Originally published June 12, 1992
Month: May 2009
Captain Irony and the Irony Watch: Spock/Uhura
We are seeing a rare head-butting of agendas in various fan discussions of the Spock/Uhura relationship.
The new film has Uhura involved with Spock, building upon a flirtation that we hadn’t seen since “Charlie X” (when there was clearly something cooking between her and Spock in the rec room sequence). Indeed, some have observed that she has more to do in two hours of the film than she had in the original 79 episodes combined.
Yet the irony is that two groups are grinding their individual axes against each other and the sparks are flying.
In this corner: those who are declaring that having Uhura involved with Spock turns her into a girl toy and reduces her to an object of sexual desire.
In the other corner: those who declare that anyone who feels that way is actually uncomfortable with a black woman involved with a white man and is therefore a racist, whether they admit it or not.
So basically we have a strong black woman in a position of authority with an active sex life…and either she’s a stereotype or anyone who objects to it is a racist.
Captain Irony away!
PAD
POTATO MOON, Part 21 by Jack Scheer
Bela froze as the short man approached her. His full, thick eyebrows
reminded her of her beloved Edwood, yet on this intruder she found
them thoroughly off-putting. More disturbing was the ungainly helmet
he wore, his name emblazoned across the front in large sans-serif
letters: MIKE DUKAKIS.
“I hope I haven’t alarmed you, young lady,” said Dukakis. “I assure
you, I mean no harm.”
“No harm! You’ve scared me half to death lurking in the shadows like
that! It’s one thing to skulk about if you’re young, lithe, and hot.
It’s quite another if you’re… well, you! What do you want, you
troll?”
“POTATO MOON,” Part 20 by Steven Marsh
“Will someone explain what’s going on?” shrieked Woeisme as Edwood revved the engine into a fine red whine.
“How to explain the immortal perspective?” began Edwood. “I’ll try. Over 50 years ago, encrypted messages began appearing in newspapers. Strings of seemingly random letters could be decoded by keen eyes to spell out answers to questions.”
“You mean those Jumble puzzles?” asked Jakob.
“I do,” said Edwood, betraying no emotion. “I’ve honed my skills over the years, and can unscramble such sequences into the form that makes the most sense. Woeisme, how many letters are in your name?”
“Seven.”
“Right. Jakob, how many letters in ‘potatoe’?”
“Six.”
“I was pronouncing the silent E.”
“Oh, right. Six.”
Cowboy Pete Plays With “Dollhouse”
The conventional wisdom is that one should give a Joss Whedon program much longer than you would give a show produced by just about anyone in the known universe because it takes you THATLONG to realize the full scope of what’s involved. This is a fairly recent worldview considering that viewers knew pretty much what “Buffy” was about from the pilot, and that includes the abortive pilot that never aired. Same with “Angel.” But because of his body of work, Whedon himself should have our trust. Not the program itself, but Joss.
So I’ve been fairly restrained, waiting to see the overall concepts, waiting to see where Joss and his merry band of pranksters was going with this. And I find that, at the end of the season, as engaging as the last aired episode was…
If I never see another episode…oh well. And that’s because the show never got past the major problems I had with it initially.
“Potato Moon,” Part 19 by Amanda Panda
They drove into the drive-thru. It took Woeisme hitting Edwood on the back of the head to get him to stop at the right section. He glanced at the menu, but it all seemed like meaningless gibberish to him. Just like the past few days. Just like all of his life, really, but he tried not to think about that. It was rather depressing and made him destroy furniture, and he knew how Bela hated to come back to a broken home.
“I’ll have a…a,” he floundered, aimlessly. Behind him, cars honked in impatience. Even their honking sounded like his beloved’s voice.
“French fries!” Woeisme snapped. “Smothered in ketchup, drizzled with salt-”
“I want a hamburger!” Something interjected.
“STAR TREK”
Long story short–I thought it was great.
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