Absolutely, because JFK had been dead for several years by that time!
Uhura and MLK
- Thread starter Gorn Captain
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Absolutely, because JFK had been dead for several years by that time!
BTW - she's also said to have atated that her character Uhura was in fact as popular as Kirk or Spock; but due to some sort of mail room conspiracy, the bulk of her fan mails were destroyed.
So, no, I don't put ba lot of stock in her behind the scenes recollections.
So, no, I don't put ba lot of stock in her behind the scenes recollections.
She said that? Seriously?And she has the gall to bitch about Shatner? Her credibility's going down...
^ Yeah, it's in her autobiography. She claims that she was the only other cast member to receive as much fan mail as Shatner and Nimoy, but that because of studio racism, the people in the mail room were ordered not to deliver it to her. It was supposedly only because of a courageous young man in the mail room who informed her and invited her down to receive her mail that she ever found out.
Regarding the MLK story, I wouldn't say that it couldn't have happened. Whether or not the character of Uhura was as historically significant as Nichols likes to say, it's still true that she was an black actress playing a significant, non-stereotypical role as an officer and a member of the command crew. While there are other examples from the time period that can be cited of black actors, as well as women, in non-stereotypical roles, they were certainly not the norm. I could understand if MLK had encouraged her to continue.
None-the-less, her story has changed several times over the years. If I am not mistaken, it began as her simply being inspired by MLK that provoked her to continue. Then it was a phone call. Then it was an in-person meeting where MLK requested to meet her. The fact that it has changed so many times over the years does stretch her credibility on the issue, but I suppose we'll never know for sure.
(BTW, the whole thing about Star Trek having the first interracial kiss was bunk too. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz anyone? Yeah, yeah, I know they mean specifically a kiss between a white person and a black person, but that's not the only thing "interracial" means.)
Regarding the MLK story, I wouldn't say that it couldn't have happened. Whether or not the character of Uhura was as historically significant as Nichols likes to say, it's still true that she was an black actress playing a significant, non-stereotypical role as an officer and a member of the command crew. While there are other examples from the time period that can be cited of black actors, as well as women, in non-stereotypical roles, they were certainly not the norm. I could understand if MLK had encouraged her to continue.
None-the-less, her story has changed several times over the years. If I am not mistaken, it began as her simply being inspired by MLK that provoked her to continue. Then it was a phone call. Then it was an in-person meeting where MLK requested to meet her. The fact that it has changed so many times over the years does stretch her credibility on the issue, but I suppose we'll never know for sure.
(BTW, the whole thing about Star Trek having the first interracial kiss was bunk too. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz anyone? Yeah, yeah, I know they mean specifically a kiss between a white person and a black person, but that's not the only thing "interracial" means.)
And that, that right there is why the bullshit from Roddenberry, Takei, Doohan, Nichols, all bother me. It's not just that they like to make themselves seem FAR more important to the world than they ever were - it's that they constantly have to denegrate someone in order to do it. Am I really supposed to believe that Desilu, of all places, was so racist and sexist that the 'super-important Uhura' couldn't get her fan mail? Seriously?
She definately used to. I saw her a couple of times as a wee laddie and she made a point about talking about MLK. (Late 70s, early 80s time frame here). The story actually elicited groans pretty late on, as more and more of the 'old stories' were becoming better known as 'bullshit'.
Hell, the Plato's Stepchildren Uhura-Kirk kiss wasn't even Nichols' first interracial kiss on Star Trek:
http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x07hd/whatarelittlegirlsmadeofhd055.jpg
There's also the kiss between Sammy Davis, Jr. and Nancy Sinatra on Movin' With Nancy in December 1967, almost a year before Plato's Stepchildren aired.
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