Rest among the stars…
So sorry to hear about the passing of Nichelle Nichols, definitely the coolest woman on #StarTrek (back before you had to add TOS).
Lt. Uhura was an inspiration to little white girls like me growing up in the 1960s. She was a strong role model, far more so than most of the other women portrayed on The Original Series.
Mr Roddenberry had tried to create a strong woman First Officer in his original concept, but that idea was too progressive even for the 1960s, so it was killed by the NBC brass.
I kind of think Uhura was allowed to get away with being a strong woman because she wasn’t one of the primary characters. She didn’t have to be a potential love interest like Yeoman Rand or Nurse Chapel. She was clearly her own woman, professional and competent. She was drop dead gorgeous and could carry off that ridiculously sexist uniform but you just knew nobody would dare put the moves on her without her permission. Yet there was no doubt she had her softer side as she cooed over a Tribble. And undoubtedly a romantic life that was nobody’s business but her own.
Much is made about the first interracial kiss in American prime time, which clearly was a biggie to get past the network censors. (It actually wasn’t the 1st, but pop culture.) Yet something I’ve never heard or read anyone talk about was that it was not a voluntary kiss, it was coerced. But it wasn’t an ordinary case of a ranking white male officer sexually assaulting another POC officer. Both Lt Uhura and Captain Kirk were forced by the kinetic power of a malevolent alien. Both were forced, and both actors played it that way. For an older me, seeing this again in reruns, it was more an eye opener about sexual assault being more about power than sex.
In the whole series, the only words that came out of her mouth that didn’t ring true was the line, “Captain, I’m frightened.” Not because she wouldn’t have been afraid at a time anyone would have been, but because it was totally out of character for this always professional Star Fleet officer. But even as a kid I didn’t blame her for it. She played it well, but I recognized it for what it was— a sop to the man.
Later as an older teen running the Canadian Trekkies Association and publishing two issues of our Canektion fanzine, I learned about Nichelle Nichols working more actively to not just inspire women through her acting, but actively helping NASA recruit POC and women.
ALTHer family’s message on her website says:
“Her light, however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and draw inspiration.
“Hers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all.”
