other team, critics and fans, and while her being the only female character of the crew has relevance in the attention she gets from the media, I doubt it's just because she's a woman and the other secondary characters are guys (not to mention that stid had Carol too, anyway, so Uhura's smurfette syndrome was tamed by that a little)
Just like I doubt that Boutella's character is the only new character saved for Elba's that we know something about (her name and appearance at least!) just because she's a woman. There is another new female character too but we know nothing about her yet, it's like Lydia wasn't even in this movie (ditto for Joe Taslim).

 

[Shalashaska]

A decent plot.

Sarcasm.

I know this is a popular reductionist argument in matters of discrimination, but gene expression in utero and during a lifetime does far more than simply form the genitals. People in general are defined by much more than that, and discrimination itself includes far more attributes. The reductionist statement itself is sexist even when used to reveal the sexism in a sexist argument or person. It's an easy, lazy hyperbole.

Jesus Christ.

This is the least fun place on the internet.

 

[Trekkin]

Hey, this is serious business!

Next you'll be saying that we shouldn't be butthurt over the popularity of Star Wars.

 

[fireproof78]

Seeing as how I can remember Uhura and Sulu's parts in STID but only Scotty's brief comedy bits I think Uhura had a bigger role. She fell far more in to the emotional adviser that McCoy could often be in TOS.

 

[JWPlatt]

This is the least fun place on the internet.

Clearly, you haven't tried the IRS or Healthcare.gov sites or the Star Wars forums.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

It means criticising too? Well there you go.

You can be in the general boundaries of being correct. There are layers of subjectivity obviously.

The routine of sexual relationships are often absurd. Oversensitivity are a general feature in those kind of relationships. It's compounded by the fact that Spock is Uhura's professional superior. If Uhura was Spock's superior now that would be an interesting way to approach it.

 

[STEPhon IT]

Seeing as how I can remember Uhura and Sulu's parts in STID but only Scotty's brief comedy bits I think Uhura had a bigger role. She fell far more in to the emotional adviser that McCoy could often be in TOS.

Uhura is developed as a character than Urban's caricature of DeForest Kelley; she fits better in the advisor role and it's welcoming to have a woman's touch on intense scenes.

 

[fireproof78]

Uhura is developed as a character than Urban's caricature of DeForest Kelley; she fits better in the advisor role and it's welcoming to have a woman's touch on intense scenes.

I personally have no issues with Urban's McCoy. He has a sardonic touch that will is interesting to the mix. The fact that Uhura mixes well is a pleasant change. In fact, I think Uhura is among the more competent of the nu-crew.

 

[JWPlatt]

...a woman's touch on intense scenes.

How is that different than a man's?