What Spock Represents

On February 27th, 2015; Leonard Nimoy, the legendary actor who is best known for playing the role of “Mr.Spock” on Star Trek franchise, has passed away.

• THIS FOLLOWING STORY WAS WRITTEN IN FEB 28 2015*

I am what geeks would call a ‘trekkie’, a person who is a fan of the Star Trek franchise. I have watched all 728 episodes ever released and watched all Trek movies. I also am reading Star Trek novels and almost finished reading novels regarding ‘The Original Series’. For a trekkie, Trek simply never ends.

Looking back at fifties and sixties in the United States of America, it was the regular Republican’s dream state. White people living in economic prosperity. No LGBTs, no blacks, women were theoretically equals but were absolutely not in practice.

The white male utopia.

The state of dystopia

The white male utopia was also a dystopia for every other single human being. Black people were treated as 2nd class citizens, a working woman was frowned upon if it wasn’t some silly diner waitress job. No hispanic rights. LGBTs were god defying people who were plagued.

The United States of America was actually a state of dystopia for most people.

Then came the hippies and whatever but that I will not address in this blog post.

I want to address the reason you’re reading this.

The United States of America was actually a state of dystopia for most people.

And then came Star Trek.

Star Trek: The Original Series

For people who doesn’t know what Star Trek is, it’s a television show that aired for three seasons between 1966–69, about the space explorations of 23th century humankind.

Starring William Shatner as Captain James Tiberius Kirk, captain of the starship USS Enterprise (designation NCC-1701), a handsome and charismatic man from Iowa.

a.k.a. the white male leader

Also starring was DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy, the ship’s chief medical officer and good friend of Cpt. Kirk.

a.k.a. the other white male

James Doohan played Montgomery Scott, the ship’s chief engineer, a Scottish man.

a.k.a. another white male

But something was different from the other television shows.The
rest of the crew was somewhat unorthodox.

The utopia of the future

Also starring was Leonard Nimoy as Mr.Spock, the half human-half vulcan with pointy ears as First Officer and second in command of the starship Enterprise.

This alone was way too much for the USA at that time. A human breeded with an alien race and the result was a human-like creature that had a command in human ships, madness!

But Spock was not the only abomination.

The ship’s had Hikaru Sulu, a Japanese (whom the US bombed 20 years ago) who was portrayed by George Takei, and Takei was gay (unbeknownst to the public). A gay Japanese American playing a role in television.

The ship also had Pavel Chekov, portrayed by Walter Koenig, a SOVIET from Bulgaria.

Keep in mind that the show was aired when space race between USSR and USA was in its climax.

The ship also had Lieutenant Nyota Uhura as Communications Officer. A black woman.

A black woman, Jesus Christ!

What is Spock?

Not gonna bore you with all this stuff -spoileralert- but Kirk kissed Uhura on TV, which is the first interracial kiss on TV in history -spoileralert-

All this was the creation of the mastermind known to us as Gene Roddenberry. Roddenberry created a sci-fi universe where humankind met with other alien races, formed a Federation with them, and were living in a democratic utopia, with no race issues, no gender issues, nothing. Everybody lives in total harmony.

A post capitalistic economy, where humans are not using money, and are only working towards a better future and to better themselves as people.

I believe in this utopia for about 2 years now. I believe in universal healthcare, free education, freedom to all, no poverty, no hunger. No racism, no sexism. I have to believe in this utopia because it is what should be. I have to believe that all will go well in the future even if I won’t be able to see it. I have to believe that someday humankind will be able to let go their egos and personal ambitions to build a better future altogether.

Spock is the fictional character that for me, represents my utopic dreams. Spock is not a person. Spock is an idea. For me, Spock represents that one day, ALL people will in peace whether they are white, black, gay, woman, transgender, French, German, Nigerian, muslim, christian, buddhist. For me Spock represents that in present day Turkey, racial issues are stupid and we should all live in peace, with no-one insulting the other. The Vulcan Salute and the phrase ‘Live long, and prosper’ is the only thing you need to understand what Spock represents. I saw fools on the internet thinking that prosper meant rich in money. Prosperity is not money. Vulcan salute dictates us that we should live our lives to better ourselves, prosper in knowledge and in logic.

I believe in knowledge. And Spock represents the person I am today. The person who was different a couple of years ago before being a trekkie. A tv show sci-fi concept becoming such an important philosophy in my life may simply be weird, but I am OK with that. Because of Spock, I feel like I am a better person today.

I will miss you so much Leonard, and I can’t hold my tears anymore as I’m typing this. Emotions it may be, but it’s logical to me now. It’s not as if you never cried. You can’t blame me.

McCoy: He’s not really dead. As long as we remember him.
(Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

The old Doc is right. He will not be dead, as long as we remember him, and what he represents. For me, he will never die.

And Leonard himself makes the point of life, in his last tweet.

Adding more sadness to the situation.

Live long and prosper.