Was Decker influenced by the Ilia probe at the end of TMP?

[Turd Ferguson]

So I bought the 4K set of Star Treks I-IV the other day and decided to watch The Motion Picture first. It looks absolutely STUNNING, btw.

Anywho, a thought occurred to me while watching the movie. As we know, Deltans are a highly advanced sexual species. Lt. Ilia makes it a point to tell Kirk and co. that her oath of celibacy is on record when she comes aboard. This makes sense. It is also known that Deltans heightened sexuality wreaks havik on "lesser" sexualized species, such as Terrans.

So, we know how the movie goes. One of V'Ger's probes comes on board and "kidnaps" Ilia. It then comes on board later on in the form of Ilia, which Dr. Chapel confirms that V'Ger duplicated her precisely.

Which brings me to my question. At the end of the movie, Decker's pretty gung ho on wanting to take on the role of "The Creator" to join with V'Ger. As he comes to his decision, though, we're treated to some soft focus shots of Decker and the Ilia probe giving each other the googily eyes while Jerry Goldsmith conducts the lovey-dovey Ilia theme. Was the Ilia probe also under Ilia's oath of celibacy? Or did V'Ger duplicate her so precisely that she was able to influence Decker to make a decision he might not have made under normal circumstances?

 

[Kor]

I've been saying for a long time that this was Decker's way of finally, finally fulfilling his desire to "join with" Ilia, even if she wasn't the real one.

Kor

 

[Therin of Andor]

Or did V'Ger duplicate her so precisely that she was able to influence Decker to make a decision he might not have made under normal circumstances?

The novelization demonstrates that the Delta pheromones were accurately duplicated by V'ger, but Decker uses the previous unrequited relationship he shared with Ilia to find chinks in the Probe's armour in the crew's attempts to thwart V'ger. It seemed to me that the Ilia Probe decided to meld with Decker at the end, not that its pheromones were influencing him.

 

[Vger23]

I think he was influenced emotionally, but not physiologically.

 

[Pauln6]

The whole point of their relationship was that it was entirely emotional. They were physiologically incompatible (according to the novelisations, and particularly TWoK, physical contact with Deltans led to psychosis in humans). So, if they could only ever have an emotional connection despite their strong feelings for each other, that adds a whole dimension that was missing from the far more comfortable Riker/Troi pairing where they were just choosing to be apart). Even if you limit your assumptions to what we see on screen, there was social and regulatory pressure keeping them apart.

I don't think V'Ger understood humanoids enough to use their psychology as a tactic and I don't think Ilia's pheromones could control minds as much as influence subconscious behaviour. That said, the Probe also had Ilia's memories. She knew what made Decker tick. The look on her face is an invitation directly to him for sure, pushing his buttons. You could say the jury is out as to whether we might project our humanoid prejudices onto machine thinking (a bit like in Ex Machina). The Probe could have been making an entirely logical decision - I can manipulate this human into doing what I want. If cats and dogs have learned how to do it, a sophisticated machine could certainly do it.

As an aside, while that would never have been the case in an American Phase II series produced in the eighties, you can see how, in a more modern context, how Decker's character could work well as a woman, to add a layer of 'forbidden' frisson (since eighties Trek viewed same sex relationships as forbidden due to the influence if conservative producers at that time). I could certainly see an actress along the lines of Tricia Helfer effortlessly delivering Decker's lines with equal, if not greater gravitas (I appreciate that actual Helfer would have been a tad young herself). I'm trying to think of some contemporaries who might have been able to pull it off. A lot of actresses around that time had a glitzy glam vibe (just look at the auditions for Princess Leia and you will learn a new appreciation for Carrie Fisher) so it's tough to visualise someone as a captain of a starship. Maybe Glenn Close? I'm a bit too young to remember who was starring in TV series back then.

 

[seigezunt]

I forget the specifics, but reading the novel recently helped fill in some of the "what?" that the movie's ending leaves you with. I'd have to go back to look it up, but there was something specific about her being a Deltan that helps V'Ger along to the next stage, and something about the whole New Humans business that you only get in the novel.