Why wasnt Uhura ever given her own command?
- Thread starter HAL.9000
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I'm not a fan of Janeway, but I don't think the character's problems had anything to do with gender/sexual characteristics. That was down to bad writing, period.
Even IRL, I don't like Hillary Clinton, but I hate when people insult as a woman. I think that's just low.
Even IRL, I don't like Hillary Clinton, but I hate when people insult as a woman. I think that's just low.
I would have hated it. Uhura was always just the communications chick and that was fine. Not everyone get's to be a commanding officer, a director or head of whatever. Throwing that job in Uhura's direction in the novels doesn't even make sense, how was she qualified for that position? Because she was part of the Enterprise crew is not enough, she was just an irrelevant button pusher that happened to sit near the captain.
In the real world she's a popular character, in the Star Trek universe she's a nobody, what has she ever done that was special except helping to steal a starship by holding a junior officer at gunpoint and locking him up? She (along with Sulu, Chekov and Scotty) just happened to be there when other people saved the day.
Of course, in the novels we have further background on what she does--that she was a linguist, that she was heavily involved in signals intelligence...things that would lay the groundwork for such a position. In the show, the way she was treated is unforgivable, but I felt the novels did just fine in establishing a background for it.
I remember one episode where she corrects Kirk by saying that a certain code had been broken by the Romulans-if she has access to that info, then she could certainly qualify to go into intelligence.
There were some episodes where you got rare, brief glimpses into her personal life, but they didn't do her justice.
She was mainly a glorified secretary, if the P.T.B in the 60's had their way..
Uhura as portrayed was more than capable of command and she was a command-trained officer (wearing a gold uniform in a few early episodes). We also have to remember that Sulu trained as a physicist as well as a pilot. Picard and Janeway trained as scientists, as did Spock. Not every crewman is cut out for command, that's true, but Uhura most certainly was. In terms of her command ability, I would say she displayed far more than Chekov and he became a first officer - albeit on a science mission. I have no problem with her becoming a high level intelligence officer. MI5 had had two female heads in recent years and Judi Dench's M in the Bond movies in an homage to that.
This is the correct answer.
As far as I'm concerned, Uhura retired as head of Starfleet Linguistics with the rank of Captain, as seen in Star Trek: Of Gods and Men.
She didn't command a starship because she was the communication's officer. A linguist. That's what she trained for, that was her job.
She didn't command a starship because she was the communication's officer. A linguist. That's what she trained for, that was her job.
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