All right then, take a deep breath because I'm going to explore one of the older alien races in Science Fiction. The Vulcans. Let's get something clear, I love the old vulcan culture that was created. It was interesting and utterly alien. What I want to do here is outline that culture and then explore where it all went wrong.
Very early on Gene Roddenberry realised that it would cost far too much, and would be impractical at the time, to make an actor physically alien enough to be both believable and reasonable. He needed alien crew members to help with the multicultural aspect of the Federation, a big part of the anti-rasism message of the show, but he had to do it cheaply and effectively. It was probably about then that it occurred to him; if culture was more important than aspect you didn't need the character to look alien. It just needed to come from a culture that was.
With that thought firmly in mind you can develop any number of races without much difficulty. Pointy ears, lumpy foreheads and wrinkled noses are Star Trek short hand for alien. Those features are a visual motif that lets the audience know someone is an alien, nothing more. It's supposed to be a sign that they are part of a culture other than human, without spending insane amounts on makeup. It's the creation of that culture that makes them alien and up to the actors to pull it off. That makes them interesting.
Episodes that explored the characters and the culture they came from and expanded their boundaries were among the best Star Trek had to offer. Often being the most remembered.
Vulcans were the first race we met and their culture was about as alien as they could make it. Humanity is passionate and driven by emotions, in fact if there is one single truth to our being it is that. Our hopes and dreams are at what drive us to achieve, what makes us want to reach for the stars. To find companionship; friends, lovers, family, whatever. It almost isn't possible to think of a more alien way to live than without hope. It's an emotion, the same as any other. Just like curiosity. The two reasons we wanted to go into space in the first place.
Vulcans have suppressed their emotions, they see them as dangerous and unpredictable. In fact it was only their "Awakening" that prevented their emotional outbursts from obliterating their race in a nuclear war. This is our first indication that Vulcans are a race of extremes, they went from extreme emotional turmoil to frozen logic. Logic itself is a series of positive and negatives. Black and white. Again extremes that are polar opposites.
Humans aren't anything like that, we live in a gray world and in someways that's a lot more difficult. We often get lost amongst the way but we stumble through. Vulcans are focused to the point of tunnel vision.
As such the Vulcan ideal is a wonderful foil for our own development. Now as most high art functions as a mirror for our own culture that just adds to the fun. In this equation The Vulcans become our mirror opposites, the "yin" to our "yang" as it were.
Summing up a typical Vulcan is easy, they're logical and very intelligent. Capable of making complex calculations and observations at fantastic speeds, however they are incapable of intuitive leaps. Without emotions they are unable to relate to meny other species, especially humans. Humans on the other hand are put off by the fact Vulcans never smile, tell jokes, or interact socially. This makes them a balanced creation that aren't perfect, it adds diversity and intrigue. Their very strength becomes a weakness in certain circumstances.
It was that dichotomy that lead to McCoy's continuous prodding of Spock. From a writers perspective it grounded the science officer, from a character perspective it helped them bond. It wasn't racism, even if it came close, but a friendly jibe. Spock's response to this was pure vulcan logic, delivering needle sharp observations that punctured the Doctors observations and comments. It was also this relationship, between the emotional and very much human McCoy and the cold logic of Spock, that helped make Kirk awesome.
Stick with me on this, Spock and McCoy were the angel and the devil on Kirk's shoulders. Advising him from opposing view points. It was Kirk's ability to carve a unifying perspective between the two that was the punch line of the whole show. The goal of the metaphor behind the Federation. We are better uniting in our differences than struggling against them.
Alright, now we've gotten to the bottom of that. lets move on to something more recent. Next Generation. Rather than re-tread over where the Original went with the Vulcans they focused on the Klingons (something I might go into later), but they didn't abandon Vulcans entirely. You would often see them walking up and down corridors. The occasional supporting role and guest also cropped up, most importantly Sarak, Spock's Father.
Building on the development from the original series next gen dealt with an unfortunate side effect of the Vulcan's abilities. As they were not only physically stronger but in possession of powerful mental abilities as well as their mathematical prowess it was perceived that they were superior to humans.
With a list of advantages like that they needed another flaw than, unimaginative and long winded. As such a number of uniquely Vulcan disorders were created. Not least Sarek's disability, a very vulcan problem that strips away their emotional control with advanced age. A few others turned up but it added to the people a roundness that wasn't explored very often in the original show, even if it was there
Then another facet came about in a two part episode from next gen's last season called Gambit. A Vulcan separatist movement, believing that contact with other species, including humans, was corrupting their pure vulcan culture attempted to gain control of Vulcan. With the aim to declare independence and leave the Federation. On it's own it's not that big an issue, but combined with a couple of other problems it sketches out a interesting issue.
Piecing together a lot of incidental evidence scattered across next Gen and the original series it's possible to deduce that Vulcans are very conservative. They appear hidebound to obscure customs and forms, their dress doesn't seem to change much from monk like robes and even their hair cuts are the same for more than three hundred years. This is a very interesting aspect, because once again the Humans of the Federation are liberals. Striving for the future while Vulcans are still buried in the past. Once again two opposing forces that counter act against each other, achieving a balance.
If the development of the Vulcans ended there that would have been enough, unfortunately it didn't.
To be Continued....
