Post by Mr. Atoz on Mar 2, 2015 9:10:38 GMT -6
At you're no doubt aware, Leonard Nimoy passed away Friday, February 27th, of complications attending COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).
One thing I liked about him was his abrasive interactions with Dr. McCoy. Once when he complained about the infestation of tribbles, McCoy said that they were soft and furry and they made a pleasant sound. "So would an ermine violin, Doctor," Spock said sourly, "but I see no advantage in owning one."
Spock was able to look at Human nature from the outside, with a viewpoint ranging from tolerant amusement to deep frustration. He showed us that intelligence and logic were not things to be ashamed of. As an awkward teenage geek myself, I couldn't help but be attracted to that viewpoint. Spock was rational without being cold-hearted, wise without being smug. He resonated with me in a way that the aggressively self-confident Kirk or the sometimes overly emotional McCoy never could.
Nimoy himself seemed to have an almost love/hate relationship with his most famous character. In the beginning he feared that playing an "alien" on a popular show would make it difficult for him to taken seriously as an actor. In his memoirs he tells how frustrated he was with some of the scripts that he felt weren't using him to the best advantage. Immediately after "Star Trek" ended in 1969, he tried desperately to distance himself from Spock, plunging straight into the role of Paris on "Mission: Impossible". He even wrote the book, "I Am Not Spock". After that, he starred in a pilot film, "Baffled", in which he played a race car driver with ESP (one of many similar plots that plagued the 70s). But when the Star Trek conventions took off in the 80s and 90s, he seemed to realize that, for better or for worse, he was stuck with Spock. And from our point of view as Trekkies, that was not a bad thing at all to be stuck with.
He will be missed.
One thing I liked about him was his abrasive interactions with Dr. McCoy. Once when he complained about the infestation of tribbles, McCoy said that they were soft and furry and they made a pleasant sound. "So would an ermine violin, Doctor," Spock said sourly, "but I see no advantage in owning one."
Spock was able to look at Human nature from the outside, with a viewpoint ranging from tolerant amusement to deep frustration. He showed us that intelligence and logic were not things to be ashamed of. As an awkward teenage geek myself, I couldn't help but be attracted to that viewpoint. Spock was rational without being cold-hearted, wise without being smug. He resonated with me in a way that the aggressively self-confident Kirk or the sometimes overly emotional McCoy never could.
Nimoy himself seemed to have an almost love/hate relationship with his most famous character. In the beginning he feared that playing an "alien" on a popular show would make it difficult for him to taken seriously as an actor. In his memoirs he tells how frustrated he was with some of the scripts that he felt weren't using him to the best advantage. Immediately after "Star Trek" ended in 1969, he tried desperately to distance himself from Spock, plunging straight into the role of Paris on "Mission: Impossible". He even wrote the book, "I Am Not Spock". After that, he starred in a pilot film, "Baffled", in which he played a race car driver with ESP (one of many similar plots that plagued the 70s). But when the Star Trek conventions took off in the 80s and 90s, he seemed to realize that, for better or for worse, he was stuck with Spock. And from our point of view as Trekkies, that was not a bad thing at all to be stuck with.
He will be missed.
