Star Trek Year Five: Valentine's Day Special - "Captains of Sea and War"

[laughing_tree]

One of my bugbears about Trek is that the popular image of Kirk’s love life is so wide of the mark. He’s all about *duty*. He has relationships, mostly, not flings. -- Paul Cornell

Comments

[lucean]

That quote by Cornell is a really weird interpretation of Kirk's character. Not just because I fundamentally disagree with him about the character, as that is always a possibility when discussion fictional creations, but because he seems to imply that since Kirk is committed to his Starfleet duty, which is true, he by the same token would automatically be just as devoted to a personal relationships?

[locuatico]

I read it more as him commenting on the popular depiction of Kirk as a Casanova who is constantly sleeping with women. Canon Kirk, on the other hand, was rarely shown sleeping around.
His point is, if Kirk DOES seek companionship, he will do so with a lasting relationship in mind, not a one-night.

[lucean]

So I'm just going to put this out there while reminding everyone that Star Trek TOS had 79 episodes. The Casanova Kirk thing did not come out nowhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXovahPpscs

[zenfrodo]

Thank you, lucean. I was wondering if Cornell had actually seen TOS.

[tcampbell1000]

Yeah, you're completely right, that was fuckin' weird.

This story was interesting precisely because it wasn't Kirk's usual pattern. (But frankly, it does also kind of meet the definition of a fling, even if Kirk and Laura both thought it could be more and discussed that possibility like mature adults.)

[bravest_spinja]

I do think Kirk's horndog status is a little on the memetic side. I mean sure he's high scorer for Star Trek (not counting Riker, or half of the DS9 cast), but 1) Some of those examples are James himself being coerced, and 2) That's just the nature of episodic TV with a frequent location shift. Like, Bill Bixby's Banner was getting action every other week, which is a lot for the nerdy scientist who's afraid of letting himself go!

[laughing_tree]

Counterpoint:

https://soycrates.tumblr.com/post/107354427153/hey-dont-tell-me-what-to-do-the-great-shatner

http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/columns/freshly-rememberd-kirk-drift/

Tl;dr: Nearly every instance of Kirk as a womanizer are subterfuge done to save the day, instances of mind control/manipulation, him acting under duress, or actually serious, committed relationships.

In The Naked Time, when he's infected by the virus, he outright starts lamenting about how he's so lonely because his duty keeps him single.

[super_fly]

Seems like a lot of these are circumstantial

[starwolf_oakley]

I thought the idea was "Kirk is a flirt, but he's not a player." Mixed with "1960s prime time TV show."

[bravest_spinja]

Also, can Pam Grier sue over this?

[silverhammerman]

This does a way better job of nailing recognizable and distinct likenesses than any of Marvel's Star Wars comics ever have.

More importantly, how dare this comic hint at a take on the Voyager-premise but starring a thinly veiled Pam Grier and featuring actual consequences for the ship and its crew, as though I'm not supposed to be left champing at the bit for more?