Leonard Nimoy was a big part of my childhood. I watched every episode of Star Trek many (many times).
When later iterations of Star Trek came out, they were good, in some ways they were better…but nothing came close to the connection I felt with the character of Spock and the subtlety of Leonard Nimoy bringing Spock to life.
When he passed I tried to explain the connection I felt with the character and Leonard Nimoy to my wife. She knew the show, she would stumble onto an occasional episode – but she didn’t quite get the connection and the sadness. I tried to explain it but couldn’t. I know a lot of words to describe things, but few words to describe that which isnt a ‘thing’, can’t be held, can’t be measured.
A friend, approximately the same age as me (48) wrote a very personal reflection on himself, his relationship to Leonard Nimoy and to the character. Respectfully, and with the author’s permission, I am sharing it. It is anonymous and it’s better that way because maybe in some way its a little bit of all of us…
When I was growing up, suffice to say, there were few persons I could genuinely relate to. This was probably due to the fact that the whole world was against me. At the ripe old age of seven, something convinced me of this.
In the turbulent 1960’s, amidst Vietnam, protests, scattered violence, and TV dinners, the subject of inter-racial marriage was usually frowned upon, and such couples were shunned in direct violation of that taboo. Nevertheless my parents were liberal, resilient, artistic, and unique, and were undeterred by the restraints of ignorance that possessed the small-minded. To them it was no big deal.
However, when my Mayflower-descendent Mom became impregnated by my Oriental Dad; suddenly it was as if an alien life-form from the furthest reaches of the galaxy had kidnapped and raped a white country girl, in a diabolical scheme to produce biological entities of mixed race that threaten the fabric of our society, and more importantly, the American way(!)
Thus, for those of us, we endured stares, slights, and random slurs, which we were inseparable from in public places. And that my parents didn’t attend church automatically branded us Communist and of course un-holy and un-American. And my appearance reflected either or neither race, depending on which angle I was viewed, and bad lighting. But that didn’t dissuade the typical bigoted taunts that have a profound effect at a young age. When your Dad is referred to as a ‘slanty-eyed gook’; you know somehow these kids are not exactly your friends.
That all changed when I caught the beam of that stellar voyage that was the television show Star Trek. Immediately Mr. Spock, the half-human half-Vulcan science officer of the Federation Starship Enterprize became my counterpart in mixed race disgrace. Mr. Spock, with his superior intellectual mind became the leading proponent of rationality over any conceivable or incalculable challenge of any dimension. Adhering to the predominant aesthetic of reason and precise rationality, Spock incisively cut through the subterfuge of any situation, without responding emotionally; even when provoked or assaulted, he remained unfazed, and rarely succumbed to rage. And through logic, analysis, consciousness (not to mention meditation), he was able to override the polarity of our all-consuming human nature; prone to over-react, thoroughly predictable, and ultimately consequential.
But the way he did it was so cool. Too cool. And I used to say to myself; ‘I wish I could be like that.’ But I was, of course, when watching Star Trek. And Spock not only was myself but in a way reminded me of the slanty-eyed gook that was my Dad. And like Spock, my Dad refused to be blasted by the phasers of hatred and bigotry.
Thank you Leonard Nimoy, in your remarkable portrayal of perhaps my favorite iconic character of all time. And even though such a passage is highly illogical, as you would have spoken so eloquently; for me it’s obviously a long way to the planet Vulcan, it’s still a life-long quest. You gave meaning to my future life. LIVE LONG AND PROSPER
02Mar