Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan |
| Abbreviation(s): | ST:TWOK, TWOK, ST II |
| Creator: | Gene Roddenberry |
| Date(s): | 1982 |
| Medium: | film |
| Country of Origin: | United States |
| External Links: | ImDb entry |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
In 1982, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan was the second movie released in the original Star Trek franchise. Critically, the movie was considered more successful than its predecessor, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and featured a tight, action-packed storyline that did not skimp on the emotional connections and relationships between the characters. The final battle between Captain Kirk and his nemesis from the 20th Century, Khan Noonien Singh, ended in perhaps one of the most dramatic moments in Star Trek history: the farewell scene between Captain Kirk and Mister Spock moments before Spock's death after he sacrifices himself to save the Enterprise.
The loss of such a beloved character in what appeared to be a final and irreversible manner rocked both gen and slash Star Trek fandom.
Henry Jenkins wrote:
When I try to explain slash to non-fans, I often reference that moment in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan where Spock is dying and Kirk stands there, a wall of glass separating the two longtime buddies. Both of them are reaching out towards each other, their hands pressed hard against the glass, trying to establish physical contact. They both have so much they want to say and so little time to say it. Spock calls Kirk his friend, the fullest expression of their feelings anywhere in the series. Almost everyone who watches that scene feels the passion the two men share, the hunger for something more than what they are allowed. And, I tell my nonfan listeners, slash is what happens when you take away the glass. [1]
Manipulating Fans is Good Money
From the January 1982 issue of WKFS Journal:
On January 11 [1982], "Entertainment Tonight" gave us a rare opportunity to see the cast and crew of the USS Enterprise. At the end of the segment, viewers were offered a chance to respond to the show's first opinion poll with the question, "Should Spock not be killed?" The results of 144,555 viewers - at 50 cents a call and a total of $522,277.50 - were 132,727 yes and 11,828 no, or 98% in support of Spock. "Entertainment Tonight" promised to forward the results to the producers of the new movie.")
Fan Comments
1983
A group of 40 people went to see the premiere of TWOK. They were excited, curious, and in my case, afraid of what the movie could be. After over 8 months and thanks to one of our members we were the first people in Italy to see the new and long awaited Trek movie. The film ended andfelt as if all the magic that there was in ST was ended too. Spock, a man we’ve been loving and admiring for years was dead. And WHY? Only because some folks have decided it. Yes, the scene was very well done, both Shatner and Nimoy were great, but while I was watching it I thought "ST will never be the same again.” Maybe they'll bring him back in ST3 but I can’t imagine how they will find a way to bring him back alive on the screen for the new movie. What will they do? Sure, I’d be happy to see Spock again, but I’d like to hear an interesting idea, a scientific one. Is it possible, gentlemen? The movie was very, very good and it had many things taken from the TV serial: the humor, the friendship among the characters, Kirk’s love for space. But I'll never say that ST2 is a great movie! The TV serial was great because it was special and nothing, even the Trek movies, will ever compare with it. And that's why I'll always be a fan of the TV serial.
A good thing in the movie was the action, the adventure of these people in unknown space, the battles were great. I didn't like very much the violence in the movie, because for me it isn't a part of Star Trek. ST has always been against it. I was happy that all the characters were in their right places and they were the old friends we used to love, but I couldn't help feeling angry for Sulu and Uhura. Why should they, after all these years, do the same things they used to do when they were young? Why should the producers keep including in the cast new officers (i.e. Saavik) to do the things that they could do? I'd love to see Uhura acting in her own way, showing her lovely nature, and showing also in a better way her duties as an Enterprise officer.
I didn't like Saavik at all. I could not stand her during all the movie. She didn't act properly for a Vulcan/Romulan woman and there wasn't (or we weren't allowed to see it) any drama, any conflict in her as there was in Spock. I don't think she was an interesting character. Maybe if the screen writers will add a little more drama to her, and if they'd show more of her background... well maybe then she'll become a interesting member of the ST crew. Ms. Alley is a very fine actress. She added humor to Saavik end tried to do her best to work out her character.
David and Carol were very well fitted into the movie. He was an interesting character and I'll be happy to see him again in ST 3. He is the right son for Kirk. What else could I say? I love the special effects, the last scenes, the way they treated the characters, how Ricardo Montalban acted as Khan, the way Meyer directed it. But I still would have been much happier to see Mr. Spock alive. [2]
2008
"The Wrath of Khan" was pure "Star Trek" as we knew and loved it. We went to see it over and over again, now seasoned filmgoers. In Baltimore, we fans formed an alliance with a local theater that was showing ST:TWOK. We set up a display in their lobby cases, memorabilia and fan items we wished to display. In exchange, we got tickets before they went on sale to everyone else, and developed a rapport with the theatre manager. At times, we could slip in and avoid the lines that formed outside. Other times we waited on line just like everyone else so that we could chat and meet the other patrons, never knowing where a TruFen might be standing, someone to whom "Star Trek" might mean more than a casual movie experience. We became the Ambassadors of Everything Trek. [3]
2011
Yes, the first Amazing Grace was all about creative ways of bringing Spock back because the wait between movies seemed so painful. (The operative word being, creative.) Though I was pretty well plugged into fandom at the time, or so I thought, I was unaware of any opposition to bringing him back pre-canon. In fact, I was at great pains to get AG out before STIII debuted so no one could say we copied anything from it. The feedback I got at the time was all positive. I remember being mobbed by feeding frenzied fen at Shore Leave that year. [4]
The months leading up to Wrath of Khan were very fraught, as an early version of the script had been leaked to fans, in which Spock died a meaningless, inconsequential death about a third of the way through. Kirk's response is a brief, he was a wonderful officer; we all know the risks when we sign up. Then the plot goes on, and I don't remember if Spock's even mentioned again.
Fandom exploded! A "Save Spock" campaign was quickly organized. A fan who was a financial analyst at "Ma Bell" (and IIRC, the first woman in an executive position at that company) wrote an article analyzing the financial impact on future Star Trek properties if the Spock character was killed. It was published in the Wall Street Journal, and because of publication there it got a lot more attention than the usual fan campaigns. IIRC, fans fundraised and took out an ad in Variety as well.
IMO, fandom was right. If they'd killed off Spock in ST2 and never brought him back, I doubt any potential ST3 would have been successful, and "the franchise" would have been over before it had even begun.
After ST2 came out, we were still in shock, but at least the ending gave us hope. The biggest fannish kerfuffle that occurred between 2 and 3 were between fans who were adamant that they didn't want to see any "Bring Spock Back To Life" stories published until we found out what happened in canon, and the fans who jumped right in writing and publishing "Bring Spock Back To Life" fic. I published at least one of those stories in "T'hy'la" # 3 in 1983.
It was definitely a long two years between those movies, but at least ST3 came out. I agree with all the fans who call it an amazing love story. [5]
I was in high school when The Wrath of Khan was released. I attended the movie premiere with my non-Trek friends and they couldn't even begin to understand why I burst out in tears on the way home. In their eyes, he was just a movie character. To me, it was as if someone had ripped out my heart and soul. [6]
Fandom References/Usages
- The Planet Spock (1983) is a con skit that is satirical musical spoof
- Walls of Glass (1994) is a Starsky & Hutch story that utilizes the final scene in "The Wrath of Khan" as a conversation point
- The Glass is a meta multifandom vid which takes its central metaphor from Henry Jenkins' well-known commentary on Spock's notoriously slashy death scene from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, "slash is what happens when you take away the glass."
References
- ^ from Henry Jenkins first in Strange Bedfellows APA #1 (1993), then in Normal Female Interest in Men Bonking: Selections from The Terra Nostra Underground and Strange Bedfellows (1998)
- ^ from an Italian fan in Communications Console (May/June 1983)
- ^ by Nancy Kippax in Reminisce With Me/"The Needs of the Many..." (2008)
- ^ Dorothy Laonag, the editor of the zine Amazing Grace, comments at Recollection posted in 'The Pages Two and Three K/S-zine heaven (My trip to the University of Iowa Fanzine Archives)', dated March 3, 2011, quoted with permission.
- ^ Kathy Resch, comments at Recollection posted in 'The Pages Two and Three K/S-zine heaven (My trip to the University of Iowa Fanzine Archives)', dated March 3, 2011, quoted with permission.
- ^ Morgan Dawn, personal notes, accessed March 3, 2011