Science-fiction films and television have an odd relationship with magic. They dance on the line between fantasy and fact, replacing magic spells for scientific theories and technology. The most ardent science-fiction separates magic and science as antitheses. However, the brief nature of film and television require that the impossible happen to advance a story. Magic is required. Science and technology are used as alternate names for magic -- different monikers for the same type of arcane knowledge. Those that wield this knowledge of science are akin to fantasy film wizards. They are Space Wizards.
Mr. Spock from the science-fiction franchise Star Trek encapsulates the concept of the Space Wizard. Throughout the films and television series of Star Trek, Spock routinely makes the impossible happen. The creators of Spock balance the believable with the exigencies of a story. Spock utilizes a rare knowledge of science and technology on the Starship Enterprise to bend the Universe to his will.
Spock is a scientist and miracle worker, fulfilling many of the roles of the classic wizard in Western mythology. In the Middle English meaning of the word "wizard," Spock is a learned, wise sage tasked with the protection of information and its application in everyday life. In the Medieval romance sense of the word, Spock spouts scientific jargon and data as magical incantation. His word transmutes reality. Spock also acts as the Guide or Mentor from Joseph Campbell's monomyth. As a man who understands the nature of the Universe, he casts adventurers to their destiny. Spock is an important part of any story that includes him.
The Space Wizard Spock distinguishes himself from fantasy wizards in an important way. Science-fiction has a unique capacity to inspire. As a role model to future scientists, Spock has the ability to actually shape the real world. The character reaches out of his entertainment to drive dreamers to scientific exploration. Spock bends the Universe to his will by planting the seeds of discovery.
Spock is a powerful Space Wizard in every capacity.
The tradition of Space Wizards dates back to the earliest days of cinema. In 1902, stage magician and film director Georges Méliès creates one of the first science-fiction films with Le Voyage dans la Lune. The film tells a fantastical story that audiences at the time believed to be plausible in their near future -- travelling to the moon. Méliès translates the idea of sage wizards for a modern, technological age in a then new media. He wishes to capture the magic of wisdom and knowledge on film for the first time.
The story opens with an Academy of Astronomers meeting to discuss their president's bold new plan to reach the moon. The astronomers are dressed in garb that modern audiences associate with magical wizards: pointed caps adorned with stars, thick robes, and large, bushy beards. In one sequence, the astronomers invoke magic by transforming their telescopes into stools (using an early instance of trick photography). After this event, the astronomers' president, played by Méliès, proposes building a large cannon and space capsule to explore the moon. The astronomers eventually build the cannon and shoot the capsule into the right eye of the moon. A crew of astronomers and scantily clad, female sailors fight the locals in the name of exploration.
This portrayal of Space Wizards is one of the sage scholar. A college of scholars guards a specific knowledge while passing it to members of their select society. At the turn of the Twentieth Century, this form of information guardian is common (particularly in Europe). These scholars search for ways to make their debates manifest, and audiences in 1902 find mixtures of magic and technology credible. To them, technology is magic. Anything is possible with science. They are certain that there is a way to set foot where no man has trod before, reach out to new life and civilization, and then hit them with canes. Space Wizards as sage scholars have this ability.
Mr. Spock continues this tradition of sage scholar in science-fiction entertainment. The character of Spock comes from a stoic, space faring species known as the Vulcans. Vulcans are purely logical, denying all emotions. They focus their discipline towards the study and preservation of knowledge. Various groups within their civilization debate ways to reach out into the galaxy and explore. To a modern audience, their closed, erudite structure is as strange as Méliès' astronomers. They are an entire planet of sage Space Wizards, pushing the boundaries of science and technology within the restrictions of their culture.
The 2009 film Star Trek elaborates on previous Star Trek franchise depictions of Vulcans by revealing their society. The film shows Spock's ascension as a sage scholar. As a youth, Spock learns by rote. Fishbowl-shaped computers nearly download information into children through repeated questioning. When Spock comes of age, he is accepted to the Vulcan Science Academy, an organization directly comparable to Méliès' Astronomer Academy. He has a differing of opinion with the exclusive society and takes his pedantry elsewhere. He becomes a Space Wizard for Starfleet.
In the 1966-1969 television series Star Trek, Spock serves as the science officer on the USS Enterprise. He serves as the primary advisor and friend to the Enterprise's Captain Kirk. On the ship, Spock is the chief cataloger of information. Spock knows how to convert pure data into useable forms. He makes knowledge useful and offers counsel that frequently saves the ship from peril. In ancient monarchies, the chief advisor to the king is the sage, the wizard (such as Merlin). Captain Kirk is the king of the Enterprise, and Spock is his sage. When King Kirk holds court, he calls upon Space Wizard Spock for advice. Spock brings knowledge and wisdom to bear.
In a typical episode or film of Star Trek, Spock makes miracles using his knowledge. At his science station, Spock looks through his sensor scope (sometimes colloquially called Spock's "magic viewer") and reports what he sees. Spock's scientific patter is a key component of any episode of Star Trek. Luckily for the crew of the Enterprise, he is rarely wrong. Yet, his science is part of the requirements of a forty-six minute story. His explanations function to drive the story, providing a description of the conflict in an episode or a convenient solution. There are echoes of real science in Spock's palaver. Star Trek references physics concepts such as red-blue shifting and the Hubble Constant. The writers of the Star Trek took care to make episodes believable in scientific terms, but Spock's use of science and technology serves the same purpose as magic in a story.
To an audience in the 1960s, almost anything is believable regarding science. The world in the late 1960s is in the middle of an unprecedented boom of scientific discovery. It is the Space Age, and mankind is soon to set foot on the moon. Science progresses rapidly, and technology derived from the science begins to impact the everyday life of a contemporary audience. To them, technology is magic. Anything is possible with science. They believe that Spock creates miracles.
In his appearances throughout the Star Trek franchise, Spock alters the Universe frequently. He develops a way to travel through time by using a gravity slingshot. Spock time travels in four episodes of the Original Series, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and the 2009 Star Trek film. In the 2009 film, he even devises a way to create black holes using the mysterious "Red Matter." In Star Trek fan circles, debate rages over the psuedo-science of "Red Matter." In one fan theory, Red Matter is an extant singularity or Superstring loop that expands into a bubble Universe similar to the Big Bang. If Spock can create entire existences, he is more than a Space Wizard. He is a Space god.
Spock's inherent exotic and magical nature are a conscious decision by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and Mr. Spock himself: Leonard Nimoy. In the first pilot for Star Trek, "The Cage," Spock is an ordinary member of the crew. His being an alien is signaled only by his gold-green skin, permanent angry eyebrows, and pointed ears. Otherwise, he is not the character he later becomes. He is not a Space Wizard. He is not magical. He is not even special. In "The Cage," Spock is a red shirt blending in with the crowd of characters (except all the uniforms in the pilot are blue).
When the original pilot fails, Roddenberry simplifies his characters. He splits human emotion into Freudian slices. He makes characters based on passion, conscience, and logic, forming the triumvirate of James T. Kirk, Leonard McCoy, and Spock. Spock is made special and differentiated from other characters by being a half-Human, half-Vulcan. His alien side permits Spock his logical compassion and dry wit. Additionally, it allows the writers to give Spock super powers. Spock is more than the sum of his human and alien parts. His powers are utilized as magic. These powers snowball over the course of the series and films, gathering new abilities as stories demand.
Spock keeps the rituals of his Vulcan ancestry. These rituals give him extra-human powers. Chief among these powers is telepathy through contact known as the mind meld. Spock first mind melds with an individual in the ninth episode of the Original Series, "Dagger of the Mind." The story requires Spock to communicate with a man driven insane in a prison colony. Spock enters the mind of the insane man to understand a dangerous situation. Mind reading is a useful trait for a character have. The mind meld expands as further stories in the franchise require. Over time, Spock's mind meld enables him to transmit memories, experience the pain of rock creatures, and erase thoughts. In the Star Trek films, Spock talks to animals (whales) and even downloads his conscious mind into other people. His magical repertoire grows off of his palm to the face technique.
Spock's other magic touch is the Vulcan nerve pinch. This ability allows Spock to render a life form unconscious by applying light pressure to their neck. Again, this power develops from a story requirement. In the episode "The Enemy Within," Spock needs to knock out a split personality, evil version of Captain Kirk. The script originally calls for Spock to violently punch Kirk in the head. Leonard Nimoy decides that Spock would not be so aggressive, especially against his friend. Nimoy comes up with the idea for the gentle nerve pinch. He reasons that Spock is a scientist that has studied human anatomy and knows the exact location on the collar bone to apply knock-out pressure. Nimoy elaborates further by stating that the same energy that allows Spock's fingers to perform mind melds enables Spock to seize the nervous system of a victim. The scene plays well, and the nerve pinch becomes a mainstay of Spock's powers in the series and films.
Spock and the audience discover Spock's magic powers as the need arises. More directly than having science as his magic, Spock is a Space Wizard with physically discernible alien powers.
The most bizarre instance of Spock directly using magic comes from the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode "The Magicks of Megas-Tu." In the episode, the Enterprise attempts to push through the barrier surrounding the center of the galaxy and accidentally find the Devil (the plot is reused and altered in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier). The Devil is a friendly goat-man named Lucien who shows them that the center of the galaxy leads to a pocket of space (a bubble Universe) where dimensional folds create a different fabric of reality. In this reality, mental energy commands cosmic forces. Magic is all too real. Lucien shows the Enterprise to his home planet. They discover a race of beings known as the Megans who once visited Earth and brought their "magicks." On Earth, the Megans serve as wizards, witches, sorcerers, and warlocks. They are a literal race of magic-wielding Space Wizards.
Spock discovers the secret to using magic. He demonstrates by drawing a pentagram on the floor and playing chess with the power of his mind. Soon, the entire crew becomes wizards and practice magic. Sulu summons a beautiful woman into existence. Kirk even gets magic powers and puts them to use in defending the Devil on moral grounds at a mock Salem Witch Trial. Kirk engages in a brief but sparkly wizard battle with the leader of the Megans.
For a brief time, Spock uses magic in the traditional sense. His knowledge extends to shaping the Universe with nothing but his mind. After the encounter, Spock resumes being an extraordinary Space Wizard in his own way.
As a scientist possessed of grand, nearly mystical knowledge, Spock acts as the Guide or Mentor to the next generation of heroes. He joins other wizard mentors like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, or Dumbledore. According to Joseph Campbell's Monomyth, or Hero's Journey, the Guide plays an important role in propelling the hero towards an ultimate fate. The Guide literally points the hero towards adversity while bestowing artifacts to ward evil. "There is the problem. Go fix it. Have a mystical talisman." The artifacts given to the hero prove helpful late in the journey as if the Guide has a preternatural understanding of the Universe. He understands how the story is about to unfold based on his mystical knowledge as a wizard (or, in the case of a movie, reading ahead in the script).
In the 2009 film Star Trek, the film's writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman pattern their story after the Hero's Journey, making Spock the Guide to a young James Tiberius Kirk. A time travelling Spock is stranded on the ice planet Delta Vega and lives in a cave, as any good wizard is wont to do. He saves Kirk from the dangers of the planet and describes the story so far to his mentee. Spock points Kirk in the direction of danger. He describes Kirk's quest: defeat the deranged Romulan miner Nero. Spock leads Kirk to a nearby Federation Outpost manned by Montgomery "Scotty" Scott. Spock gives Kirk and Scotty an artifact to ward evil in the form of abstruse information. He gives them the Transwarp Beaming equation -- a mathematical formula that enables teleportation over large distances. Later, this artifact proves useful in sending Kirk on his quest and wards evil when Kirk uses it to confront Nero in a climactic final battle. Spock stays behind on Delta Vega, knowing that he has set into motion a fate of his design.
Spock knows what he wants and how to make it happen. In a bizarre way, the character of the Space Wizard crafts the story in which he is contained.
Another aspect of the Guide wizard is death. In the Hero's Journey, Joseph Campbell calls the death of an important character "Apotheosis," or ascension to "Everlasting" wisdom, departing the limits of the mortal realm. Like Obi-Wan Kenobi or Dumbledore, Spock dies and loses his corporeal form. His spirit remains. In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Spock sacrifices himself to save the Enterprise's crew from a Warp Core breach. The radiation from the anti-matter engine kills Spock after he prevents an imminent explosion. Spock touches eternal knowledge.
Still, as with any good Space Wizard, death cannot hold him. Three Star Trek movies hinge on Spock's death and rebirth. In a mystical Vulcan ritual known as fal tor pan, Spock transfers his consciousness to the ship's doctor Leonard McCoy in a mind meld. Spock's "soul" is called by the Vulcan word katra. In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, his memories and personality are sustained in McCoy's brain. In a proto-Pixar produced visual effect, a technological marvel known as Project Genesis reboots a planet and brings everything on its surface back to life. Spock's body is on the planet, and he is reborn as an infant. The new Spock body ages rapidly and is reunited with elder Spock's katra. Spock defeats death in a way that few wizards can: returning a little bit wiser to the physical world. The ultimate end is only the beginning for a Space Wizard.
Spock, the Space Wizard has many abilities, including the ability to inspire. As a character existing in a dramatization of the future, Spock presents an ideal for scientific exploration, tolerance, and tenacity. He is attractive to diverse groups from NASA engineers to people of mixed-ethnicity. Fans of the show aspire to imitate his role as a scientist and Space Wizard. If Gene Roddenberry's vision holds an appeal as a future that new generations can attempt to create, it is an attainable Utopia for dreamers. Star Trek is a show about humanity, and Spock is a part of humanity. He reflects mankind's great potential, and endeavoring to be like Spock or any other Star Trek character is the search through science to be the best human possible. A fantasy wizard hordes knowledge from the past. A science-fiction Space Wizard inspires knowledge yet to be found in the future.
In 1967, Isaac Asimov writes an essay for TV Guide Magazine titled "Mr. Spock Is Dreamy." Through the experiences of his daughter, the essay discusses the sex appeal and desirability of Mr. Spock to young women. Asimov's conclusion is that smart is sexy. Spock embodies an inquisitiveness spurring scientific discovery that is irresistible. Asimov believes that Spock acting as a sex symbol is a good sign for the future of all forms of exploration. Space Wizards are sexy.
Pointy ears and shoulder touching, I should join the cause.
In b4 dipshits who think sylar is the more interesting spock
...now for the pedantism: 46 minute episodes are a feature of more modern TV (actually, current hour long shows can run as short as 42 minutes)... TOS shows were 50 minutes long...
Thanks for that!
To touch on your little end note, i think it was a very wise decision to give him a relationship with Uhura.
I really do love yelling I'm a space wizard with my adept shepard....
John Morehead
TheoFantastique.com
@_jackbauer said:
Wait... people like that exist?
I love you, Gray.
The more obvious Space Wizard's would be the Jedi.
I have to disagree. The guy wrote an autobiography called I Am Not Spock, which was basically him being bitter about the fact that he accomplished a bunch of things in life but would always be remembered as just "that guy who played Spock." He later went on to write another book called I Am Spock, which was basically him reconciling with the fact that he played a famous character that truly inspired people and should be proud of that fact. I blame the use of his famous line in Transformers 3 on the film itself for not understanding what subtlety is.
Nobody put a gun to his head and said "spoil your legacy for money". He did that on his own. But in his defense, he was one of many dissapointing people who involved themselves with that movie. Buzz Aldrin was a bummer too.
Nimoy just tweeted this article, pretty rad.
Nimoy read this article. Screened has hit the big time.
From one Whiskey freelancer to another: Great article duder, really well written!
dudes old as fuck, let him have some fun. christ man.
Its cool that's you're a contrarian and everything but you haven't even seen the movie I'm talking about so I kind of don't care what you think. Defending shit sight unseen is pretty dumb, though. Try watching the movie and then defend it. And all whores are just "having fun", getting lots of money is fun. Doesn't make it less whorey.