# "KHAAAAN!!!!!" Kirk was deliberately overacting? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 5, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khaaaan-kirk-was-deliberately-overacting/273100 "2004-11-05T01:15:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khaaaan-kirk-was-deliberately-overacting/273100/21 "2004-11-05T22:04:08Z")
> [@kingpengvin](#): > > This has to be the worst day of his life Good points save for this one. [This](http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TOS/episode/68818.html) is the worst day of Kirk’s life. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khaaaan-kirk-was-deliberately-overacting/273100/22 "2004-11-05T22:37:32Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > Sayeth the threadshitter. I don’t think calling a thread purposeless is the same as shitting on it. Shitting on it would be calling it _stupid_, and throwing a few personal insults at the OP in the process for even having the audacity to dare considering raising the subject in the first place. The purposelessness of this premise is that trying to add an extra motive to Kirk doesn’t improve the story in any way. Had it been a calculated attempt to lure Khan down to the asteroid, it would have been followed by more dialog (probably along the lines of the “poor marksman” taunts) once Kirk discovered that screaming accomplished nothing. In this case, the simplest explanation happens to be the best one: Kirk was having a genuine moment of fury and frustration. There might be _some_ evidence of Kirk’s planning in a later moment, if you want to be especially generous: David: We can’t just sit here! Kirk: [puts on glasses, reads his watch - another rare moment in Trekkery] Yes, we can. Maybe Kirk is planning, or maybe he’s just reading his watch. In any case, what follows seems clear enough evidence that Kirk emotional displays are genuine: Saavik: [about to follow David to the Genesis chamber] Admiral? Kirk: As your teacher, Mr. Spock, is fond of saying, I like to think there always are… possibilities. Kirk definitely doesn’t sound upbeat when he says this, nor is there any hint of a wink to Saavik or the audience. Subsequently; Kirk and Carol briefly discuss David and some bitterness is apparent on Kirk’s part that he’d been forced to “stay away”, at her request. Carol: Please tell me what you’re feeling. [guys love this question] Kirk: There’s a man out there I haven’t seen in fifteen years, who’s trying to kill me. You show me your son that would be happy to help him… My son… My life that could have been…and wasn’t…What am I feeling? Old. Worn out. Carol: Let me show you something… that’ll make you feel _young_, as when the world was new. Kirk subsequently sees the Genesis Chamber and is suitably awed. Kirk then munches a rather symbolic apple, tells Saavik about how he beat the _Kobayashi Maru_, and is back to his cocky old self when he talks to Spock, punctuating “All right! I don’t like to lose” with a final apple-bite. The cathartic scream leading to depression, which gets reinforced by the conversation with Carol and then lifted by the astonishing Genesis Chamber, followed by the recall of past cleverness… this is a pretty straightforward emotional roller-coaster. I think it would be somewhat tainted to suggest that Kirk was faking any part of it, and that the scream is anything other than what it appears. Finally, and possibly most significant, is Meyer’s DVD commentary on these scenes makes no mention, or even a hint, that there was some subtext in Shatner’s performance. To be fair, though, the commentary was recorded over 20 years after the movie was made, and Meyer tends to dodder more than analyze. Meyer admits, though, that Carol’s “Let me show you something that’ll make you feel young” was unintentionally funny and he regrets it, along with the visual cheesiness of the Genesis Chamber. There. I’ve provided evidence supporting my claim (though not proving it, of course, since it’s all just a matter of opinion) that the thread premise is pointless. If that be shittery, make the most of it. One oddity during the scenes (which I’ve reviewed to get the dialog right) is that when Terrell blasts himself with his phaser, his phaser disappears, too. Also, Chekov tells Kirk, McCoy and Saavik that Khan “put creatures into our bodies” but McCoy didn’t scan him and Terrell with a tricorder? Geez, Bones, what’s up with _that?_ ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khaaaan-kirk-was-deliberately-overacting/273100/23 "2004-11-05T22:58:03Z")
Well, why didn’t you phrase it like that in the first place? 🙂 I think you’re right about pointless vs. shitting. It was just a theory, and I overreacted to your comment. I’ve been snappy all day. Somebody pissed in my Wheaties I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khaaaan-kirk-was-deliberately-overacting/273100/24 "2004-11-05T23:09:06Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > Somebody pissed in my Wheaties I guess. That was me. Sorry. I’ve been drinking a lot lately. Must be seasonal-affective disorder. _KHAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNN!!!_ Hey, that _does_ work! ---
**Author:** ![shadowfax33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@shadowfax33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shadowfax33)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khaaaan-kirk-was-deliberately-overacting/273100/25 "2004-11-06T01:25:25Z")
Sort of OT, but not really… You can buy a t-shirt that says “Khaaaaaaaan!”. I’ve seen it over at [www.televisionwithoutpity.com](http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com). I love it that it has no explanation or anything. Just Khaaaaaaaaan and that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khaaaan-kirk-was-deliberately-overacting/273100/26 "2004-11-06T02:22:05Z")
> [@shadowfax33](#): > > Sort of OT, but not really… And further, anyone remember the opening joke of _Kill Bill_ (Volume 1)? “Revenge is a dish best served cold”… ancient Klingon proverb ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khaaaan-kirk-was-deliberately-overacting/273100/27 "2004-11-06T09:15:33Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > That was me. Threadpisser. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khaaaan-kirk-was-deliberately-overacting/273100/28 "2004-11-06T16:39:21Z")
Umm - I’ve never considered that it wasn’t faked. In the original cinema release that I saw, the majority of the audience all broke out laughing when Kirk used the communicator. I’m sure we all thought that Kirk knew the whole time, certainly my friends and I did. I thought the crack about ‘surprises’ was an indicator to that. It’s an interesting thought to consider that he didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khaaaan-kirk-was-deliberately-overacting/273100/29 "2004-11-08T03:20:54Z")
[Moderator bell] Ding! Ding! YO!! Personal insults are not permitted in this forum. Y’all know that, and I won’t need to say anything further. Right? ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khaaaan-kirk-was-deliberately-overacting/273100/30 "2004-11-08T06:14:25Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > Capt. Kirk was **deliberately** overacting in that scene. Kirk knew that Spock would be back to rescue them, so he was trying to sell to Khan that he really truly believed he was being buried alive. Here is how the scream appeared in the printed shooting script: ```auto KIRK Khan! KIRK Khan! ``` That’s it. No underline, no all-caps, and only one exclamation point. Everything on top of that was all Shatner’s (or the director’s) doing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khaaaan-kirk-was-deliberately-overacting/273100.md?page=1)