If anyone noticed, Leonard Nimoy, aka Spock, often stood with his hands behind his back whenever he was on screen, though it’s likely that many people failed to notice this after a while since to be fair, a lot of us tend to think that something is normal if it’s done more than a few times in our line of sight. For instance, we might think that one character is normal for crossing their arms in a certain way since they do this constantly and are known for the gesture. The same is true with Spock, people came to think of this stance as normal simply because he did it so often and, because the idea of standing with your hands behind your back tends to signify a certain level of detachment that is devoid of emotion. Think of this, when a person talks, when many people talk in fact, they use their hands in some way, whether they keep their hands at their sides and curl their fingers slightly now and then or if they make gestures with their hands as they speak. The fact is that a lot of people do ‘talk with their hands’ as it’s a way for them to stay busy and even expend any nervous energy. It’s kind of illogical in a way and it does in a sense convey emotions quite readily, which is where we come back to Spock. Being a primarily logical being, Spock often viewed many things and people with a sense of emotionless detachment that kept him a bit apart from everyone else even when he was part of the group. His logical mind didn’t really start toning itself down until later in life when his human side either asserted itself or he simply learned that embracing the illogical facets of life was an inevitability that couldn’t be fought any longer.
The idea though is that Nimoy, who was a very cerebral actor, was perfect for the role of Spock since he could turn his emotions on and off like a switch when he needed to, which made him great for the character and as a result created an icon that people have loved for years. His sometimes cold and detached nature was something that most Vulcans shared since they were all about logic, and anything illogical was something to be examined and possibly analyzed, but almost never embraced as logic was at the core of their beings. Nimoy played this character so well that people likely thought that this was his natural demeanor, though he was reportedly quite an interesting person that did have a full range of emotions and was pleased to talk to fans at times. It’s likely that he talked to a wide assortment of people that had one question after another over the years, but it’s also likely that he embraced this character as much as he could, since it does feel that if he didn’t enjoy his time on the show or the movies that he might have found a way to get his character taken off at one point or another. Believe it or not though he did almost quit at one point since he couldn’t imagine becoming a character with so few emotions, but after being convinced to stay it’s a bit obvious that he found a way to make it work.
There are times when it feels as though the cast members were at odds with one another, which is easy to understand given the ego of their captain and the fact that all of them were trying to build a career, but somehow they managed to make it work and to carry on in a fashion that would create one of the most long-lasting franchises in the history of TV and cinema. Star Trek has been a part of pop culture so long that it’s become legendary in many ways, and has been referenced an untold number of times in its decades-long run. It’s spawned a large number of shows and movies alike and while Spock and the rest of the original crew have eventually gone on their way and passed away, retired, or had their characters finally taken off TV the fans have been utterly loyal to the lot of them and have continued to reference them again and again. As with several pop culture icons, Spock is one of those that is bound to be remembered so long as there are Trekkies that are willing to keep his name around. The idea of him standing with his hands behind his back might fade in and out of common knowledge, but the reason behind it is easy enough to remember since out of the entire crew, Spock has always been the most logical-minded of the many different characters that people have idolized.
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