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Spock-Flock
| Synonyms: | Spock Shock |
| See also: | |
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Spock-Flock ("Spock Flock," "Spock's Flock") is a term that describes a fan's infatuation with the Star Trek: The Original Series character Spock.
It was coined by Karen Fleming.
Spock Shock is a similar term that was coined in print in 1967 in the zine Spockanalia.
Early Uses of the Term
1974
A 1972 newspaper article used the term as a header about fan clubs in an article about Star Trek. [1]
1974
Karen Fleming used the term in December 1974 in her essay, At Odds: Nurse Chapel, the Original Hard Luck Kid:
In fan written stories, the kind of treatment Christine gets depends on the authors' degree of interest in Spock. (Whenever fan writers use her in a story, they almost always call her by her first name -- whether they like her or not!) The more fanatical members of Spock's Flock tend to use her as a doormat. In "The Misfit" (Star Trek Showcase), it's the old nursey-loves-Spockypoo bit again; Christine seems to be there to polish the heroine's halo.
1976
In 1976, Eileen Roy, reviewed a story and used the term:
"A Time For Tears," by Beverly Clark, tells of Leila's pregnancy by you-know-who. It is the standard Spock-Flock plot, complete with pat ending. [2]
Fan Karen Fleming, also used the term in 1976:
G.M. Carr said ST would be "empty" without Spock. -sigh- Why can't members of Spock's Flock understand that Spock isn't the only character in ST! There also are Kirk, McCoy, Scott...the list could go on and on. For me ST would be empty without Kirk! Of course, there has to be at least one alien on board, but any Vulcan played by a competent actor would suffice — or even an Andorian or Tellarite or... [3]
1979
Karen Fleming wrote about it in 1979:
I like Spock (though that might be hard to tell when I get a mad on about Spock's Flock sometimes? Oh, by the way, since I coined the phrase Spock's Flock, let me define it: Spock's Flock is that segment of ST fandom that sees nothing of value in ST but Spock — or if they see anything else in ST, they automatically consider it inferior to their favorite.) But unfortunately, ST gave us a 1-dimensional, incomplete character in Spock (the only thing that made him seem realistic was Nimoy's acting.) Logic and a neck pinch and touch telepathy don't make a whole creature. Where are the other aspects of Vulcan philosophy; where is their alien sociology and psychology? What drives me right up the wall is that most ST fans who call themselves "Spock fans" aren't even concerned with these questions! All they want to do is wipe out the only vestiges of his alien-ness, his uniqueness, and make him human! To my mind, if they want a human character to play with, it would be more honest if they would choose one of the humans on the ship to be interested in. [4]
References
- ^ "Cult Fans, Reruns Give "Star Trek" an Out of This World Popularity" by Doug Shuit for the Los Angeles Times (July 1972)
- ^ from a review of The Other Side of Paradise in The Halkan Council #16 (March 1976)
- ^ from Interstat #6 (April 1976)
- ^ from Interstat #15 (January 1979)