When Spock met Uhura

I rewatched the 2009 "Star Trek" reboot recently, and marveled at how well J.J. Abrams had managed to pull off one of the best franchise updates I've ever seen, despite one of the most notorious sci-fi fandoms in the history of sci-fi fandoms breathing down his neck. He and his collaborators cast exactly the right people to play the iconic characters, knew exactly which elements could be changed and which had to be retained at all costs, made the material accessible to newcomers, and turned out an excellent summer action movie too.

The original 60s "Star Trek" was long before my time, and to date I've only seen a few of the most famous episodes. However, I knew the feature films that came along later, so I got to know Kirk and Spock and all the rest that way. I'm sure there were a lot of the little callbacks and references in the new film that went over my head, but there was one that really caught my attention that I haven't seen much discussion of. In fact, I'm not sure if it was even meant to be taken as a reference at all.

One of the major changes to the new "Trek" was the surprise romantic pairing of Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Lieutenant Uhura (Zoe Saldana). The relationship raised some eyebrows among some Trekkers, who were quick to point out that Spock was never seriously paired off with anyone in all the "Trek" media that came before, and the prospect was highly unlikely due to the fabled stoicism of the Vulcan race. It bears repeating that the Spock of the film is not the same as the Spock of the television series. The new version has more access to his emotions, or perhaps hasn't grown to embrace the logical to quite the same degree as his older counterpart yet. And of course Spock's parents, the Vulcan Sarek and the human Amanda Grayson, were happy together, so there is established precedent in the "Trek" canon for such a relationship.

Others expressed disappointment that Uhura, the only major female member of the cast, had been consigned to the stereotypical girlfriend role. I don't buy that line of thinking either, since Uhura was established as a very strong individual presence in the film early on and stays in the thick of the action as part of the bridge crew of the Enterprise throughout. This is why the revelation that she and Spock were involved with each other was such a pleasant surprise. Personally, I also found it a nice reversal of the "alien princess" trope, where science-fiction heroes invariably end up with exotic extraterrestrial beauties, as recently seen in "Avatar," which ironically also starred Zoe Saldana.

But what was the reference I caught? To "Plato's Stepchildren," the landmark episode where the original Uhura and Kirk, Nichelle Nichols and William Shatner shared the first interracial kiss on American television. First aired in 1968, the kiss itself broke boundaries, though it lacked any sort of romantic context, and the idea of a full blown interracial relationship being incorporated into the show was unthinkable. Now, nobody would bat an eye. Of all the complaints about the pairing of Spock and Uhura, no one objects because they're people of two different ethnicities. In the new film, not only does Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) get to flirt with Uhura, a red herring that draws on the fans' knowledge of that particular episode, she's seen as a real potential love interest for him before we find out that she's already involved with the other male lead, Spock.

I'm not sure that J.J. Abrams or the other writers necessarily intended to make any sort of social statement, or even if they meant to reference the Kirk/Uhura kiss at all. They easily could have come up with the idea independently, without any knowledge of the earlier episode, though the film was so good about addressing its roots, I think it's more likely that they were completely aware of what they were doing. Forty years after the original "Star Trek" aired, it's nice to see how far we've come in social acceptance. For every grumbling fan who can't get their heads around the idea of Spock and Uhura, for whatever reason, there are dozens who adore the pairing. The fan communities that have popped up around the reboot have turned out a staggering amount of fanfiction about the relationship, speculating on how the two met, how they got together, and what the future might bring.

Most of the criticism has long since died down, and the buzz is slowly building up for the next film in the series. The only real naysayers of any vehemence anymore are those fans who think that the new Mr. Spock would be better off with a different member of the crew – Captain Kirk.

Hmm. Maybe we can try for that one with the next reboot.