Ryan Britt - Phasers on Stun!: How the Making (and Remaking) of Star Trek Changed the World

On a cold afternoon in February 2018, I looked out at the New York City skyline from my apartment in Queens as I held my sleeping nine-month-old daughter on my shoulder. I had to adjust her just right, worried I was going to wake her up. In about twenty minutes, my wife would be back from work, but the subway was delayed, and this important phone call was going to happen before that. If my baby woke up during the interview, the person at the other end would just have to deal with it.

My phone vibrated and as I answered the call, I wished Id still had a flip phone. The voice at the other end of the phone was that of Captain Kirk. This is Mr. Shatner, the voice said. Reflexively, because Id watched Star Trek since I was six years old, I began calling him sir immediately.

I was interviewing William Shatner, briefly, for an article, mostly because of some voiceover work hed done in a childrens film called Aliens Ate My Homework. Weirdly, this movie was based on a series of childrens chapter books that Id read in grade school, around the same time Id become obsessed with Trek. As a journalist, Id interviewed famous people before, but Shatner was different. He was the captain. I was nervous, and my sleeping baby had started to squirm. I launched into my first question: I asked Shatner about his unique cadence, that famous, halting Captain Kirk thing he... does... SO... well.

People who have some characteristic way of speaking, to my knowledge, dont assume it. Its just there, and slowly they become aware of the fact that they may talk in a pattern that is uniquely theirs. In fact, even now, I have to turn to my wife and say, is he imitating... me? This struck me as both totally honest and bizarrely out of touch with reality. I laughed nervously. Shatner pretending like he doesnt know about how he talks is like if Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said: Ive never noticed Im tall. How strange of you to notice.

Shatner and I talked a little bit about the science of plants and whether well ever be able to communicate with flowers directly. Around this time, my daughter woke up and started crying. Loudly. Thats the cry... of... hunger... William Shatner said, suddenly the authority on my entire life. You must feed her now. Yeah, no kidding, Kirk. Thanks for the tip!

Although I obviously was recording the call, I dont actually remember the rest of the phone call that well. I have Shatners words and mine, but what I was doing with my baby while trying to talk to Captain Kirk is less clear. I do know that as I struggled with a bottle, Shatner continued to give orders, becoming an on-the-spot parenting coach over the phone. Time began to blur, and I think for a moment I was caught between dimensions, kind of like Kirk was in The Tholian Web. On the one hand, I was on the phone with my childhood; on the other hand, I was holding my child.

From 1990 to 1992, I was Spock for Halloween three years in a row. I was never Captain Kirk because I never really identified with him. I loved Kirk, but to me, Kirk was like somebodys dad. Spock felt closer to a friend, a cipher for ways I could deal with whatever emotional trouble the universe threw at me. During my Shatner call, at some point I walked to the living room and noticed a faded photograph of myself in third grade, dressed as Spock. Im not smiling in this picture. No way. Im Spock. My mom has wedged the store-bought plastic Vulcan ears to the sides of my head as best she can. Shes penciled on the requisite upswept eyebrowswhich look great on Spock, but just make a little kid look like a permanently angry Peanuts character. Shes dyed my blond hair midnight black, but Mom didnt have to worry about doing the Spock haircut. Im a third-grade kid in 1990, so Ive got that bowl cut anyway. In Star Treks only true Halloween episode, 1967s Catspaw, Captain Kirk says Spock would be a natural for trick or treat, accidentally predicting a go-to costume not only for me, but for millions of people for over five decades. We never found out what Spock really thought about the human holiday of Halloween, but my third-grade self believes hed be down to study the strange human rituals from the ground level. Spock finds this stuff comforting because experiencing human banalities just reaffirms that hes above all that shit.