Why Spock is My Favorite Star Trek Character

This post has been in the making for quite a while. Late last year my friend, Rachel, finally got me to sit down and watch the new Star Trek movie - which, of course - led me to a new fandom. My favorite character, however, surprised me. No, it's not the dashing, bad boy Captain Kirk. It's not the sassy Scotsman, Scotty - it's not even the serious, but caring Doctor McCoy. It's Spock. I love Spock.

My mom hates Spock, and can't understand why I like him, but to me it seems so simple: Spock is so much more relatable. And for all of you over there rolling your eyes because Spock is a vulcan with no emotion, let me remind you that he's actually half human, and as much as he tries to hide it, he does feel things.

For those of you that don't know Spock's back story, let me explain quickly: Spock's father is a vulcan, who married a human, resulting in Spock: a half human, half vulcan, who was raised on the planet Vulcan, with a father who has no emotions, friends who have no emotion, and a mother who is a regular, emotional, human woman. So he finds himself literally caught between two different worlds.

And that's what I love about him so much. He's caught between two different worlds, not quite knowing where he belongs until he finds the Enterprise, and even then there is doubt. Even there there are people who think that he's something he's not - a cold, hard vulcan who feels neither pain nor joy - and meanwhile he's still trying to figure out exactly who he is.

I think that that's something we all struggle with from time to time. There are times for all of us when we wonder where - if anywhere - we belong. When we feel like a freak, trapped on the outside looking in. Friendless. We can't all be Captain Kirks - dashing and over confident with not a fear in the world - at least not all the time. Sometimes we have to be Spocks - lonely, holding everything in because we just don't feel like we fit in anywhere. And that's ok - good, even. It's struggles, and trials like that that make us who we're supposed to be.

Yeah, Spock is kind of a stick in the mud sometimes, and sometimes he's a little too calculating, but he keeps Kirk grounded - seriously, how many times would Kirk and/or the Enterprise have died/been destroyed if not for Spock?? And that's not to say that Kirk isn't fantastic in his own way, but I think Spock has merits that are often over looked. He may seem emotionless at first, but just wait a bit and you'll see that he really does care. Like with Kirk in the original series and new movies, and Uhura in the new movie. That's what I love about his character. That's why he's my favorite.  Most people just see what's on the outside and don't look any further - about Spock and about people in real life. Spock's character shows that there's more to people than meets the eye.

Like the saying goes: you can't judge a book by it's cover - or a vulcan by one episode.

Live long and prosper.