If you watch Star Trek, what character(s) do you relate to the most? What character attracts you the most?
I’d have to say Mr. Data on Star Trek Next Generation. On the original series, it’s a toss-up between Scotty (the Scottish dialect) and Spock.
That Spock…
When it comes to Spock, I guess I’m attracted to “the strong silent type.”
This expression was used by Leslie Charteris in the movie The Saint and Templar in 1978: “I’ve always fancied myself as the strong silent type.” Although Gary Cooper is often seen as the original strong silent type. And he’s dreamy.
The idiom “strong silent type” is defined as “A man of few words but effective action; one who masks his feelings.”
This phrase was extremely popular with women novelists of the early 1900s who used it to depict a very romantic figure.
Yeah, I fell hard for Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.
Mike Nesmith, guitarist for the Monkees
My favorite Monkee: Wool Hat or Mike, played by Michael Nesmith, who sadly just passed away. Definitely strong and silent, a little brooding, the intellectual of the musical group, appearing thoughtful and observant, like Spock.
My teenage idol, Pete Townsend, also shares these qualities. Roger Daltry is like Pete Townsend’s Captain Kirk.
Mr. Spock and Mr. Data are both curious about the world. They are scientists, which I love. And they are different, trying to fit in, something I can relate to. And though both are non-human on the surface—a Vulcan and an AI creation—they are utterly human. They are loyal and loving. And though logical, both are sensitive and sensuous at times.
What’s not to love?!
I think part of my attraction to Spock and Data is also in wanting to be like them. Sometimes I feel like almost the polar opposite of “strong and silent,” being emotional, vocal and sometimes shying away from big, direct action and conflict, the last being a trait I’m constantly trying to override.
I was watching For the Love of Spock on Netflix, a documentary about Leonard Nimoy directed by his son, Adam Nimoy. In it, women and men talk about the attractiveness of his character. Apparently I am not alone!
“Leonard Nimoy was…an unlikely sex symbol,” says reporter Asawin Suebsaeng on thedailybeast.com in an article entitled “Spock Was the Sexiest Being in the Universe.”
In a 1977 article by the Pittsburgh Press ( “Women Spaced Out Over Leonard Nimoy”), Nimoy explains the attraction himself:
“Down the road comes a stranger—tall, dark, thoughtful, alien, and exotic,” he said. “Somewhat devilish in appearance. He has a brilliant mind, the wisdom of a patriarch and is oh, so cool. With one raised eyebrow, he suggests he is above game-playing and role-playing—which are just hangovers from Earth’s Victorian age—that he and he alone understands the deepest needs and longings of the Earth female.”
Oh yeah, Baby!
People magazine reported that same year that “the sacks of Spock mail reached 10,000 letters a month, mostly from women, much of it torridly erotic.”
Many Trekkie fantasies were realized in the 2009 Star Trek movie remake with Spock and Uhuru having a very hot love affair.
I’d say the only blemish in sexy Spock for me is a YouTube video a friend recently sent us of a performance on a short-lived television show called Malibu U of Leonard Nimoy singing The Ballad of Bilboa Baggins. It’s the campiest thing you’ve ever seen with Nimoy lip-synching the song from his second album, Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy. It seems like a gag, but it isn’t. The song was written by Charles Randolph Grean who most notably was arranger of Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song (“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire; Jack Frost nipping at your nose…”). The song’s got to be seen to be believed! Keep in mind that it was the late 1960s.
But that’s Leonard Nimoy. He was a creative through and through, an actor on screen and stage, a director, writer, producer, talented photographer, and he put out several musical albums.
But it’s the characters of Spock—and Data too—whom I loved, both now icons and archetypes in popular culture that will continue to resonate in our society, I imagine, for some time to come.
Strong and quiet-natured, even keeled, thoughtful, loving and human.
Live long and prosper!
Leonard Nimoy demonstrating the Vulcan salutation at the Las Vegas Star Trek Convention in 2011