Nope, in the US, you will be charged with a crime for not helping someone in distress. Like I said just calling for help qualifies as helping. Every state has a variation of the Good Samaritan Law.
What Amazes Me
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Rescuing Romulans from certain death is considered an insult, isn't it? (Well, at least before Romulan "honor" and "duty" passed on to the Klingons in ST III and TNG.) In TAS, Kirk was concerned that a Romulan Commander embarrassed by an inflatable decoy Enterprise might suicide and take his crew with him.
Ah ok - it's just a difference between US and UK law then. Personally I would expect a good samaritan law to be enshrined in Starfleet regs; it's the entire premise of the Kobayashi Maru test after all.
I think it's feasible that Nero wanted to die due to Romulan honour but at this point in time the Federation had little information to get a handle on the Romulan psyche so I don't think Kirk and Spock acted to do them a favour. In fact imprisoning Nero would have been a much more fitting punishment.
Let's just agree there wasn't enough information about what's going on during that scene because some technobabble explanation caused the transporter to malfunction which made that option not feasible.
Well...
Kirk "Transporters?"
Crewman "Not functioning due to gravitational forces, sir."
Spock "We cannot take the chance that the ship might survive another passage through the wormhole."
Kirk "Agreed. Mr Sulu fire all weapons. Do you agree Mr Spock?"
Spock "As a pacifist I abhor all forms of violence. However, in this case, since I cannot exact bloody revenge upon Nero in the same way as Mister Hyde against the Invisible Man in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, destroying the ship will suffice."
Uhura (googling frantically) "Spock, we need to talk..."
Hardly any technobabble required at all!
TOS: The Arena
Spock: Do you intend to destroy the alien vessel Captain?
Kirk: Of course.
Spock: Perhaps the pursuit alone might be sufficient. Destruction may be unnecessary.
Kirk: Cestus III has been destroyed Spock.
Spock: The destruction of that vessel will not bring that colony back.
Result?
Kirk: No, I won't kill you. Perhaps you thought you were defending yourself when you attacked the colony.
Trek09
Spock: Captain, what are you doing?
Kirk: Show them compassion may be the only way to earn peace with Romulas. It's logic Spock. Thought you'd like that.
Spock: No, not really. Not this time.
From the Book
Spock: Captain, I just lost my entire planet. To HELL with logic!
Result?
Kirk: You got it. Arm phasers, fire everything we've got.
Sulu: (With a happy smirk) Yes sir.
Conclusion?
I don't care if he's young, I don't care if he didn't have a father, I don't care if he needs to be developed, and I DON'T CARE if he's Kirk. This NuKirk is an unlikable a**hole compared to classic Kirk, and I don't like him.
And where the heck did the "Peace with Romulas" bit come from? No one ever said we were at war with Romulas, and if neither side is attacking the other, than we're already at peace!
Spock: Do you intend to destroy the alien vessel Captain?
Kirk: Of course.
Spock: Perhaps the pursuit alone might be sufficient. Destruction may be unnecessary.
Kirk: Cestus III has been destroyed Spock.
Spock: The destruction of that vessel will not bring that colony back.
Result?
Kirk: No, I won't kill you. Perhaps you thought you were defending yourself when you attacked the colony.
Trek09
Spock: Captain, what are you doing?
Kirk: Show them compassion may be the only way to earn peace with Romulas. It's logic Spock. Thought you'd like that.
Spock: No, not really. Not this time.
From the Book
Spock: Captain, I just lost my entire planet. To HELL with logic!
Result?
Kirk: You got it. Arm phasers, fire everything we've got.
Sulu: (With a happy smirk) Yes sir.
Conclusion?
I don't care if he's young, I don't care if he didn't have a father, I don't care if he needs to be developed, and I DON'T CARE if he's Kirk. This NuKirk is an unlikable a**hole compared to classic Kirk, and I don't like him.
And where the heck did the "Peace with Romulas" bit come from? No one ever said we were at war with Romulas, and if neither side is attacking the other, than we're already at peace!
I-Am-Zim
Captain
Very true. Nero already told Pike that he did not speak for the empire, he stood apart. So "peace with the Romulans" is a non issue when dealing with Nero. The Romulan government did not even know of his existence as far as we know.
I didn't like that scene. It made Kirk look like a jackass. It didn't help Spock's credibility either. I don't think the original Spock would have acted that way, and I'm almost certain the original Kirk would not have acted that way either. That's what makes the characters so different. Kirk in the original universe is a seasoned leader. NuKirk is a brash kid who has no idea how to be a leader. He's had no experience to teach him. NuSpock, to an extent, I can understand. Original Spock still had his planet and his mother at that age. NuSpock has been hit with a tremendous emotional blow in this alternate universe. That will undoubtedly cause him to develop into a much different person than the one we're used to. And this scene was just a hint at that new and quite different Spock.
I didn't like that scene. It made Kirk look like a jackass. It didn't help Spock's credibility either. I don't think the original Spock would have acted that way, and I'm almost certain the original Kirk would not have acted that way either. That's what makes the characters so different. Kirk in the original universe is a seasoned leader. NuKirk is a brash kid who has no idea how to be a leader. He's had no experience to teach him. NuSpock, to an extent, I can understand. Original Spock still had his planet and his mother at that age. NuSpock has been hit with a tremendous emotional blow in this alternate universe. That will undoubtedly cause him to develop into a much different person than the one we're used to. And this scene was just a hint at that new and quite different Spock.
ST-One
Vice Admiral
Romulus
For now.
And now they have an opportunity to become, as David Gerrold called this type of story at a writers' workshop in the 80s, "the man who learns better".
Well, I'm supposing that's where this movie would fit. (He was extending the old "Man vs Man", "Man vs Nature", "Man vs Himself" theory.)
I think the "man who learns better" in this case is the writer (or writers). I believe Orci said something to the effect of "we just wanted a funny line," but I can think of numerous ways you could have made it funny without flying in the face of Federation morals. Of course, there's another reason left unspoken - Federation morals, by current standards, would be perceived as hopelessly weak and soft-headed. The ugly truth is, audiences are a little more bloodthirsty than we used to be, and an appeal to mercy would have probably left some of the audience groaning "f-ing liberals."
(Full disclosure: I, too, made the case when the movie came out that this was a friggin' war criminal, what's the big deal? A little perspective has changed my opinion.)
I think I like it.
Well...
Kirk "Transporters?"
Crewman "Not functioning due to gravitational forces, sir."
Spock "We cannot take the chance that the ship might survive another passage through the wormhole."
Kirk "Agreed. Mr Sulu fire all weapons. Do you agree Mr Spock?"
Spock "As a pacifist I abhor all forms of violence. However, in this case, since I cannot exact bloody revenge upon Nero in the same way as Mister Hyde against the Invisible Man in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, destroying the ship will suffice."
Uhura (googling frantically) "Spock, we need to talk..."
Hardly any technobabble required at all!
We're dealing with this Spock from WNMHGB:
SPOCK: Then you have one other choice. Kill Mitchell while you still can.
And you know what, he was right. They should have killed Mitchell. Letting him live cost the ship and the crew dearly.
Ah yes - the application of cold logic. Spock was right in many respects - Mitchell was a growing threat. I liked that Spock!
At the time the decision to destroy Nero is taken, he isn't a threat. He's a bag of hot air who should face the wrath of a Federation trial so he could be rehabilitated in a minimum security prison. This is what makes the Federation strong!
I think this is true. It's not that the US was more liberal in the sixties but I think that people were more optimistic and less jaded so Trek's optimism was appealing.
The battle-hardened video game addict of today is de-senstitised to brutality so that this level of liberalism and optimism is actually rather foreign.
Nero deserved to die because he had committed genocide. His guilt was in no doubt so a summary execution of everybody on his ship (whether crew, family members, prisoners, or children) was acceptable to get the villain. It's actually very chilling when you consider that this is what has been happening in Iraq, Palestine, Israel, and Afganistan. Violence begats violence and who decides when acceptable loss of civilian life becomes unacceptable.
It's a shame that Nero was such a cardboard villain. It might have been fun to explore some of those ideas and rekindle Trek's allegorical roots.
and the spock who wanted kirk to kill the horta.
and the spock who said vulcans could/ would kill for a reason.
in arena i think spock was more concerned with the long range implications of destroying the ship without first talking to them.
ie really assesing their actuall threat level.
in the movie they knew just what they were dealing with and the possible consequences if that tech escaped again through time.
especially if they had shuttles or smaller ships like tugs on the narada.
Than why offer assistance in the first place? If Kirk and crew knew the Narada would survive (which they said it wouldn't) and travel back in time, why would they suspect Nero of not knowing?
There's a difference you know between killing someone who is a very hostile threat than killing someone who is not. Nero was no threat to the Enterprise or to anyone. You really think the Romulans are going to go to war with the entire galaxy using tugs? They have no red matter, they would barely have half a ship, and they can't fight or shoot for crap, even in their own environment.Nerys Myk said:
If they knew they could be this ultra threat to the galaxy without the red matter, they would not have waited 25 years for Spock.
The man is a proven threat who murdered a couple billion people,tried to kill a few billion more, threated to kill lord knows how many and had access to advanced weapons & technology. He expressed no interest in peace, surrender or aid. Kirk made the right choice.
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