A canonical anti-Vulcan joke in ST:TMP?

[Orrex]

Okay, I expect that this might have been obvious to everyone but me, but here goes anyway (forgive me if I'm light on the details--I haven't seen the film in quite a while).

So we're in the Enterprise's transporter room, and we witness, along with Kirk et al, the accident in which two people--one of them Vulcan--fail to materialize successfully and get yanked back to the Starbase's transporter, where they promptly die. When I first saw the scene, back when I was eight or so, it really horrified me. Good stuff!

But very recently it occurred to me that the Starfleet transporter techie sneaks in a joke at the newly-deceased Vulcan's expense.

Sez the transporter guy:
"What we got back didn't live long... Fortunately."

Now, here's why I'm inclined to read this as a deliberate joke. The accident happened just seconds before, so even if the victims died at the very moment that the guy made the announcement, it makes no sense to say that they didn't "live long." I mean, three seconds isn't "long" by most people's standards, and you'd be more likely to say that they had "died immediately" or "died as they materialized" or something similar.

But this was a Vulcan, for whom we all know the common greeting to be "Live long and prosper." So I figure that the transporter techie deliberately chose his words to get in a zinger before mopping up the Vulcan's remains. Sure, he could've said "what we got back didn't live long or prosper," but that would have been too obvious.


What do you think? Should the techie have been reprimanded for inappropriate snarkiness?

And is this a joke that you all figured out decades ago?

[nickinSTL]

1. i don't think it was intended as a joke...

I think what it was is that the transporter sort of...scrambled the science officer (scrambled is hardly a technical term, but you get the point) - and what materialized was so...deformed, it would have been in horrific pain, I think.

That's how I always understood it, anyway.

[Orrex]

2. Well, I understand the quick but horrific death, of course

But my point is that the techie's choice of words doesn't ring true. If a guy were struck by a car and died within seconds, and if someone were on-scene to comment about it in real time, the commentator wouldn't say "he didn't live long" unless he was going for a sick joke. I mean, the poor guy died more or less instantly, so "long" just sounds wrong in that context.

Nope. I'm convinced that the transporter techie is an anti-Vulcan speciesist.


Of course, I should have noted that my original post wasn't entirely serious, but it's fun to ponder...

[kay1864]

3. I agree with nickinSTL

The deformed result probably screamed for a few seconds, then died.

I honestly don't think the script writers were making a double-entendre.

[Orrex]

4. Right--I get that part, but...

To be sure, a good bit of ST:TMP's dialogue is kind of lame, but it's weird that the writers went out of their way to indicate that the transporter-blob "didn't live long" rather than "died instantly."

Can we at least agree that the techie's line sounds a little false?

[kay1864]

5. I dunno..

some people are averse to saying "died" (including screenwriters). "didn't live long" is a little easier on the audience's ears, and the "fortunately" connotes sympathy.

"What we got back died instantly" would sound harsh and militaristic.

Plus it wasn't just one Vulcan, it was a Vulcan and a human. To me, the "live long" is just a coincidence.

[Orrex]

6. Why do you hate America?!?

Honestly, I've already made a bigger deal out of this than I'd meant to. If we can all just agree that I'm always right, we can move on without further incident. :)

[kay1864]

7. My mistake

I didn't realize who I was talking to :P