KIRK VS AGEISM

 

THE BEST OF TIMES, THE WORST OF TIMES 

STAR TREK 2: THE WRATH OF KHAN

KIRK VS AGEISM

Ageism is the killer of all professions. No more so than in the movie business, where everyone is expected to be young, dumb and picture perfect. Actors might reach their pinnacle around thirty something and then the roles begin to dry up, as the younger climb up the ladder and knock the older flying. 

WRINKLY HEROES 

With a sense of camaraderie, certain serials and movies tended to ignore the issue of ageing actors, still throwing themselves around like teens. An issue that was painfully obvious in the latter Roger Moore Bond Films, as his age began to become so at odds with his various young damsels in distress. 

Even watching the latter Indiana Jones Films, the issue of age is rarely brought up as an elderly Indiana practically does summersaults. For Dial of Destiny, CGI was employed to make a 80 year old Harrison Ford appear 40 years younger for the flashback scenes. And I don't blame him because, like Roger, who wants to get old? 

After all, it happens to all of us sooner or later. We reach our peak and then its all down hill. No more so than in the Star Trek franchise. But what makes Star Trek interesting is that they actually addressed this issue, in The Wrath Of Khan. 

Rather than ignoring the elephant in the room, they tackled the themes of virility vs mortality head on. 

THE DEADLY YEARS 

Of course, the theme of age wouldn't be a first time for Star Trek. Back in the original series, the episode The Deadly Years had Kirk and Spock etc infected with a disease that made them age rapidly in a matter of hours, to the point that Kirk became senile. By the end of it however, they found a cure and Kirk was back to swooning the chicks. But it was a taste of what was to follow. 

What The Wrath Of Khan tried to say was ITS OK TO GET OLD. So long as you could still roll with the punches. 

Yet it took a lot of convincing to get to that point, especially with young executives. Usually a Tv series just gets a reboot. Out with the old and in with the new etc. Dr Who for example can practically go on forever (and probably will) because no particular actor can now stake a claim to that character, much as the aforementioned James Bond series. 

BIG COMEBACK

After the original Star Trek series was scrapped way back in 1969, the cast went their separate ways. At the time, it was unlikely they would ever top what they had achieved in Star Trek.  Entering the 1970s, the future for our gallant crew looked bleak. William Shatner even lived in a trailer home for a while.  Fortunately the original Tv series was still in syndication, keeping  the trekky universe alive and coming back to that camaraderie thing again,  the original actors still had enough influence to keep their hats in the game, by doing convention tours. 

By 1972, talk about a Star Trek movie called "The God Thing" was in the pipes but never got anywhere. And even if they could get something off the ground, there was no guarantee it would secure the cast a regular income. They had learned all that the hard way, the first time around. 

Then Star Wars came along and changed EVERYTHING. Shatner was right on it and pressed the lever pullers to get Star Trek back on track. 

Feasibility of a new Tv series was a big financial risk. It meant renting out massive studio spaces to accommodate the enterprise interiors etc. And it would mean high end scripts every week. 

Hence instead of a new series, they opted for a movie. 

FROM TV SERIES TO MOTION PICTURE 

Star Trek: The Motion Picture was, in some ways a gamble. It was the ultimate test to see if the same actors from a long gone Tv show could still reel in an audience.  Still, that said, public demand had got them to that point in the first place, so it was a fair bet to say a movie would probably work. 

But this first outing lacked the familiar themes of the Tv series. In fact The Motion Picture, as great as it was, missed a trick in that it had entirely overlooked the role that age would inevitably have to play. 

One has to remember, there was no internet, only Tv re-runs. For an audience who had not seen the original crew in 10 years, the transition from Tv series to big screen was a little jarring. 

Gone were the hammy fisty-cuffs and ill placed stunt doubles. The Enterprise itself had completely changed. The bright Technicolor vibes of the 1960s were all binned in favour of muted tones of beige and grey.  As for the actors, everyone was somewhat older, seasoned perhaps. Scotty was starting to put on a few pounds. 

Plot wise, we got a lot of wrestling to explain how the crew got back together. So much so, that the story went thru various re-writes until they came up with the V'Ger narrative.

But beyond all the spectacle, the film didn't say anything new. It was just re-hashing age old tropes from the Tv series, such as trying to contact the aliens and make friends etc.

It did however, plant the seeds that gave way to its sequels. Particularly with an ageing desk bound Kirk, muscling his way back onto the Enterprise and demoting Captain Deckard.  

SUBTEXT OF KHAN 

Sensing they could do more with this theme, it was exploited to the hilt in the second movie, The Wrath Of Khan. Whereby Ageism takes centre stage as the subtext for the whole movie. 

Marooned on Ceti Alpha 5, the subtext of Khan is that he's not only lost his freedom but also his youth. Something about the planet* causes  him and his followers to age twice as normal. Eg: His son Joacim is supposed to be 15 years old but looks almost 30. 

Plus he is removed from his fathers ambitions as he pleads him to give up this grudge against Kirk and move on. But Khan is consumed by hate and revenge. All he can think about is how Kirk took away everything from him, including his wife.

Meanwhile back on Earth, Kirk and crew are put out to pasture. Pushing 50 something with a cushy but boring desk job, Kirk misses the good old days when he was out there, hopping galaxies.

But then the shit hits the fan. What should have been another run of the mill training exercise with new trainee Cadets, turns into a nightmare, when Khan escapes Ceti Alpha 5 after hijacking a star ship. Then its all out Moby Dick in Space as he chases Kirk around perditions flames and so on. 

Seeking refuge in the tunnels of Regular 1, Kirks ex (Carol Marcus) tries to make sense of it all. 

    'What are you feeling?' She asks Kirk, dismayed that his only son rejects him and would probably be happy to help Khan. 

    'I feel old...' he says 'Worn out.' 

This theme however, resolves itself when Kirk finally defeats Khan but at the cost of losing Spock.  

Still, he gains the respect and love of his son David.  

The ending is all about rebirth, as they all gather on the bridge of the Enterprise and regard the sun rising over the new Genesis planet. Whereby Kirk finally realises what Spock was trying to tell him on his birthday and says he feels young again. 

Kirks resolve is reborn and we're left wondering, is Spock really dead? 

And that pretty much wraps up this story. 

 

LEGACY

The Wrath Of Khan became a theatrical sensation, making it one of the best films in the franchise and projected its cast into superstars. With that, Star Trek kicked Ageism's ass once and for all. Or at least for a few more sequels before The Next Generation came along anyway. 

With the aforementioned CGI however, its only a matter of time before we see a return to the original series, featuring avatars of all our best loved characters. But by that time, this writer will likely be too old and senile to even care. 

*All is explained in the book by Greg Cox