10 Times Star Trek Should Have Known Better

Though the sixth theatrical Star Trek film was mostly a triumph of storytelling and direction, director Nicholas Meyer has spoken in recent years about his regret for one scene in the film. That scene, tough to watch at the time, is the forced mind-meld on the bridge. Though the scene has an undeniable power, pushing Spock into territory we had never seen him venture before, the events of the real world have only compounded Meyer’s feelings on the matter. 

Though he couldn’t have known this at the time, the revelations of the torture, by the US military, of Afghan citizens in the years following 9/11 have contributed to the scene aging badly. If we put that aside for the moment, as indeed these events happened after the film’s release, the scene is given a deeply uncomfortable edge when one remembers that a Vulcan mind meld is meant to be an intimate, personal act. Though it is not inherently sexual by nature, there is both a romance and a bond that comes with it - one that is usurped in this scene. 

Spock, by forcing Valeris into revealing her mind’s secrets by use of this technique, is betraying the sanctity of the mind meld, and also showing how something so meaningful can be so easily corrupted. Meyer included a moment immediately prior to this where Kirk orders Spock to do something, thus taking some of the responsibility from the man, but the damage is done. Every mind meld seen on screen after this scene carries the weight of the possibility for the act to do serious harm to the recipient.

The scene may be crucial to the plot and tone of the film, but the impact has shown that Meyer was right to have second thoughts.