Look, I know everyone around here thinks TOS Spock is handsome and gorgeous and beautiful and would sell their own mother to make sweet love to him, but one thing I love about the character is that he is not beautiful according to hegemonic beauty standards, and not beautiful at all for most people out of the fandom. And in spite of that, we can’t help but see him beautiful because of his personality, his actions, his history, his mannerisms, his aesthetics; I think those things also make us appreciate him physically. He is so cute, he is so admirable. Although wrapped in mystery and alienness, he always presents himself to us as a whole being -the results of good writing and acting-, so we see Spock and he’s perfect the way he is. And this makes me happy because I may have other gifts, but I’m not beautiful. And when I was younger I thought I’d never be attractive for anyone, and worse, I’d never get to like myself physically. So when I realize how much beauty I see in him, to the point that I can’t separate it from his physical form, I think I can like myself.
this is an amazing post
like spock in TOS is objectively a bit awkward looking, gangly, pale
but throughout the course of the show (and definitely through kirk and mccoy’s eyes) we get to see Spock as a whole flawed being and the complexities of the character allow us to love him deeply. we are invited by the show and its other characters to love Spock he is alien and different and strange and that is what we find beautiful
And a strong makeup game don’t hurt either!
But yeah no consider the alternative, AOS Spock. Zachary Quinto IS conventionally good-looking, but AOS Spock doesn’t pop. He’s not the one that makes people swoon. Now granted, straight girls may not be into this Spock because he’s played by a gay man, but I think it’s more than that. AOS Spock, like Kirk, isn’t so much a character as a caricature. On some level Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman (the writers of Star Trek 2009 and Into Darkness) get the appeal of Spock: he’s supposed to be emotionless but he’s secretly not, but they don’t really know how to write Spock as a person. He’s pretty much just an emotionless blank slate who has outbursts of emotions when the plot requires it. There are no layers. TOS Spock was logical and aloof, but also witty, charming, sassy, and at times, even nurturing. AOS Spock gets a well placed line or two (“I am displaying multiple attitudes, sir. To which are you referring?”), but there’s just none of that je ne sais quoi that made Spock so damn lovable. I don’t think it’s on Quinto’s performance either, because he played the character a damn sight better in Beyond when he was being fed lines by an actual fan of Star Trek, Simon Pegg. But for the most part he’s just boring and unengaging and truly alien, which is why I think people don’t thirst over him the same way they do Nimoy. When you put the bangs, eyebrows, and ears on Quinto, it just looks like high quality cosplay.
