Interviewer: Does Spock envy Kirk in any way - or wish he had that ease with women, rather than the problems he’s always having?
Nimoy: “Well - Wait a minute - What problems?”
Interviewer: ‘Well, for example, Leila in “This Side of Paradise -“
Nimoy: “‘This Side of Paradise?’ That’s not a problem.”
Interviewer: ‘“I can love you,” Spock says when he finally is under the effect of the spores. Before that he couldn’t even talk to her.’
Nimoy [flatly]: “It’s not a problem. Spock without the influence of the spores functions the way he wants to - functions the way he chooses to. The spores put him in an altered position, where he functions differently because of the spores. But before and after the effect of the spores, he functions the way he chooses to.
Interviewer: ‘But the essence of that particular story is that spores released him to express the emotions which he had within him.’
Nimoy: “Well, I dealt with that in the book, I Am Not Spock. The
point is that what you’re saying, the position you’re taking is that Spock,
if he had the choice would choose to function as he did under the influence
of the spores. Or that he was happiest then. And what I said in the book was that
that’s not necessarily true. He had some insight into another kind of
experience, which was interesting. But that does not necessarily mean
that that would be his choice. Given the opportunity, he makes the choice
to go the other way. He could, at the end of the show say, I would prefer
to be that way, to be in that condition. But he doesn’t, does he?”
Interviewer: ‘Actually, he almost does. He says, “For the first time in my life,
I was happy.” ’
Nimoy: “I wrote about that line, and what I said was that the human assumption
would be that that would be a desirable state. Spock is not describing
it in a qualitative sense. He’s describing it in a descriptive sense.
Like you might say, ‘For the first time in my life I had a hamburger.
For the first time in my life I was happy. For the first time in my life
I walked down La Cienega Boulevard. For the first time in my life, I sat
down and had lunch at The Captain’s Table.’ It’s just a statement
of fact of something that he experienced. Humans would automatically say,
‘Aw, the poor guy, he can’t be happy anymore. He was only happy for that
moment.’ Spock wasn’t feeling sorry for himself when he said that. He
isn’t saying: (Spock:) ‘That’s a state of grace that I would like to achieve
for the rest of my life.’ He’s just saying: ‘That’s interesting. Now I
know what Humans mean when they say, “I’m happy.” Well, for
the first time in my life, I was happy. So, I know, now. It’s part of
my recorded matter in my head. If somebody says, “Do you know what
happiness is?” - Yeah, I think I could say I know what that is. I
had that once.’”
taken from this interview
