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Aloysius J. Gleek:
--- Quote from: oilgun on March 19, 2009, 01:53:07 pm ---OMG is right! Even in the new Star Trek the women's uniforms are mini dresses?!
--- End quote ---
Hmmm. Something wrong about that mini. Doesn't look right, somehow.
I was born in 1954, so this is my era.
I was a Flower Child Wannabe, I loved mini-skirts, and I loved Nichelle Nichols.
http://greyfalcon.us/restored/Star%20Trek.htm
Star Trek: A Phenomenon and Social Statement on the 1960s
Copyright © 1995 J. William Snyder, Jr.
Permission granted to copy and use for private study and other non-commercial and academic purposes.
Lt. Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols is the highest ranking female officer to serve aboard the USS Enterprise during the three years that the series ran on network television. Lt. Uhura serves as communications officer and as fourth in command of the Enterprise (Gerrold 141). To have a woman in such a prominent position on board a starship with her responsibility is truly amazing for a television show in the 1960's (Editor 37). She is almost never portrayed as a stereotypical woman incapable of accomplishing anything without male assistance. As a strong, fierce character, she can take care of herself quite well. In the episode "Mirror, Mirror", Uhura's task is to divert the attention of parallel-Sulu from his helmsman's post so Engineer Scott can divert power to the transporter room necessary to send her, Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, and Lt. Cmdr. Scott back to their own universe. Taking advantage of parallel-Sulu's desire for her, she moves in to "divert" his attention wish a seemingly sexual advance, only to violently slap him back once the indicator light on the helmsman's position warning of the power shift has gone out. She then defends herself quite nicely against the angry parallel-Sulu with a knife. Nichelle Nichols had much to do with portraying her character and fighting for her character's status. Ms. Nichols during an interview with David Gerrold mentioned that in the script for one episode, Lt. Uhura was to assume the helmsman's position because all the senior officers were on a planet, but the script was rewritten to exclude that action by the Lieutenant. Nichols "pitched a bitch" over being written out. "When you're out in space, in a dangerous situation. you're not going to have some female that goes, 'Ooooh, Captain, save me, save me!'" (81). Ms. Nichols was bound and determined to secure a prominant place for Lt. Uhura and the rest of the women aboard the Enterprise.
delalluvia:
I love me some Trekkers!!! :-* :-*
Really pumped to see the move!!
Now I like Karl Urban...but as a Southern boy McCoy?!?!
Aloysius J. Gleek:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nichelle_Nichols
Nichelle Nichols
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nichelle Nichols (born Grace Nichols; December 28, 1932) is an American actress, singer and voice artist.
(....)
Star Trek
It was in Star Trek that Nichols gained popular recognition by being one of the first black women featured in a major television series not playing a servant; her prominent supporting role as a female black bridge officer was unprecedented. During the first year of the series, Nichols was tempted to leave the show, as she felt her role lacked significance; however, a conversation with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. changed her mind. Though specifics of the conversation vary, in generalities she has reported that Dr. King personally encouraged her to stay on the show, telling her that he was a big fan of the series and told her she "could not give up" since she was playing a vital role model for black children and young women across the country. It is also often reported that Dr. King added that "Once that door is opened by someone, no one else can close it again." Another of her famous fans is Barack Obama, who watched her on Star Trek while a young boy in Honolulu.
Former NASA astronaut Mae Jemison has cited Nichols's role of Lt. Uhura as her inspiration for wanting to become an astronaut and Whoopi Goldberg has also spoken of Nichols's influence. Goldberg herself eventually landed a recurring role in Star Trek: The Next Generation as Guinan, while Jemison appeared in an episode of the series.
In her role as Lt. Uhura, Nichols famously kissed Canadian actor William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk in the 1968 Star Trek episode "Plato's Stepchildren". This is often referred to as the first interracial kiss on US television, however that milestone actually took place when Sammy Davis, Jr. and Nancy Sinatra kissed briefly on the variety program Movin' With Nancy in December 1967. It wasn't even the first interracial kiss on Star Trek, as Shatner had kissed an alien played by Vietnamese-French actress France Nuyen in the episode "Elaan of Troyius," which was screened earlier that season.
Nevertheless, the scene provoked protest and was seen as groundbreaking, even though the kiss was portrayed as having been forced by alien mind control. Despite a smattering of protest, the majority of the feedback of the incident was positive. In her 1994 autobiography, Beyond Uhura, Star Trek and Other Memories page 197, Nichols cites a letter from one white Southerner who wrote: "I am totally opposed to the mixing of the races. However, any time a red-blooded American boy like Captain Kirk gets a beautiful dame in his arms that looks like Uhura, he ain't gonna fight it." During the Comedy Central roast of Shatner on August 20, 2006, she referred to the incident and said, "Let's make TV history again ... and you can kiss my black ass!"
Despite the cancellation of the series in 1969, Star Trek lived on in other ways, and continued to play a part in Nichols's life. She again provided the voice of Uhura in Star Trek: The Animated Series, in one episode of which, "The Lorelei Signal", Uhura assumes command of the Enterprise. Nichols noted in her autobiography her frustration over this never occurring in the original series. Also, Nichols has costarred in six Star Trek films, her last being Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
delalluvia:
It wasn't even the first interracial kiss on Star Trek, as Shatner had kissed an alien played by Vietnamese-French actress France Nuyen in the episode "Elaan of Troyius," which was screened earlier that season.
I remember seeing France Nuyen in that episode when I was a little kid watching Star Trek in reruns. I liked how ethnic she looked, her spirit, how exotically beautiful she was, down to the great hairpiece - which was ahead of its time.
I remember Whoopi Goldberg commenting on Lt. Uhura. She says she remembers thinking, "At least one of us made it." :)
I love Star Trek.
Aloysius J. Gleek:
I guess was feeling a little green that morning...
(Isn't the internet a wonderful, wonderful thing??)
Elaan of Troyius (5:19)
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtoHl8in7Hk&feature=related[/youtube]
Elaan of Troyius
Directed by John Meredyth Lucas.
Perf. William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan, George Takei, and Walter Koenig.
Star Trek. Season 3, episode 2.
NBC. 20 December 1968.
DVD. Paramount, 2008.
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