If you are unawares, there is a current campaign going on to make Kirk/Spock canon.
Yeah, even though Spock is with Uhura. That’s another topic entirely.
However, this leaves a question hanging: Can Kirk/Spock even be shipped in this universe?
The homosexual undertones (otherwise known as Homo Yay) in the original series are painfully obvious (Kirk thinks Spock is giving him a back rub, but once he realizes that it isn’t Spock, he tells the actual masseuse [female] to leave. Yeah). But are there any in the 2009 movie?
Some could argue yes. A friend’s argument is after being dropped on Delta Vega (and nearly being killed by a monster that borders between looking like a pissed off orchid [some would say “angry vulva”] on the body of a prehistoric abomination), he stops hitting on Uhura and makes googly eyes at Spock the entire time.
…doesn’t that bring a whole new icky set of problems?
Spock is not the same totally logical guy we know and love. Spock had his mother killed by some psychotic (or “deeply troubled”, as Spock Prime would say) Romulan.
Kirk was strangled, Vulcan pinched, and shot to a deserted ice planet to be left for (what expectedly should be) dead. Even though Kirk was saved by Spock Prine and he and Spock saved Earth (and Spock nearly made a Heroic Sacrifice) and now work on the same ship, they are still not exactly buddies.
So what gives?
Let us dissect this to separate the two parties.
Kirk is a part of a bad homelife. Abusive stepdad, dead father, absentee mother (or at least, alluded to being so). He’s a criminal (only genius repeat offender in the Midwest), and has probably gotten into barfights before he ever uttered the word “cupcake”. He’s a playboy, but it’s more likely that it isn’t so much “sex because I can” and more “sex because it distracts me from my issues” (like with booze). You could infer he’s an borderline alcoholic, and one also wonders how, precisely, he got that snazzy bike.
No, I don’t think he stole it, I was questioning if the guy has a job. I mean, he just sort of up and leaves for Starfleet, so someone would expect that James T. Kirk is more of an army brat than anything.
So he meets Spock when Spock believes that he cheated the test he has been coding for four years. Not exactly a good way to be acquainted. Spock makes a mention of Kirk’s dad (who actually made a Heroic Sacrifice), and Kirk isn’t exactly happy about that (or being called out on using Gaila’s computer smarts to his own benefit to start). Then the distress signal from Vulcan, etc.
Now, not sure about you, but I wouldn’t start a relationship with someone who was pretty crappy with me from the beginning (and brought up my dead dad, burn). With all the violent or unsavory interactions Spock had with Kirk, why would they start a relationship? Would you wanna date Spock after you basically saw your life flash before your eyes and were basically thinking you were going to die on top of a ship console?
Didn’t think so. So, why would Kirk?
Let’s put it out there: Kirk, by this writer’s perception, is trysexual, if not bisexual. It would surprise no one if he had sex with a guy. Or guys. Or Leonard McCoy (Kirk/Bones OTP). So him having the hots for Spock? Not out of the question. Spock is flawless (I hear his hair is insured for $10,000). But how much of a glutton for punishment is he to want to date him?
Spock (making girls and women all wibbly since 1966) is always a slightly complex character, and with the limited amount we have on him from this universe, we know a few things for sure (in no particular order):
1. He loves his parents (don’t call his dad a traitor or say he didn’t love his mom or he will make you regret it).
2. He hates when people associate his humanity for weakness.
3. …along with that, isn’t fond of being half-human (but he’s coming to terms with it, which is good).
4. He is dating Uhura (and obviously cares for her deeply).
5. He enjoys being in Starfleet.
6. He’s brilliant.
Now, there hasn’t ever been a discussion on Vulcan sexuality, but they go through pon farr and have “mates”, so one thinks that the Heterosexual Norm leaked into Roddenberry’s idea of humanoid aliens on other planets. Spock (the original), in regards to Star Trek literature, was to marry Saavik, the woman who looked after his reborn self (as a pre-teen/teenager) in Star Trek III. He was coded pretty much as straight, but of course, he could very well be Gay for Kirk.
Spock, in the STXI Universe, is most definitely not Gay for Kirk. Possibly Gay for Bones. He also firmly straddles the “asexual alien” position (pun not intended) until we see his interactions with Uhura. And them making out (the situations of them making out are enough for another blog).
While Kirk and Spock were total yin and yang in TOS, it’s not so much the case in regards to the Laurel and Hardy dynamic of Bones/Kirk in the new movie. Kirk’s the funny one while Bones is the constant straight man. Spock Prime doesn’t even mention McCoy (which is somewhat concerning). Or that Kirk in his universe died a while ago.
To summarize (if I even can), it isn’t logical for K/S to happen in this universe.
I do think, however, Star Trek should definitely have some gay, lesbian, bi, and definitely characters that are trans (pre or post op). I am a pretty big fan of Sulu/Chekov (check out the glances between them. They’re filled with admiration and love) as well as Kirk/Bones. So, this is not someone trying to trample down the push for some same-sex relationships.
It’s just simply Kirk/Spock shouldn’t be one of them. If it was made canon (it probably won’t), it would bring one huge topic: how the abuse of men and boys isn’t as seriously taken as it against girls and women.
