Star Trek has never really been my fandom of choice, but I've picked up a good deal of information about it from cultural osmosis and dabbling
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I think that post is pretty awesome. What it makes me wonder: is it somehow culturally easier for her to be with Spock than someone else (though dang, Kirk was sure trying to get in her pants, too) because he's only half human, and putting her with a white guy would still not really happen (the infamous TOS kiss notwithstanding).
Huh. That's an interesting question. Especially since Nimoy has said that he was purposefully drawing on an American Jewish perspective to play Spock, which puts more complication in the mix. I don't know if Quinto was continuing that -- I had a hard time not reading Quinto as Syler (from Heroes), so I had trouble getting the subtleties of his presentation.
I think, given the characters as presented in the movie (and to some extent, existing canon), that putting Uhura in a relationship with Kirk would be less good for her. First, it would be the standard Hollywood trope of his interest and her disinterest = Twoo Wuv (grr). Second, she's a smart, responsible, intellectual character. People like that are unlikely to form relationships with irresponsible action types, and when they do, they're often unhappy. Third, he's not looking for anything more than getting laid.
Oh, yeah, I wouldn't want to imagine her with Kirk, it would be another "even smart girls can't resist a bad boy" which we totally don't need. But could they have felt like they could put her together with Scotty or Bones? I'm not sure.
And yet you (generally) only get hit by a car once, while you can be attacked verbally over and over again.
The analogy, like all analogies, is an imperfect equality, but I think it's a valid and useful analogy. It certainly resonated with my experiences of sexism, and with what I've read of other people talking about their experiences of racism. "[D]amage that may cripple for a lifetime" is absolutely right.
I have seen yeloson take productive actions and start productive movements to deal with the problems caused by racism.
Did it resonate because it seemed like an apt metaphor, or because it attributed a higher level of damage than had generally been attributed before
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Perhaps, if it's the case where it's not a single incident is a car collision, but rather, many incidents causing pain over time, it'd be more apt to analogize to a long term chronic pain or illness?
Absolutely not. He is making a point about people hurting other people, not people being hurt by forces beyond our control.
He's also not talking to the consciousness-raising 101 crowd. His intended audience (as near as I can tell from outside his head) are people who already understand that racism exists. It's very hard to have a conversation about something like racism or sexism that's of any value to the people experiencing it if you're trying to drag along people who dismiss it.
I found his metaphor to be interesting and a helpful lens to view racism, as well as various other -isms, through. You didn't. That's fine -- people are different and like different things. I'm not going to rewrite his description of what racism feels like to him to suit your sensibilities.
Wow. Thank you SO much for that link to the LJ entry about Uhura. That's the best answer yet I've heard to all the hand-wringing about her relationship and her character.
The thing that most got me about it was how much I didn't even see that perspective until it was emphatically pointed out to me. (With the follow-on of "okay, what am I not seeing about things that aren't currently being well-written-up in a corner of the Web that I read?")
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I think, given the characters as presented in the movie (and to some extent, existing canon), that putting Uhura in a relationship with Kirk would be less good for her. First, it would be the standard Hollywood trope of his interest and her disinterest = Twoo Wuv (grr). Second, she's a smart, responsible, intellectual character. People like that are unlikely to form relationships with irresponsible action types, and when they do, they're often unhappy. Third, he's not looking for anything more than getting laid.
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The analogy, like all analogies, is an imperfect equality, but I think it's a valid and useful analogy. It certainly resonated with my experiences of sexism, and with what I've read of other people talking about their experiences of racism. "[D]amage that may cripple for a lifetime" is absolutely right.
I have seen yeloson take productive actions and start productive movements to deal with the problems caused by racism.
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Absolutely not. He is making a point about people hurting other people, not people being hurt by forces beyond our control.
He's also not talking to the consciousness-raising 101 crowd. His intended audience (as near as I can tell from outside his head) are people who already understand that racism exists. It's very hard to have a conversation about something like racism or sexism that's of any value to the people experiencing it if you're trying to drag along people who dismiss it.
I found his metaphor to be interesting and a helpful lens to view racism, as well as various other -isms, through. You didn't. That's fine -- people are different and like different things. I'm not going to rewrite his description of what racism feels like to him to suit your sensibilities.
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