742 Subj : Re: Star Trek TV is 39 years old today! To : alt.tv.star-trek.tos From : The Merry Piper Date : Fri Sep 16 2005 00:56:26 From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos On 15 Sep 2005 09:26:50 -0700, "Graeme" wrote: >The Merry Piper wrote: >> On Tue, 13 Sep 2005 00:41:22 GMT, The Merry Piper >> wrote: >> >> And yet, Spock is the favorite character of many fans of the show. >> Which begs the question -- was NBC worried for good reason? The >> answer, in hindsight at least, is no. > >Because pointed ears are not necessarily Satanic. Lots of artists >renditions of other creatures (Hobbits, Keebler Elves, et cetera) have >them too. If there had been any question in viewer's minds, one need >only watch Spock for a few moments to see that he doesn't behave that >way. > >Now, if Spock's physical features had been based on some *unmistakable* >imagery (for instance, say that his ears were shaped like Swastikas), >then no, they could never have gotten away with that. Yes. Of course, it is forgotten by many that Spock's skin was originally supposed to have a reddish tint. That along with the pointy ears, highlighted to the studio execs the Satanic aspect of Spock. The reddish tint was abandoned because many US homes had black & white television sets and the red skin looked "wrong" in B&W ... washed out and chalky if I remember the description correctly. Red doesn't show well in B&W, the old Superman TV serial used a Superman costume that was actually different shades of brown because that filmed better. There is probably someone reading who can explain that better than I but that should at least provide the basic info. -- The Merry Piper [http://tmpiper.livejournal.com] If you want to dance, you'll have to pay ... me! . 0