Talk:Nyota Uhura/Archive 1

Archive 1

"The Other" Uhura

What about the special "Uhura" from Mirror, Mirror (Star Trek: The Original Series)? Some fans regard her the finest female in STO. She should be mentioned somewhere in the article, better with snapshot. --95.220.149.59 (talk) 22:18, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

Please remove the first name

Uhura's first name has never been made canon, and Roddenberry himself has said that she had no first name. I feel the name "Nyota" should be removed as this is confusing fanon with canon. Under the strict rules installed by Paramount, only material seen or heard on screen in canon. Nothing printed in even official reference books counts as canon. There is already a section in this entry about the first name controversy. 23skidoo 14:23, 26 Oct 2004 (UTC)

If you mean the article is better located at Uhura than at Nyota Uhura, then I agree. — Matt 19:05, 26 Oct 2004 (UTC)

If there are no objections within one week of this message, I'll fix the name. -- SigmaEpsilon → ΣΕ 05:38, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

A week passed, noone objected, so I changed it. SigmaEpsilon → ΣΕ 21:24, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

What about Star Trek VI? Star Trek VI canonized Hikaru Sulu and I thought it canonized Nyota as well (although it did mispell Uhura as Uhuru). Just asking. Anyone with the DVD of VI can check this. 72.192.237.134 20:50, 8 March 2006 (UTC)Ismail (forgot to sign before)

Talk about serendipity. I'm fighting this battle over at the Trek wiki as well. What people (for God knows what reason) insist on hearing as "Nyota" in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home are the words "can you" in Kirk's line, "Can you let us hear the probe's transmissions?" to Uhura. Shatner mumbles the line badly, but a close listen will reveal that is what he said. No Nyota, sorry.

Again, I really think we need to put a lockdown on the section dealing with Uhura's first name. What Shatner says in TVH is mumbled, somewhat, but it is FAR FROM UNCLEAR. Just listen to the damn dialogue. He DOES NOT say "Nyota," for Christ's sake! The line in the script says "Can you," the closed-captioning says "Can you" and indeed, Shatner says "Can you." Can we get this latest nonsense edit reverted to what it was before? Sir Rhosis 05:08, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

I disagree. While subtitles does in fact say "Can you" on 5.1 surround, you can clearly hear Kirk say "Nyota." Neovu79 (talk) 00:43, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

SPOILER ALERT: The issue has been resolved by the new film, in which it is revealed (rather humorously) that her name is Nyota.69.231.212.77 (talk) 23:24, 5 May 2009 (UTC)

What says that this article is canon? This is not Memory Alpha wiki, this is Wikipedia, and all non-canon sources (i.e. novels, etc.) should be included. Who says this is just for canon information? This is not a fan page. Also, Memory Alpha has changed it to Nyota by the way. 74.204.40.46 (talk) 21:48, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

I feel that in line with the naming of Hikaru Sulu (which follows pretty much the same naming story, only 18 years ago), Uhura should move to Nyota Uhura. Particularly given it is canon now. — The Man in Question (gesprec) · (forðung) 20:30, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

I agree that the article should be moved to "Nyota Uhura". It is canon, and leaving it at Uhura is inconsistent with names like Hikaru Sulu and with usual Wikipedia policy of using both first and last names. —Lowellian (reply) 09:31, 10 March 2010 (UTC)

It would be better to rename the Sulu article to match this. Alastairward (talk) 12:27, 10 March 2010 (UTC)

Wrong pronunciation?

I think we should add a note how her name was intentionally misprounced. As I understand it, the correct Swahili pronunciation would be with a "U" sound. However, it was always pronounced on the show as beginning with an "Oo" sound. Will (Talk - contribs) 07:04, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

I believe the "oo" as in "boo" is (approximately) the correct pronounciation in Swahili, as opposed to "you". — Matt Crypto 12:33, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Swahili does not have a hard U sound, it would be the "oo" sound. Interestingly, the word "Uhuru" means "freedom" in Swahili. 03:19, 2 November 2009 (UTC)

Impact

I added this section. Feel free to amend it.SmokeyTheCat 10:52, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't have a citation. I saw this on a TV programme looking back on the impact of the original Star Trek.SmokeyTheCat 12:03, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Please don't remove this section 63.165.234.2 It is important to an understanding of the character. SmokeyTheCat 12:23, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Part of what you added is undeniably true. Unfortunately, however, there's a difference between something being true and something being verifiable.

Please return this section once you find some proof. I think it's an important part of the Trek mythology.

Come on 63.165.234.2 AGF. Uhuru was very important historically and the article should reflect this. I am sure that these things are true as I saw them on a TV program about Star Trek. No, I don't have a source but they are uncontroversial things to say. Your removal of these references takes away all the historic importance of the character. Leave them please. Add a 'Citation needed' tag if you must but please don't remove the comments.SmokeyTheCat 09:18, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

It is important, I agree. But this is an encyclopedia and as such, opinions are irrelevant. Either provide proof or keep opinions out of it. Can you remember the exact source? If so, cite it and provide a link and all will be well. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 63.165.234.2 (talk) 12:57, 27 March 2007 (UTC).

It's not an opinion. I clearly remember it from a TV program called 'How Star Trek Changed the World' narrated by Shatner.

You're not even a registed Wiki user. What gives you authority? SmokeyTheCat 15:54, 27 March 2007 (UTC) And it takes two to make an edit war.SmokeyTheCat 15:59, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Being able to edit anonymously is one of the boons of Wikipedia, and not something to be held against a member. This user's edit history shows, at least in his/her Star Trek entries, some good edits removing non-npov and other uncited material. As for the content at hand: I have restored most of it (everything save the stuff about the astronaut) and cited the 25th anniversary video, in which both Nichols and Goldberg talk about the Uhura role. Also moved it closer to the top -- Wikipedia's entries about fiction need to provide material on the entry's notability and real-world impact; burying that information for Uhura after a lot of plot summary isn't the best organization. --EEMeltonIV 18:32, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Well two cheers EEMelton but I think more could said on this subject. Compare with the X-men character Storm's entry in Wiki. There is a page or so on her impact but she was later, seen by far less people and wasn't even a real woman. Still I will leave it as it stands for now. Hopefully someone else will add more. SmokeyTheCat 14:47, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

I've put back in the bit about the astronaut - amended slightly - with a citation. It doesn't mention that that the astronaut uses Uhuru's catchphrase "Hailing on all frequencies Captain" when calling Mission Control which is a shame.SmokeyTheCat 14:10, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

colour picture

The infobox picture is monochrome. As Star Trek was never made in black-and-white, the picture should probably be in colour. I'm sure a suitable one must exist. Digifiend (talk) 14:06, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

admiral

In somwe novles she appears (in later carreer) as an admiral.84.134.79.73 (talk) 20:02, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

This would be good to include in the character biography, but I'd prefer having specific books listed with page numbers, or an alternative source about the character perhaps. Natural Cut (talk) 03:45, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

Article potential

I can see this article as a good article with proper sourcing and writing. It's almost there as-is, in fact. I might work on it a bit more... Didn't the lady who played Tasha Yar once mention she didn't want to be an "Uhura-like" character? I remember reading that somewhere. Natural Cut (talk) 03:43, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

Making "Nyota" official

The following is a closed discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the proposal was No move Parsecboy (talk) 01:23, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

While "Nyota" has been expressed in fiction as her first name for years, the new Trek film firmly establishes it as her name. The movie, while changing characters' "destinies," makes no changes to the names of any of the re-cast characters. Now that we've got it on film, can we go ahead and make it official now? Aatrek (talk) 04:26, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

• Oppose. Common name. She is known simply as Uhura in a bazillion episodes and movies. Adding her first name is just plain obscure. It may please some die hard trekies, but really. 199.125.109.99 (talk) 04:59, 10 May 2009 (UTC)
• Weak support since it's usually Lieutenant Uhura and not Uhura anyways, why not move it to the full proper name? 76.66.202.139 (talk) 05:22, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

All the other Trek characters (Hikaru Sulu, Pavel Chekov, etc.) are listed as the full-name format. Aatrek (talk) 05:35, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

Lieutenant Uhura would be ok. 199.125.109.99 (talk) 05:58, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

• Support. It's canon now, so why not include her full name in the article's name? Also, Sulu wasn't given a first name until TUC, and his article is at Hikaru Sulu. What's wrong with doing the same thing for Uhura? 75.16.189.30 (talk) 22:17, 10 May 2009 (UTC)
• Oppose It's NOT canon. The new film is set in an alternate reality, not the established one and thus not the same Uhura. Think about all the other realities in the Star Trek franchise, specifically the episode of TNG where Worf is jumping back and forth between dozens of different realities. I will also cite WP:COMMONNAME as the character is been known only as Uhura for over 40 years. TJ Spyke 22:21, 10 May 2009 (UTC)
• Oppose per TJ Spyke. The new film is not set in Roddenberry's Trek universe, and therefore developments from that film should not impact on established events from previous Star Trek series and films. – PeeJay 00:10, 11 May 2009 (UTC)
• Oppose. This is not an in-show staff list. Character is commonly known simply as Uhura, and there seems to be no name conflict needing disambiguation. As for Lieutenant, that is not the character's name—Spock, commonly known as "Spock", is typically called "Mr. Spock" in the show. / edg ☺ ☭ 11:22, 11 May 2009 (UTC)
• Support All the new film did was confirm the name that had been used among fans for decades, but putting it in the film makes it canonical. The end credits (which bill her only as "Uhura") similarly confirm the names of Amanda Grayson and Winona Kirk.Rockhopper10r (talk) 20:07, 11 May 2009 (UTC)
  • The majority of the movie is not canon (it's set in an alternate reality, meaning they are not the same characters that exist in the canonical universe. Even if this counted, I am not sure I would support moving the article. Being non-canon seals it though. The Animated Series mentioned Amanda Grayson's name but that doesn't matter. TJ Spyke 02:26, 12 May 2009 (UTC)
• Oppose. Even the millions of non fans who have made this film a success will only know her last name should they come here to research the character. Just too well established as "Uhura" ever to change. Sir Rhosis (talk) 20:23, 11 May 2009 (UTC)
• Strong oppose.

I was expecting to be the only one to oppose on the grounds that the new movie is entirely different. I'm glad to see a few friendly oppositions. --< Nicht Nein! (talk) 21:17, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

• Oppose - as per WP:COMMON No problems with creating a redirect from Nyota though. --HighKing (talk) 12:58, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

"Galaxy Quest"?

The article claims that the character of Tawny Madison/Gwen De Marco is a parody of Uhura, but it is more reminiscent of yeoman Janice Rand (blonde bimbo, has some kind of sexual tension with the Captain). At best, the character can be seen as a mix of Rand and Uhura (although the uselessness of her job on the ship brings to mind fan complaints about Deanna Troi in The Next Generation). Nightandday (talk) 19:30, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

Middle name

Not that this has any impact on this article, but upenda is a declension of the Swahili word penda ("beloved one"). So if she existed in the real world, her middle name would be Penda, not Upenda. (It's comparable to saying someone's name would much more likely be "Love" than "Love's"). — The Man in Question (gesprec) · (forðung) 04:51, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

GOCE

• All redirected & disambiguation links fixed.

Mlpearc pull my chain 'Tribs 22:44, 16 June 2010 (UTC)

Uhura's Ethnicity

I modified the entry "Uhura was part of the original series' pioneering multicultural cast;[1] she was one of the first major black characters on an American television series." because I believe the sentence is misleading and confuses the character "Nyota Uhrua" with the actor Nichelle Nichols. My reasoning is as follows…

First off, Uhura is not part of the "cast." Dictionary.com defines "cast" as a noun to mean "The group of performers to whom parts are assigned; players." In other words, cast refers to the actors, not the characters. Furthermore, I believe that it is the misuse of this word that may be at the core of the confusion surrounding how to describe the ethnicity of Uhura, the character.

"Black" is a 20th century culturally biased term that changes from generation to generation. 50 years ago it was negro. Then it was colored. Now its changing to African-American. Unless someone can prove that Uhura was ever referred to as "black" in the series, then term "black" can only be used to describe the actor, not the character. There is no reason to believe Uhrua would ever have used that term to describe herself, or even that it would have occurred to her to do so. Nor would any other ST-TOS character describe Uhura in such a way. I believe that in Uhura's time, these types of descriptions were no longer part of their vocabulary. The term "black" then really refers to Nichelle Nichols, not to Uhura and I would argue that such terms should be eliminated entirely when discussing the race and/or ethnicity of Star Trek characters. And while I agree that a reference to Uhura's ethnicity is important in order to provide context for the character's greater meaning to the audience, we should use terms that are accurate but not culturally biased. And so, now the sentence looks like this…

Newsflash-Not all black people live in USA... USAicans also refer to their own president as black when he has a white mother. How does that work? Black in reference to race in the English speaking world appears to be more variable than you would think...94.13.205.233 (talk) 00:00, 19 December 2011 (UTC)Lance Tyrell

Uhura was an important part of the original series' multicultural crew and one of the first characters of African decent to be featured on an American television series. --72.83.182.161 (talk) 00:04, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

Hi folks, I see someone undid this edit. I'm not sure why as I can't find any comments about it. I'd ask whomever it was to provide your reasoning so it may be discussed. Thank you. SmidgeStream (talk) 20:24, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

Neither really reads well. "Uhura was an important part of the ... multicultural crew", is she important as a crew member in the stories or important as a character to the multicultural mix? Neither BTW is supported by the cite, which simply says "It was also the first series to have a multicultural cast". WikiuserNI (talk) 23:47, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

Actually, she was referred to as a "negress" in one episode of the series. Should we use that term instead of black or African-American because it was in the series and is less "offensive" to some people? Nichelle Nichols on the other hand has repeatedly discussed being one of the first black actresses on television that wasn't playing a maid or a maime. Erikeltic ^(Talk) 14:38, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

Her name

I know the discussion is closed, but I'd like to add that the inclusion of her name in the movie has been deemed sufficient for it to be given canon status by Memory Alpha. I know it's a different wiki but they are the authority on Trek so that should definitely play into any discussion about her name. --Kevin W./Talk•CFB uniforms/Talk 02:41, 8 September 2012 (UTC)

• I'd always assumed it was official as soon as it was uttered in the 2009 film, too. Any argument about it being not canon because it's in the 2009 film in my opinion violates WP:NPOV. 70.72.211.35 (talk) 16:07, 9 December 2012 (UTC)

Citation and categories

The bit about Shatner and Nichols flubbing all non-kiss versions of the Plato's scene is a nice bit of information, but it needs to be sourced (sight unseen I'd assume it's probably in Shatner's Memories autobiography). Someone also got carried away with the categories: at no point in the article is it mentioned her ever attaining captain or admiral rank, and no such event occurs in the movies or TV series. Same argument applies as with her name - it's possible a fan production might have given her these ranks, but for Wikipedia my understanding is we're supposed to stick to "official" information (i.e. canon). 70.72.211.35 (talk) 16:07, 9 December 2012 (UTC)

Interesting Nichelle Nichols Interview

Located here. Talks about how Martin Luther King Jnr convinced her not to leave the show after the first season. Miyagawa (talk) 23:29, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

naming

please give lieutenant a first name — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.236.121.101 (talk) 01:09, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

Montgomery Scott

In the sentence about The Final Frontier I changed "[[Montgomery Scott]]" to "[[Montgomery Scott|Scotty]]", but this was reverted without explanation. No one besides hardcore Star Trek fans has any idea who "Montgomery Scott" is. The character was almost always referred to as "Scotty". If we want this article to be understandable by everyone, not just trekkies, it should use the character names that people are familiar with. Calling Scotty "Mongomery Scott" is like calling Archie "Archibald Andrews" or Winnie-the-Pooh "Edward Bear". These are characters after all, not real people. Kaldari (talk) 20:28, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

Actually, WP:JARGON was the very reason I reverted it. There have been numerous articles, especially episode articles, where every principal character was exclusively referred to by their nickname (and usually not even wikilinked) with absolutely nothing identifying who these people were. This was epecially true among Enterprise articles. The feeling was too coloquial, as though they were written by trekkies, only for trekkies. So, I've made a point of either removing exclusive nicknames or augmenting them with some explanation of who they are (usually including rank and/or a title). Maybe I occasionally go to far. In this instance, I personally might have used "[[Montgomery Scott|Chief Engineer Scott]] (Scotty)" or something similar. — Cbbkr (talk) 21:11, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

"[[Montgomery Scott|Chief Engineer Scott]] (Scotty)" seems like a good solution. Kaldari (talk) 21:20, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

Additional Star Trek movie and rank

Niota was mentioned, by name, by Walter Koenig (Pavel Checkov / Kitrick) in the 2008 fan film Star Trek Of Gods and Men. She was Captain of Starfleet Linguistics. If we are going to include JJ Abrams remakes, we should also include the Renegade movies and episodes. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.79.24.52 (talk) 08:14, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

Requested moves

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: move Nyota Uhura to Uhura; no consensus to move James T. Kirk or Leonard McCoy, per the discussion below. As far as consistency goes, this remains consistent per WP:UCRN. Dekimasuよ! 23:07, 11 October 2014 (UTC)

---

• Nyota Uhura → Uhura
• James T. Kirk → Captain Kirk
• Leonard McCoy → Bones McCoy

– Per suggestion at Talk:Montgomery Scott#Requested move (Spock was also suggested, but we don't need to expand that one to Mr. Spock). Unreal7 (talk) 14:10, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

• Support for Uhura. Less sure about the other two. Fairly comfortable with Bones McCoy, but I think James T. Kirk seems rather interchangeable with Captain Kirk. Interested to see what others think. (Note: Might not be a good idea to request multi-moves since each topic should be evaluated on its own.) Erik (talk | contrib) ^{(ping me)} 14:34, 29 September 2014 (UTC)
• Definite support for Uhura, as her first name wasn't given in the canon until recently, and isn't well known. I highly doubt Kirk's article should be moved, as he often is referred to as "James T. Kirk" in the canon, and in writing about Star Trek, so oppose on that one. Not so sure about McCoy either. —innotata 18:08, 29 September 2014 (UTC)
• It feels odd to say it but I:

Oppose Captain Kirk and Bones McCoy, Its either Leonard McCoy or "Bones". It would be out of place to have Captain Kirk as the one member of crew known by rank.

Support Uhura, who wouldn't. Gregkaye ✍♪ 18:45, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

• Strong procedural oppose These should all be proposed separately. Each name has different issues surrounding the current name and the proposed name. (such as how common it is, and how recognizable it is, how many other topics have the name) -- 65.94.171.225 (talk) 04:46, 30 September 2014 (UTC)
• Support for Uhura move, most people are not hard core fans and would only know that name. Oppose both Captain Kirk and Bones McCoy moves. Shouldn't include rank or nickname. SonOfThornhill (talk) 10:50, 30 September 2014 (UTC)
• Oppose all but second that they should not be together 24.131.80.54 (talk) 23:34, 30 September 2014 (UTC)
• Oppose. The names of the characters are now established. bd2412 T 13:37, 1 October 2014 (UTC)

  Are you saying that "Nyota" is established as common per WP:COMMONNAME? Erik (talk | contrib) ^{(ping me)} 13:40, 1 October 2014 (UTC)

  We have Hikaru Sulu and Montgomery Scott, not Mister Sulu and Scotty (which would be the more common usages there), so it is a matter of consistency. bd2412 T 16:29, 7 October 2014 (UTC)

  We could simply do Sulu (Star Trek). Erik (talk | contrib) ^{(ping me)} 16:33, 7 October 2014 (UTC)

• Comment: I agree with Erik and others that these requests would be better handled separately. They have different merits and trying to give them all proper consideration in a combined thread is tough (and results in lots of jumbled pro-this-but-con-that !vote combos). ╠╣uw [talk] 19:21, 1 October 2014 (UTC)
  • As for the proposed changes themselves, I oppose. The full names of McCoy and Kirk appear to be sufficiently recognizable and un-surprising as to support retaining the current titles. Uhura's given name is obviously less well known, but if articles on all the others use the full name then hers should too as a matter of consistency. ╠╣uw [talk] 10:06, 7 October 2014 (UTC)
• It should be Uhura, James T. Kirk, and Leonard McCoy. If fans are at all likely to know to the full name, that should be used. Confabulationist (talk) 02:50, 2 October 2014 (UTC)

---

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Interracial kiss

I can't make sense of the sentence:

"The episode is popularly cited as the first example of a scripted inter-racial kiss on United States television, only second to English being the first in the world."

What's trying to be said? In particular by the "only second to English being the first in the world."

Apepper (talk) 19:08, 13 July 2014 (UTC)

• I believe they're trying to say that the first scripted interracial kiss was on a British hospital drama (forget the name). I think that kiss was in 1964. There used to be a link to the article for that TV program, but this article has been so messed with it has been lost. Sir Rhosis (talk) 20:49, 13 July 2014 (UTC)

On the contrary! The first interracial kiss on Star Trek was actually between Uhura and Nurse Christine Chapel on the Enterprise bridge during the episode "What Are Little Girls Madew of?" (still frame shot) 71.215.67.106 (talk) 00:19, 8 November 2014 (UTC)

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