Star Trek: 10 Greatest Captain Kirk Speeches
7. People Can Be Frightened Of Change
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is, full disclosure, this writer's favourite Star Trek film, so there was always a chance it was going to appear here. However, it also happens to contain a powerful statement, by Kirk, in the film's final act.
It's about the future, Madame Chancellor. Some people think the future means the end of history. Well, we haven't run out of history just yet. Your father called the future 'The Undiscovered Country.' People can be very frightened of change.
In this brief summary, Kirk manages to capture the fears that many have about growth and forgiveness. Valeris, acting with many others, attempts to derail the peace talks between the Federation and the Klingon Empire in an honest, misguided belief that it will save more lives than it will cost. However, in that belief, she demonstrates exactly what Kirk was getting at. She was guided, not by the hope for a brighter tomorrow, but by the pain and fear from a darker yesterday.
This film, directly and deliberately paralleling the contemporary fall of the Berlin Wall and dissolution of the Soviet Union, was released at a time when the world was facing enormous shifts in the political landscape. It was only natural for people to be afraid of what might come. It was, however, far more important that they greet the future with open arms, rather than closed hearts.
For Kirk, who lost his son to the Klingons, to be the one to deliver these lines made a powerful statement, and helped cement this film as of the true greats in the franchise.