Leonard Nimoy, Mr. Spock, and the Greeting That Brought Their Worlds Together (Video)
First things first, I’m no Trekkie by any means, heck I can barely speak a decent Klingon!
That being said, despite my best efforts to avoid being sucked into the black hole that is the Star Trek Fandom Universe, some general concepts, underlying themes and lead characters have made their way into my impressionable consciousness. You see, I do believe Star Trek was created upon fundamental, humanistic and universal themes; that if one were to look beyond the “geeky” sci-fi component, we would all find something we could wrap our heads around and appreciate.
That brings us to Captain Kirk’s right-hand man — the iconic Mr. Spock.
Spock has transcended Star Trek like Babe Ruth transcended baseball — you don’t need to have a grasp on the game to appreciate the Babe. If you’d ask me, I’d say yes the pointy ears and funny name had something to do with Spock’s rise to super-stardom but I truly believe it is Spock’s alienating internal struggle between a Vulcan’s adherence to logic and a Human’s reliance on emotion that won him a place in the hearts of millions of Earthings
Perhaps the person who understood Spock better than anyone else was the late Leonard Nimoy — the man who not only played the original Spock but was instrumental in the formulation and development of the character himself.
So I dug up two videos of Leonard Nimoy that are both fascinating and entertaining. The videos offer a glimpse into the minds of Nimoy and Spock and the who woulda thunk it story behind the greeting that brought their worlds together.
Take a look, you won’t be disappointed!
Video 1: Leonard Nimoy Interview (The Wexler Oral History Project — October 15, 2013)
Skip to 3:10 to watch Nimoy recount an extraordinary childhood memory as well as it’s connection to the incorporation of the famed Vulcan greeting into the Star Trek universe.
Video 2: Leonard Nimoy Speaking at a Charitable Event
Skip to 1:10 to watch an animated and quite funny Nimoy share his unique childhood struggles and how he and Spock are very much the cut from the same cloth.
