Spock, Kirk, McCoy, and Uhura?: How the movie changes the traditional trinity of TOS

[poetics124]

Spock, Kirk, McCoy.   The three Amigos.  BFF's.  The orginal bromances.  Or as I like to call them, the holy trinity of Star Trek. They were the formula for the friendships that were formed among later casts in the franchise and any person, even if they aren't fans of the series or movies can name them and their roles in the show.

If the three

Comments

[poetics124]

I wouldn't necessarily agree with this. I think that Uhura has a connection to Kirk, but it is not the same as her relationship with Spock. I would say that Uhura has more of a relationship with Kirk that is not just of a sexual conquest and that there is a connection there, although not as strong as it is with Spock.

I think it can be said that if she does not reject Kirk's advances towards her, he doesn't become a Starfleet Officer and savior of the Federation. It is her rejection of him and his fight with the other officers that lead Pike to inspire him to join Starfleet. It is his pursuit of her that leads him to a different path that he may have not taken if she had given in or had not been in that bar in the first place. It is her translation and her validation of his vision of what maybe happening to Vulcan that saves the Enterprise. Kirk does not seek out Pike first, he seeks out Uhura to validate his vision, to validate his reasoning.

I will also say that Kirk's interest in her is not entirely sexual. He recognizes her intelligence and skill. Even while he is ogling her in the bedroom scene he takes note that she knows Klingon, has translated a Klingon distress signal, and trusts this interpretation from her so much that he is willing to risk court martial and throwing away his career on her word. And in the end, her simple "captain", as he enters the bridge offers validation of his worth in having that command and how she now sees him as worthy of her respect and admiration.

Uhura, in many ways, validates Kirk in ways the other crew memebers do not and cannot. She shows that he has grown and deserves his accolades. And most suprisingly, it is not in a sexual way, but in a mutual respect as officers and as competent adults which changes their relationship dynamic from pursuer and sexual object to Captain and his communication officer.

McCoy and Uhura don't build on a connection because they don't have any real scenes together. But I hope their relationship is explore more in the next movie.

[poetics124]

But at the same time the entire movie is moving off of the premise of fate. If these people don't meet, relate to each other, and work as a team, the entire world (literally) will implode. The whole movie is based on coincident. Kirk coincidently meets McCoy on a shuttle in Iowa and becomes friends with him, which in turn leads him onto the Enterprise to save Earth. Chekov, a seventeen year old wiz kid, so happens to know how to save Sulu and Kirk from death but not Amanda. Scotty just happens to be on a planet where Spock crash lands Kirk and is the key to getting them out of the blackhole that is created by the red matter. Spock Prime just happens to be in the cave that Kirk stumbles into and gives him the key to get Spock unfocused.

The whole picture is about coincidence and fate. If one character makes the wrong move, it all falls apart. But all the coincidences aren't the same. The writers use Jim's horndog ways to ultimately get him into Starfleet. And that they use Uhura to do it as well as get the translation. And that she happens to be in a relationship with Spock, his future BFF, and that she is in the same role as McCoy on Kirk's side. That she is the one who introduces the new, more mature Kirk, to the world is significant as she was the one who rejected the old, immature Kirk in the first place.

[poetics124]

I'm sorry for the state of my post. lol

[poetics124]

But I still think, despite my liking of shapes, that those relationship are still important in terms of what they are, but not all those relationships are the same.

Point in example, I'm sure Chekov is extremely important to Kirk, but his relationship is different to Kirk from Kirk's relationship with Spock. While it is important for Kirk to meet Chekov, it is more important, both plot wise and story wise, for him to meet Spock because of their relationship. As it is more important for Kirk to meet McCoy for character reasons than for him to meet Scotty, although Scotty is pretty damn important.

I guess what I am saying is that the core relationships have always been Kirk, Bones, Spock. There was never one without the other two. But by introducing Uhura into the equation and by having her have an important personal and professional role to them it changes the dynamics of a core part of Trek lore.

In otherwords, if we were to take the web analogy you use, in the movie Kirk and Spock would be the center of the web while Uhura and McKoy would be the second tier of the web that supports the center. The rest of the crew make up vital parts of the web that help keep the whole thing together, but they are not the center nor the support.

I hope that makes sense because sometimes I don't. lol

[poetics124]

I think what I was trying to argue, and probably didn't convey very well, was that in terms of Trek, those three characters and their relationships are a core dynamic in what makes Trek, well, Trek. But all of the characters are important as they are all family.

But what Uhura is in this incarnation is not the same as it was in the last incarnation due to both the fact that it was in the 60s and because of racism. Because of the change in the universe she had become a bigger influence in the family and changes the dynamics of the all male Spock, Kirk, Mckoy friendship. And I think it might be change for the better and enhance aspects of all the characters in the long run in ways that TOS could never explore.

I hope they go in that direction.

[samsom]

Oh, and if Sulu hadn't forgotten to take the parking brake off before going into warp, the Enterprise would have been with the other ships when they dropped out of warp and right into Nero's line of fire.

Sulu's misstep saved the Enterprise and enabled Kirk the time he needed to piece together the message Uhura happened to catch in her spare time....

Dear Lord, that's quite the string of coincidences, isn't it?? LOL