#b) amanda ALSO chooses to raise spock as vulcan! she's not an oppressed wilting flower!

[lightshiningforth]

One thing that bothers me about Discovery is that it takes the grimmest possible view of Vulcan culture in general and Spock's family in particular, in ways that I don't think are justified by prior Star Trek series.

On the one hand, I think there's absolutely room in the Star Trek canon to portray a flawed, xenophobic Vulcan society. It's right there in front of you, starting in the original series. We all know that Spock grew up being bullied for being half human and not Vulcan enough. Dr. Miranda Jones is a human who studied on Vulcan and also has a complex about not being Vulcan enough (S3.E5 "Is there in Truth No Beauty?"). The inherent hypocrisy of Vulcans proclaiming that they value "infinite diversity in infinite combinations" while treating atypical members of their society poorly is absolutely worth exploring.

On the other hand, Discovery takes the portrayal of Vulcan callousness to the absolute extreme. Why on earth would Michael and her Vulcan classmates be contained in isolated orbs at school, practicing rapid-fire rote memorization? Vulcans aren't just computers who spit out facts and figures; that's a stereotype other species apply to them. Vulcans like to philosophize, to debate. Vulcans sincerely value the arts, music in particular. Spock even refers to dances that young Vulcans are taught in preschool (S3.E14 "Whom Gods Destroy"). None of those things are compatible with an education style that keeps kids isolated and interacting with no one, neither peers nor teachers.

Further, I don't for a second believe that Sarek would squash and deny Spock and Amanda their humanity. Yes, he has a complex about it and insists consistently that Spock is a Vulcan and must be treated as a Vulcan and yadda yadda yadda. BUT. Though he and Amanda choose to raise Spock on Vulcan ideals, Sarek is someone who clearly values human ways. He likes when Amanda and Perrin show him their human affection. He values human music, and is moved by it! And Spock, whose education was heavily influenced by Sarek, is fully versed in human history and literature. Often more so than the full, raised-on-Earth humans he serves with. He has read Byron and Shakespeare. He has detailed knowledge of wars, of governments, of even niche gunfights in the ancient American frontier (S3.E6 "Spectre of the Gun"). Sarek also relies without question on Spock's human friends to save his son's life, entrusting them with the most intimate of Vulcan rituals after assuming that Spock had already done the same. And their big father-son conflict? Sarek wants his son, of whom he is very proud, to contribute his talents to Vulcan society via the Vulcan Science Academy and stay close to home rather than going off into space and joining an organization with more military power than Sarek approves of. That's it.

All that is to say, there's no damn way that Sarek would "forbid" Amanda from exposing Spock to human literature and ideas. She would have read Alice in Wonderland to both her kids and he would have pretended not to be interested from another room while secretly being gripped by the story.

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

#listen sarek is not a perfect parent#far from it#it's absolutely true that he values vulcan ideals over human ones#and prioritizes spock's vulcan side over his human one#and holds spock to impossible standards and gives him an identity complex#HOWEVER#a) sarek believes that humans and vulcans can and should coexist and values humanity in his personal and professional life#b) amanda ALSO chooses to raise spock as vulcan! she's not an oppressed wilting flower!#she tells kirk in S2.E10 “Journey to Babel” that the vulcan way is “a better way than ours”#yes she gets frustrated with spock for not showing human emotion but that is a consequence of HER parenting as well as sarek's

One thing that bothers me about Discovery is that it takes the grimmest possible view of Vulcan culture in general and Spock's family in particular, in ways that I don't think are justified by prior Star Trek series.

On the one hand, I think there's absolutely room in the Star Trek canon to portray a flawed, xenophobic Vulcan society. It's right there in front of you, starting in the original series. We all know that Spock grew up being bullied for being half human and not Vulcan enough. Dr. Miranda Jones is a human who studied on Vulcan and also has a complex about not being Vulcan enough (S3.E5 "Is there in Truth No Beauty?"). The inherent hypocrisy of Vulcans proclaiming that they value "infinite diversity in infinite combinations" while treating atypical members of their society poorly is absolutely worth exploring.

On the other hand, Discovery takes the portrayal of Vulcan callousness to the absolute extreme. Why on earth would Michael and her Vulcan classmates be contained in isolated orbs at school, practicing rapid-fire rote memorization? Vulcans aren't just computers who spit out facts and figures; that's a stereotype other species apply to them. Vulcans like to philosophize, to debate. Vulcans sincerely value the arts, music in particular. Spock even refers to dances that young Vulcans are taught in preschool (S3.E14 "Whom Gods Destroy"). None of those things are compatible with an education style that keeps kids isolated and interacting with no one, neither peers nor teachers.

Further, I don't for a second believe that Sarek would squash and deny Spock and Amanda their humanity. Yes, he has a complex about it and insists consistently that Spock is a Vulcan and must be treated as a Vulcan and yadda yadda yadda. BUT. Though he and Amanda choose to raise Spock on Vulcan ideals, Sarek is someone who clearly values human ways. He likes when Amanda and Perrin show him their human affection. He values human music, and is moved by it! And Spock, whose education was heavily influenced by Sarek, is fully versed in human history and literature. Often more so than the full, raised-on-Earth humans he serves with. He has read Byron and Shakespeare. He has detailed knowledge of wars, of governments, of even niche gunfights in the ancient American frontier (S3.E6 "Spectre of the Gun"). Sarek also relies without question on Spock's human friends to save his son's life, entrusting them with the most intimate of Vulcan rituals after assuming that Spock had already done the same. And their big father-son conflict? Sarek wants his son, of whom he is very proud, to contribute his talents to Vulcan society via the Vulcan Science Academy and stay close to home rather than going off into space and joining an organization with more military power than Sarek approves of. That's it.

All that is to say, there's no damn way that Sarek would "forbid" Amanda from exposing Spock to human literature and ideas. She would have read Alice in Wonderland to both her kids and he would have pretended not to be interested from another room while secretly being gripped by the story.