Spock

One of the most iconic characters in all of modern pop culture is Captain S'chn T'gai Spock. Through numerous TV series, movies, comic books, games, and other iterations of the Star Trek mythos we’ve been inspired by his endeavor to balance logic with emotion, a conflict borne from his mixed-race status. His struggle to reconcile his Vulcan and human sides is only one aspect to his fascinating story, but an important one.

Will’s takeaway:

I LOVE Spock. The suffering he endured from Vulcan bullies as a child, bigoted adults, and at the hands of his “open-minded” Federation co-workers has always felt way too familiar.

The fact that Vulcans were based heavily on Japanese and other Asian cultures was no secret either, and in the 70s and 80s, when I was so starved for any kind of sympathetic representation of my Asian side, Spock was at least a surrogate.

His experiences demonstrated that when you don’t fit into the strict confines of delineated cultures you can sometimes find extraordinary success in the space between. He showed me that understanding my mixed nature, and how I related to each part of my identity, could evolve and change over time and on my own terms. Through the years it is remarkable that this half-breed never felt half, but whole, fully-realized and complete.