14 Dumbest Things In Star Trek The Motion Picture

ILIA: My oath of celibacy is on record, captain. May I assume my duties?

Ilia is from the planet Delta IV, and apparently Deltans are required to take an oath of celibacy before serving with humans (and maybe other aliens) in Starfleet. So, no sexy time for the bald babe.

In the film’s theatrical release and in the direct-to-video Director’s Edition, that’s all we hear about this anti-sexy oath. And, aside from Chekov and Sulu eyeballing her as she arrives, there’s no other indication that this is a thing. So, as V’ger’s antecedent, Nomad, said in the Original Series. “Non sequitur. Your facts are uncoordinated.” It just sounds dumb. And, as played, it is dumb.

Okay, in the TV cut and the “Special Longer Version” there are a couple of extra bits that give some context. After Sulu makes a fool of himself trying to show Ilia her console, unable to focus on anything but something apparently super-sexy but which doesn’t come across on screen all, theres this:

ILIA: I'm sworn to celibacy, Mister Sulu. That makes me as safe as any human female.

DECKER: I’m sure the captain meant no insult.

ILIA: I would never take advantage of a sexually immature species. You can assure him that’s true, can’t you?

Burn.

So, apparently human sex with Deltans is unsafe sex. But even with these added bits of dialog the reason why remains a mystery, and you shouldn’t have to read the (truly terrible) novelization to know the answer.