SHAKESPEARE IN STAR TREK SLASH FICTION
LAURA CAMPILLO ARNAIZ
UNIVERSITY OF MURCIA
1. AIM
The aim of this paper is to discuss the way Shakespeare has been
appropriated in the Star Trek (ST) slash fandom. In order to do so, I will
analyse two ST slash fan fiction examples (video and macro story) to
determine (1) what Shakespearian texts have been appropriated and (2)
what role Shakespeare plays with regard to the Kirk/Spock slash dynamics.
2. INTRODUCTION
2.1. FANFICTION AND SLASH
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, fan fiction can be defined as:
“Stories involving popular fictional characters that are written by fans and
often posted on the Internet” 1 . Typically, this fan labor originates in a
feeling of admiration for characters appearing in TV shows or movies, and
explores themes and ideas that are not developed in the originating
medium. These works are almost never authorized by the owner of the
original work, so although they relate closely to its fictional canonical
universe,
they
exist
outside
it.
Fan
fiction
hardly
gets
published
professionally, and it can mostly be found in fanzines and the Internet. It is
an extremely productive and popular activity- a quick Google search
introducing the terms “Harry Potter” and “fan fiction” returns almost 6
million results, the stories archived under this category in fanfiction.net
alone surpassing the 400k mark2.
Scholar Henry Jenkins reflects about this phenomenon in the following way:
1
2
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fan%2Bfiction
http://www.fanfiction.net/book/Harry_Potter/
-1-
Readers […] have a strong incentive to continue to elaborate on these
story elements, working them over through their speculations, until they
take on a life of their own. Fan fiction can be seen as an unauthorized
expansion of these media franchises into new directions which reflect
the reader's desire to "fill in the gaps" they have discovered in the
commercially produced material3.
One of the most popular sub-genres of fan fiction is slash. The shortest and
most classical way to define it would be saying slash is fan fiction in which
two males are in a relationship. A lengthier and more detailed would be the
following:
Slash is a genre of fanfic which deals almost exclusively with same sex
homoerotic relationships. Research has suggested it is written and read
primarily by heterosexual females. As previously stated, slash began in
the 70s with Kirk/Spock fiction. The term "slash" came from the slash
mark between the names of the characters. In this way, the particular
pairing of characters is articulated. It has spread to all kinds of TV and
movie characters4.
Indeed, there’s hardly any popular TV series, film or book without a slash
fandom
in
its
trail,
among
the
most
popular
being
Supernatural
(Dean/Sam), Sherlock Holmes (Holmes/Watson) and Lord of the Rings
(Frodo/Sam), to name a few. However, as it is pointed out in the previous
quotation, the term slash was coined during the early 70s, and the first
characters ever being slashed were captain Kirk and Mr. Spock from the
Star Trek original series (TOS). The appeal of this series and its characters
has hardly decayed throughout the decades, if the reruns and later
incarnations of the franchise are any indication of its success. A quick look
at the following timeline gives us an idea of the pervasive influence of ST on
TV and films since the first episode of the series aired in 1966:
Figure 1. Star Trek Chronology5
3
4
5
http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/03/transmedia_storytelling_101.html
http://www.lyricalmagic.com/fanficFAQ.html#slash
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Star_Trek
-2-
Although the franchise has never been one to enjoy an unwavering success,
with some series and movies rating well-below the expected standards, the
interest for the Kirk/Spock dynamics has stood the test of time. Although
each reader and writer will give their own reasons for liking this pair, the
friendship between the characters, their willingness to sacrifice their lives
and careers to save the other and the mutual devotion they feel for each
other are the basis of a relationship slash fans everywhere unquestioningly
define as ‘love’.
Figure 2. LEFT. Still from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. RIGHT. Motivational K/S
poster by Aevylonya6 reads: “CANON. Because if you don’t see it, you’re blind”.
Gene Roddenberry, creator of the ST franchise and its original characters,
never objected to the slash writing of Kirk and Spock, although he was
concerned at times that this revelation reached the mainstream and it could
so hurt the series. However, he was open to the idea of a love relationship
between Kirk and Spock:
Yes, there's certainly some of that—certainly with love overtones. Deep
love. The only difference being, the Greek ideal—we never suggested in
the series—physical love between the two. But it's the—we certainly had
the feeling that the affection was sufficient for that, if that were the
particular style of the 23rd century7.
In the following section, I will focus on the way slash fans have
appropriated Shakespeare to comment on the Kirk/Spock relationship8. In
http://aevylonya.deviantart.com/art/Kirk-Spock-motivational-nr-1159253812
7
Shatner, William, et al. Where No Man... The Authorized Biography of
William Shatner, Ace Books, 1979, pp. 147-8.
8
Referencia a la bibliografía de caso
6
-3-
order to do so, I will centre my analysis on two examples of slash fan work,
“The Marriage of True Minds” and “My Captain Eyes are Nothing like the
Sun”.
2.1. KIRK/SPOCK: THE MARRIAGE OF TRUE MINDS
Shakespeare’s sonnet 116 (“Let me not to the marriage of true minds/Admit
impediments”) 9 is the only slash video around which focuses on the
Kirk/Spock (K/S) relationship with a Shakespearian background. When I
first encountered it, I contacted the author, Fresca, who granted me
permission to quote the video and also reproduce the macros she used in its
making10.
Fresca’s sonnet 116 is part of a series of videos where the author uses
different poems to comment on the K/S relationship. Among the poems
used are “I sing the body electric” by Walt Whitman, “The Definition of
Love” by Andrew Marvell, excerpts from Virgil’s Book IV of The Aeneid and
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116. When I asked Fresca why she had chosen this
sonnet in particular, she told me: “My mother had me memorize this poem
when I was about nine”, emphasizing it was one of the poems young kids
were taught as part of their academic education. As she grew older and
became a fan of ST, Fresca realized it suited the K/S interaction very well,
and decided it would be one of the texts she would use for her “Poetry in
Space” project. In the comments to the YouTube upload, she further
comments:
I made this one because with the new movie opening soon, it seems
behoovy to remember that love survives time, alterations, and even
near doom--and what better reminder than Shakespeare's Sonnet
116? (It was only after I uploaded this that someone told me April 23 is
Shakespeare's birthday)
Indeed, as we shall see, Sonnet 116 was not particularly chosen because it
is part of the group of sonnets addressed to a young man (so making the
point of a homoerotic K/S relationship obvious), but because it defines love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5Yv7y0Aa00
The macros can be found at “L’Astronave”, Fresca’s blog here:
http://gugeo.blogspot.com/2009/04/kirkspock-let-me-not-shakespearesonnet.html
9
10
-4-
as unaltered and unalterable, emphasizing its constancy in a world of
change.
The video opens in the following way:
MACRO 1.
MACRO 2.
The setting is relaxed and free of any sense of impending danger,
something somehow striking since the crew of the Enterprise hardly spends
a lazy day in their exploration of the universe. However, in this particularly
idle afternoon, Spock has an idea to amuse his captain and spend time
together.
MACRO 3.
MACRO 4.
MACRO 5.
Rather than suggesting a game of the 3-D chess both like to play, Spock
brings a poem to Kirk. Both characters are known to quote Shakespeare in
the original series, so their interest in the Bard shouldn’t really come as a
surprise. As a matter of fact, Kirk quotes sonnet LVII (Being your slave,
what should I do but tend/ Upon the hours and times of your desire?) in
Plato’s Stepchildren, so we may assume he knows Shakespeare’s Sonnets.
-5-
Interestingly, Spock offers to read the poem, therefore assuming the role of
the I voice, what leaves Kirk as the addressee. What follows is a series of
screencaps from the ST original series (TOS), the ST motion pictures (I to
VI) and the new 2009 ST movie (Reboot), which illustrate each of the lines
from the sonnet:
MACRO 6.
MACRO 7.
These stills from The City on the Edge of Forever (TOS: 1x28) couldn’t have
fit this first line better. The true minds are obviously Kirk and Spock, who
manage to overcome the risks of a time travel to the 20th century which
could have altered humanity’s future. In macro 6 Kirk and Spock are at the
beginning of the episode facing the time portal, and in the following one,
they’ve successfully returned to their point of origin. If there was an
“impediment” in this episode threatening the “marriage” of these two
characters, that was Edith Keeler, with whom Kirk falls in love. Regrettably,
for the timeline of historical events not to be upset, Kirk must let Keeler die,
which he does, returning to his ship and to his usual self at the end of the
episode.
-6-
MACRO 8.
MACRO 9.
Turnabout Intruder (TOS: 3x79) is a clever choice for these lines. Using
alien technology, the demented Dr. Janice Lester achieves a successful body
and personality swap with Kirk. Lester-in-Kirk will try to take command of
the Enterprise, while Kirk-in-Lester becomes desperate in his attempt to
demonstrate who he really is. The only one who believes the captain’s story
is Spock, who mind-melds with him as the image in macro 9 shows, and is
convinced that, despite the feminine body, the consciousness inhabiting it is
Kirk’s. Shakespeare’s lines highlight Spock’s unwavering loyalty to Kirk and
his determination to help him regain his real body at the cost of a court
martial and his own life.
MACRO 10.
MACRO 11.
MACRO 12.
The choice of stills 10 and 11 seems to have been made following the
allusion to “ever-fixed mark” in line 5 and the moment when Kirk is
preparing to shoot an arrow. More interesting is image 12, where a calmed
Spock overpowers a deranged Kirk in The Enemy Within (TOS 1x5).
Following a transpoter malfunction, Kirk’s persona is split in two halves
-7-
inhabiting two different bodies. When the evil doppelganger attempts to
take control of the Enterprise, Spock overpowers him restoring Captain Kirk
to his own and unique self.
Throughout these examples, Spock epitomizes the idea of love as defined
by Shakespeare, remaining immutable in the face of “impediments”,
“alterations” and “tempests”. The comparison will wittily continue in images
13 and 14, where love is compared to the star which guides a ship in its
journey through the ocean, preventing it from getting lost or shipwrecked:
MACRO 13.
MACRO 14.
As science officer of the Enterprise, it is Spock who is in charge of
supervising the flying parameters and stellar charts before they’re fed to the
computer of the Enterprise, therefore effectively assuring the ship’s course.
In this way, Spock appears as the “star” to the Enterprise (the “wandering
bark” adrift in the universe) but also as Kirk’s personal “star”, since his
logical and rational arguments anchor the captain’s reckless nature and
allow him to take informed decisions that safeguard the well-being of
everybody aboard the Enterprise. Macro 14 was probably chosen because
Spock is pointing at something which may look to a viewer to be a star in
the distant heaven.
-8-
MACRO 15.
MACRO 16.
MACRO 17.
Image 15 provides a very funny moment which is cleverly used in
conjunction with the Shakespearean line. During the first episodes of TOS
(“The Cage” and “Where Man Has Gone Before”) the characters’ make-up
and uniforms where very different from those that became well-known and
established throughout the rest of the seasons. These lapses in continuity
have been used as joking material by the ST fans for many years, but in the
context of line “Love’s not time’s fool”, Spock’s weird make-up and yellow
uniform become more serious. Indeed, in the context of a poem where love
is defined as immutable, these external changes are merely superficial- we
may think Spock looks like a fool, but his nature is not affected by his
outward appearance, in the same way that Kirk’s many changes (physical
and psychological) do not alter Spock’s feelings for his captain. Further
proof of this is found in images 16 and 17, where a youthful Kirk is
compared to his older self, artificially and unnaturally grown old in The
Deadly Years (TOS 2, 11).
So far in the video, the love between these two characters has stood many
proofs within the TOS universe- no matter what dangerous and potentially
life-threatening situations they encounter, Kirk and Spock are always
restored to their usual selves, growing in wisdom and experience. However,
the video moves now to illustrate Shakespeare’s lines with images from the
ST movies. The point here is that the characters are not artificially
transformed as per script requirements, but are truly changed as the actors
portraying them have aged. However, despite the change from TOS to the
-9-
movies’ universe, Kirk and Spock still harbor the same feelings for each
other:
MACRO 18.
MACRO 19.
Not only has their love been kept intact despite the passing of the years,
but Kirk and Spock’s relationship in the ST movies is even closer and
stronger than in the TOS episodes, with Kirk risking his life and professional
career for the sake of Spock and Spock saving Kirk from the “edge of
doom”, referenced in macro 19 as Sha-Ka-Ree, a planet hiding an evil entity
which almost kills Kirk in ST:V.
The unchanging nature of Kirk and Spock’s love is made evident in image
20, where the two characters are now portrayed by different actors in the
recent ST movie (Reboot):
MACRO 20.
MACRO 21.
These two alternative versions of the characters’ younger selves inhabit a
parallel universe where things are very different from the canonical TOS and
ST films. Still, despite the initial hostility between the young Kirk and
- 10 -
Spock, they will eventually come to terms with each other and develop the
friendship which has been a trademark of the characters for the past four
decades.
Shakespeare’s line “If this be error” highlights Fresca’s -and so many other
ST fans’- anxiety about the performance of actor Chris Pine in the role of
the new Captain Kirk. The video was uploaded a month before ST Reboot’s
opening, and although the fans’ unease proved misplaced, image 20 is proof
of how concerned the fan community felt when they learnt a new ST movie
was retaking the TOS characters with a different cast.
Macro 21 concludes the sonnet and takes us back to the beginning of the
story, where Spock was reading the poem to Kirk during an uneventful
afternoon in the Enterprise.
Kirk’s reaction to the poetry reading is playful and apparently oblivious to
the sonnet -and Spock’s- message:
MACRO 22.
MACRO 24.
MACRO 23.
MACRO 25.
- 11 -
Ship here is used with the double meaning of Kirk’s ship (the Enterprise)
and his ‘ship’ (derived from ‘relationship’, and implying the concept of a
“fictional couple” in the slash fandom) with Spock. Image 22 belies Kirk’s
feigned ignorance about the real meaning of Spock’s reading, as much as
image 23 shows Spock hasn’t been fooled by his captain’s comment, but
prefers to let it rest.
The video ends with a final image crediting the author and a dedication to
her best friend. Fresca and Bink’s friendship is depicted in image 25 through
Kirk and Spock’s friendship in one of the final scenes of ST: IV, where they
actually seem to be holding hands:
MACRO 26.
MACRO 27.
Fresca chose to score the video to Bach’s Suite for Cello No.1 in G Major
without realizing this choice would add another layer of homoeroticism to
her macro story. As some viewers pointed out to her via private comments,
this suite is a favorite of captain Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin from
the Patrick O’Brian Master and Commander novels. These two male
characters develop an unbreakable friendship throughout the novels, and
they bear certain similarities with Kirk and Spock, for both couples spend
most part of their lives relatively isolated in a ship fulfilling military
missions. Needless to say, Aubrey and Maturin have been slashed to no end
since the publication of O’Brian’s first novel.
Anyway, what I find interesting about this video is that, after four decades
of K/S slash, the relationship between these two is so blatantly obvious to
the slash fandom that it would be ludicrous to think it needs authorization in
Shakespeare. This is why I consider Shakespeare is not here appropriated
to grant “cultural capital” (Bourdieu, 1984: 53-57) or credibility to the K/S
- 12 -
relationship, but quite the opposite- it is Kirk and Spock’s love what proves
Shakespeare right. If there were ever a couple of fictional sci-fi characters
who could exemplify the veracity of sonnet 116, it would undoubtedly be
them, as Fresca succeeds in demonstrating.
2.1. MY CAPTAIN’S EYES ARE NOTHING LIKE THE SUN
A very different but even more intriguing situation is the one we find in
ladyblahblah’s macro story. Uploaded to her LiveJournal a couple of weeks
after ST Reboot was released, it followed a discussion with a friend about
“how certain poems just fit certain characters really well”. The macro story
is developed in the context of the new ST movie and focuses on
Shakespeare’s sonnet 130. As the author herself explains:
[…] I'd totally forgotten about this one, which seems to me to be
EXACTLY how Spock would describe his attraction to Jim. If, you know,
he were inclined to do such things. And if he were further inclined to do
so poetically. Besides, everyone knows that Shakespeare and Trek go
together like . . . like . . . okay, I'm trying to think of something that
goes together better than "Kirk and Spock", and I'm coming up blank,
so we'll just stick with what works.
The poem has been tweaked to accommodate it to captain Kirk as the new
addressee, so the author has changed the personal pronouns from her to
his throughout the sonnet. Most notably, the word “mistress” has been
replaced with “captain”, what establishes Kirk as Spock’s love object from
the very first line. Interestingly, as it was the case with Fresca’s video, in
this story Spock is also the I voice of the sonnet, the main focus of attention
being how he handles his contradictory feelings for his captain. This fact
keeps these two stories in tune with an accepted commonplace in the ST
fandom, where it is usually Spock who struggles with his love feelings and
pines for Kirk (who will correspond them in most cases).
Unlike sonnet 116, which explores the universality of love, and could have
also be spoken by Kirk, sonnet 130 is a perfect choice to develop the
character of Spock. As a child of two worlds, Spock is characterized
throughout ST as having serious difficulties reconciling his human and
Vulcan heritage. The son of a human teacher and a Vulcan embassador,
Spock prides himself on adhering unwaveringly to the logical and emotion-
- 13 -
free traditions of his father’s planet. However, he is constantly fighting to
keep his emotions at bay, something which he not always achieves
successfully. In this sense, it is only fitting that, as the I voice of sonnet
130, Spock appears perplexed by the contradictions of a theoretical love
canon and the reality of his object of desire. Trying to reconcile the
traditional Petrarchan conventions with Captain Kirk will be Spock’s effort
throughout the poem.
Ladyblahblah’s macro story is coherent with the enmity that permeates Kirk
and Spock’s relationship throughout ST Reboot, and so the poem is mostly
set to stills from the academic hearing Kirk is summoned to after his
cheating in the Kobayashi Maru test. Commander Spock was responsible for
programming the test, so learning that cadet Kirk cheated to pass it creates
an immediate hostility between them. This is the very first time Kirk and
Spock meet in the movie, so this solemn moment couldn’t provide a better
beginning to the poem:
IMAGE 1.
IMAGE 2.
In contrast to Fresca’s video, ladyblahblah gives us Kirk’s thoughts and
responses to Spock’s lines, what allows for comic relief and makes us aware
of the thoughts of both I voice and addressee. In this story, Kirk does not
appear playfully oblivious to Spock’s words, but is genuinely hostile to
everything coming from him. In Image 2 Kirk openly insults him, something
he’ll continue to do in Image 4:
- 14 -
IMAGE 3.
IMAGE 4.
Kirk’s thoughts reflect the opinion of many fans towards this new Spock,
who behaves in an uncharacteristic manner throughout the movie- openly
questioning Kirk’s ideas and refusing to concede his suggestions. In this
way, Kirk’s musings also grant fans the opportunity to channel their own
hostility towards Spock.
Throughout the following set of macros, Spock voices his internal debate to
Dr. McCoy, a pivotal character in the ST Reboot movie which is cleverly
introduced by ladyblahblah in the poem:
IMAGE 5.
McCoy: “You’re just being bitchy now, and that’s coming from me”.
If there is one emotional character aboard the Enterprise, that’s precisely
Dr. McCoy, well known for wearing his heart on his sleeve. It would make
sense then that Spock would consult him in this matter of the hearthowever, knowing the relationship between this two characters in the ST
universe, this image looks like an oxymoron; and that’s precisely why it is
so funny.
The relationship between Spock and McCoy has always been a strained one,
as both defend radically different points of view; the former the logical one
- 15 -
and the latter the emotional one. Their bickering is constant, and it is
almost always Spock who has the last word. This is why it’s hilarious that
Spock seeks McCoy’s advice in ladyblahblah’s story, first because he would
never reveal his emotional tribulations to the doctor, and second, because if
he were inclined to do so, he wouldn’t actually listen to him or take his
advice seriously, as it is indeed the case in the following macros:
IMAGE 6.
IMAGE 8.
IMAGE 7.
IMAGE 9.
As can be seen, Spock is almost talking to himself, so focused on his
argument he ignores Dr. McCoy’s attempt at dialogue. Apparently having
found no solution to the emotional conundrum Kirk poses, Spock leaves Dr.
McCoy but keeps on reflecting about his captain’s physical virtues in a
perplexed way:
- 16 -
IMAGE 10.
IMAGE 11.
LEFT. McCoy: Yup. And, you know, a few breath mints wouldn’t kill you.
In
image
11,
Kirk
discusses
Spock’s
line
with
Dr.
McCoy,
who
uncharacteristically proves Spock’s assertion right with his painfully honest
response. McCoy’s role in the poem shows his personality throughout the
movie. He is Kirk’s best friend, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise the
captain shares with McCoy his resentment towards Spock. But despite’s
Kirk’s need of McCoy’s advice and help, the doctor rarely solves his
captain’s problems, trusting his judgment to take the right decision. This is
something which also happens in this poem, where McCoy’s role is
important but not decisive in the resolution of Spock and Kirk’s conflict.
This conflict is emphasized in the following images, where the setting is
once more the academic hearing:
IMAGE 12.
IMAGE 13.
Image 13 is remarkable because Kirk manages to see something positive in
Spock’s line. Although not very praising, Spock admits “I love to hear him
speak”, something which Kirk recognizes as “almost a compliment”. This is
an interesting change in attitude, which shows how closely Kirk has been
listening to Spock’s words, and how affected he is by them. It should be
- 17 -
noted that, throughout the poem, Kirk evolves from his initial outward
hostility and insulting stance towards Spock, to one of incredulity in Image
11 and now to one of hurt sarcasm. The greatest change, however, will
come with the following images, where a sad Kirk seems to accept defeat
after Spock’s final argument:
IMAGE 14.
IMAGE 15.
In image 15, Kirk appears crushed and resigned after Spock’s logical
arguments. Judging from Kirk’s words, it seems he feel they are proof of
how little esteem and value Spock places in him. However, the final line
introduces a change in the argument, the climatic moment being prolonged
in the following way:
IMAGE 16.
IMAGE 17.
Image 17 is probably on of ladyblahblah’s best choices throughout the
poem, because it focuses on a physically battered and bruised Kirk, who
cleverly suggests the emotional battering he’s been subjected to by Spock.
As a matter of fact, Kirk was assaulted by Spock, who almost strangled him
at one point in the movie. In the image, Kirk seems a little hopeful Spock’s
argument is going to change, and Spock confirms it with his final line:
- 18 -
IMAGE 18.
Not only has Spock changed his mind, but he has conceded his logic may be
not so flawless after all, as it cannot explain his love for Kirk, an epitome of
contradictions to which Spock surrenders in the end. In this way, the poem
shows Spock’s emotional development as much as Kirk’s, as the former
learns to accept and integrate his feelings in his rigid thought patterns and
the later realizes he is cherished despite his limitations.
The final image is pivotal in the development of the character’s relationship,
as, for the first time in the 18 images, Kirk is at last in command of the
Enterprise.
He is therefore restored to his “rightful” position in the ST
world, with Spock as his second in command. For the first time as well, the
characters are in agreement as to the course of action to take, and Kirk
smiles faintly to Spock. The poem then reaches a happy resolution, as much
as the film does after the many convoluted events depicted.
As it was the case with Fresca’s video, I don’t think Shakespeare here is
appropriated to grant credibility to or authorize the K/S relationship; in my
opinion, his poem is used to illustrate the characters’ personalities in the
new ST movie, and to tell a love story which both in the film and in the
poem seemed unlikely at best, but which reached a successful resolution
despite the many impediments on the way. In this way, Shakespeare’s use
by the ST slash fandom is more documented and fully developed than the
random Shakespearean quotations which pepper TOS and the filmsoccurrences as witty as inconsequential in their definition of the characters.
- 19 -