NBC and Newsweek Liken Obama to Spock: Both Victims of Prejudice
Concluding a Thursday NBC Nightly News story on summer movies,
correspondent George Lewis previewed the new Star Trek film, set to
open on Friday, and found it relevant to highlight how "some Trekkies
have compared the Spock character, the product of a mixed marriage
between a human and a Vulcan, to President Obama." Those "some
Trekkies" would be Newsweek's Steve Daly, author of last week's cover
story, "We're All Trekkies Now," who proposed in a soundbite: "In a
certain sense, Spock the character has dealt with some of the same
prejudices and problems that our new President does."
In
the piece for the May 4 edition of the magazine, Daly asserted:
"Spock's cool, analytical nature feels more fascinating and topical
than ever now that we've put a sort of Vulcan in the White House." And
"like Obama, Spock is the product of a mixed marriage (actually, an
interstellar mixed marriage), and he suffers blunt manifestations of
prejudice as a result." Daly also hailed how "with the willfully
hegemonic Bush administration now gone, the tenets of [original Star
Trek creator Gene] Roddenberry's fictional universe feel very much in
step with current events," since: "The Obama foreign policy, at least
for now, emphasizes cross-cultural exchange and eschews imperialistic
swagger. That sounds very much in sync with the Federation's Prime
Directive, which stipulates that humanity should observe but never
interfere with alien cultures (no Iraq-style invasions, in other
words)."
[This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Thursday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
From the end of the last story on the Thursday, May 7 NBC Nightly News:
GEORGE LEWIS: Some Trekkies have compared the Spock character, the
product of a mixed marriage between a human and a Vulcan, to President
Obama, who said on the campaign trail last year-
BARACK OBAMA: I grew up on Star Trek. You know, I believe in the final frontier.
STEVE DALY, NEWSWEEK: In a certain sense, Spock the character has dealt
with some of the same prejudices and problems that our new President
does.
LEWIS: Even as audiences seek escape by their new
problems by boldly going to the movies. George Lewis, NBC News, Los
Angeles.
A
brief excerpt from the May 4 cover story, "We're All Trekkies Now:
'Star Trek' is way cool. How'd that happen? Because the geeks have
inherited the earth, and the White House":
....Spock's
cool, analytical nature feels more fascinating and topical than ever
now that we've put a sort of Vulcan in the White House. All through the
election campaign, columnists compared President Obama's unflappably
logical demeanor and prominent ears with Mr. Spock's. But as Spock's
complicated racial backstory is spun out in detail in the new "Trek" -
right back into childhood - the Obama parallels keep deepening. Like
Obama, Spock is the product of a mixed marriage (actually, an
interstellar mixed marriage), and he suffers blunt manifestations of
prejudice as a result.
As played
by Zachary Quinto, the young Spock loves his human mother, but longs to
assimilate completely into his Vulcan father Sarek's ways, eschewing
messy emotions the way all Vulcans do. Young Spock is constantly being
told by Vulcans and humans alike that he's either seething with
inappropriate emotions - indeed, he takes Kirk by the throat at one
pointâ€"or that he's not emotional enough and shouldn't be so
repressed. Obama may or may not be a fanâ€"the White House says he
isn't, but Trekkies have claimed him as one of their breed ever since
he said, "I grew up on 'Star Trek' - I believe in the final frontier,"
at a campaign stop last year. If he does check out the new movie, I can
imagine he might feel a special empathy for Spock's position, given the
chattering class's insistence that he needs to show more emotion, too.
There's
one more intriguing allegorical overtone to the new "Trek," perhaps
completely accidental. With the willfully hegemonic Bush administration
now gone, the tenets of Roddenberry's fictional universe feel very much
in step with current events. Whether you're happy about it or not, the
Obama foreign policy, at least for now, emphasizes cross-cultural
exchange and eschews imperialistic swagger. That sounds very much in
sync with the Federation's Prime Directive, which stipulates that
humanity should observe but never interfere with alien cultures (no
Iraq-style invasions, in other words)....
END of Excerpt
For the article in full: www.newsweek.com
