Star Trek references pop out at me all the time.
A Starfleet insignia bumper sticker on the car in front of me. “Chekov’s job description” as a clue in a crossword puzzle. A passing reference to “Vulcan death grip” in a cultural critic’s essay collection. Or, later in that same collection, this sentence: “Like Trekkies, Hitchcockians have no trivia threshold.”
So I’ve started cataloging these references and thinking about how they fit into a larger cultural context. After all, collecting and analyzing trivia is exactly what makes someone - me - a nerd.
And that’s my mission here - share and discuss the way Star Trek continues to infiltrate the culture at large.
Thanks for joining me. I hope you’ll share your own thoughts and observations along the way.
NAKED TIME
Lately I find myself mentally playing that sound effect/music cue from “The Naked Time,” wiping my surely-infected hand on my shirt, hoping I haven’t touched my face. Today I had three opportunities to shake hands with people, but instead we touched elbows. Paranoia abounds as we all live in fear of COVID-19. Will it make us all sick? Will we all start brandishing swords?
“The Naked Time” is one of the earliest and most iconic episodes of the original series, so much so that ST:TNG produced a sequel for their second episode. The infection manifested as a freedom from inhibitions, and maybe fear of this latest real-world virus will finally allow some of us to lose some of our inhibitions. It’s certainly made people not fear the rest of us laughing at them for stockpiling toilet paper.
The inhibition I’m thinking about is exactly that suggested by the lawmaker mentioned above. Let’s make the Vulcan salute socially acceptable for everyone, everywhere.
I’ve never been too shy about using it myself. Witness my appearance on a local TV morning show to promote a play I was in.
(By the way, I was playing Maurice, Belle’s dad - not the Beast.)
But even as I use it when someone tries to high five me, and as a response when someone flashes a peace sign at me, and as a way to wave “goodnight and thank you” to the audience after curtain call, I’ve refrained from using the gesture in more formal settings, in business settings. But no more.
The gesture is universal. It stems from worship and conveys a positive message.
“Live long and prosper.” The reply? “Peace and long life.”
It’s beautiful.
And there’s no reason to fear it, to feel like you’re - I’m - going to be ostracized by using it. Sure, it might garner a laugh and almost certainly a smile, but one of recognition more than mockery. Nerd culture has “won” in so many ways, is so pervasive, that surely using the Vulcan salute instead of a hand shake won’t make you - me - feel like the school bully is going to single you out.
So let’s do it. We can change the world. One nerd at a time.
FIVE QUESTIONS
with NEIL SHURLEY
In which we get to know someone just a little bit better.
Today we talk to Neil Shurley, the originator of this newsletter. It only seemed appropriate that I use myself as the guinea pig.
Neil is a long-time - I’d venture to say life-long - nerd. He grew up in Iowa before moving to Texas and California and many other places, ultimately ending up in South Carolina, where he lives with his wife and two children. He is a writer, actor, musician, and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
What is your earliest Star Trek memory?
Coming home from elementary school, in my mind it was second grade but time is a flat circle and maybe it was third grade, or maybe I am just always there, in front of the TV, watching the original 79 episodes in a loop. I wish I could remember the very first episode I saw, but I only know it was early first season. I was immediately hooked, talked about it with my friends, couldn’t wait to run home from school, grab some Oreos, and boldly go to the final frontier.
First book or toy or other tie-in you remember?
Those James Blish novelizations. Oh how I loved looking at them in the mall bookstores. The covers were so evocative. I coveted them so much. Eventually I bought a few, using money I got from my grandfather. I also bought three books that ended up being even more memorable and beloved: The Making of Star Trek, The World of Star Trek, and The Trouble With Tribbles. I wrote about that last one for StarTrek.com.
Underrated episode?
“The Way to Eden.” Everyone seems to hate it. HATE. IT. But I still find it charming simply because it is so of-its-time. Charles Napier is wonderful as the biggest, hippiest flower child of them all, Adam. And he wrote those songs, those delightfully goofy songs. (Yes, I have a soft spot for the songs, as you can see here.) It also provides many of my very favorite quotes, lines I continue to use to this day. Are you one? We reach! So go give it another watch, Herbert.
Overrated episode?
“Space Seed.” Okay, start yelling at me, but I don’t remember the episode having all that much impact until after 1982. Growing up, it was just another episode, certainly not one I couldn’t wait to see again when it showed up in the rotation. There were so many others that I would have rated higher than this, I’m not sure it would have ever even ended up in my top twenty. I’m not saying it’s bad or not worth watching, but definitely more important in hindsight than it was contemporaneously.
Are you only ever going to talk about the original series?
No. Though the original was so foundational to me, so fundamental to everything I am, that it will almost always be the primary lens through which I examine everything.
We reach?
DIRECTIVES
Laurie Ulster’s guide to accessories that don’t scream STAR TREK FAN: Stealth Trek.
My interview with author Dayton Ward about his delightful new book, the Kirk Fu Manual.
Interview with actor Saul Rubinek includes some Star Trek content but also an A+++ story about Robert Mitchum.
Some discussion of “Spock’s Brain” on the blog of my favorite economist, Tyler Cowen.
And finally, an article I just published on the site The Culture Corner: Live Like Spock.
That’s it for this week. Very special thanks to Laurie Ulster for her suggestions and feedback.
Have any thoughts about the Vulcan salute? Interested in answering Five Questions in a future issue? Run across an interesting Star Trek related link? Let me know!
Meanwhile, resume course to our next destination. Steady as she goes.