So I’m watching TOS for the first time… (have alreay watched all show from TNG to DISC quite a while ago and yes, my fav is DS9 followed by TNG) and have just started “The Enemy Within”

Idk why but my shitpost-ridden brain instantly went “wait… d-did they make Kirk hot?”

that’s it, that’s the post. It’s mostly a /hj (I hope (?))

(just has the vibe of queercoding a villain having the opposite effect)

EDIT: I have now seen the following sexual assault scene, wtf

  • kbal
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    297 months ago

    … because they had to make him distinguishable from normal Kirk but hadn’t yet settled on the convention of just giving him a goatee?

    • @T156
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      47 months ago

      Could also have been to make the difference more subtle, since they’re different parts of the same person, rather than being two separate people like the goatee counterparts are.

    • @TheHottub
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      47 months ago

      They were going for gasps.

  • @T156
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    287 months ago

    Gives him dark eyes, as opposed to the bright/spotlit eyes on good Kirk? So you can immediately tell there’s a difference between the two.

    Idk why but my shitpost-ridden brain instantly went “wait… d-did they make Kirk hot?”

    Depending on your taste/sexuality, they arguably do that most of the time. The man seems to have shirts made of tissue paper.

  • @[email protected]
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    227 months ago

    Queercoding villains to make them seem dangerous and deviant to the people of the time (and those that are still stuck in that time). Admittedly, the people making that decision probably weren’t conscious of that being why they thought eyeliner made him look villainous.

    • @[email protected]
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      207 months ago

      For me it’s a simple makeup effect to show unmitigated sleep loss from the intrusive voices.

      • @T156
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        7 months ago

        It also makes him stand out more. Where regular/good Kirk has a spotlight on his eyes (like Morticia Addams), Evil Kirk has darkened eyes instead.

    • Haus
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      57 months ago

      Is Ming the Merciless an example of this?

    • алсааас [she/they]OP
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      17 months ago

      Makes sense, tho as you said I wouldn’t suggest bad intentions/faith of anyone in the team behind Star Trek (except fucking Berman, obsly), since I see it as a deeply progressive (not in the lib way) show

  • @GrymEdm
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    167 months ago

    Probably the same reason that they make vampires sexy - the allure of the forbidden. Mr. Evil Kirk is the poisoned fruit.

  • The Picard Maneuver
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    167 months ago

    A large part of how we read emotions in other people is by looking at subtleties in their eyes. How open or closed, changes in shape that give away if they’re telling the truth, etc.

    In media, they often use dark makeup around the eyes, a shadow, or something like dark sunglasses as shorthand to show that a character is mysterious and hard to read, therefore possibly dangerous.

    • @GrymEdm
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      107 months ago

      I haven’t seen that episode, but now forever in my mind Evil Kirk is redeemed by the unstoppable power of doggy love. “I hate everything! Except maybe this dog. Actually, this dog rocks…do I really hate everything?”

  • @[email protected]
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    107 months ago

    Btw that sexual assault scene is even more fucked up when you learn that Grace Lee Whitney was sexually assaulted by an unnamed executive associated with the series…

  • @[email protected]
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    7 months ago

    I’m imagining William Shatner stumbling on this thread and having a fit of villanous laughter.