BLACK VULCAN FAQ
Kate Orman
THE (EXTREMELY UNOFFICIAL) BLACK VULCAN FAQ
*** QUICK INTRODUCTION
Every day, someone posts a couple of questions about Tuvok, Voyager's
dark-skinned Vulcan played by Tim Russ. Hence, I thought it would be
useful to bang together this brief FAQ. I'll be posting it about once a
week, and emailing it to anyone I spot asking one of the questions below.
Comments are very welcome, whatever your opinion. Also, I'd like to add
further quotes from interviews etc which back up the statements below -
type some in and email me! Cheers.
***1. Isn't a black Vulcan a continuity mistake?
No. Spock's midwife (STV) was black, and Vulcans of various shades can be
seen in the background of scenes in STIII.
***2. Aren't Paramount being "politically correct" by having a black
Vulcan in "Voyager"?
No.
"Politically correct" is a slippery term, but let's assume that people who
ask this mean that the Trek producers are just trying to "cater to the
interests of a minority" by including a Vulcan who's black. They only
hired Tim Russ for the role because *he's* black.
This doesn't seem to be the case.
Firstly, by all accounts, the producers didn't set out to cast an
African-American actor as Tuvok. The role was intended for an older, white
actor, but no-one suitable could be found.
Secondly, the producers have been trying to find a regular role for Russ
for years. He was a runner-up for the part of Geordi, and would have been
a regular cast member in DS9, but the character was written out at the
last moment. (He *did* appear as one of the terrorists in "Starship Mine",
as a Klingon in "Invasive Procedures", and can be briefly seen aboard the
Enterprise-B in "Generations".)
From this, it appears that Tim Russ was cast entirely on his merits as an
actor; his colour was irrelevant. (As a personal note, I have to say that
I think he does a knock-out job!)
You might like to think about it this way. Wasn't Robert Duncan McNeil
only cast to cater to a particular minority - white men? :-)
(In a Cinescape interview, Russ said: "In terms of being politically
correct, they want to bring in the majority of the population to watch,
and people like to see themselves on television. If a minority sees a
minority, he'll watch it. People can identify with these characters - and
beyond demographics, this is supposed to be the 24th Century, by which
time [race and gender] are no longer factors.")
***3. Isn't Tuvok a "token black"?
No. He's a major character.
***4. Vulcans have green blood. Wouldn't dark-skinned Vulcans be green,
not brown?
Are dark-skinned humans red? :-)
Spock, a light-skinned half-Vulcan, had a greenish tinge because there was
little pigmentation in his skin to block our view of the green blood in
his skin capillaries. (Similarly, light-skinned humans look pink.) The
pigment in Tuvok's skin "hides" the colour of his blood.
***5. But why would Vulcans come in black and white and so on, the way
that humans do? Isn't that a bit unlikely?
Well, we know that Romulans - who are very closely related to Vulcans -
come in similar flavours to humans. We've seen a black Romulan ("The
Pegasus") and an Asian-looking Romulan (STV).
Also, humans and Vulcans do have a common genetic origin ("The Chase").
So, if you can stretch science enough to believe that people whose blood
is based on copper can breed with people whose blood is based on iron, you
can probably *also* believe that Vulcans have similar racial variations to
humans. :-)
You might like to think of it this way: what are the odds of an alien
species evolving to produce someone who looks remarkably like Leonard
Nimoy? :-)
***6. Wasn't "Entertainment Tonight" silly when it called Tuvok "the first
African-American Vulcan"?
Yes.
Tuvok's a full Vulcan, so it's pretty unlikely he comes from America. Or
Africa. :-) It would have been more accurate to say something like, "the first
regular Vulcan character to be played by an African-American".
***Again, comments and suggestions are very welcome, whatever your
opinion!
Reference: Tim Russ interview, Cinescape February 1995.
Cheers for suggestions: Michael Lee; whoever it was that pointed out that
"ancestry" was the wrong word (email me!).
--
___
Kate Orman
"What she may do with a word or two is much too grim to tell."
- Jack Prelutsky, "The Witch"
frank...@sandiegoca.attgis.com
>***1. Isn't a black Vulcan a continuity mistake?
>No. Spock's midwife (STV) was black, and Vulcans of various shades can be
>seen in the background of scenes in STIII.
Shouldn't they be dark-green?
>***2. Aren't Paramount being "politically correct" by having a black
>Vulcan in "Voyager"?
>No.
Yes.
>"Politically correct" is a slippery term, but let's assume that people who
>ask this mean that the Trek producers are just trying to "cater to the
>interests of a minority" by including a Vulcan who's black. They only
>hired Tim Russ for the role because *he's* black.
>This doesn't seem to be the case.
>Firstly, by all accounts, the producers didn't set out to cast an
>African-American actor as Tuvok. The role was intended for an older, white
>actor, but no-one suitable could be found.
Yeah sure.
>Secondly, the producers have been trying to find a regular role for Russ
>for years. He was a runner-up for the part of Geordi, and would have been
>a regular cast member in DS9, but the character was written out at the
>last moment. (He *did* appear as one of the terrorists in "Starship Mine",
>as a Klingon in "Invasive Procedures", and can be briefly seen aboard the
>Enterprise-B in "Generations".)
Why do they owe this guy?
>From this, it appears that Tim Russ was cast entirely on his merits as an
>actor;
Mostly true.
> his colour was irrelevant. (As a personal note, I have to say that
I'm not so sure.
>You might like to think about it this way. Wasn't Robert Duncan McNeil
>only cast to cater to a particular minority - white men? :-)
You mean 'effeminate yuppie white men'.
>(In a Cinescape interview, Russ said: "In terms of being politically
>correct, they want to bring in the majority of the population to watch,
>and people like to see themselves on television. If a minority sees a
>minority, he'll watch it. People can identify with these characters - and
>beyond demographics, this is supposed to be the 24th Century, by which
>time [race and gender] are no longer factors.")
Then shouldn't most of the cast be Chinese and Indian?
>***3. Isn't Tuvok a "token black"?
>No. He's a major character.
No. He's one of many tokens. The whole crew is a group of tokens.
>***4. Vulcans have green blood. Wouldn't dark-skinned Vulcans be green,
>not brown?
>Are dark-skinned humans red? :-)
It has nothing to do with blood and everything to do with pigmentation.
>Spock, a light-skinned half-Vulcan, had a greenish tinge because there was
>little pigmentation in his skin to block our view of the green blood in
>his skin capillaries. (Similarly, light-skinned humans look pink.) The
>pigment in Tuvok's skin "hides" the colour of his blood.
Nope. Check your medical log.
>***5. But why would Vulcans come in black and white and so on, the way
>that humans do? Isn't that a bit unlikely?
>Well, we know that Romulans - who are very closely related to Vulcans -
>come in similar flavours to humans. We've seen a black Romulan ("The
>Pegasus") and an Asian-looking Romulan (STV).
>Also, humans and Vulcans do have a common genetic origin ("The Chase").
>So, if you can stretch science enough to believe that people whose blood
>is based on copper can breed with people whose blood is based on iron, you
>can probably *also* believe that Vulcans have similar racial variations to
>humans. :-)
>You might like to think of it this way: what are the odds of an alien
>species evolving to produce someone who looks remarkably like Leonard
>Nimoy? :-)
>***6. Wasn't "Entertainment Tonight" silly when it called Tuvok "the first
>African-American Vulcan"?
>Yes.
Yes. He's an American. I don't recall anyone ever saying he was from some
country in Africa.
>Tuvok's a full Vulcan, so it's pretty unlikely he comes from America. Or
>Africa. :-) It would have been more accurate to say something like, "the first
>regular Vulcan character to be played by an African-American".
How about 'the first Vulcan to be played by an American of African descent'.
African-Americans are from Africa.
"Phil Gramm for President!"
Todd Horowitz
<frank...@SanDiegoCa.ATTGIS.COM> wrote:
>In article <3jdml1$2...@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au> kor...@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au (Kate Orman) writes:
>>No. Spock's midwife (STV) was black, and Vulcans of various shades can be
>>seen in the background of scenes in STIII.
>Shouldn't they be dark-green?
Ordinarily, I would recommend that someone posting an inane statement
like this read the FAQ. But you're posting response to the FAQ, so, either
you didn't actually READ the FAQ, or you didn't understand it.
So, let's see what YOU said under #4:
>It has nothing to do with blood and everything to do with pigmentation.
This is actually a pretty good comeback to your own inane comment. I
suggest you listen to yourself!
>>***2. Aren't Paramount being "politically correct" by having a black
>>Vulcan in "Voyager"?
>>No.
>Yes.
Whoa, there's a convincing argument! How's this:
No.
>
>>"Politically correct" is a slippery term, but let's assume that people who
>>ask this mean that the Trek producers are just trying to "cater to the
>>interests of a minority" by including a Vulcan who's black. They only
>>hired Tim Russ for the role because *he's* black.
>>This doesn't seem to be the case.
>>Firstly, by all accounts, the producers didn't set out to cast an
>>African-American actor as Tuvok. The role was intended for an older, white
>>actor, but no-one suitable could be found.
>Yeah sure.
Believe what you want, but anyone paying any attention to the develop-
ment of this series is aware that they were originally looking for an older
white guy to play Tuvok.
>
>>Secondly, the producers have been trying to find a regular role for Russ
>>for years. He was a runner-up for the part of Geordi, and would have been
>>a regular cast member in DS9, but the character was written out at the
>>last moment. (He *did* appear as one of the terrorists in "Starship Mine",
>>as a Klingon in "Invasive Procedures", and can be briefly seen aboard the
>>Enterprise-B in "Generations".)
>Why do they owe this guy?
Read Kate's comments again. Slowly.
She did not say that they "owed" him, so much as they "wanted to
use him". He's a good actor, and they were trying to find an appropriate part
for him. They succeeded. Deal with it.
>>From this, it appears that Tim Russ was cast entirely on his merits as an
>>actor;
>Mostly true.
>> his colour was irrelevant. (As a personal note, I have to say that
>I'm not so sure.
Your evidence, please?
>>You might like to think about it this way. Wasn't Robert Duncan McNeil
>>only cast to cater to a particular minority - white men? :-)
>You mean 'effeminate yuppie white men'.
Another intelligent comment. Paris is effiminate? Do you know
what "effeminate" means? And the character is certainly not a yuppie! Or
do you have any idea what "yuppie" means, except as some sort of general
insult.
>>(In a Cinescape interview, Russ said: "In terms of being politically
>>correct, they want to bring in the majority of the population to watch,
>>and people like to see themselves on television. If a minority sees a
>>minority, he'll watch it. People can identify with these characters - and
>>beyond demographics, this is supposed to be the 24th Century, by which
>>time [race and gender] are no longer factors.")
>Then shouldn't most of the cast be Chinese and Indian?
Yes.
>
>>***3. Isn't Tuvok a "token black"?
>
>>No. He's a major character.
>
>No. He's one of many tokens. The whole crew is a group of tokens.
Well, no, they can't ALL be tokens, can they?
Why would you say they're all tokens? Because most of them are not
white men? Why are all non-white-male characters "tokens"? More to the point,
why are the cast of Voyager tokens any more than the cast of TOS were? I
don't see how Shatner got a role except as a token white man!
>>***4. Vulcans have green blood. Wouldn't dark-skinned Vulcans be green,
>>not brown?
>>Are dark-skinned humans red? :-)
>It has nothing to do with blood and everything to do with pigmentation.
Very good! Now just apply this to Vulcans.
>>Spock, a light-skinned half-Vulcan, had a greenish tinge because there was
>>little pigmentation in his skin to block our view of the green blood in
>>his skin capillaries. (Similarly, light-skinned humans look pink.) The
>>pigment in Tuvok's skin "hides" the colour of his blood.
>Nope. Check your medical log.
What part didn't you understand?
-todd
Carmen Frost
>In article <3jdml1$2...@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au> kor...@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au
(Kate Orman) writes:>>***1. Isn't a black Vulcan a continuity mistake?
>>No. Spock's midwife (STV) was black, and Vulcans of various shades can be
>>seen in the background of scenes in STIII.
>Shouldn't they be dark-green?
Why would they be dark green? It's the color of the pigmentation not the
color of the blood that matters.
>>***2. Aren't Paramount being "politically correct" by having a black
>>Vulcan in "Voyager"?
>>No.
>Yes.
YOu're assuming that he got the job based on his color rather than his skills
as an actor. I wonder why you make this assumption? He's a fine actor so I
assume he got the role based on his acting skills rather than his race.
>> his colour was irrelevant. (As a personal note, I have to say that
>I'm not so sure.
Why? Do you have any evidence?
>>***3. Isn't Tuvok a "token black"?
>>No. He's a major character.
>No. He's one of many tokens. The whole crew is a group of tokens.
What show have you been watching? We're talking about "Voyager" here. It's
filled with good actors.
>>***4. Vulcans have green blood. Wouldn't dark-skinned Vulcans be green,
>>not brown?
>>Are dark-skinned humans red? :-)
>It has nothing to do with blood and everything to do with pigmentation.
>>Spock, a light-skinned half-Vulcan, had a greenish tinge because there was
>>little pigmentation in his skin to block our view of the green blood in
>>his skin capillaries. (Similarly, light-skinned humans look pink.) The
>>pigment in Tuvok's skin "hides" the colour of his blood.
>Nope. Check your medical log.
Nope, you better check yours. If the pigmentation is dark enough it "hides"
the color of the blood. Hence, we can't see Tuvok's green blood.
Whites are not even the majority in today's world so why would they be in the
future? Having a multicultural cast has nothing to do with PC, rather it is
more realistically depicting the diversity of the human and humanoid races.
The fact that you assume that the actors who are part of a minority got there
jobs through some PC agenda rather than their acting skills says more about
YOU than about the casting decisions.
Just my thoughts
Carmen
x951234
x951234
Blaine Armsterd
: In article <3jdml1$2...@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au> kor...@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au (Kate Orman) writes:
: >***1. Isn't a black Vulcan a continuity mistake?
: >No. Spock's midwife (STV) was black, and Vulcans of various shades can be
: >seen in the background of scenes in STIII.
: Shouldn't they be dark-green?
: >***2. Aren't Paramount being "politically correct" by having a black
: >Vulcan in "Voyager"?
: >No.
: Yes.
No. There's a lot of non-white people in this world, nearly ninety percent,
and It doesn't make sense to have an all white cast. Especially with
aliens. should they all look like white men with makeup.
: >"Politically correct" is a slippery term, but let's assume that people who
: >ask this mean that the Trek producers are just trying to "cater to the
: >interests of a minority" by including a Vulcan who's black. They only
: >hired Tim Russ for the role because *he's* black.
: >This doesn't seem to be the case.
: >Firstly, by all accounts, the producers didn't set out to cast an
: >African-American actor as Tuvok. The role was intended for an older, white
: >actor, but no-one suitable could be found.
: Yeah sure.
: >Secondly, the producers have been trying to find a regular role for Russ
: >for years. He was a runner-up for the part of Geordi, and would have been
: >a regular cast member in DS9, but the character was written out at the
: >last moment. (He *did* appear as one of the terrorists in "Starship Mine",
: >as a Klingon in "Invasive Procedures", and can be briefly seen aboard the
: >Enterprise-B in "Generations".)
: Why do they owe this guy?
: >From this, it appears that Tim Russ was cast entirely on his merits as an
: >actor;
: Mostly true.
But I bet you didn't get upset when you saw that in the Companion that they
only, repeat *only* considered middle aged white men for the role of Picard...
: > his colour was irrelevant. (As a personal note, I have to say that
: I'm not so sure.
: >You might like to think about it this way. Wasn't Robert Duncan McNeil
: >only cast to cater to a particular minority - white men? :-)
: You mean 'effeminate yuppie white men'.
: >(In a Cinescape interview, Russ said: "In terms of being politically
: >correct, they want to bring in the majority of the population to watch,
: >and people like to see themselves on television. If a minority sees a
: >minority, he'll watch it. People can identify with these characters - and
: >beyond demographics, this is supposed to be the 24th Century, by which
: >time [race and gender] are no longer factors.")
: Then shouldn't most of the cast be Chinese and Indian?
No, black and "asian"
: >***3. Isn't Tuvok a "token black"?
: >No. He's a major character.
: No. He's one of many tokens. The whole crew is a group of tokens.
There is no shortage of white people on television! get over it!
: >***4. Vulcans have green blood. Wouldn't dark-skinned Vulcans be green,
: >not brown?
: >Yes.
: "Phil Gramm for President!"
************************************************************************
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In God We Trust. All others pay cash.----------Read Psalms 137:9 and Obey!
Ken Waletzki
the issue of race (black race) doesn't come up every episode. Look at
the "black" shows on TV, they nearly all feature kids under 25 jumping
around being goofy and 'talk'n black' and making racial realted
comments nearly every episode [that I have seen...]
I think it is refreshing to see TV that has black actors in a show that
simply allows them to be actors. What better place to do it than on
Trek.
BTW, I think it is quite obvious that this show was assembled based
upon race and gender. It was _designed_ to be PC.
My $0.02 worth.
ZB
Geoff Waye
: TNG, DS9, and VOY are the only TV shows with black actors where
: My $0.02 worth.
: ZB
One question,
I never realized that there were any black vulcans? Where did they come
from? Is he a halfbreed like spock?
--
Geoff Waye *
Memorial University of Newfoundland *
Dept. of Geography. gw...@morgan.ucs.mun.ca*
Blaine Armsterd
On Tue, 21 Mar 1995, Ken Waletzki wrote:
> TNG, DS9, and VOY are the only TV shows with black actors where
> the issue of race (black race) doesn't come up every episode. Look at
> the "black" shows on TV, they nearly all feature kids under 25 jumping
> around being goofy and 'talk'n black' and making racial realted
> comments nearly every episode [that I have seen...]
>
> I think it is refreshing to see TV that has black actors in a show that
> simply allows them to be actors. What better place to do it than on
> Trek.
>
> BTW, I think it is quite obvious that this show was assembled based
> upon race and gender. It was _designed_ to be PC.
I respectfully disagree. It would be unrealistic to have an all white
cast surverying space. Starfleet is based on Earth. Not all terrans
are white. Not that you wouldn't get that impression watching _Cheers_
or _Murphy Brown_ etc. I think this PC contreversy is because if you
get a show like Voyager, with more than 2 non-whites, it looks *strange*
compared to all the other non-white shows.
> My $0.02 worth.
>
> ZB
>
>
>
>
Todd Horowitz
Geoff Waye <gw...@morgan.ucs.mun.ca> wrote:
>One question,
>I never realized that there were any black vulcans? Where did they come
>from? Is he a halfbreed like spock?
Read the Black Vulcan FAQ (hint: it's at the root of this thread).
-todd