3. Does Kirk Really Need His Pain?
Star Trek V almost asks a fascinating question: do we need our emotional baggage? Do we need to be reminded of our mistakes so we don't repeat them? How do we accept those mistakes so we can move forward? Star Trek is all about a better tomorrow, and the only way to get to a better tomorrow is through bettering ourselves. It's not perfect - but there's a lot of good, old-fashioned Star Trek moralizing to be found in the "I need my pain!" scene. Sybok corners Kirk, Spock, and McCoy on the hijacked Enterprise and challenges them to examine their pasts. Sybok starts with McCoy, who relives his choice to euthanize his terminally ill father - only to discover that a cure was invented soon after that would have saved him. It's potent stuff - which fits perfectly with McCoy's character. Spock's deepest pain is a bit muddled. Either he regrets being born half-human or is scarred by a father who thought less of him because of his human qualities. Even if it's nothing new or poignant, the beat still works. Unfortunately, Spock's secret shame is deflated minutes later when he tells Sybok that he's made peace with his past. Finally, Kirk's refuses to take a literal trip down memory lane. Kirk gets a pretty great monologue going, that ends with the rather awesome: "I don't want my pain taken away! I need my pain!" On the surface, that sounds tough and deep and all that - but it's pure Shatner: big, obvious, simple-minded... yet strangely compelling. "I need my pain!" is supposed to be the moral of the story - and I can mostly get on its wavelength, because the past should hurt a little. It barely misses the mark because there's no window into Kirk's grief or how he's dealing with it. Kirk comes off like he's in denial - and gains nothing from answering Sybok's simple platitudes with a simple platitude. This scene should end with Kirk breaking down, admitting to his friends that he can't accept that his son is gone, while still telling Sybok to shove off with his Vulcan hippie powers. Oddly enough, Spock is the only one in this scene who handles his emotions in a healthy manner. (This further proves my friend's theory that Spock is the Jeeves to Kirk's Bertie Wooster.) Kirk's refusal of Sybok's powers is not about Kirk finding the right way to reach acceptance. It's about Kirk (and Shatner) being right.