#but i trust them more than a car that drives itself so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[tittyinfinity]

a fake country bro in his brand new loud-ass LED-headlight lifted F-350 is still infinitely cooler than anyone who drives a Tesla

[capt-sulu]

Aaaah so @maximumdarkwarps did this amazing biblical analysis of Krall, Kirk, and ST: Beyond which was seriously incredible and y’all should go read it (seriously, read it)!!! And then I remembered that last week I analyzed Kirk’s role a Christ figure for my Lit class. Which is opposed to how @maximumdarkwarps defines him solely as a Hero’s Journey protagonist (fight me!! jkjkjk :’)). My argument isn’t nearly as esoteric but  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Under the Read More because it’s kind of long, haha. I dropped the intro because I’m pretty sure I don’t have to explain Star Trek. :)

First, to examine Kirk’s relationship with his father. As with Christ, Kirk has a significant relationship with his father. George Kirk died to save his family, his final acts protecting their escape shuttle and launching a final attack on their aggressors. This serves as both an example for what Kirk later does, but also gives him an identity.

In the Holy Trinity, Jesus is always referred to as the Son. When Pike, a Starfleet captain and his soon-to-be father figure, first intervenes with his self-destructive lifestyle, he tells Kirk he knows who he is because he is “[his] father’s son”. Kirk’s introduction as the Son is definitely a significant move on the part of the writers.

But Kirk does not rely solely on his name and parentage to make a name for himself. While he may not have the talent for miracles, his full potential is still a lot. He’s revealed to be of “genius level”, which is proven when he completes the four-year Starfleet Command track in three AND hacks Spock’s Kobayashi Maru exam simulation, even though Spock, a half Vulcan, is supposed to have intellect that far surpasses that of normal humans. Christ was noticed for his intellect as well, debating with rabbis and teaching at temples from a very young age. And, as with Christ, there is obviously something special about Jim Kirk, a greatness that Pike senses in him when they first meet. He says as much when he tells Kirk, “you feel like you were meant for something better. Something special” -- which is essentially Kirk’s very own Chosen One prophecy.

Pike hints at this greatness again when Kirk breaks Starfleet laws to save a planet from volcanic destruction. It’s almost ironic, but Pike tells him that he had seen a “greatness in [Kirk]”, but that Kirk was now simply “playing God”. In their next conversation, when the two are more calm, Pike confides in Kirk, “I believe in you”. The constant reminders of divinity are more than ample evidence for Kirk’s position as a Christ figure.

While (as Foster notes) Christ figures are never actually perfect as Christ is, it is important to address Kirk’s history of self-indulgence and self-destruction. As a young boy in Iowa, he drives an antique car off a cliff because he can. As a young man, he flirts and sleeps around, and gets into bar fights simply because he itches for conflict.

Even when he saves Spock from a volcano, risking the lives of his entire crew to do so, it is done selfishly. When Pike demands to know why Kirk would even put his crew in harm’s way in the first place with the volcano, Kirk avoids the question and boasts that he has lost “not one” crew member throughout his entire, however brief, captaincy. His actions could be seen to serve his hero complex and not because of any real compassion.

But Kirk, as any good character will, evolves. He has a moment of revelation after Admiral Marcus, the villain of Into Darkness (spoiler alert), threatens to destroy the Enterprise and her crew along with it. Kirk literally pleads with Marcus, claiming “[he’ll] do anything” if Marcus would just “let [his crew] live”. This is a stunning act of humility, completing contrasting the egotistical, blustering Kirk from the start of the film.

This character development leads to Kirk’s self-sacrifice. It is not enough to just save his crew, as he has before -- this time, he is willing to lose everything to do so. Kirk follows in his father’s footsteps, realizing that the Enterprise and its crew are his family, as Khan (a foil to Kirk) so eloquently puts it. He fulfills the Father’s legacy. But the Enterprise is also more than just family -- Kirk, as a Christ figure, is actually saving an ideal world.

In an interview from September 2016, George Takei (the actor who originally portrayed Helmsman Hikaru Sulu) spoke about the metaphor of the Enterprise. It was to be a representation of an idyllic Earth, with people of different nationalities working together to further a utopic society. Star Trek aired in the late 60s, and the fact that it included an Asian man, a Russian man, and a Black woman as significant characters was a monumental step for American television, given that WWII had recently ended and the Cold War and Civil Rights Movement were in progress.

With this legacy in mind, it becomes evident that Kirk is not just saving his family with his sacrifice -- he is saving an ideal Earth, much as Christ did.

But Christ came back to life. Kirk does, too, and how he manages it is almost laughably obvious. McCoy, the Enterprise’s Chief Medical Officer and Kirk’s best friend, resurrects him through blood. The connection here to Christ is obvious. But the fact that the blood came from a man supposed to be the epitome of mankind is more interesting.

This man is Khan.

Kirk maintains two foils throughout Into Darkness, one being Khan and the other being Spock. Both of them, like Kirk, could represent the peak state of humanity, yet the writers chose to make Kirk the Christ figure.

Khan and 72 others were a part of a 20th century eugenics experiment, designed to be physically and intellectually superior so that they might guide humanity into a Golden Age. As Khan puts it, he’s better at “everything” -- he’s the perfect human. However, the experiment was a failure because the subjects became despots. As Admiral Marcus and Spock note, “Khan and his crew were condemned to death as war criminals” for “the mass genocide of any being [they found] less than superior”.

These homicidal tendencies are evident in Khan throughout Into Darkness. He opens fire on 20 innocent men and women to take revenge on one, and he literally crushes Marcus’ skull with relish. Khan is clearly not in control of himself.

This negates the argument for Khan being emotionless and calculating. His cold eyes and visage may present glacial haughtiness, but all of his actions are driven by his need to protect his crew, his family. If anything, Khan suffers from an overabundance of emotion, unable to keep himself in check. This runs into pure selfishness.

On the other hand, Spock could be more readily perceived as emotionless and calculating. He is half-human and half-Vulcan, and controlling emotions is the Vulcan tradition. From a young age, Vulcans are given the education to accompany their more keen minds -- cultivating their extreme intellect, and mastering their emotions so their emotions will not master them.

Because Spock is half-human alongside his Vulcan heritage, he could be seen as a superhuman like Khan. Spock and Khan have superior mental and physical capabilities in common. But, in regards to emotion, Spock is at a disadvantage like Khan.

At the start of Into Darkness, Spock goes into an active volcano to activate a freezing device. While this is an act of self-sacrifice, foreshadowing what Kirk later does, Spock does not do it out of compassion. In fact, he does not seem to even understand why Kirk went back to save him from the volcano. Spock was only doing what he thought to be logical.

Spock only learns the depths of human connection when Kirk dies right in front of him, Spock powerless to do anything. He finally understands what Kirk had meant when he’d said, “I’m gonna miss you.” Through his friendship with Kirk, Spock learns compassion -- a situation that further solidifies Kirk’s role as a Christ figure, as Christ himself valued and taught compassion as a core value.

Thus, while Khan and Spock could both be considered epitomes of humanity, neither can be a true Christ figure. Khan allows his emotions and selfishness to guide him, while Spock is unable to relinquish his grip on pure rationality.

Kirk treads the fine line between the two. He allows himself to trust his “gut feeling”, but knows when he is emotionally compromised. As he tells Spock after Marcus threatens his ship and crew, “The Enterprise and her crew need someone in that chair who knows what he’s doing. And that’s not me”. This comes soon after Kirk’s genuine apology. The Enterprise and his captaincy are perhaps Kirk’s greatest pride, and his relinquishing that is a significant sacrifice already. This in itself proves that Kirk is a balance of emotion and logic -- having the compassion to care for his crew, but understanding the bounds of what he can and can’t do.

Because Kirk is established as a Christ figure in the Star Trek reboot series, he can be considered the model that the series wishes to put forth as the best humanity has to offer. In a universe where aliens are everywhere and mankind is no longer alone, it becomes increasingly important to define humanity. Kirk fulfills this. Because of his role as a Christ figure in Star Trek’s Alternate Original Series, Kirk becomes a symbol of humanity and its potential, showing the nature of humanity as one of emotion and compassion.