As with many things that are subject to opinion, the green tunic that was worn by Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek series has been up for debate over the years when it comes to the reason why he wore it and what it meant. When taking into account that people will find out the meaning of everything, even if it’s a peculiar speck of dust in the corner of a set, this isn’t much of a surprise, especially since the tunics that were worn by the rest of the crew usually denoted their position on the ship. But the green tunic was apparently worn to showcase the evil and better halves of Captain Kirk during The Enemy Within episode. Then again, there are those that think it was devised to hide the weight gain that Shatner started to experience at some point, but this is highly debatable since as you can imagine those that are interested in being right about this debate have gone back and stated that a person couldn’t possibly experience that type of weight gain in so short a time. It’s not exactly an argument I’m eager to recreate in this article since it’s one of the many that would end with a seriously irritated eye roll and a desire to remind people that more often than not, fiction is supposed to be fun.
In all honesty, I’ve had plenty of arguments over various other shows and movies that are a part of pop culture, but at the end of the day, one still has to remember that as much as people tend to argue over their favorite shows and movies, they’re FICTIONAL, meaning that trying to argue over the finer points becomes a little silly after a while. The green tunic had a purpose no doubt since a lot of what was brought into the show had a purpose and was mean to convey some meaning, but after learning what it was, or finding some reason to believe in, a lot of people do actually shrug their shoulders and move on. Those that don’t often want things to make sense and can’t let something go until they do. The detail-oriented individuals that need that consistency in their lives aren’t wrong, but stressing so hard over an outfit is something that shouldn’t really take up this much of a person’s life. Plus, the fact that so many people are unable to come to a compromise and accept that there could be a couple of reasons why the green tunic was used is, admittedly, a little frustrating. But even with that in mind, it’s usually best to shrug one’s shoulders and simply move on to the next idea that comes along.
Star Trek has been around so long that the uniforms have changed a few times and will probably continue to change as the shows and movies continue to roll out, especially since the fact is that from the inception of Starfleet to the current moment in which it exists, quite a few things will have changed, and one even has to think that with the time travel and the changes that have been made because of it that the uniforms would change even further. Trying to keep up with all of it is a headache waiting to happen, not to mention the idea of people wanting to ‘get it right’ with each new version of the uniform. If every version of the Starfleet uniform were rolled out at this point there are a couple of certainties. One is that quite a few Trekkies might be staring doe-eyed at the sight since it would be akin to rolling out a line of favorite sweets and treats to a group of kids, and two is that many Trekkies would be able to pick and point to which uniforms appeared in which movies, episodes, and so on and so forth. Yes, there are people out there that pay attention to the details of every show and movie and could probably tell people just when this or that showed up for the first time. It doesn’t make these people nutcases and it certainly doesn’t mean that they’re any worse or better when it comes to fanhood. They’re definitely passionate when it comes to caring about Star Trek, that’s for certain, but many people don’t wish to take their level of fandom this far simply because they want to enjoy the shows and movies without having to worry about the finer details that some folks obsess over.
The green tunic is a small argument next to many others, but it’s one that a lot of hardcore fans likely have their own opinion about since it’s something that has to do with Kirk. Let’s not even get into the old argument of which captain is better, we’d be here for days.
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