Star Trek - Symmetries and Echoes in the Movie
I have now watched the movie four times and have plans to watch it for a fifth and sixth time. There are times in once life where one has to be the tiniest bit fannish.
What I have noticed during my repeated watching is that the movie is very symmetrical: Many themes are repeated at least once and scenes echo one another.
Here are some examples:
Collision courses:
In the beginning of the movie, George Kirk puts the ship on collision course with the Narada.
Near the end of the movie, Spock puts the ship of the Vulcan science academy on collision course with the Narada.
Both are willing to die for the greater good. George cannot be saved, but Spock has the crew of the Enterprise coming to his assistance and survives.
We get two captains who are forced to fly a shuttle to the Narada:
Captain Robaud who dies. Captain Pike who survives even though he loses the use of his legs.
And there's Kirk, the wild card, who beams over to the Narada in order to bring the fight to Nero.
Kirk gets many scenes where he hangs on a precipice and has to pull himself up again:
- As a kid after he has wrecked the car. --> He has to draw himself up.
- After the fight on the drilling platform. --> He has to hold on, but ultimately Sulu draws him up.
- After he has been marooned on the ice planet. --> He struggles to get out of the hole without any help.
- Then, of course, during the fight on the Narada: I think there are at least two instances when he has to stop himself from falling and climb up again.
When a theme occurs that often I refuse to believe it's a coincidence. My interpretation is that Kirk has a hard start in life - harder than Kirk in the alternate timeline - and the danger is that he will slip completely. (We hear from Pike that he's a repeat offender despite being highly intelligent.) Yet what he has going for himself is that he is incredibly stubborn and resilient. While part of him may have a death wish, once he has found a purpose for his life he *wants* to live and he *wants* to beat the odds and he will always, always try to climb up again.
I think these scenes also have an echo in Kirk refusing to be defeated by the Kobayashi Maru test which he takes three times.
Kirk and his fights:
- In the beginning of the movie, Kirk starts a bar fight for fun.
- Near the end of the movie, Kirk needs to start a fight in order to emotionally compromise Spock so that he can take command of the Enterprise.
Spock and his fights:
Spock loses his temper twice.
- Once as a child - after the 35th attempt to "elicit an emotional response" from him.
- Then when Kirk attempts to make him angry. And isn't it interesting that Kirk finds the right trigger to Spock's anger so very quickly? (Spock Prime doesn't give Kirk the advice to doubt Spock's love for his mother, he only mentions that he should be emotionally compromised due to the loss of his planet.)
Kirk getting on board the Enterprise:
He needs to cheat twice in order to get on board of the ship. Both times, he has help from outside.
- The first time, it's McCoy who gets him on board.
- The second time, it's Spock and Scotty working together.
Kirk standing in front of an assembly of Star Fleet cadets and officers:
- The first time, because he is accused of cheating.
- The second time, because he is commended and is given command of the Enterprise.
Spock Prime coming from the future and giving Scotty an invention which Scotty would actually discover at a later time:
This scene does not have an echo within the movie, but it's clearly an hommage to Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home. After all, here Scotty comes from the future, visits an inventor and gives him the key to something this man has discovered at a later time.
Chekov and beaming:
- Chekov manages to save Kirk and Sulu and he's so happy about it.
- Minutes later, he has to realise that he cannot always save everyone when he loses Spock's mother.
There's the juxtapositions between Kirk's and Spock's childhood and youth with Kirk obviously being loved by his parents, but then still suffering due to their absence whereas Spock's parents are very present, but cannot protect him from being an outsider.
Fatherly advice scenes:
There are many of them and they are amongst my favorite scenes:
- Sarek talking to Spock as child and advising him to follow the Vulcan way.
- And later on, Sarek talking to a grown up Spock and advising him to accept himself as a child of two worlds.
- Captain Pike telling Kirk about his father and trying to convince him to join Starfleet.
- Spock Prime giving advice to Kirk.
- Spock Prime giving advice to Spock.
All these scenes focus on Spock and Kirk who need to find out who they want to be and what is important to them. Kirk needs to learn the value of logic, Spock needs to learn the value of emotions. And both need to learn to rely on the friendship of others.
Beyond this are many more symmetries:
Major ones like two timelines, two Spocks, two planets that are destroyed - one in each timeline.
And minor ones like Spock and Uhura kissing on two occasions, Scotty trying to beam to a certain location and not getting to the ideal place (watertank, command deck on the Narada), but being successful when it counts. McCoy saying to Kirk "I might throw up on you." as he's suffering from aviophobia (and possibly a hang-over) and later on Kirk saying the same to McCoy as he's under the influence of the virus with which McCoy has infected him.
What I have noticed during my repeated watching is that the movie is very symmetrical: Many themes are repeated at least once and scenes echo one another.
Here are some examples:
Collision courses:
In the beginning of the movie, George Kirk puts the ship on collision course with the Narada.
Near the end of the movie, Spock puts the ship of the Vulcan science academy on collision course with the Narada.
Both are willing to die for the greater good. George cannot be saved, but Spock has the crew of the Enterprise coming to his assistance and survives.
We get two captains who are forced to fly a shuttle to the Narada:
Captain Robaud who dies. Captain Pike who survives even though he loses the use of his legs.
And there's Kirk, the wild card, who beams over to the Narada in order to bring the fight to Nero.
Kirk gets many scenes where he hangs on a precipice and has to pull himself up again:
- As a kid after he has wrecked the car. --> He has to draw himself up.
- After the fight on the drilling platform. --> He has to hold on, but ultimately Sulu draws him up.
- After he has been marooned on the ice planet. --> He struggles to get out of the hole without any help.
- Then, of course, during the fight on the Narada: I think there are at least two instances when he has to stop himself from falling and climb up again.
When a theme occurs that often I refuse to believe it's a coincidence. My interpretation is that Kirk has a hard start in life - harder than Kirk in the alternate timeline - and the danger is that he will slip completely. (We hear from Pike that he's a repeat offender despite being highly intelligent.) Yet what he has going for himself is that he is incredibly stubborn and resilient. While part of him may have a death wish, once he has found a purpose for his life he *wants* to live and he *wants* to beat the odds and he will always, always try to climb up again.
I think these scenes also have an echo in Kirk refusing to be defeated by the Kobayashi Maru test which he takes three times.
Kirk and his fights:
- In the beginning of the movie, Kirk starts a bar fight for fun.
- Near the end of the movie, Kirk needs to start a fight in order to emotionally compromise Spock so that he can take command of the Enterprise.
Spock and his fights:
Spock loses his temper twice.
- Once as a child - after the 35th attempt to "elicit an emotional response" from him.
- Then when Kirk attempts to make him angry. And isn't it interesting that Kirk finds the right trigger to Spock's anger so very quickly? (Spock Prime doesn't give Kirk the advice to doubt Spock's love for his mother, he only mentions that he should be emotionally compromised due to the loss of his planet.)
Kirk getting on board the Enterprise:
He needs to cheat twice in order to get on board of the ship. Both times, he has help from outside.
- The first time, it's McCoy who gets him on board.
- The second time, it's Spock and Scotty working together.
Kirk standing in front of an assembly of Star Fleet cadets and officers:
- The first time, because he is accused of cheating.
- The second time, because he is commended and is given command of the Enterprise.
Spock Prime coming from the future and giving Scotty an invention which Scotty would actually discover at a later time:
This scene does not have an echo within the movie, but it's clearly an hommage to Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home. After all, here Scotty comes from the future, visits an inventor and gives him the key to something this man has discovered at a later time.
Chekov and beaming:
- Chekov manages to save Kirk and Sulu and he's so happy about it.
- Minutes later, he has to realise that he cannot always save everyone when he loses Spock's mother.
There's the juxtapositions between Kirk's and Spock's childhood and youth with Kirk obviously being loved by his parents, but then still suffering due to their absence whereas Spock's parents are very present, but cannot protect him from being an outsider.
Fatherly advice scenes:
There are many of them and they are amongst my favorite scenes:
- Sarek talking to Spock as child and advising him to follow the Vulcan way.
- And later on, Sarek talking to a grown up Spock and advising him to accept himself as a child of two worlds.
- Captain Pike telling Kirk about his father and trying to convince him to join Starfleet.
- Spock Prime giving advice to Kirk.
- Spock Prime giving advice to Spock.
All these scenes focus on Spock and Kirk who need to find out who they want to be and what is important to them. Kirk needs to learn the value of logic, Spock needs to learn the value of emotions. And both need to learn to rely on the friendship of others.
Beyond this are many more symmetries:
Major ones like two timelines, two Spocks, two planets that are destroyed - one in each timeline.
And minor ones like Spock and Uhura kissing on two occasions, Scotty trying to beam to a certain location and not getting to the ideal place (watertank, command deck on the Narada), but being successful when it counts. McCoy saying to Kirk "I might throw up on you." as he's suffering from aviophobia (and possibly a hang-over) and later on Kirk saying the same to McCoy as he's under the influence of the virus with which McCoy has infected him.