What's the Use?: Star Trek Into Darkness and Mainstream Titillation in the Age of Free Porn

"No, I didn't like that scene one bit. Even in the 23rd century, the boys know they get a better peek online"

I have no idea who Carol Marcus is. 

All I know about her is that she dropped trough in front of Capt. Kirk for no good reason.

Damon Lindelof knows the same thing now. Months after filming and editing wrapped on J.J. Abrams Star Trek Into Darkness (STID).

Lindelof tweeted an apology and admission of misogyny to the public yesterday, and even emailed esteemed media news source MTV, with regards to a scene in STID where the aforementioned Marcus (Alice Eve), the Enterprise's new science officer who specializes in advanced weaponry (that from someone who was barely paying attention by the time Marcus hit the screen), drops her regulation Federation mini-skirt and abrasively chides Capt. Kirk for sneaking a peek at her 23rd century Victoria's Secret underwear set.

The scene has been jumping out at me since it showed up in a trailer a few months ago. Not because I was gobsmacked by Alice Eve's impressive physique or her lack of a flirty, impractical retro number, but because it seemed so out of place with the tone of the trailer, which was all vengeance, Zimmer horns, and quick cuts. I thought, "that's odd", and nothing of it beyond that. Then, I caught the Abrams 2009 Star Trek reboot on FX a few days ago, and it all made sense. In 209's Trek, no female character with a speaking role, save Krik's mother (Jennifer Morrison), made it to the end without a scene in their underwear. To be fair, Capt. Kirk also stripped down to the ol' BVDs at least once in both films, so at least there's some attempt a balance. However, the scenes from 2009 Trek and most of the scenes where Kirk has disrobed have clear, if flimsy in the case of the Uhura strip-down in Trek, context. Carol Marcus' scene, where she is changing into a deep space exploration suit lacks any. 

With Lindelof acknowledging what most clear-eyed viewers already know, the gratuitousness of the scene is widely, if not completely accepted. What is more baffling and distressing is that Lindelof, Abrams, and their collaborators think, or did not stop to think as it were, that this type of gratuitous titillation is necessary in era where any kid with an ipad can google Maxim, download the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, and find uncensored clips of lesbian threesomes online without even trying. Their injection of a gratuitous scene hearkens back to an era where the only way to see some skin without skipping down to the Red Light District or slinking out of a corner store with a paper bag over a playboy was to catch it in movies like Barbarella or on TV shows like Star Trek. This line of thinking also recalls a time when there were no voices of discontent outside of the occasional editorial or snail mail letter to studios that was more than likely lost to the bottom of a canvas bin.

Granted, the Carol Marcus scene, as well as the three-way undie scene in the 2009 entry, could be viewed as a homage to the sexual undertones that permeated the original series, it falls flat in an era where audiences have easy access to titillation at a far more extreme and theoretically discrete level. It also appears distressingly tone-deaf in a time where audiences expect more from their entertainment. More and more, audiences are expecting even the slightest of entertainment to be intelligent and culturally competent. The voices that raise up against entertainment that falls short of these requirements is far from homogenous and, thankfully, far from silent. They recognize that, for decades, entertainment has catered to the whims of straight, white males between the ages of 18-50. While that demographic deserves entertainment, so do the rest of us. Not only do we want to be entertained, we want to be respected and acknowledged as intelligent, cognizant, capable consumers of entertainment. Fail to respect us, creators, and you'll find yourself apologizing on twitter.

Now, this is not to say that creators should avoid including scenes where characters traipse around in their underwear or strip down to their birthday suits, but please give these scenes context, give these scenes purpose. Most importantly, think before you do so that you don't appear like a tone-deaf, out-of-touch caveman after the fact. I want creators to succeed. I want them to take moments to cherish the human body and show that physical intimacy is best experienced through body to body contact, but I don't need to experience those moments through the, often white, male gaze all the time. Most importantly, and this goes out to those lovely folks in marketing and advertising as well, that demo that you're trying to reach with such gratuitous scenes like the Carol Marcus scene, they have desktops, laptops, and tablets, all of which allow them to stream porn and download lad mags anytime they want. They don't need you to provide them with cheap titillation, and they haven't for a very long time.