Interpretation of ST:XI: Slash goggles, on!
Interpretation of ST:XI: Slash goggles, on!, Part One
by dark_orion
Why Is Spock Such an Emo Asshole in ST:XI?
Cause the First: Narada vs. "Balance of Terror"
This is actually a really broad topic that results from many, many different factors that were mostly off-screen and can only be presumed--deductive reasoning and all that jazz. This is also the thought that sparked off this whole thing for me--if the incident between the Narada and the Kelvin happened after Spock was born, how could it have such an obviously huge impact on his life? As Harry Plinkett would say, "The devil's in the details, my lovelies, and we're taking a trip to hell."
On the surface, it doesn't seem like the battle between the Narada and the Kelvin would have much in the way of a direct impact on Vulcan. Granted, the Kelvin was a Federation ship, and as Vulcan is a member of the Federation, as a planet, they're as affected as any other member by the implications of a giant ship appearing out of nowhere and destroying a Starfleet ship--because it sucks ass and is really scary to think about. However, it makes sense that Vulcans would be less affected personally not only because of Surak and emotional control and yadda, yadda, but also because it is very unlikely that there were any Vulcans aboard the Kelvin. According to TOS canon, Spock was the first Vulcan ever to join Starfleet (blah, blah T'Pol whatever--1960s canon trumps that, so there)--there is no reason for this to be different in XI, so we can safely assume there were no Vulcans serving on the Kelvin. (Well, I suppose there could have been Vulcan civilians on board, but that seems like a long shot at best--if there were, I feel like that would have been an important story point, mirroring for later and all that, so the fact that we do not see a Vulcan aboard tells me that there were none there.)
So, long story short (oh, missed that train already, did I?), no Vulcans on board = no families on Vulcan with personal loss = Kelvin incident is like any other abstract and distant tragedy, right?
Well, no, not this time. The TOS episode "Balance of Terror" is sort of the go-to reference for Federation/Romulan history up through this point in the Trek timeline (I never watched Enterprise. I kind of treat it like the Star Wars prequels: it does not exist. Sorry. I like Scott Bakula, though. Quantum Leap was awesome... See what I mean about tangents?). Anyway, "Balance of Terror"--we learn that the war between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire took place way before the age of videoconferencing (so, pre-1980s, then?), so we have no idea what the Romulans look like, since all communication, even the signing of the ceasefire, was done via subspace radio. All we know about the Romulans is that they are pretty badass fighters, that they take no prisoners, and that they fly around in spaceships with birds painted on them.
So in the episode, the Enterprise is following a Romulan ship that they suspect has been attacking Starfleet outposts along the Federation side of the Neutral Zone--Spock hacks into the other ship's bridge camera (that's for...record-keeping? Like the Enterprise had in "Court Martial"? Little fancy-schmancy for that, though, what with the changing angles n' stuff. Okay, 1960s, letting it go) so that we all can get our first look at Romulans, and lo and behold, they look just like Vulcans (in fact, the Romulan commander bears a suspiciously striking resemblance to Spock's daddy, but we're supposed to forget about that by the time "Journey to Babel" comes along). Everybody's shocked, and even Spock raises the eyebrow of "wha...?"
The Romulan Commander, Mark Lenard
The most interesting reaction to note in this episode, however, is that of the episode's helmsman, Stiles (remember, this is pre-Chekov TOS). Up until this point in the episode, he's been spouting the basic "Romulans killed my dad, I hate them, they suck, let's shoot 'em," which everyone kind of ignores because the Romulans are still pretty much enemies, but after seeing the Romulans for the first time, Stiles starts spewing his bile at Spock, making not very veiled references to the effect of he thinks that Spock is a Romulan spy and will destroy them all. Kirk, obviously pissed that someone's being such a racist asshole on his bridge--specifically a racist asshole to Spock--tells the guy to shut up and do his job, so win.
So what's the point? Despite the obvious attempts to portray the enlightenment of the future with the Federation, clearly racism still exists and is still widespread enough that no one looks too shocked when Stiles starts up with his blather--widespread enough that pretty much all of Star Trek VI is based upon the premise of overcoming racism, and that takes place some 20 to 30 years after "Balance of Terror."
You get what I'm driving at, right? The Narada's attack on the Kelvin stirred up racism within the Federation between humans (and perhaps other species) and Vulcans. If I'm going to argue that (and oh, believe me, I am--long, copious notes), first, why wasn't there a similar falling out between the two species after the "Balance of Terror" encounter? After all, the circumstances were not entirely dissimilar: in TOS, an invisible, scary Romulan ship, in order to test the Empire's new powerful weapon, is committing unprovoked attacks against Starfleet outposts, destroying them utterly; in XI, a big, scary Romulan ship, in order to exact revenge upon one man, commits an unprovoked attack against a Starfleet ship.
Why not? Well, it could be any number of reasons. First, the encounter in TOS occurs 34 years after that in XI. It is quite possible that Spock's joining Starfleet paved the way for more Vulcan recruits, which would strengthen relations between the two species. Also, it is not clear when Sarek became the Vulcan ambassador to Earth--perhaps in those 34 years, he became the ambassador and helped to promote goodwill between the two species; having a human wife would be great PR.
There's also the different Romulans' choice of target. In TOS, the Romulans attack Starfleet starbases on the edge of the Neutral Zone--this has got to be one of the most dangerous postings in Starfleet.
"Balance of Terror": Neutral Zone Bases
Granted, the Federation and the Romulan Empire are not technically at war, but it seems to be a pretty damn uneasy cease-fire, and anyone posted at these bases is on the front line should hostilities renew. On the other hand, the Kelvin, while a Starfleet ship, seems to be some kind of science vessel. The design of the ship is unlike any of those we see later in the film when the fleet is deployed from Earth (yeah, twenty some odd years have passed, but we know from TOS canon that ships get refitted over and over again and new ship designs are not introduced all that often), and its design has more in common with the science ship Grissom from Search for Spock than with the Enterprise.
USS Kelvin
USS Grissom from The Search for Spock
It only has one warp nacelle, and if the colors of the uniforms still correlate with later in the film, it is captained by a science officer (granted the latter is iffy, since we only see two colors throughout the entire ship). If this is a science ship, it's not going to be as well armed or shielded as a battle cruiser like the Enterprise
We learn from the chatter as they first encounter the "lightning storm in space" that they are not all that close to the Federation/Klingon border ("Could this be Klingon?" "Negative, Lieutenant, you are 75,000 kilometers from..."), so they likely would not have been expecting to run into any enemy ships. Plus, it is unlikely that an officer who was at the stage of pregnancy as Winona Kirk would have been aboard a ship that was under imminent threat of hostility (and this is assuming that Winona was an officer--if she was a civilian, it is even less likely she would have been aboard--pre-family-onboard-ship days and all).
An attack on an outpost in a dangerous location by the enemy it is observing/guarding against would logically be met with less outrage and be seen as less of an overt tragedy than an attack on a target that is not so battle-ready and potentially has civilians aboard. Think about modern warfare: no one blinks too hard when combatants are attacked--it's seen more as part of their job, a risk they agreed to take; however, when a civilian center is attacked, the hue and cry that follows is massive.
However, what I suspect to be the major reason "Balance of Terror" did not lead to an interspecies clusterfuck is one James Kirk. As captain, Kirk is responsible for the framing of the encounter--his interpretation of events will become Starfleet's since it's Kirk's job to report on the confrontation.
So how does Kirk see things? First of all, as a military leader himself, Kirk recognizes that the Romulans have a single, justifiable purpose for their attacks--to test a new weapon against the defensive capabilities of its main enemy. Kirk, of course, is still pissed off that the Romulans are breaking the ceasefire, but he can respect their reasoning--and also respect the fact that the Romulans only went for military targets. Also, Kirk develops something of a rapport with the Romulan commander--over the course of events, they learn to respect each other's abilities and intelligence, the Romulan commander going so far as to say the two could have been friends under other circumstances. Kirk obviously sees these Romulans as worthy and honorable opponents, not conscious-less monsters to be demonized, and his report would reflect such.
Also, more important is Spock's contribution to events as, again, would be framed by Kirk. Though Spock never has to prove himself to Kirk--because one thing that Kirk would never question would be Spock's love for loyalty to him (what? So I'm eager to get on to the slash. Sue me). However, Spock is able to prove himself (as a representative of Vulcan loyalty as a whole) to that jackass Stiles--and thereby to other potential doubters on down the road--when the weapons room(? department? thingy?) is flooded with deadly gas. Not only does Spock save Stiles, personally, but by diving into the gas, he fires the weapons that save the entire ship. You can bet your sweet bippy that Kirk included that in his report. Underlined. And highlighted. With little hearts drawn around it.
Spock saves the day, while making his way through Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze.
The fact that the Enterprise simply survived also contributes to a lack of overall animosity towards Vulcan. It lends to a feeling of "hey, that sucked, but we won, so ha!" There is no need for continued fear, as the threat has been neutralized--the event is over, done and dusted, so it can be largely forgotten. However, in XI, the Romulan ship just disappears after having utterly destroyed a Starfleet ship. It is a continuing threat that must be dealt with, which breeds fear, which in turn breeds stupidity of the "blame Vulcan" kind.
Let's sum up some of the other reasons the differences in the battles themselves that would lead to a different outcome in the two timelines (because my word count is already worryingly long and this is only the first frickin' subsection--but what can I say? Spock has issues coming out his ears):
- Whereas the Romulans in "Balance of Terror" had a clear, definable goal, the attack in XI is completely unprovoked--when you don't understand an enemy's motives, you can't predict his actions, which makes him doubly scary.
- The "BoT" attack was devastating but not unnecessarily vicious--they eliminated military targets quickly and moved on. In XI, the attack was needlessly brutal. Nero used way more force than necessary, as he was only at first trying to subdue the Kelvin. Also, the captain of the Kelvin was suddenly killed under a flag of ceasefire/surrender, and the Kelvin was completely destroyed--or would have been had George Kirk not rammed the Narada first--which means no "yay, we won" feeling, but an "oh, shit, these guys are stronger than us, and we can't do anything about it" feeling.
- In "BoT," the face of the Romulan commander was known. In XI, Nero spoke through a middleman--no one who survived saw his face. A faceless enemy is way scarier than one whose face is known.
- George Kirk becomes the great hero of the encounter, as evidenced by the way Pike speaks of him later. If someone is made a hero, that means he must have a villain. The more George Kirk is lauded as a hero, the more vilified his enemy would become.
- Nero (via his middleman) never identified himself as Romulan. No one in the Federation knew what a Romulan looked like (or if they did, they weren't telling). Clearly, everyone figured it out in the intervening time, but it's logical (heh) to assume that, as the bad guys looked like Vulcans, for some time, it might have been assumed that it was a group of crazy rogue Vulcans that attacked the Kelvin. Yeah, that would be great PR.
All told, it's safe to assume that there was a widespread feeling of distrust regarding Vulcan, perhaps due at first to their presumed culpability in the Kelvin attack, but definitely later due to their resemblance to and sharing blood with such an enemy.
Cause the Second (a.k.a. the cause that is a result of the first cause): I'll Show You Where to Shove Your IDIC
So everyone's hating on the Vulcans to some degree. What could be the Vulcans' response to this? Well, despite what Vulcans might like to have us believe, they do have emotions and, thus, emotional responses to things. A first (and the likely acknowledged) course of action would be to withdraw, become more insular.
Now, even in TOS, when everyone's all friendly-like, Vulcans keep their mystique pretty jealously, to the point where they don't even speak with each other about devastating and unavoidable instinctive responses written into their own genetic code that could result in death if not properly seen to. Yeah, 'cause that's logical. That the Vulcans' response to hostility from others would be to close ranks to an even greater degree is not a stretch of the imagination.
Another course of action undertaken--though I doubt you could get any Vulcan to admit it--would be to fight fire with fire. A sort of "well, if you hate me, I'll just hate you back" kind of attitude--though couched in very pretty, logical wording. Vulcans would think that humans were being all petty and emotional for blaming Vulcan for the Kelvin attack (which would be true), and Vulcans would thus see themselves as superior to humans because, of course, they're above that kind of response, and thus their disdain for the human race would increase (and of course they wouldn't recognize this as hypocrisy, because hypocrisy is illogical, and therefore, Vulcans could not possibly be hypocritical. Yay for "logic").
It's pretty easy to see how this kind of attitude would affect Spock. We know from TOS that even in friendlier times, Spock was bullied by his schoolmates for his human half. (Watch "Journey to Babel" and be prepared to wibble.) Imagine how this would increase under XI circumstances. The bullying is obviously a very frequent occurrence, as Spock asks his tormenters if they have come up with new insults for today, heavily implying that they torment him on a daily basis, but Spock also states implicitly that this is the 35th time they've tried to provoke him into an emotional response--and that's only this set of bullies.
The Vulcan bullies. They all look like they could use a punch in the face.
It's also probable that the bullying is more intense than it would have been in TOS. It's unlikely Sarek would have been considered a traitor in the previous timeline, as human-Vulcan relations would not have been in the turmoil they were in XI, but that comes up quickly now. Also, these children are still pretty young kids--what kid, even a Vulcan one, knows what a whore is, much less would bring that up when tormenting a schoolmate?
That latter insult raises another issue. Whereas the bullying to which TOS Spock was subjected was probably only from his peers, due to XI politics, Spock might have been tormented by adults as well. Certainly that these children were aware of the meaning of the word "whore" and used it in reference to Amanda speaks to some kind of adult influence on their way of thinking. Likely, they're absorbing their parents'/authority figures' attitudes and reflecting them.
Now, while I doubt that an adult Vulcan would just come right out and say the kinds of things to Spock that these children do, this kind of attitude could manifest in other ways. We do know, as evident in the Council when delivering the news Spock has been accepted to the VSA, that Spock's human blood is seen as, at best, a disability. Depending on who was responsible for his instruction, perhaps Spock was not taught proper Vulcan controls for his emotions, either because instructors wouldn't want to touch minds with him due to the human "taint" of his thoughts or because they simply pre-judged him as inept because of his human half and thus did not even try as they would with a full Vulcan student.
Another variant of this theory, as far as Spock's seemingly more dubious control over his emotions in XI as compared to TOS (as evidenced by the creeping of emotion into both his expressions and voice), supposing that Spock was instructed as any other student in the mind arts, it is logical to assume that the more frequent, more intense, more widespread bullying would have had an effect on Spock's ability to learn the mind rules. Because Spock's emotional shields are constantly being bombarded, it is not out of the question that were not allowed to develop properly and are not as strong as they should be, that Spock cannot control his emotions as he would otherwise be able to, that he might rely on repression instead. Repressing emotions is not the same as controlling them--control implies that you have say over how or when something affects you; repression implies that these things are going to affect you, regardless, and that you can only repress the outward signs and effects.
As a result of all this, whether he received proper mind training or not, as a child, XI Spock is bound to feel angrier and more alone than TOS Spock ever did. Part of it would be done to him--he is clearly not accepted within his peer group, and it is unlikely he has many, if any, friends. The other part of his isolation would be self-inflicted--if Spock cannot control properly, he would logically then seek to limit the potential for the testing of his emotional barriers, which would mean withdrawing from social interaction. This seems to be a reasonable assumption, as we know explicitly from the film that Spock is already considering going through the Kolinahr ritual, the purging of all emotion.
Part Two: Parsing Spock and Uhura's Relationship: The Academy Years
ETA: Hi, guys. Sorry to those of you who've been witness to some kerfuffles going on in the comments. It's gotten a little intense, so I apologize to all of you. I hate to have to go all "mom" here, but from here on, I'm instituting a zero tolerance policy for disrespect (e.g. name-calling, personal attacks) here. Please, please, don't think I mean that you can't disagree with me. I kind of love it when you do, because we've had some really in-depth discussion here that I think benefits all of us involved. It's fun, because who doesn't love any excuse to talk about Trek here? But when we start to get into just being outright mean to each other on a personal level, that's taking it too far, right?
The overwhelming majority of you guys have been awesome, and completely and totally cordial and polite even when letting me know when I'm wrong, wrong, wrong. We're bickering like Kirk and Spock, and it's great. I thank you guys for that, and I hope it continues. I'm just nipping some things in the bud before they get nasty.
'Kay. As you were. Nothing to see here, folks. :)