#Beyond Uhura

[agardenandlibrary]

Lunchtime reading:

Beyond Uhura by Nichelle Nichols

I'm really enjoying this one!!

[firespirited]

Leonard Nimoy 🤝 Alan Turing

"Please do not steal my bike"

Leonard Nimoy and his bike

Text from Nichelle Nichols’ biography “Beyond Uhura”

[..] Grace Lee [Whitney], George [Takei], Jimmy [Doohan], Dee [Deforest Kelley], and the rest of us trudged across the lot, talking about Leonard like a dog. We were all so jealous of him for having a bike [..] 

One day Bill [William Shatner] got together with us and the crew and decided to string Leonard’s bike up from the soundstage rafters. For several days Leonard stalked the set in a snit of righteous indignation. “Can you imagine?” he’d ask anyone who would listen, “My bike! Somebody stole my bike!" 

What Leonard failed to notice was that every time he mentioned it, we would glance up at the ceiling, scratching our heads, while commiserating with him. 

"Wow, that’s just terrible,” I’d answer, looking up. “Leonard, I just can’t imagine.” [..]

One time we were all standing with Leonard, all looking straight up, when it finally struck him: Why were we all looking up? Slowly, Leonard’s gaze drifted upward. Spotting his beloved bicycle dangling from cables overhead, Leonard spluttered, “I can’t believe this! I really cannot believe this!" 

We all cracked up. I’m not sure Leonard ever truly forgave us. Years later, when we started shooting the first Star Trek movie, Leonard had his new bike outfitted with a metal panel bearing his name and the plea: "Please Do Not Steal My Bike." 

[firespirited]

Today's film was a very buggy (due to my computer having little ram) low res version of Black Mirror s06e04 Mazey Day. I have chosen to not watch any Black Mirror so far. I don't like bummer endings, don't like dystopias,

Charlie Brooker aka mr Huq has fantastic taste in women but a bleak view of humanity. I can handle it in his real life commentary on the real life media which needs exposing as vultures but getting attached then having characters live in your mind is something else.

Anyway someone said "this is very different to black mirror, it's not even about tech". And the name Mazey Day is a reference to an old english (read pagan) celebration. It was dark and a bummer. But I did enjoy the story which will haunt me for a long while. It's set in an era where I had gone off the grid for entertainment news including all talk radio or variety shows: the things late night hosts asked of women celebs were just awful (seriously go look at early aughts interviews), not to mention the gossip rags. Horrible time to be even white skinny toned beautiful and talented, it was never enough and literal bombshells were riddled with "imperfections"...

I found out about Britney via mainstream news and thought her shaving her head was a badass reclaiming of personhood in front of all those news crews. Then instead of giving her space, they got her sectioned.

Anyway well acted, horribly lit, good build of dread, you think you know this story but it's a morality play.

Then I read Beyond Uhura as the computer was starting to really struggle and I'd been meaning to try it for a while.

You see it's printed really big (very heavy for a 300 page book) so once I managed to get myself in a position where my neck was safe and arms weren't carrying the book (lots of pillow and duvet finagling and a winter shawl for the neck), I was actually able to read it in one go.

Even without the neck problems, with smaller print I get about 100 pages before it's just grey blobs or I get dizzy-nauseated from eye strain. That's on the days when reading isn't repeating the same sentence, parsing a paragraph as illegible, reading the words but when it arrives at the brain it seems to make no sense, missing a vital ' not' or 'never' and then not understanding the next sentences...

Guess the answer is stick to old people prints and short books 😜

I really enjoyed getting to know the actress and consumate performer better. Really touched about her mum finally opening up and them becoming mother and daughter on an emotional level not just practical care for eachother. It was a missing piece in her life she'd learned to live without but still craved and she finally got that. Just beautiful.

I feel like she managed to carefully compartmentalise her conflicted feelings about Gene Roddenberry, maybe a little too much. Just because she managed to reinvent herself with her other talents doesn't make his choice to deny her a rare chance at job security incredibly cruel.

She certainly managed to present her constant disappointment at being undermined and undervalued as amorphous 'bad suits' when I'm pretty sure women with her savvy have receipts and remember names - I guess that's why her lawyer gets a shoutout in the beginning.

It is a kind book which takes time to say what Bill Shatner could be like at his best or when in his element then she presents the change as him getting lost and not realising he had a team/family who would have his back. Very kind. Graceful. Classy.

Her book is from 95 and her comments about NASA not being sold off to contractors and not keeping the experts in control are prescient. It's also painful to know she would lose a brother two years later to a cult.

I'm torn with what we've been told about her final years, she adored her son, she was also fiercely independent and loved passionately. I can only hope she felt loved and safe no matter her sanity. What a driven, bold, tenacious woman she was.

[a-most-beloved-fool]

AOS Kirk, drunk: Hey Uhura... Spock takes good care of you, yeah? He treats you right?

Uhura, who isn't dating Spock anymore but does Not want to flirt with Jim Kirk: Yes. He does.

Kirk, wistfully: I'll bet he does. He seems like the type to really know how to treat a person. He's caring, y'know? You're lucky. Lucky. *he trails off into drunken mumbling*

Uhura, who is rapidly coming to a realization: ???

[1shirt2shirtredshirtdeadshirt]

Sexism in TOS: Worst Offender, or Progressive in Retrospect in Comparison?

I see a lot of folks claim that TOS was the most sexist of the Star Trek shows by a landslide -- and while I agree that it definitely suffered from the sexism of the times, I also have other perspectives to share to give some food for thought.

I am of course not insinuating that TOS isn't sexist -- it is, but I have to ask folks to consider the breadth and depth of Berman's sexism in his run and ask yourself: Was Gene Roddenberry genuinely more sexist in his storytelling and delivery than Rick Berman?

I'm not telling you to feel one way or the other, but all I ask is that you hear me out and consider some perspectives and make your own balanced assessments. Nobody is obligated to share my opinion, but it means a lot just to have folks hear it and see their thoughts on the subject. So here is what I was originally responding to:

Someone's response to this photo:

"Devil's advocate. This was a part of the popular form of cardio during the production time of TNG. Yes, it was heavily sexualised by men, but so is literally every other way women work out. Men have been caught taking pictures of women while trying to do dead lifts, running on tracks and working on sled machines. They post them online to share too. The fact is, there is no way a woman can be shown working out without it going there. And yeah,t hat includes the combat forms of workout they do in Star Trek. Just look at how Dax dresses when she spars with Worf. Yes, they're dating, but still, same goes when 7 does and any other female.

Aerobics routines like this were made dirty and cringy. This was what women wore then by and large. This is how the workout was done. We make it cringy."

My response to them:

"I respect your take, but I disagree on a few fronts.

The miniskirt was chosen by the TOS female cast, not the male cast, specifically requested by Grace LW and affirmed by Nichelle and Majel who would go on to vehemently defend the miniskirt over the years as comfortable and embraced by them.

Grace said it was comfortable and seen as a symbol of female sexual empowerment during the 60s and thought it would be a progressive garment (and turns out that it was, as it was later adapted and worn by male crew as a skant on TNG) -- FYI those were designed by a gay man and Gene approved them.

This was also supposed to be Spock's TMP outfit:

Literally lingerie.

We saw both Uhura (who saves Kirk in from Marlena Mirror Mirror) and Yeoman Landon (the first to initiate combat with a classic Kirk-esque kick to help the Captain being attacked in The Apple) carry out their combat training in their Starfleet uniforms without ever being made to change into any ridiculous workout gear.

In fact, I'd argue Jim Kirk was sexualized even more than the ladies of the week on the show and I saw his naked body more than anyone else's on a fairly regular basis. He wore red yoga tights while topless in Charlie X while the women wore full length gymnastic suits that covered their entire body. If anything, it went out of its way to avoid sexualizing women practicing fitness in those scenes and instead focused on Kirk.

Gene confessed that he asked to have Shatner filmed in suggestive/provocative ways to "give something to the ladies", so he -- as he said -- liked to "film him walking away" or have him conveniently busting out of his shirts in just about every episode as it were, because Shatner apparently had great assets. LOL

Gene made an effort to at least sexualize both if he was going to sexualize one, and he carried that attitude forward in wanting the m/m and f/f scenes in the background on Risa for TNG. He also insisted that the men and women wear skimpy outfits on THAT TNG planet. You know the one. LOL I mean the dudes even had on less than the women:

Gene also gave permission to K/S shippers to have their conventions back in the 70s when he was asked for permission. Gene and Nimoy felt with all the skimpy outfits they had the ladies wear, why not let the ladies and gay men have their fun, too? It's how we ended up with moments like this:

Yes, those are two people dressed up as Kirk and Spock's penises doing interpretive dance. Gene didn't give two damns. LOL

In my eyes, that was a very progressive take on Gene's part for the 60s. It was actually PARAMOUNT STUDIOS who had the big problem with K/S stories and vehemently tried to shut them down. Gene literally hired slash authors on his payroll and even had several slash stories/writers published in his official Star Trek books (The New Voyages & The New Voyages II).

I feel I saw Uhura and women in TOS engaged in more physical combat/altercations defending themselves that Troi or Bev were shown holding their own.

In fact, Kirk used to get furious when someone would "dress up" his female crew members without their consent (Trelane episode, Shore Leave episode) because like his male crew members, he wanted them to be treated professionally and to also have his male crew act professionally.

Berman brought some of his own personal biases into Star Trek that in some ways regressed it. While TOS had blatant sexism and was called on it time and again, that show was made in the 60s -- a solid 21 years before TNG. We as a modern audience understood why some of it was cringe/sexist due to the time period -- look at any other media coming out in the 60s and Star Trek was miles ahead of what other shows were doing.

Compare that to Berman who was churning sexist stuff out when women like Starbuck and Scully were simultaneously on screen on other programs airing, and we had already had Sigourney Weaver and other strong women in Holywood playing respectful roles.

In my eyes, there was no need of the sexism seen in TNG but especially VOY and ENT. There was no excuse for it when other shows were writing women far better and a number of those weren't even set in the future like Trek was, making it age even faster due to having those dated perspectives frequently highlighted.

In the Center Seat documentary as well as "The Fifty Year Mission" book you will find cast members, writers and other studio alumni who attest to this. Some discussions from "The Fifty Year Mission":

"First, Berman was supposed to have been a real sleaze ball . . . According to Terry Farrel, he would go on constantly about how her breasts weren't big enough, how she should do something about it, and how his secretary was a good example to follow as she had huge breasts. She even had to have fittings to get larger bras, and that was all done at his behest.

Later Berman and Braga developed a name for Jeri Ryan's character prior Seven of Nine. They originally called the character "perineum" which if you look it up it is the area between the anus and the scrotum. Later they floated the name "6 of 9". I mean, what does it tell you about where these two were coming from in the development of this character if they had names like that put forward in all seriousness for her?"

Gene Roddenberry also had some of his own more progressive ideas for TNG cut or watered down by Berman. Roddenberry agreed TNG should have homosexual relationships and representation at a con in the 80s and insisted on it in a meeting with his writers -- something Berman later would not honor. Gene wanted the AIDS episode, showing m/m and f/f in the Riza scenes -- these were some of Roddenberry's requests to include in TNG that Berman later stonewalled.

Berman's era was sadly dated by his own misogynist bias, IMO, to the point that it can somewhat hurt the shows he worked on through his cringe egoism and blatant disrespect toward his female cast.

There is a reason why Gene could keep female actresses working with him and Berman had a revolving door of women that he couldn't seem to keep working for him -- he was abhorrent to women, on and off set. Gene wasn't perfect at all, he had a lot of issues himself -- but Berman was a whole other level. Just look at what he did to poor Jolene Blalock, Marina Sirtis and his toxic commenting on her body weight which exacerbated her struggles with eating disorders, or how he treated and talked to Terry Farrell.

Anyway, just some food for thought. I'm not saying anyone is wrong regarding a take like that, but there are a variety of ways to look at this. Gene Roddenberry isn't a saint by any means, but it definitely bothers me how folks will tote the Berman era as if it were the lesser of two evils or the more progressive depiction of women when I felt there were far more concerning portrayals of women in his era with far less justification.

(P.S: I don't event want to go near the sheer amount of "creepy old dude/villain preys on innocent/naïve/scared young woman or little girl" stories there were in Berman's era, either. But that's a whole other can of worms I can write about in a part 2.)

[trek-tracks]

Uhura couldn't stand living in synonym

[geeky-nightphilosopher]

What I appreciate about Star Trek is-

They were kinda forced together. But the crew is family. Not because they were forced together- because they spent weeks and months together on a ship in space. They learned to work together. They went from being individuals with sketchy backgrounds to a team that leaned on each other to a literal family. The crew of the USS Enterprise learned to trust Jim's judgement- even when they had no reason to.

In turn Jim learned to trust people to the point that he was willing to die for them. He'd rather sacrifice himself then watch his crew die.

Talk about Found Family. Star Trek is it.

[sleepynegress]

A COMPREHENSIVE & AUTHENTIC UHURA LOVE/HISTORY POST

The above is where Roddenberry 1st employed Nichelle Nichols [click to watch the full clip]. It was a military show based on Roddenberry's own experiences, the episode is called To Set it Right (I highly suggest reading the wiki article about it).

You should note two other actors, whom he later pegged for Star Trek are in the episode.

They dated briefly and then became good friends way before Trek came about.

Miss Nichols was already an accomplished singer and dancer who performed regularly w/ Billy Eckstine and Duke Ellington

Roddenberry's 1st show, The Lieutenant, was canceled/pulled from the air before these scenes bluntly dealing with racism could air (there's blackface as punishment for the racists at the end of the show, in a case of 'he 'a little confused but got the spirit' for the times, so tw)

He created Star Trek to try to soften the blow of all the social messaging he wanted to insert from his military experience. Star Trek was basically, a submarine drama placed in a sci-fi setting. He made it diverse on purpose because the military helped him travel and serve with all kinds of people. Roddenberry was inspired by that.

Uhura was the first person to read for Spock and in fact, helped to shape the character with her reading and based many of the traits of Uhura (formerly Uhuru) on Spock.

She was basically a glorified secretary. She played the part with poise, joy, and the 60's style womanism she got to play out for those times... Everything from her mini-skirt (which Nichelle herself called very comfortable) to her smile, and teasing lines, and quips were about her playing "big" in a small role. She made every moment, every look, every line, and movement count:

Roddenberry cracked jokes about the fact that the network never figured out that Uhura was fourth in command.

Nichelle was the only main cast member who was not salaried. She was paid by the hour. This attempt at marginalization actually resulted in her being the highest paid at times, because of the long hours.

Nichelle was not let in the front entrance at times, her fan-mail was kept from her, and she grew frustrated with the constant cutting of her scenes, lines and storylines. This is why she justifiably attempted to leave. The bigots in production did not like her being there (and if we're being real, were it not for Janice Rand's actress Grace Lee Whitney having gone through so much and thus losing her job in the 1st season...Uhura might have had even LESS presence)

The lost context in MLK convincing her to stay was that YES she was minimized and could make more money and be more fulfilled on broadway, but her symbolism and presence meant so much at a time when Black women weren't on TV unless as a racist caricature cleaning a house, and even that was rare...that she stayed.

One of her best allies was DeForest Kelly, who threatened to quit if they fired Nichelle. George Takei was her absolute best friend on the show and in life (she served as his Best Woman at his wedding).

There was an unfilmed episode in which Uhura and Deforest would have played reverse roles in "racial dynamics" on a planet they visit

Spock and Uhura were originally supposed to kiss in the alien mind control episode, but Shatner demanded to do so for the publiicity.

Her work to recruit marginalized people as astronauts, as in personally going to colleges and talking to candidates after the show is a staggering achievement that arguably is the most potent of any castmember in any of the Trek series post-show. Sally Ride, Guy Bluford (she personally recruited the 1st woman and 1st black astronaut), Mae Jemison (the 1st black woman credits her for inspiring her to become an astronaut).

Uhura did finally command the ship in the animated series. She would not have gotten to voice the role, but for Leonard Nimoy making it an obligation that all the original actors voice their parts for him to come on.

Scotty and Uhura in the film was definitely a pair the spares situation, in which both were the leftover senior citizens with the writers just going "why not?"

it was beyond insulting and she did protest about the scene where she's bumbling through a giant translation book to speak to klingons for laughs in trek 5 ...but her best moment IMO is her pulling a gun on the young ensign in the transporter room in Trek 3...sadly her ONLY scene in the damn movie.

Miss Saldana got to play to MANY corrections in JJ Abrams rebooted Trek, from being amazing at languages to having an actual life & love, to confidently turning down Kirk at every turn.

FUN FACT!! Both JJ and Bob Orci both expressed disappointed shock that the love story between Spock & Uhura got more hatred from fans than BLOWING UP PLANET VULCAN.

another FUN FACT!! The love story between Spock & Uhura is what grabbed the old school Star Wars fan (JJ Abrams) enough to come aboard to direct. Yep. JJ ships Spock & Uhura.

Zoe's iteration became the 1st version of Uhura to speak confidently in Klingon

Celia Rose Gooding becoming Uhura brings around a lot of Uhura's qualities full circle, IMO. As she is also from theatre (like Nichelle) and has a beautiful singing voice as well as the charm. Zoe's iteration was sharper, and much more protective, professional, & mature, about her life and love.

Celia Rose has the youthful curiousity and stars in her eyes and had vulnerability from her first intro... I loved the eagerness the crew showed to being in her orbit, seeing the glow of her talent and being drawn to that, to have a part in nurturing that.

As I've said... Celia IMO has the most dazzling smile, giant warm brown eyes, fantastic curves, and an energy that feels essentially Uhura, & that is all light, joy, a bit of uncertainty, -from the light singing (!) and the growth to her joy in discovery... I'd love to see her writing move away from serving and be more about her wants needs and growing in friendships/loves.

But Celia is a gift and is perfectly cast.

Essentially Uhura = femininity, graceful carriage, gorgeous smile, excellence in engineering and translation (canon!), ability to sing and play the Vulcan lyre, sharp womanist wit, love for her U.S. of African-Kenyan culture and being beloved by all crew...

When Miss Celia hummed those gorgeous notes to the alien entity on that comet?? That Solidified that she IS Uhura IMO.

I 100% think they fucked up by killing Hemmer, because that mentor-mentee relationship was giving marginalized coming together and bonding over everybody else's bullshit and I was here for it...it was giving me Data and Geordi updated...and since then, IMO they've lost track and given us the same kinda backwards wingwoman role BS, that people who like to pretend to be her fan shoehorn her into.

...but I have high hopes that they'll course-correct.

All this to say ALL OF THE ABOVE is Uhura and anyone calling her ugly, bossy, pushy, annoying, whatever is just sad little hater who doesn't know wtf they are talking about.

[kgxrv]

i'm impressed. for a moment there, i thought you were just a dumb hick who only has sex with farm animals

woah two paintings at once!!!??? that’s insane for me, anyways they’re paintings for reference for another secret project i’m working on that you’ll see later (like end of april)

[the-crooked-library]

honestly we all would've remembered Star Trek Beyond much more fondly if it wasn't pretending to be Star Trek and just embraced what it was truly meant to be - which is a live action Treasure Planet (2002)

[bearsinpotatosacks]

Guess who just got the whole set of star trek beyond Pop Figures 😆

[nerds-yearbook]

Star Trek Beyond premiered on July 22, 2016. The film was dedicated to Anton Yelchin (Chekov), who died a month before the film's release. The film was used to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Star Trek franchise. It was the first theatrical release that protrayed Sulu (John Cho) as being gay, which created some controversy. The move was meant as a tribute to the original Sulu (George Takei), who is a prominent gay man and gay rights advocate. However, Takei responded “I’m delighted that there’s a gay character,” he was quoted by The Hollywood Reporter. “Unfortunately, it’s a twisting of Gene’s creation, to which he put in so much thought. I think it’s really unfortunate.” J.J. Abrams handed over directing duties to Justin Lin as he was busy directing Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens. Simon Pegg (Scotty) co-wrote it with Doug Jung, Roberto Orci, Patrick McKay, and John D Payne. The film was nominated for numerous awards, but only won a Saturn Award for Best Make-Up. The film underperformed at the box office losing approximately 50.5 million dollars. The events of the film took place in March of 2263.

[fujoshigirl7]

Okay star Trek fandom, I am in need of your help. Please tell me that some one has saved that wonderful aos spirk edit on the song 'children of the universe' -molly. I used to watch it multiple times in the past and now I can't find it on yt. Please, please send me the link or the video if you have it😭🙏

Edit: I've put the url in source and here. It's by kados'ka FM. However the video is private and I don't have access. If someone could give the video to me it'll be a great help!

[wwprice1]

Revisited this one for the first time in a while tonight. Really good time! Still hopeful they can get this cast together for a fourth movie!

[doolallymagpie]

alright, since we’ve established that Prime!Paris should wear the Monster Maroons of the 2270s-2350s… (though realistically she’s worn most if not all of those uniforms and nightmares we’ve never even seen over the course of a long career)

(answer what you think her preference is, presumably she’ll wear both depending on occasion)

[stra-tek]

Zoe Saldana selfie, filming Star Trek Beyond