I’ve begun spending more and more time thinking about the implications of “fan fiction.” My graduate assistant last year told me she practiced English by reading Harry Potter fan fiction online. One of the larger sub-genres of fan fiction is called “slash” and refers to the homoerotic relationship between Kirk and Spock on Star Trek (as in Kirk/Spock). A recent post on Todd’s Hammer contained a link to this amazing (not suitable for children) music-video mash-up of suggestive scenes from Star Trek cut to a Nine Inch Nails song. It is really well made.
Even better, however, was a link in the comments to this essay about the video.
Think about all of the times that Kirk would woo some blue-skinned woman and then abandon her again, insisting that his obligations to his ship and his crew would outweigh his personal romantic interests. Then consider what happens again and again across the series and the films whenever Spock is put at risk. Kirk will sacrifice his ship, his crew, his rank, everything he has, to get Spock back. There’s no question that his emotional commitment to Spock is the most important relationship in his life, even if the two men rarely speak directly about what that friendship means to them.
The article also has a lot to say about the nature of fan fiction in general. Well worth a read.
