What was your first reaction to the Spock/Uhura romance?

[Cyke101]

It was a surprise for me, but I didn't have any problems with it. I just didn't think it added anything to the overall plot.

Same here. For me my answer to the OP is a basic "Meh." Nothing to write home about, but nothing inherently wrong about it either. Now, had it been played up a bit more, ie making Uhura more integral to Spock accepting his humanity and need for recovery than leaving the bulk of that portion to Kirk, then I'd probably accept it more. As it is, at times the romance feels a little bit like padding, though some of their digs at Kirk were pretty nice, and a good way to knock his arrogant butt down a few pegs. But it's a heck of a lot more satisfying than Scotty/Uhura or Picard/Whatsherface from Insurrection. Additionally, the Spock/Uhura romance was far less melodramatic than the film's detractors made it out to be when they tried to paint the film as 90210 in space. ONE measly romance does not make a soap opera!

If the next movie has a double date with Spock, Uhura, Kirk, and Carol, then hey, I'll watch it

 

[spaceoddity]

lol I wonder if Uhura ever lectured Spock about "the merits of emotion"

 

[AFEK ESLCAFE W]

I read back in 1994 in a fanzine that there were fans back in the 70's who were hoping for a Spock/Uhura romance based on the way they interacted off of each other during TOS, but which was all but forgotten by the time of the TOS feature films.

So, I was not surprised by the Spock/Uhura romance, but applauded the writers for definitely doing their homework.

 

[antiquityscion]

What was YOUR first reaction?

"Meh."

I thought it was unnecessary, didn't really add anything relevant to the plot, and I also felt it came off as forced and a bit wooden, but I didn't have a strong opposition to it, either. Didn't rub me wrong like Troi\Worf, or Chakotay\Seven of Nine did.

But from a story standpoint, being both a superior officer and her former teacher, I thought it was out of character for a Vulcan (or half Vulcan trying to be Vulcan) and even unprofessional for both Spock, and an SF officer in general.

 

[Amaris]

It happened like this:

"Poor Spock. Going into the Turbolift."
<pause>
"Aw, Uhura wants to comfort him."
<pause>
"That's sweet, she's patting him on the shoulder."
<pause>
"Oh, she's reaching up to... kiss him? Wow!"
"..."
"D'awwww! They're so cute together! That's so sweet!"
"..."
"Spock, you lucky bastard."
"..."
"Also, Uhura you lucky woman."
<pause>
"I want popcorn."

 

[Maltz]

I disliked the Spock/Uhura romance when I first heard about it, and I can't say I've warmed to it since then.

 

[Greg Cox]

After Ilia, Carol Marcus, Gillian Armstrong, Iman, and whoever the love interests were in the TNG movies, it was great that Uhura finally got to be the romantic lead for once . . . .

And to think that it only took forty years!

 

[Amaris]

After Ilia, Carol Marcus, Gillian Armstrong, Iman, and whoever the love interests were in the TNG movies, it was great that Uhura finally got to be the romantic lead for once . . . .

And to think that it only took forty years!

We move forward at breakneck speed in this fandom!

 

[MattWallace]

I would have much preferred that Uhura get something new to do that didn't simply turn her into Spock's girlfriend.

Sulu got to fight the Romulans on the drill platform. Chekov got to save Kirk & Sulu when nobody else could.

Uhura got to be a girlfriend.

The men get to save lives, women get to comfort them.

 

[FarStrider]

I would have much preferred that Uhura get something new to do that didn't simply turn her into Spock's girlfriend.

Sulu got to fight the Romulans on the drill platform. Chekov got to save Kirk & Sulu when nobody else could.

Uhura got to be a girlfriend.

The men get to save lives, women get to comfort them.

Uhura saved the ship with her knowledge by backing Kirk up, AND she gave comfort to someone who desperately needed it. . . what was McCoy's "hero" moment again? Getting his BFF on board by making him sick?

Not everyone has to kick ass to be a hero, luv. . . quiet, non-flashy heroics count too. . .


~FS

 

[malchya]

My first response was along the lines of "Oh, good lord. What were they thinking...." Then, after a moment's thought, "Then again, why not? Good for 'em." Considering some of the other issues I have with the film, though liking it very much over all, this was actually kind of an interesting development.

 

[MattWallace]

McCoy was sadly underused in the movie. No question.

The Sulu and Chekov had their moments showing off their knowledge with their stealthy approach via Titan. Uhura had her knowledge moment by overhearing a communication that meant nothing to her.

Why is it that one of the very few women in the movie is the one that has to be the one to help Spock? "Spock's hurt emotianally, quick, where's one of the women?"

Expanding her role by making it an adjunct to Spock isn't helping show her as a professional.

She's still doing an updated "hailing frequencies open" and "Captain, I'm frightened" ahs been replaced with "I love you Spock". She's got more screen time but it's hardly an improvement in her character.

Men do. Women support. <meh>

Give me a strong, intelligent, independent woman.

 

[FarStrider]

McCoy was sadly underused in the movie. No question.

The Sulu and Chekov had their moments showing off their knowledge with their stealthy approach via Titan. Uhura had her knowledge moment by overhearing a communication that meant nothing to her.

Why is it that one of the very few women in the movie is the one that has to be the one to help Spock? "Spock's hurt emotianally, quick, where's one of the women?"

Expanding her role by making it an adjunct to Spock isn't helping show her as a professional.

She's still doing an updated "hailing frequencies open" and "Captain, I'm frightened" ahs been replaced with "I love you Spock". She's got more screen time but it's hardly an improvement in her character.

Men do. Women support. <meh>

Give me a strong, intelligent, independent woman.

We've seen her as a "professional" in the TOS. . .she got to say "Hailing frequencies open" a lot and sit in the back. . . now they show that she has a life beyond that, and you don't think it is an improvement in her character?. . . your idea of what a strong woman is seems to be quite limited. . .She didn't say 'I love you, Spock,' she didn't say 'I'm frightened captain,' and if she had, you might have a point. . . but being someone's emotional support in a time of great need is not weak, it obviously takes strength to understand and support someone as closed off as Spock tries to be, Kirk and McCoy couldn't do it. . .

. . . and exactly what else would you have wanted Uhura to do in ST09? She is the communications officer. . . she listens to messages and signals. . . she was not going to beam down to drill and fight the Romulans hand-to-hand. . .she's not going to pilot the ship. . . she was not going to go to Nero's ship and get into firefights. . . she saved the ship with HER knowledge. . . no, it was not flashy like Sulu and Chekov. . .but it is STILL more than she ever got to do in the TOS or it's movies


~FS

 

[MattWallace]

Sulu was the helmsman and yet he got to go fight the Romulans with a sword because, apparently, there was nobody else on the ship who had combat experience. Yes, the best person for fighting was the fencer.

Chekov was the navigator and yet he was the best at operating the transporter as well. Even the people actually assigned to the thing couldn't hold a candle to him.

Uhura could have shone in ways that don't relate to communcations as well. But, she's turned into someone's girlfriend instead.

Why couldn't Uhura have combat experience or be a transporter whiz or any number of things?

 

[spaceoddity]

^ this. I don't understand where people like MattWallace get the idea that because Uhura comforts Spock, she's weak.

 

[CaptainMatt]

Uhura has always been a strong character, and her comforting Spock does not change that.

 

[MattWallace]

I'm not saying that she's weak. I'm saying that the male characters had roles outside of their normal duties that gave them a chance to shine. When we got to the only woman in the crew, he role was to provide comfort to her superior officer. Not in a professional sense either, not as her duties but as an emotional adjunct to the Spock character.

Uhura could have provided comfort to him and it could have even been the start of a relationship. However, it had already been established that they were seeing each other.

Why couldn't the one woman in the (big 7) crew get as much of a boost to her professional status as the men did instead of being religated to being mommy to Spock?

We didn't even get to see Chapel. Just how many chances do they get to show that the women are the equal to the men, professionally speaking? Why, when it comes time for someone to provide emotional support does it have to fall on the one woman?

 

[Cyke101]

Sulu was the helmsman and yet he got to go fight the Romulans with a sword because, apparently, there was nobody else on the ship who had combat experience. Yes, the best person for fighting was the fencer.

Chekov was the navigator and yet he was the best at operating the transporter as well. Even the people actually assigned to the thing couldn't hold a candle to him.

Uhura could have shone in ways that don't relate to communcations as well. But, she's turned into someone's girlfriend instead.

Why couldn't Uhura have combat experience or be a transporter whiz or any number of things?

That doesn't pertain to Scotty or McCoy. They were relegated to their specific job duties. Though, I've said before that it'd be pretty neat if Uhura's duties included espionage and reconnaissance. Those jobs could help where first contact is required, but we didn't get that in this movie. True, the movie added linguistics (a nice, if perhaps unintended throwback to Hoshi), but she translated the message off-screen.

 

[FarStrider]

I'm not saying that she's weak. I'm saying that the male characters had roles outside of their normal duties that gave them a chance to shine. When we got to the only woman in the crew, he role was to provide comfort to her superior officer. Not in a professional sense either, not as her duties but as an emotional adjunct to the Spock character.

Uhura could have provided comfort to him and it could have even been the start of a relationship. However, it had already been established that they were seeing each other.

Why couldn't the one woman in the (big 7) crew get as much of a boost to her professional status as the men did instead of being religated to being mommy to Spock?

We didn't even get to see Chapel. Just how many chances do they get to show that the women are the equal to the men, professionally speaking? Why, when it comes time for someone to provide emotional support does it have to fall on the one woman?

Because human beings provide emotional support to each other in times of crisis? And well-rounded people (and characters) are more than their jobs. . . Because Uhura was the only one on board shown to have a prior relationship with Spock? We've already seen that Kirk and McCoy didn't know him at the time, Uhura did. . .who else was supposed to offer him comfort? Who else would he have taken it from?

I was serious when I asked you what did you expect the movie to show. . . Uhura's job is not "flashy". . .she sits in the background with the equivalent of a bluetooth headset in her ear. . .tell me how you would have shown her job as more "professional"? what else would you have had her do? She comes into her room and tells us that she found an unusual signal, and was sent home. . . We saw her with all of the other communications personal when Kirk found her. . .we saw her replace the guy who didn't know Vulcan from Romulan, and she gave Pike a report. . .what else would YOU have done if you were the writer? BE SPECIFIC! And if you saw Chapel, what would she have done? Wheeled a cart? Handed McCoy a scanner?

~FS

 

[MattWallace]

Exactly! The lack of women was a problem, one that could have been adressed by the writers. Instead, they chose to give the action, save the universe, stuff to the men and have Uhura's growth confined to her relationship with a male character in a romantic relationship.

Boys save the universe. Girls are girlfriends.

Nothing would have prevented Uhura from giving comfort to Spock even if they were not in a relationship. It would have provided a starting point for one and kept us from the painful scene where Spock is forced to change a ship assignment by his girlfriend.

Having the relationship already established weakened both characters. The loss of Vulcan would have given us a reason why they were drawn together.