Spock Character Thread

[Saumyajit]

I am beginning to warm up to SNW Peck. His depiction of Spock didn't really jive with me with the hipster beard, and somehow giving off I am too cool vibes one example being that I like science.

I can live with some deviations from canon but when you recreate one of the most iconic characters of all time it should be done right. SNW Spock is much more closer to how he is expected to be.

 

[shapeshifter]

Some scenes with him speaking off camera, he has sounded so much like Nimoy it has been jarring moments.

 

[Yistaan]

I'm probably in the minority here but I think we need Spock again right now. He's basically a role model on how not to be overly emotional or go out of control, yet still be a caring person who goes out of their way to help others using logic and thinking and reasoning. When we have real life people attacking others in the name of defending women or doing aggressive things "because I care" or "love makes you do crazy things"--despite Spock being a fictional character we need his example to shut down that horrific line of thinking in our society.

The Jedi could also have been sci-fi's other role model for this, but their depiction even in recent shows like Mandalorian and Boba Fett show them to be way too extreme in forcing people to not have attachments or any kind of relationships. Ironically even the Vulcan lifestyle seems way more moderate than that.

 

[fireproof78]

he Jedi could also have been sci-fi's other role model for this, but their depiction even in recent shows like Mandalorian and Boba Fett show them to be way too extreme in forcing people to not have attachments or any kind of relationships. Ironically even the Vulcan lifestyle seems way more moderate than that.

"Recently?"

Um, this is built in, even with Empire Strikes Back and especially with the prequels.

I think modern day people would do better to not study fictional alien races but look at Greek philosophy like the Stoics.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I'm probably in the minority here but I think we need Spock again right now. He's basically a role model on how not to be overly emotional or go out of control, yet still be a caring person who goes out of their way to help others using logic and thinking and reasoning. When we have real life people attacking others in the name of defending women or doing aggressive things "because I care" or "love makes you do crazy things"--despite Spock being a fictional character we need his example to shut down that horrific line of thinking in our society.

The Jedi could also have been sci-fi's other role model for this, but their depiction even in recent shows like Mandalorian and Boba Fett show them to be way too extreme in forcing people to not have attachments or any kind of relationships. Ironically even the Vulcan lifestyle seems way more moderate than that.

Never thought of a Spock as a role model for behaviour. If anything he shows that repressing emotion completely is a bad thing. There's rarely a moment in Trek where his repression of emotions is a good thing. And the writers got a lot of mileage out of stripping that emotional control from him.

 

[Mudd]

Never thought of a Spock as a role model for behaviour.

When I was 13, he was. How do you think he became so popular?

 

[GNDN18]

Never thought of a Spock as a role model for behaviour. If anything he shows that repressing emotion completely is a bad thing. There's rarely a moment in Trek where his repression of emotions is a good thing. And the writers got a lot of mileage out of stripping that emotional control from him.

Sometimes it was useful.

 

[Nerys Myk]

When I was 13, he was. How do you think he became so popular?

Good question, probably with multiple answers. Emotions run deep in 13 year olds. I can see the appeal,

 

[Ronald Held]

I thought that many find him a role model over 50+ years.

 

[Yistaan]

Good question, probably with multiple answers. Emotions run deep in 13 year olds. I can see the appeal,

I wonder if we're seeing the same news where we have riots, etc. with people (including government leaders) in recent history who very much aren't 13 years old or anywhere near that age.

I agree suppressing all emotion is bad but honestly the restrained amount that Spock shows now seems like a better alternative compared to how a lot of people act (just look at the news or even posts on reddit or internet forums)

 

[fireproof78]

I thought that many find him a role model over 50+ years.

I did to a certain point. Then the whole study of human psychology thing started and the suppression of emotions gave me a very quiet pause. For me, well, I was teased for not having emotions under control so Spock's story resonated well with me, but I never bought in to the all logic all the time idea. I felt balance was more the approach.

Come to find a theoretical model that agrees with me.

I agree suppressing all emotion is bad but honestly the restrained amount that Spock shows now seems like a better alternative compared to how a lot of people act (just look at the news or even posts on reddit or internet forums)

But, that's a black and white style thinking that really isn't what humans are capable of when they actually try and practice a more balanced approach. Suppressing emotions is bad but not being ruled by them is more the goal.

I think the biggest challenge for people nowadays is the desire for everything immediately. Teens are like that, and teaching them pause takes practice. Except, we don't teach pause in modern society as such, largely due to the instantaneous nature of technology. This is not a new phenomenon, by any stretch, as Calvin and Hobbes riffs on it a little bit.

Delayed gratification is more the skill, rather than suppression of emotions. At least from my work with adults and teens. However, there are many factors that influence that attitude, ones that are not so easily undone.

 

[Yistaan]

To comment on what Nerys said, it seems that literally everyone had a very different teenage life than I did. My emotions were a lot more controlled as a teenager than they were in my twenties and thirties. A part of this came from my upbringing--I believed that studying hard in school, getting a good job, not doing drugs, smoking, or any bad things etc. would get me a good life with friends and opportunity to date and ultimately marry a fellow high achiever. I got myself through UC Berkeley, working with 2 Nobel laureates, a Master's degree, and a six figure salary career mostly on this mindset.

Once my twenties hit and I got that high paying job and all that, I realized my social life didn't get better, I wasn't meeting anyone for dates or even friendships (I heard "I don't know you" a lot) and everything I believed in my teeenage years went right out the airlock so to speak. Add to an injury that caused my ears to ring all the time and the sinking realization that my parents' strict "Asian Tiger Mom" upbringing was only aimed into turning me into a money making machine for their benefit (they couldn't be bothered to hear about my dating or social struggles once I actually became their money making machine), and my emotional control became harder to get a hold on, infinitely harder than it was in my teenage years when I believed the myths I was told would lead me to the life that I wanted.

I need Spock's emotional control example now more than I ever did in my teenage years. I wish that were an exaggeration.

 

[fireproof78]

A part of this came from my upbringing--I believed that studying hard in school, getting a good job, not doing drugs, smoking, or any bad things etc. would get me a good life with friends and opportunity to date and ultimately marry a fellow high achiever.

I believed that as well, but my emotions were still quite variable as hard as I tried to control them. My dad was a little more encouraging on that front, my mom less so. But, I was also the odd one out in that I knew exactly what I wanted for a job since I was 16.

Every damn day is a practice for me in emotional regulation.

 

[Voodoowoman2]

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Very nice interview conducted by Wil Wheaton!

 

[TRON JA307020]

Never thought of a Spock as a role model for behaviour. If anything he shows that repressing emotion completely is a bad thing. There's rarely a moment in Trek where his repression of emotions is a good thing. And the writers got a lot of mileage out of stripping that emotional control from him.

He was a role model. His character became more popular than Kirk. His emotionless state is what made him such a good officer. He has loyalty and cares about his friends abd comrades. He's also extremely intelligent. Basically the perfect officer.

 

[Tuskin38]

He was a role model.

No, he wasn't, being emotionless is a not a good thing.

 

[Jedi Marso]

I used Spock as a bit of a role model back in HS. I didn't try to suppress all emotion or anything radical like that, but I did become very reserved and stoic around people I didn't know or wasn't comfortable with, which, being an introvert, was almost everyone who wasn't a family member or one of my few friends.

My Dad noticed- he was constantly saying: "Smile! It won't crack your face!"

 

[Yistaan]

No, he wasn't, being emotionless is a not a good thing.

Spock's toned down a hell of a lot from that early installment weirdness though where he outright doesn't have emotions or isn't allowed an outlet for them. These days, he has emotions but he controls them. He's still allowed to have friends. He's still allowed to have relationships. Heck, he was outright having s-- this past week.

Compare this to the Jedi and the cruel dogma that Luke tried to pull on Grogu just a few months ago. Jedi claim to be well rounded and open minded, but in fact are extremely strict and dogmatic behind closed doors, not unlike many extremist religions today.

The Spock we're seeing now in SNW is a role model. He's not doing anything illegal. He doesn't ban attachments, friendships, or relationships like those fanatics over at that other star franchise. He does his job and controls his emotions.

Maybe people say he should do more jokes or be more human or whatever but you know what? As someone who's been in the working world and the online world for so many years, those jokes tend to cause more trouble than they're worth. Practically every institution would welcome Spock as a model employee asset. He's a role model how to fit into the working world in that sense.

 

[Nerys Myk]

He was a role model. His character became more popular than Kirk. His emotionless state is what made him such a good officer. He has loyalty and cares about his friends abd comrades. He's also extremely intelligent. Basically the perfect officer.

Uh, no. Being popular doesn't make for a good role model. His "emotionless state" was often a detriment. The entire episode "Galileo Seven" is built around that. The save happens when he abandons logic and goes with his gut. Though of course he denies it.

 

[fireproof78]

He was a role model. His character became more popular than Kirk. His emotionless state is what made him such a good officer. He has loyalty and cares about his friends abd comrades. He's also extremely intelligent. Basically the perfect officer.

Except, calling him emotionless actually completely misreads the character, since even Nimoy stated that he played Spock as someone with intense emotions under control.

That's what I see so often is the extreme swings in denying emotions, as if emotions are the root of all human problems. It's not the emotions; it's the lack of control that causes problems. Emotionless is not healthy for humans.