Not only in the “bloopers” is Uhura occasionally tempted to say, “Mr. Spock, sugah.” She has been known to tease him, even in song, and she is hardly the only one, present or future, who would be delighted to find some enchantment by which to disturb his Vulcan cool.
More seriously, Uhura is often seen today as a symbol of women and their role in the Star Trek universe, and as her alter ego I am often asked to speak on that role.
In fact, it is a question that has interested me and one that Uhura and I plan to deal with in a book now in progress with the editors of this anthology.
It was, of course, the intention of the creator of Star Trek to show not only the beauty of differences but also the delight in the diversities as well as the similarities of women; to show them as capable of responsibility, achievement, initiative, courage, compassion-fellow beings reaching for nobility, heroic in their quest.
For instance, the story of “Number One,” the female second-in-command, played so beautifully in the first pilot of Star Trek by Majel Barrett, was always inspiring. “Nurse” Chapel was, in fact, a doctor and researcher in her own right.
Uhura, likewise, was highly respected as exceedingly qualified in her field, and a first-rate officer, even by the exacting standards of Mr. Spock. She was regarded as quite capable of saving the entire spaceship because of her expertise, and in a pinch, fully able to hold her own as a “gladiator.” The Enterprise had security “men” who were women, and ran into doctors, lawyers, and Indian chiefs who were women-commanders, matriarchs, and the like.
If Star Trek ever lapsed from that standard-and it must be admitted that even Uhura was heard to complain about saying, “Hailing frequencies open, sir,” for the umpteenth time-we should still remember that it was only Star Trek that began to set that standard, long before we heard much about it in our real world.
I can’t help believing that Star Trek was a forerunner in the real world for the inevitable movements for liberation for anyone who ever felt misclassified by form or face or color or creed.
We have come a long way since the last of the old voyages, and I think we would not have come so far without them.
We still have a long way to go. But I see people working to get there. (It is significant that many of them are women; for example, the writers and editors of these stories. ) So long as we are still working, writing, talking, thinking, loving, we are under way on warp drive to the world and the future we want.
These are the new voyages….
And they may be just a little different.
Logical, Mr. Spock, sugah.
P.S. Hailing frequencies still open, Cap'n Honey.
