Variety of Uhura and Star Trek

When? gene Roddenberry, the creator of the series envisioned a utopian future where war and poverty ended and humanity came together for a common ideal of exploration and contact with new species in the galaxy, the race problem was solved by the politics of successful realities. . Uhura was a communications lieutenant and part of the ship’s command staff. No one questioned the color of your skin. It was a better future and those things didn’t matter anymore because everyone was the same. The fact is that the actress at that time was not completely satisfied with her character. Came from the world of singing, performed together Duke Ellingtonand what he really wanted was to be successful in a musical. Maybe that’s why we saw him in another musical moment in episodes of the original series.

Nichelle Nichols has told the story many times, because it wasn’t Roddenberry who convinced her to stay. it became its own Martin Luther King. The racial activist made the actress see weeks into the pivotal role in which she was completely free from racial stereotypes. There was a black woman on television who was not a maid. He served as an example to thousands of young people of color who saw how they could aspire to important roles. “You have opened a door that we cannot allow to be closed. For the first time in television history, we’ll look like we’re meant to be seen every day,” King said, words that were more than enough to convince him.

Another big television storm came in 1968 when Uhura was cast alongside her character. William Shatner (Captain Kirk) first interracial kiss in small screen history. The moment occurred in the tenth episode of the third season of Star Trek. Plato’s stepchildren. The Enterprise has arrived on a planet that embraces the culture of classical Greece and is dominated by aliens. telekinetic powers They use it to manipulate the heroes as they wish. The excuse that they were checked would serve the grid well if the nerves got too hot. The race problem was more acute than it had ever been in the months before the assassination of Luther King that same year saw the light. Something was changing because it didn’t create as much controversy as one might think.

The original Star Trek series was canceled that same year, but the returning actor would forever accompany the image of Uhura in all the movies in the saga released for the big screen. Since 1970, she has been an ambassador for NASA, using her character’s popularity to bring both women and racial minorities closer to the space race.

Nichols’ example was decisive, so that twenty years later, in the eighties, the actress dude GoldbergWhile she was already a star on the big screen, she didn’t lose the rings to lower her cache and popped up as a recurring secondary character. star trek next generation, return of the galactic franchise. More controversial was the emergence of other actors of color for specific creative decisions with their characters. Lev Burton who played the lieutenant Geordi LaForge He had a command post on the new Enterprise, but his face spent the entire series half-hidden by a visor because his character had to be blind. same thing happened with Michael DornLike Lieutenant Worf, the first Klingon in Starfleet, his true face is obscured by the makeup used to characterize him as an alien. In the next chapter of the saga, the producers made it clear that there was no racial bias behind these characters’ artistic maneuvers. Avery Brooks He was selected for the lead role as captain. Deep Space Station 9. The first colored captain in a series. By the way, in its fourth season, the first kiss between two women was offered on television.

Uhura’s legacy continued in the epic and Zoe Saldana in reboot designed by J.J. Abrams Y Celia Rose Favor, in Strange New Worlds, the latest and currently unreleased in our country, which ensures that there is still a Uhura on the bridge of the Enterprise. Rest in peace.