STID, an Unpopular Opinion
Jun. 21st, 2013 09:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katikatFor me, Ben's Khan is the ultimate Khan. The One and Only. And I don't give a flying monkey just how non-PC this opinion is.
It's been... a year or two since I watched Space Seed, the Khan-centric episode of ST:TOS. And even though the concept was incredibly intriguing, I didn't like the execution. Ricardo Montalban - an otherwise excellent actor, just remember his part in Columbo! - was a dolled-up Lothario with a weird hair-do, a big mouth and delusions of grandeur. At no point did he feel like a legitimate threat. This was a genetically superior person? I didn't see any evidence of why he should actually consider himself superior. He felt like a cult leader, not someone who would lead his people into war and actually win. And all that, all these things I've felt way before it was revealed whom Benedict would be playing, so you can't accuse me of saying this because Benny is my favorite or whatever.
Now take Benedict's Khan. His absolute control, his barely contained strength, his preternatural calmness. He was a psychopath but he lived and breathed for his crew. This was a man I could actually see people follow into battle, fight and die for just because he asked them to. In that aspect he reminded me of TDKR's Bane who inspired similar loyalty. Ben's Khan really was superior, his fighting ability, his manipulations... He was always a step ahead of everybody. Just look at what he was capable off, look at the fight with the Klingons - can you imagine 72 people of his caliber in a battle? And his only weakness was his family, it was their second "death" that finally drove him over the edge. And even then, his goal was revenge. He thought he lost everybody and so he decided to make everybody else pay and suffer for it.
And that's a reason why I will always, always see Benedict when Khan will be mentioned from now on. Because he inspired awe and fear, his personality, his mind, his physical prowess that he didn't flaunt but kept hidden. I mean, they had to put him back to sleep because there was no way they could've contained him. This, THIS is what Khan should be like. You should look at him and FEEL it. Ricardo Montalban did not make me feel it, at any point. But Ben's simple "Everything!" made me sit up and take notice.
So, thank you, Mr. Abrams for giving me this. Your forever grateful fan!
It's been... a year or two since I watched Space Seed, the Khan-centric episode of ST:TOS. And even though the concept was incredibly intriguing, I didn't like the execution. Ricardo Montalban - an otherwise excellent actor, just remember his part in Columbo! - was a dolled-up Lothario with a weird hair-do, a big mouth and delusions of grandeur. At no point did he feel like a legitimate threat. This was a genetically superior person? I didn't see any evidence of why he should actually consider himself superior. He felt like a cult leader, not someone who would lead his people into war and actually win. And all that, all these things I've felt way before it was revealed whom Benedict would be playing, so you can't accuse me of saying this because Benny is my favorite or whatever.
Now take Benedict's Khan. His absolute control, his barely contained strength, his preternatural calmness. He was a psychopath but he lived and breathed for his crew. This was a man I could actually see people follow into battle, fight and die for just because he asked them to. In that aspect he reminded me of TDKR's Bane who inspired similar loyalty. Ben's Khan really was superior, his fighting ability, his manipulations... He was always a step ahead of everybody. Just look at what he was capable off, look at the fight with the Klingons - can you imagine 72 people of his caliber in a battle? And his only weakness was his family, it was their second "death" that finally drove him over the edge. And even then, his goal was revenge. He thought he lost everybody and so he decided to make everybody else pay and suffer for it.
And that's a reason why I will always, always see Benedict when Khan will be mentioned from now on. Because he inspired awe and fear, his personality, his mind, his physical prowess that he didn't flaunt but kept hidden. I mean, they had to put him back to sleep because there was no way they could've contained him. This, THIS is what Khan should be like. You should look at him and FEEL it. Ricardo Montalban did not make me feel it, at any point. But Ben's simple "Everything!" made me sit up and take notice.
So, thank you, Mr. Abrams for giving me this. Your forever grateful fan!
