You TREKLAND readers know I've barely touched on Into Darkness so far—my reason being you can get drowned in that everywhere else and I'll stick to the unique takes on "everything else" I want to bring you instead.
In fact, I'm almost regretting finally seeing the damn thing after all the wait... it's going to cut off my "virgin" perspective on all the passing speculation, and also the untainted questioning of marketing goals and ambitions.
In that vein, then yeah—let's talk about that little trailer, the "Third Disruptions Teaser." (see it below) The one that caused such a brouhahah last week among Klingon fans online for its glimpse of a "non-canon" departure in Klingon look.... Really? You're upset about this? Isn't that just Chang's family? Bear in mind, too, that just as not all surviving Romulans have a tattoo—only Nero's miners-turned-henchmen—not all Klingons look lke this, nor have "glowy eyes." Do we know what they're on? Or what they might be wearing? Well, we'll find out soon enough—and have another 30 years to fix it, if we need to. But I doubt it.
No, what got my attention in that third "Disruptions" teaser was a single word—and I bet it flew right past you, saying a ton without saying it out loud: the re-drawing of Trek's troika. Listen here (below) as Uhura is described as the ship's "soul" —to cap off, on the other two "Disruptions," Kirk being the "heart" and Spock being the "mind." Right there, ladies and gentlemen, far more than any Klingon makeup tweaks, you have confirmed the major affect of a 21st century feature producer's take on Gene's classic sandbox: Kirk/Spock/McCoy is now Kirk/Spock/Uhura.
Or... maybe that's just marketing by a bunch of after-market editors with access to Cumberbatch's "promo extras" contract. Maybe it's a bow to perhaps endless focus groups who want a female lead in their flicks in general, and McCoy's place truly is still the third seat in the Trek triumvirate (as some early-bird reviewers have said.) And not to say that Trek shouldn't have strong female leads, obviously; there was a lot to beef up with Nyota "And how often do I get shore leave?" Uhura that poor Nichelle would have gladly loved to take on in her "sub-second banana" days of pre-ensemble 60s TV formats. The TOS movies made up a little of that ground for her, but not much.
But it sure looks like modern movie format sensibilities have taken over "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." In any case, even for marketing's sake for English-language consumers, it's as interesting a perceived plot for success as that pedal-to-the-metal global hoopla tour to again try to crack open a Trek worldwide audience beyond the known UK, Australian and German outposts. Karl Urban's McCoy is one of the quiet gems of the JJVerse, and neither one has really gotten much overt love in any of the posters, trailers, and press clambakes so far that I can see.
Then again, that's just about the way it always was with De and his McCoy.
We'll soon see.
So bring on The Darkness... and maybe I'll see you at the Khan.
4 comments:
Good Points, Larry! I too wondered at the Uhura spot to go along with Kirk and Spock.
Enjoy the screening. I'll be seeing it with Phoenix's UFP Star Trek club on Saturday May 18th. See you at PHX Comic-Con!
Yes indeed. Thanks for the back-up, David.
Phoenix CC, of course is also the premiere of our ST Continues indie web series where I try to do Dr. McCoy justice.
Well, as you know there is a minor precedent -- in the early original series publicity Yeoman Rand got third-billing treatment, such as those bad flashlight photos with a different hairdo, and the blurbs on the back cover of the first Blish collection.
But that doesn't excuse a BS Spock-Uhura romance, or McCoy taking a back seat in the triumverate as it came to be under Gene Coon.
With how they introduced McCoy in the last movie I thought we would be seeing how Kirk and McCoy developed the friendship we all came to love. But now it seems, as you have pointed out, McCoy isn't as important as the other three. He is falling into the same category as Sulu and Chekov...WTH????
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