The First Interracial Kiss on (American) Television

I do not agree with her at all. I watched a 3 hour interview with her on Youtube that she did about a year ago and ... Her take on it was, " As an actor I didn't like it but for Uhura... that is what she had wanted/dealt with/done with ". She keeps saying how she developed this story for Uhura and she used that to play the role with dignity.

If you have to resort to whatever material you create in your own head to justify why, or to compensate, the show's producers and writer's dicked your character then that means you're in denial about it.

The misogyny in Star Trek was disgusting at times. Roddenberry put his two mistresses on Star Trek. If he wasn't sleeping with Nichelle, he probably would have never approached her with the character and had he not been sleeping with Majel she probably would have never got on the show either.

There were women in command on the show though. If they did hold power they were either useless (The Romulan Commander), a bitch (The lawyer from Court Martial), or a temptress (Girl of the Week from A Private little War). The Romulan Commander really pisses me off because we see a woman in command of a ship, finally, and what happens? She screws everything up because she couldn't look past her girly infatuation with Spock.

 

There is an ethnic component to being Jewish. Its not like a bunch of Russians, Germans other Europeans (and Asians) converted to Judaism, though some did. They are the decendents of folks from the Israel/Palestine/the Middle East region who immigrated to Europe and other parts of Asia. And once there they did adopt the languages spoken in those regions but they also developed their own language in the form of Yiddish. And of course there was some intermarriage with the locals.

Interesting note on the origin of the name "Nimoy"

I can see why a Jewish family might gain the surname in a Slavic country.

As for Shatner, I found this

Surnames can come from various sources. Location, occupation, origin and appearance can be factors. That Shatner or Nimoy's family gained their surnames after migrating ito Eastern Europe doesn't suprise me. Did Jews even use surnames before arriving in Europe? I thought they use patronamics like "Judah ben Yusef"

Jews in Europe were isolated by culture and religon so maintaining their ethnic Jewishness along with their religious Jewishness was "easy" by choice and circumstances.

 

Back to the OT, I used the term "interracial" because that's how it's constantly referred to in the media, ignoring the blurry lines of what "race" supposedly means.

I don't agree that it was the first "passionate" white/black kiss ob US TV, either, since it's two people being forced to bring their lips together against their will, and Kirk gives a hateful glare at those forcing it during the brief instant we see this supposed kiss.

I think the best thing in the "Bonanzarosa" skit is when "Ma" is about to kiss "Haas", and you can see the fake-out they're pulling. Grier looks like he's about to kiss Cass on the lips, then goes for the forehead. For an instant, the audience thinks it's gonna happen.

 

Television's first interracial black/white kiss, from the 1964 Academy Awards: Sidney Portier and Anne Bancroft

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCzTyxXPy1o

 

Well, there's this one in the seventh episode:

http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x07hd/whatarelittlegirlsmadeofhd055.jpg

And, yeah, "Space Seed" too during the first season.

 

If you look at 19th and early 20th Century anti-immigrant literature, you can find plenty of examples of the Irish, Italians, Greeks, and Slavs being considered non-white.

 

I just wanted to say, DS9Sega, that your avatar is oddly appropriate for the topic.

 

Perhaps, but you asserted Franklin wouldn't consider the Scots white. I don't think you've proven that with your quote.

 

Well the Scots aren't English or Saxon.

 

Space Seed is interesting because Mexicans weren't necessarily seen as non-white in those days. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_American

As I've gotten older I've found the "first kiss" thing to be increasingly odd since Kirk was forced against his will to do it.

 

But, of course, Khan is Indian.

 

No, that's not accurate.

Uhura was in the background because she was a background character, not because of her race. It wasn't NBC or Desilu's decision, as looking at the other network programming at that time proves. NBC's own I Spy ran for a year prior to Star Trek and had a black actor (Bill Cosby) as one of the two stars. Desilu's own Mission: Impossible ran concurrently with Trek (starting in 1966) over on CBS and one of the regulars was black actor Greg Morris, playing the team's resident mechanical and electronics genius (and owner of an electronics company). Finally, Julia, starring Diane Carol as the lead ran from 1968 (Trek's 3rd season) to 1971.

The book Inside Star Trek reprints an NBC memo asking for more racial diversity in casting. The network wasn't looking to put anyone in the background (except, maybe, Spock, at first).

 

Well said, DS9Sega.

NBC insisted its producers assemble racially diverse casts.

The first interracial relationship should have been between Lazarus and Lt. Masters in The Alternative Factor, but someone (nobody seems to know for sure who it was) ordered the script to be heavily re-written (dropping the romance plot) at the last minute when the black actress Janet MacLachlan was cast as Masters.

A thought : was John Drew Barrymore's infamous no-show on the first day of filming some kind of protest about the script change?

 

Yep, yep, and yep. And don't even get me started on Turnabout Intruder.

 

You are, of course, correct. And also not. The Indians I knew are not "Semites" in any way but converted by a migrant group when they came over to India two centuries ago. So, the point is moot, really. And I think as time goes on but Judaism survives (as it has over millenia), we will be encountering more and more of these "non-Semite" Jews.

 

Oh, thanks for posting that!!

 

admit it. you just like the girl-on-girl action. And Spock's face in the foreground is priceless

 

And I like YOUR ava! I laughed my head off during that Angel ep

 

Yeah, but let's not get started on what the Indians are. Total can'o'worms, that one

And speaking of cans of worms... Khan's full name is a total

 

Your Indian friends aren't typical though. Judaism is not a religion were conversion is common or actively persued. In Christian dominated Europe ( where Nimoy and Shatner's families migrated to) very few people converted to Judaism. Not to be overly dramatic, but it would be like putting a bullet in your brain to do so. When your reputation is that of the baby killing, Christ murdering, money lending scapegoats for all evil you dont get many converts. Read up on the Pogroms. against the Jews in Europe for an idea of how they were seen and treated.