selenay | Star Trek thoughts (probably spoiler-ish)

So far, I've largely only seen positive reviews of the movie and it's been filled with squee and flail and happiness.

Um, I might also be avoiding the obviously negative, overly-picky reviews out there. Bad Sel.

Anyway, the one thing that I have seen is some comments on Uhura, specifically disappoint in her role and her relationship with Spock. It's been frustrating me a bit because I was actually really pleased with what they did for her and look forward to where they take the character next. Her competance - genius, possibly - were on full display and everything she did was by choice and continued to show her strength as a woman. Plus, people have pointed me at clips from Charlie X that definitely hint the Spock/Uhura didn't come totally out of left-field.

I've not really been able to articulate my thoughts properly, but luckily

taraljc has managed to explain it much better than me: http://taraljc.livejournal.com/1331874.html

Read her thoughts and picture me saying 'Word' to everything.

In non spoiler-ish thoughts,

marthawells has been discussing Star Trek novelisations and I'm contemplating a trip to my second hand bookstore to see whether I can pick up any of the recommended tomes. I'm thinking the Diane Duane novels and Uhura's Song will be top of my "ooh, I hope they have that" list.

Current Mood: thoughtful

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

jedishadowolf.livejournal.com

You aren't the only one who was pleasantly surprised by what they did with Uhura. I was prepared to dislike her characterization based on early reviews and rumors but instead I thought she was awesome, strong, capable and could totally see her relationship with Spock. It fit for me. :)

From:

selenay

Her relationship worked well the way they did it. There are so many ways they could have portrayed it that would have had me disappointed and it was a tricky thing to get right, but somehow they did it.

Of course, having time to think about it and getting shown clips from TOS that hint at deeper feelings helps :-)

I wasn't sure what to expect when I went into the theatre, but I didn't expect to get a Uhura that I genuinely liked and who got to be more than a space secretary, so I was very happy.

From:

nicci-mac.livejournal.com

Uhura's Song is my very fave novel of all time. I've had to replace it twice becuase it got so worn out. I also have all the Diane Duane ones. In fact, I think I'm quite close to having all of the TOS novels, plus a few extras like Imzadi, Relics and Sarek.

From:

selenay

I read some of the TNG novels from the library as a teen, but never really got into them as much as others. I pretty much igored the TOS novels :-( Now I wish that I'd paid a bit more attention to them because people are so enthusastic about their favourites.

From:

fahrenheit-f430.livejournal.com

*brings catering-size cookies & hot chocolate* Again we find ourselves in Team Happy. Only with a bit more company than usual.

From:

selenay

It's a little odd being in Team Happy with more than two people *is puzzled*

Perhaps we are less demanding of certain things and have shallow-ness to our advantage and that is why Team Happy is usually so small?

From:

fahrenheit-f430.livejournal.com

It is acutely disconcerting. O.o

I wonder if it's more that we're prepared to acknowledge female characters are allowed to have as much going on below the waist as male characters? AND, more importantly, have as much interesting between the ears stuff as male characters.

Internet Feminists seem to forget all of this between the boy!kissing and short skirts. *long pause* I dread to think what fandom would do to me if it discovered my Russ Meyer DVDs.

From:

selenay

I wonder whether it's maybe a case of some feminists going too far in one direction. They don't want women to be objects, to be 'just' the love interest or to only be there to make things pretty.

That's great, but they've gone so far in the other direction that they want the female characters to be asexual automatons and object when a woman is both intelligent has the sexual confident to go after what she wants. Because that's the only way to read the Uhura/Spock storyline.

Obviously I'm a bad feminist :-)

From:

fahrenheit-f430.livejournal.com

I think it's definitely a case of some feminists going too far in the wrong direction. I also think there's a fairly large double standard that female fans can get their jollies with the source material through fanfic, but a female character locks lips with a male or wears a short skirt and they're INSTANTLY the tools of a Sexist Anti-Female Knuckle-Dragging Misogynistic System.

The cynical side of my soul says there wouldn't be half the screams about Uhura's devaluation-by-love-interest if it'd been Kirk and Spock in the lift. Uhura could've spent the entire movie behind a comms desk feeding random & exposition without a mutter of complaint. :-\

If you're a bad feminist, that makes two of us.

From:

selenay

they're INSTANTLY the tools of a Sexist Anti-Female Knuckle-Dragging Misogynistic System.

Yes, this, word! It really is a double standard and it drives me a bit crazy. I'll object with everyone else the female character locks lips with lead actor and her brains dribble away to really make her 'just the love interest', but when that's not the way it plays? We should be celebrating that rather than screaming!

Uhura could've spent the entire movie behind a comms desk feeding random & exposition without a mutter of complaint. :-\

Exactly. I love my fellow slashers, but in some ways we're the worst when it comes to this kind of double standard. There would have been street parties had it been Kirk and Spock in the turbolift, never mind what Uhura did or whether she spent the entire movie repeating the computer.

And I've just remembered why I love Galaxy Quest :-)

If you're a bad feminist, that makes two of us.

I think that I like being a bad feminist.

From:

fahrenheit-f430.livejournal.com

We should be celebrating that rather than screaming!

Word. I think the reason so many DON'T is very pretty, very slim actresses interfere with the delicate self-image sensibilities of the majority and, as opposed to acknowledging this, some women use feminism as a moral highground to launch attacks from.

Exactly. I love my fellow slashers, but in some ways we're the worst when it comes to this kind of double standard. There would have been street parties had it been Kirk and Spock in the turbolift, never mind what Uhura did or whether she spent the entire movie repeating the computer.

Slashers ONLY notice women when they get 'in the way' of the OTP. I've got to the point where I think most women in fandom can't abide looking at other women.

I've got to watch Galaxy Quest one day. :-D

If being a GOOD feminist means hating all other women for daring to be straight, sexual and pretty - I love being a bad feminist.

From:

selenay

some women use feminism as a moral highground to launch attacks from.

This. Word.

I've got to the point where I think most women in fandom can't abide looking at other women.

*coughs*

Yeah.

Well, I have noticed that the slasher f-listies who do notice the presence of female characters in a good way are nearly all either bi or gay. That either says a lot about my f-list or a lot about gay women versus straight in slash fandom. Or possibly a combination of both.

I've got to watch Galaxy Quest one day. :-D

You really, really do need to :-D

If being a GOOD feminist means hating all other women for daring to be straight, sexual and pretty - I love being a bad feminist.

My only issue with the straight, sexual, pretty thing is the straight bit, but I forgive them if nobody mind me perving :-D And I quite enjoy straight, sexy, gorgeous women in my shows for non-gutterish reasons, too.

I'm...not quite sure where I am in the good/bad feminist camp in that case.