Star Trek and Fraternisation

[watervole]

Star Trek military is loosely based on the US Navy, but there are some major differences.

It's interesting to speculate as to why.

A conversation with a friend sparked off a few thoughts.

The original Star Trek series aired in 1966. I'd wondered (given the lack of fraternisation restrictions in Trek compared with newer shows like Stargate) whether Trek predated women in the US Navy.

Murray did some searching on the US Navy's website, and found a lot of information here:

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq48-1.htm

It appears that women were first recruited in 1908 as nurses, then more were recruited for clerical jobs in 1917, just before the USA entered WWI. They were, however, kept ashore. It was only in 1979 that women were posted aboard ship, and then on ships that would not be in combat. Such postings did not take place until 1994.

Which seems to back up my premise. Women on board ships came long after Classic Trek (so all credit to Gene Rodenberry).

We know relationships were allows in Classic Trek as there's a marriage between two crew members in one episode. (and indeed, with a mixed crew on a five-year mission it really could not be any other way). The more important consideration is relationships between people of different ranks, specifically officers and enlisted men. (And doubly so if they're in the same line of command)

I think being a Stargate fan made me especially aware of the line of command issue. The ongoing 'almost romance' between Carter and O'Neill was frozen for season after season for this reason (and also, because the network knows that UST sells better...).

So, where does this specifically relate to Trek?

Kirk for example, in the Classic series, was wise enough never to have relationships (canonically) with members of his crew. A wise decision and one the US Navy would probably have approved. It's very hard to avoid the appearance of favouritism, it's probably bad for morale and it may well affect the decision as to who to send into a dangerous situation.

See the US Navy on their fraternisation policy. Note that it isn't just sexual relationships that are prohibited, activities like lending money also constitute fraternisation between officers and enlisted man.

So, Kirk is in the clear.  He may still be James 'T for tomcat' Kirk, but he only shags women outside his crew.  He might have gotten away with a relationship with a bridge officer as they're officers, but probably not a very good idea in practise as they're direct line of command.

However, my big issue with the movieis Spock/Uhura.  This is probably a viable relationship when they're both serving on Enterprise, but was totally wrong at Starfleet Academy. The US Navy list of prohibited relationships specifically includes instructor/student, and it's very clear that their relationship was ongoing when she was still a student.  And it's also clear that the relationship did impact on their actions - which is precisely why such relationships are forbidden.  Initially Spock does not assign her to Enterprise in order to avoid the appearance of favouritism - when her standing in the class should have sent her there.  Then, equally badly, Uhura uses their relationship to change Spock's inital decision.

It's a lovely romance, and I actually quite like the relationship between them, but I am very very surprised that Spock, who would be totally familiar with both the regulations and the ethics of such a relationship, would ever have allowed it to happen.
 

Comments

[taraljc.livejournal.com]

So, I don't think they were in a romantic relationship prior to the events of the film. Uhura kissing him and comforting him in the 'lift has genuine stakes and something at risk, for me, if she's taking their friendship and taking it to a new place. Not if it's only about revealing an established relationship to the audience.

Plus I don't think either of them would have entered into a relationship while he was her student. I don't think it's quite a power imbalance issue once she's a teaching assistant, but even then... I didn't actually take the "appearence of favourisim" scene to be a sign they were romantically involved. Just that they were very close and he was concerned that any appearence of impropriety would damage her career.

The closest thing I can find re: fraternisation was Archer and Hernandez, who kept their relationship a secret when he was her CO, and actually didn't actually continue it once they were of equal rank until after the Xindi. But it's hard pinning down regs, since the only times we see fraternisation it's eitehr characters of equal rank, or characters not in the same chain of command, and almost never captains ever.

(I had a post in my el jay (http://taraljc.livejournal.com/1330593.html), where people chimed in to help me fuill in canon gaps, after I first saw the film and was working on 'Ad Astra'.)

[watervole.livejournal.com]

The book of the movie is very clear that they were already in a relationship.

For me, it was the scene where she approaches Spock about her posting. The dialogue they give her is very unambiguous. Something like "Did I not demonstrate extreme oral sensitivity".

I remember almost jumping out of my seat at that. There's no way she's talking about language at that point.

[taraljc.livejournal.com]

I actually kinda disliked the novelisation (I'm a creaky old lady who misses Vonda McIntyre's novelisations cos they were WIN), and felt like Alan Dean Foster put that in because he couldn't get his mind around the Spock/uhura relationship and it only made sense to him if it's established relationship. But the actual scenes in the finished cut of the film are ambiguous as to when and how it started, and I think can go either way.

Plus the 'lift and Transporter Room scenes have a lot more impact for me if the first scene is Uhura making a choice, and the second scene is definitively Spock making a choice. That is where their relationship takes a different path than Spock Prime and uhura Prime, for me, with the Battle of Vulcan as the catalyst for change in how Spock views himself.

In TOS, becasue he can pass for full Vulcan, Spock Prime (at his father's urging, if we take "Yesteryear" as canon) chose to be More Vulcan Than Vulcan, and to the exclusion of his human heritage until he died that one time and finally accepted the whole instead. This Spock coems to that a lot earlier in his life, and it all has to do with his relationships with his parents, and his parents relationships with each other. Reconciling with Sarek 8 years ahead of schedule vastly changes his perspective on both his parents marriage, and his human heritage.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Indeed. I don't take the novel as pure canon. I enjoyed it, but I use it as a guide rather than gospel (although I suspect he was mainly working from the script).
The scenes where Kirk thinks he's going to get a commendation for cheating the Kobayishi Maru are just plain stupid.

Things would work much better for me if I could see the relationship as established during the movie, but I can't see it that way when I try to.

[taraljc.livejournal.com]

The commendadtion bit is straight from Wrath of Khan. Because Kirk Prime did get a commendation for cheating on the Kobayashi Maru. But so much of the novelisation felt like padding to me, extending sequences that were tense and sharp on screen, and making them muddy and over-long on the page. And the dialogue didn't coem clsoe, except for maybe some of Uhura's OH SNAP bits from the first scene in the bar with Jim.

I mostly bought it in the hopes there would be more of the cut scenes material, but aside from the one Sarek and Amanda scene, that was about it that I could see. Gaila doesn't even have a name, the 7 ships destroyed at the Battle of Vulcan are never named, and most of why I buy novelisations is to check canon as I write, yet this one was so different from the film itself that I skimmed bits and have never reread since. But novelisations have always been considered fanon--I've been going off the film itself as the only canon that's actually binding, for when I'm writing.

I am genuinely looking forward to the DVD in part becasue I can't wait to see the arguments in some of the nerdier parts of the fandom for DECADES TO COME about the canoncity of the deleted scenes, writer interviews, and commentaries. Because I'm a dork that way.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Long time since I saw 'Wrath of Kahn'. Thanks for reminding me of that point, I'd totally forgotten it.

I know exactly what you mean about wanting novels for reference material. That's one of the reasons I bought it. I was after details like names of admirals.

I'm wondering if my hearing of 'aural'/'oral' is a US/UK accent thing.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I don't take novelisations as canon (possibly a legacy of reading the Blake's Seven ones).

And though I think the line may be a double entendre, in the sense of a joke by the scriptwriters, it certainly doesn't fit with my understanding of Uhura's character in this film that she'd say "I should be on the ship because I give good head", or that Spock would listen to her if she tried.

It makes sense to me that they were attracted but held back because of their official relationship - and also that Spock might use that as a cover for his own hesitation about the human-Vulcan issue. There was probably gossip, which may be why he was so sensitive to the appearance of favouritism - and she's calling him out on that by pointing out that it would be illogical to allow personal concerns to rule out the best-qualified person for the job (in the same way that it would be illogical to allow personal concerns to influence him to pick someone under-qualified). Uhura has the emotional confidence to see the whole picture and analyse it correctly; she's insisting on her professional status, not on any private claim.

[kerravonsen]

This. Totally agreed on all points.

They wouldn't have had a sexual relationship before the Enterprise because it is out of character for both of them. And one can be concerned about the "appearance of favouritism" without being in a sexual relationship; being his best student could make people consider her a "teacher's pet" without there being any impropriety. And I agree, her argument to be let on board is basically "I am the best at this job, and it would be illogical for the Enterprise not to have the best", and Spock agrees with this.

My interpretation of the lift scene and the transporter-room scene is that both of them were attracted to each other before, but did not act on it until now. It makes no sense, character-wise, for them to have been in a relationship before, because I thought the whole point of Sarek saying "I loved your mother" was character-growth for Spock, enabling him to decide, "Yes, I am going to follow my heart, because there is no shame in following my heart." If he had already been in a relationship with Uhura, that whole scene would have been pointless. Whereas I thought the message was that Reboot!Spock is reconciled with his human half much much earlier than Spock!Prime, and that his kissing Uhura was a sign of that.

It just doesn't make sense if Spock and Uhura had been in a sexual relationship before the Enterprise.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

That's a good point about Sarek's words to Spock. A very good point.

I'm hoping to see the film again next week, so I'll watch with that in mind.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

That's one of the reasons why the line jarred so badly. I didn't see Uhura as someone who would trade on a relationship either.

I WANT to hear the word as 'aural', but I hear it as 'oral'. Maybe it's a US/UK accent thing?

[kerravonsen]

Maybe it's a US/UK accent thing?
Yes, I think that explains it. Because the difference between "oral" and "aural" in some accents is so slight as to almost not be a difference.