ACTION AGAINST ISRAEL/ 19 AFRICA OPEN LATEST/ 23 PAGE 15 News Views March 8 OPINION 16 • DURBAN POISON 17 • 2022 BID 18& • LETTERS 20 • SPORT 21 -28 2015 LIVE season of the show. Under the telekinetic LONG… control of an alien species, Kirk and Uhura are “forced” to kiss. NBC executives were reluctant to screen the shot and asked for alternative takes. Shatner and Nichols deliberately flubbed the IN OUR alternative takes, so the kiss stayed. Nichols says she was surprised that the flood of mail the show received after the episode was aired was all positive. A letter from a Southern viewer said: “I am totally opposed to the mixing of the MEMORY races. However, any time a red- blooded American boy like Captain Kirk gets a beautiful dame in his arms that looks like Uhura, he ain’t gonna fight it.” But the defining character was Leonard Nimoy, who undoubtedly that of Spock (Leonard Nimoy). Born of a human played the iconic half- mother with an alien father from the fictitious planet Vulcan, Spock First officer and science officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy). has green blood (from a copper human half- base), distinctive pointed ears, and We can is mildly telepathic when in alien first reflect now physical contact with others. on how The conflict between his cold many of calculating Vulcan heritage and officer of the his human emotions became a depictions of conduit for many of the humanist the Starship future technology lessons woven by the show creators portrayed in Star Trek are part into the script. over one of the first portrayals of Asian of our modern everyday existence. His trademark Vulcan salute (an Enterprise, died last week. Kanthan the South. actors in a positive role. Our smartphones now encapsulate open palm with fingers extended in picture of Dr King was A Star Trek producer described the functionality of the Star Trek the shape of a “V”) along with a Pillay reflects on the lasting impact our planet leading people to freedom, the role as “the antithesis of the communicators and tricorders. greeting which was more like a taken and here I was, in the 23rd so-called expressionless- Touch screen computer technology, benediction (“Live long and from century, fourth in command unemotional-inscrutable Asian”. universal translators, personal prosper”) has over the past almost of Star Trek another of the Enterprise.” The Russians, too, were navigation devices (adversely 50 years become a rallying point for world. Although treated as portrayed in a positive light. The affected by magnetic storms), 3D thousands of Trekkers who long What an equal by her fellow character bio of Ensign Pavel printers, CAT scans, biometric for the very achievable universe was cast members, Nichols Andreievich Chekov (Walter access control; all of these debuted created by Gene Roddenberry. HE YEAR 1966 was a and chief medical officer Leonard surprising still had to grapple with Koenig) was that of “an during the TV series. Leonard Nimoy is no more. tumultuous period in the McCoy (DeForest Kelley). was that Star the underlying racism of extraordinarily capable young man All of these played second fiddle He is not the first of the original history of the US; and, as Although equipped with a Trek managed the studios at the time, – almost Spock’s equal in some to the social impact of Star Trek. cast to die, but through his a result, for much of the formidable level of weaponry, their to ride rough- such as separate entrances areas. An honours graduate of the The first inter-racial kiss on TV appearances in two recent Star Tworld, too. The US had recently mission was one of peace as shod over many of for black and white actors. She Space Academy.” happened in the third and final Trek movies as an aging version of begun deploying combat forces in Captain Kirk would recount over the social issues of the says: “Oh, man, there were parts of himself who has travelled back in Vietnam. The first SR-71 Blackbird the opening credits: period: the cold war, American the South that wouldn’t show Star time to meet his younger self, he spy plane took to the skies. Fidel “Space: the final frontier. These nationalism, sexism, racism, and Trek because this was an African provided a bridge between Castro declared martial law in are the voyages of the Starship religious fervour. An anti-war American woman in a powerful generations. Cuba. The civil rights movement Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to humanist agenda dominated the position, and she wasn’t a maid or The world is a poorer place under Dr Martin Luther King explore strange new worlds, to storytelling. The cast reflected a tap dancer.” without him in it. spread north; sparking race riots seek out new life and new universe where race or nationality As a result, she had considered I have no doubt that Star Trek in Cleveland, Ohio, in Chicago, civilisations, to boldly go where no did not matter. leaving Star Trek at the time, but will find fertile ground in future Illinois, and Lansing, Michigan. man has gone before.” Communications officer Nyota was persuaded not to do so by Dr generations, not because of its Tens of thousands of anti-war It’s unsurprising that a science Uhura, effectively fourth in King. In her words, “He said, technology but because of its demonstrators gathered outside fiction series focusing on space command of the Enterprise, was ‘Don’t you realise how important dreams and values. the White House and the travel was created at that time. played by Nichelle Nichols – a your presence, your character, is? Nimoy himself summarised it Washington Monument. Smarting from the fact that the black woman. It was a first for TV This is not a black role or a female perfectly in his final message on Against this backdrop, the communist USSR had taken the in the US in that it was unheard of role. You have the first non- Twitter at 9.36pm on February 23: debut of the TV series Star Trek lead in the race to manned for black and white characters to stereotypical role on television. “A life is like a garden. Perfect on September 8 was literally spaceflight, President John F be portrayed as social equals on You have broken ground. You’re an moments can be had, but not anachronistic. Set roughly 300 Kennedy had made it a point of the small screen. image for us. We look on that preserved, except in memory. years in the future in the 2260s, the national pride that the US should “It didn’t hit me at the time until screen and we know where we’re LLAP” series documented the adventures become the first country to put a somebody told me,” Nichols told going.’ It was like he was saying, Star Trek TV series actors, from left, Leonard Nimoy, honoree Walter Koenig, of the crew of USS Enterprise led man on the moon. Just three weeks The Huffington Post in 2012. “I ‘Free at last, free at last!’ “ ● Kanthan Pillay is MD of the by Captain James T Kirk (William before Star Trek’s debut, Lunar splashed on to the TV screen at a The helmsman, Lieutenant Nichelle Nichols, and George Takei pose at the unveiling of Koenig’s star on Yired group of companies and chief Shatner), first officer and science Orbiter 1 successfully reached the propitious historical moment. Hikaru Sulu (George Takei), is of the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood on September 10, 2012. executive of 99.2 Yfm. He writes in officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy), moon, sending back the first Black people were marching all Japanese heritage. Again, his was Picture: REUTERS his personal capacity.