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Tim Russ as the "black vulcan".

His blood was also green in "Shattered." Perhaps it looked reddish in YoH or something? I can't remember too well.

He didn't really have a Spock-esque "greenish" complexion because his skin was too dark, methinks.
 
Would it be more logical if they had created a Vulcan with a more green skin tone? ;)

Short answer: No. Skin tone is largely a function of melanin, not blood. Even on earth, creatures with copper-based blood produce melanin. Now as for the red mouths all Vulcan have, yeah, their lips and gums should have been green.
 
I guess I remembered wrong about the red blood. I haven't watched VOY in about ten or twelve years, but had a vague memory of that.
 
About casing an Afircan American as a Vulcan.

Was the show looking for a black actor to play the role in the first place or did Tim Russ just happen to audition for the role?

I have seen black actors as Klingons, Cardassians (the leader after Damar who was killed in the last episode during the Cardassian genocide), and one actress who played a Romulan talking on the TV phone on DS9.

I brought the topic up before and people jumped to the prejudicial conclusion that it was racist in some way. Lesson is people don't think first they accuse.

On the racial side it's wonderful that they chose who ever to play the part but SCI FI plays fast and loose with Science and there probably shouldn't be any black vulcans.

It's completely contradictory to have vulcans able to mate with humans and yet vulcans don't react to the sun like humans by adjusting the melan in the skin. Yet under a blazing vulcan sun to which they've developed an inner eyelid they don't darken. They are all white as any European so it doesn't make sense why there would be a black vulcan. A green vulcan yes...black doesn't make sense...

But it's sci fi.
Tom Paris and Janeway "evolved" into Salamaders making a mockery of evolution on a shuttlecraft. (Then again, I don't take evolution seriously anyway so that's neither here nor there but AT LEAST stay to popular science writers...is that so hard?
 
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As for the rest, I don't think skin tone matters when playin' roles like Klingons (Christopher Lloyd, J.G. Hertzler, John Larroquette, Robert O'Reilly - all white guys, all played Klingons) and Cardassians (full body make-up, ya know).

Skin tone certainly makes you consider the planet of origin more; is it really likely that any planet has such a uniform climate as to render all the denizens anatomically identical. :confused:
 
Well, evolution has been misrepresented as this "path of growth" that all lifeforms have. Like it's our "destiny" to become something superior over time. Evolution is NOT this, it's just our bodies adapting to our environments over time for optimal survival on the genetic level. Evolving can make humanity weaker if humans chose to live in a simpler environment than the one we live in now.

So Braga had the right basic idea in "Threshold" that evolution isn't the best thing, but it just got totally lost in the salamander stuff.
 
Would it be more logical if they had created a Vulcan with a more green skin tone? ;)

Short answer: No. Skin tone is largely a function of melanin, not blood. Even on earth, creatures with copper-based blood produce melanin. Now as for the red mouths all Vulcan have, yeah, their lips and gums should have been green.

Not quite true. Cheeks, joints, tips of fingers and ears, etc. are red due to blood. An overall green hue might be inaccurate, but having greenish accents around the extremities and joints would be realistic. (I think because of capillaries?)

It's why skin tone looks boring in a painting or drawing until you throw a little red on parts to liven it up.
 
No, quite true: Tuvok would be brown thanks to melanin, just as I am brown thanks to melanin. He would have lime extremities and mucous membranes just as I have pink extremities and mucous membranes (and I addressed this in my initial post) thanks to his blood salts but he would not have dark green skin because blood does not dictate skin tone. In fact, white Vulcans would show more green than black Vulcans for the same reason that white humans show blush more readily than black humans. Not to sound snotty here, but I know what I'm talking about or else I would not have posted.

Oh, and this: just because most of Vulcan is hot and arid does not preclude an equatorial zone with more direct sunlight--indeed, that's a given even on chilly Andoria. Thus, Tuvok's people would be dark if they came from the equator whereas Sarek's people, coming from closer to the poles, would be white. Easy enough.
 
Yeah, I am in agreement with you. I guess I thought you meant he wouldn't show green anywhere, not so much that he'd be green overall.

But, no, Tuvok's skin wouldn't be green. It would just have some green accents on extremities and on his adorable cheeks if you pinched them enough. That's what I meant.
 
About casing an Afircan American as a Vulcan.

Was the show looking for a black actor to play the role in the first place or did Tim Russ just happen to audition for the role?

I have seen black actors as Klingons, Cardassians (the leader after Damar who was killed in the last episode during the Cardassian genocide), and one actress who played a Romulan talking on the TV phone on DS9.

I brought the topic up before and people jumped to the prejudicial conclusion that it was racist in some way. Lesson is people don't think first they accuse.

On the racial side it's wonderful that they chose who ever to play the part but SCI FI plays fast and loose with Science and there probably shouldn't be any black vulcans.

It's completely contradictory to have vulcans able to mate with humans and yet vulcans don't react to the sun like humans by adjusting the melan in the skin. Yet under a blazing vulcan sun to which they've developed an inner eyelid they don't darken. They are all white as any European so it doesn't make sense why there would be a black vulcan. A green vulcan yes...black doesn't make sense...

An inner eyelid is one thing....

Having different skin hues due to a blazing sun is another...

Too, we've already seen an 'Asian' Vulcan....as well as various other dark-skinned Vulcans, so it's apparent there are different Vulcans other than the 'white' versions we've seen...

And I like this explanation:

No, quite true: Tuvok would be brown thanks to melanin, just as I am brown thanks to melanin. He would have lime extremities and mucous membranes just as I have pink extremities and mucous membranes (and I addressed this in my initial post) thanks to his blood salts but he would not have dark green skin because blood does not dictate skin tone. In fact, white Vulcans would show more green than black Vulcans for the same reason that white humans show blush more readily than black humans. Not to sound snotty here, but I know what I'm talking about or else I would not have posted.

Oh, and this: just because most of Vulcan is hot and arid does not preclude an equatorial zone with more direct sunlight--indeed, that's a given even on chilly Andoria. Thus, Tuvok's people would be dark if they came from the equator whereas Sarek's people, coming from closer to the poles, would be white. Easy enough.

Quite...logical, Brutel Strudel...

Quite logical...:vulcan:
 
When the first Trek pilot was filmed, Mr. Spock was given a reddish skin tone, but the makeup looked artificial and pasty on black-and-white TV. So a yellowish hue was used instead. Vulcan skin is yellowish, NOT GREEN! Vulcan blood is green.

But yes, the body parts where capillaries are close to the skin surface ought to be more greenish. I don't suppose Vulcans would look very appealing with green lips, earlobes and fingertips, though.
 
About casing an Afircan American as a Vulcan.

Was the show looking for a black actor to play the role in the first place or did Tim Russ just happen to audition for the role?

I have seen black actors as Klingons, Cardassians (the leader after Damar who was killed in the last episode during the Cardassian genocide), and one actress who played a Romulan talking on the TV phone on DS9.

About casing an Afircan


An inner eyelid is one thing....

Having different skin hues due to a blazing sun is another...

No it's not. That's a trend.
This is simple. Color is color no matter where it is and certain colors absorb more light than others. If Vulcan is generally arid, hot and blazing so that ALL Vulcans have an inner eye....then logically all vulcans have reason to protect they're eyes from direct sunlight.

If there is that much direct sunlight to influence the adaptation of an eyelid on all vulcans then there should be enough direct sunlight on the planet to influence the skin tone of all vulcans.

The likely explanation is that Tuvok is from a human descent.




Oh, and this: just because most of Vulcan is hot and arid does not preclude an equatorial zone with more direct sunlight--indeed, that's a given even on chilly Andoria.
Of course not.
Yet we're dealing with a majority situation here aswell as a star system with 3 stars. Every place on the planet is in the path of direct sun light.


Quite...logical, Brutel Strudel...

Quite logical...:vulcan:

Well, evolution has been misrepresented as this "path of growth" that all lifeforms have. Like it's our "destiny" to become something superior over time. Evolution is NOT this, it's just our bodies adapting to our environments over time for optimal survival on the genetic level. Evolving can make humanity weaker if humans chose to live in a simpler environment than the one we live in now.

So Braga had the right basic idea in "Threshold" that evolution isn't the best thing, but it just got totally lost in the salamander stuff.

No, not just, Anwar. He also missed the critical point of adaptation to the environment and I don't think there was a swamp on the shuttle.
 
^^

There is another thought:

What if those who look like Tuvok are the majority, and those who look like Sarek are the minority? (Of course, you have the Asian-looking Vulcans sprinkled about as well).
 
If there is that much direct sunlight to influence the adaptation of an eyelid on all vulcans then there should be enough direct sunlight on the planet to influence the skin tone of all vulcans.
But all of Vulcan doesn't have blazing beating sunlight all the time. During Amok Time the shadows are pretty diffuse, indicating at least thin cloud cover over the area. One of the earlier episodes of Enterprise had T'Pol saying that there were "some parts" of Vulcan with trees and clouds. The entire planet can't be a barren desert, the fact that life originated there must mean there are fertile regions with moisture.

Different climates, different skin tones.

What if those who look like Tuvok are the majority, and those who look like Sarek are the minority?
Yet another reason for Vulcans to have one of their big wars.
 
Spock said the inner eyelid was considered vestigial. It's quite possible the eyelid arose in the black, equatorial Vulcans and was still present in the Vulcans who, as on earth, migrated closer to the poles even though they didn't have to use them as much.

Skin color is a very superficial trait--evidence is that it changes in a relatively short period of time. Something structural, like an inner eyelid, would hang aroud a lot longer.
 
If there is that much direct sunlight to influence the adaptation of an eyelid on all vulcans then there should be enough direct sunlight on the planet to influence the skin tone of all vulcans.
But all of Vulcan doesn't have blazing beating sunlight all the time. During Amok Time the shadows are pretty diffuse, indicating at least thin cloud cover over the area. One of the earlier episodes of Enterprise had T'Pol saying that there were "some parts" of Vulcan with trees and clouds. The entire planet can't be a barren desert, the fact that life originated there must mean there are fertile regions with moisture.

Different climates, different skin tones.

.
I agree. Given that Vulcanoids have whats bacially a primate body type, I can't believe Vulcan is or was always a desert world.
 
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