Let's talk about... Poppy Ratchapong Anomakiti
(This post is inspired by @angelbesideme who didn't know who Poppy was when I rambled on about him in some tags on a post about Tankhun in Kinnporsche. The gist of that ramble is that I love that Tong is getting to play such a complex character with Tankhun since all he had been given before kp was very plain characterisation.
And it's similar with Poppy - in that Poppy is FANTASTIC at the slapstick comedy characters but I just know he would slay a serious role and I really hope he's given the chance in the future. So @angelbesideme this is for you.)
I first became aware of Poppy in YYY, in which he plays Porpla - a yaoi fan and owner of a boarding house...who is either trans or a drag queen (apologies for not knowing exactly).
And in my awareness of him I learnt he was also in Why R U? and Lovely Writer, both of which I had already watched and not really noticed him in...so I went back to see.
In Why R U? he plays Junior - a class clown character and friend of Zon...so with similar slapstick theatrics to YYY...(on the right below)
But in Lovely Writer, he plays Jap, Gene's brother - I think he's the older brother but with the characters' dynamic he sometimes acts like a bratty younger brother - but either way, it's a little more *ahem* 'straight acting'...
And then most recently he's played Foei in Cutie Pie - Lian's wonderful assistant. He's back in a slapstick role but oh my god he was so good. So cute, so darling, so upstaging.
BUT having said that, I really want to see him play something serious, deep, challenging, angsty, soul-destroying (mine), and H E A V Y.
Praying to the bl gods to bring this about...not that it has to be a bl...I would watch him in anything just to see it.
126 notes
·
View notes
I think Journey to Babel is an interesting episode for a lot of reasons, though a big part of that is that it explores Spock's relationships with not just the people around him, but also with rules.
If this was someone's first episode of TOS, but they were familiar with more recent material, this iteration of Spock's character would be familiar. He's sticking by rules, to the detriment of both himself and others. And all other characters in this episode, as well as most fans, accept that as Spock's motivations throughout the episode.
But looking at Spock's stated rationale closer, it's clear that that's not what's going on.
[ID: Two gifs from Star Trek: The Original Series. The first gif shows Spock in a blue Starfleet uniform. He is standing in a green room in front of a red-lit glass cupboard that has a vase inside. Spock is captioned saying "My first responsibility is to the ship." The second gif continues Spock's speech, but he is no longer visible, with the shot instead panning to the ship's Doctor (Dr. McCoy) and then to Spock's mom (Amanda). Spock's words are captioned as, "[Our passenger safety is by Starfleet order]". End ID]
Here, Spock's first defense of not going into surgery to save his father's life is over regulations. However, in previous episodes, it's clear that Spock is comfortable disobeying rules for his benefit. In The Menagerie, he commits mutiny to bring Captain Pike to Talos IV, and risks the death penalty by doing so. In The Devil in the Dark, he openly overrides Jim's orders, initially to protect an unknown species, then later to protect Jim. If Spock and Jim weren't so close, both of these instances could likely lead to criminal charges.
And yet, he gets cold feet here. Even if a regulation existed that prevented Spock from temporarily stepping down (which I highly doubt), he's not one to shy away from breaking regulations when he sees fit.
(Also, does the verbiage in that first gif sound familiar to anyone? That's almost word-for-word what he said to Leila when he was letting her down in This Side of Paradise; I half-expected him to finish with "to that man on the bridge". Perhaps that's a subtle indication of where Spock really feels his responsibility lies.)
He then gets a bit more specific, in saying he doesn't want to hand over command in such a stressful situation.
[ID: Two gifs of Spock in his room, in front of an intersection between a white and green wall. He is making eye contact with and speaking to Amanda offscreen. Over the two gifs, his words are captioned: "Any competent officer can command the ship under normal circumstances. / The circumstances are NOT normal." The word "normal" in the first gif is underlined. End ID]
Oddly, that's a completely different defense. And not a logical one, since Scotty has been at the helm in equally stressful situations, like in A Taste of Armageddon, or The Apple, for example. It would even be a reasonable argument that Scotty is better in command than Spock, considering how stressed Spock got in The Galileo Seven. Also, because Spock is in his room here, someone else who's capable of command must be at the helm already, so why don't they just stay there? As much as I hate to admit it, Amanda was right-- before she went on her racist and manipulative tirade-- in that Spock should be able to hand over command to someone else.
He also talks to his mom about Vulcan philosophies, but given how it doesn't benefit anyone to have an acting captain who's so keenly distracted, it's not a logical argument to stick with.
[ID: A set of three gifs from the same scene as above, where Spock is talking to his mother. They are standing in front of a white wall with red lighting. He paces around her such that his face is only visible in the second and third gif. Amanda's expressions are never shown to camera. He is captioned saying, "It means to adopt a philosophy, a way of life, / Which is logical and beneficial / We cannot disregard that philosophy merely for personal gain." End ID]
So, what's making Spock behave like this? I don't think his sudden inflexibility here is because he cares for Sarek less than Jim and Captain Pike. That may be true, but Spock was the one who suggested the experimental procedure, and already volunteered as a donor before Kirk got injured. It's also not to impress his dad with Vulcan stoicism, since Sarek wouldn't live to see that play out.
In answer to that question, the episode posits that Spock's distress over his dad's critical condition makes him unable to think clearly. Though, Spock wasn't contradicting himself like this until Kirk got hurt. Before Jim's injury, he was following a coherent thought and behavior pattern (as in: dad is injured -> research ways to help -> talk to the doctor about it). But afterwards, his level-headedness went out the window, to the extent that when he went into the surgery (only after being led to believe Kirk was okay), he was restless and asking for Jim, despite the fact that he should have been unconscious from medication.
[ID: A gif of an operation from the same episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. In it, Dr. McCoy and Nurse Chapel are standing over an unconscious Sarek. He is wearing a green surgical blanket and his chest is underneath an angular grey medical device. Spock is laying in a different bed, and between them is a wall mount that connects four tubes; the two coming from Spock's side have a light green liquid, and the two going to Sarek have dark green liquid, to indicate the filtering of Vulcan blood. Spock is awake, sat up in bed, when Bones asks, "Where do you think you're going?" and Spock replies, "I must see the captain." Nurse Chapel reaches for a syringe. End ID]
I'd be willing to buy that both his dad and Jim's injuries causes Spock to be stressed out of his mind. However, the pacing of the episode shows that it's Jim's less severe stab wound that pushes him over the edge, to the point where he's forgetting things and not able to justify himself. I even believe Spock thought his actions were logical, he just lacked the self-awareness to realize he was incapacitated.
[ID: A set of two gifs, where Spock is lying upright in a sick patient bed. He's wearing an outpatient robe, and behind him is a red pillow and grey metallic headboard. Spock is staring at the floor until partway through the second gif, until he looks up to make eye contact with Kirk offscreen. Over the two gifs, his words are captioned: "The thing I don't understand / Is why I didn't think of it earlier." End ID]
I don't have a good conclusion here, other than that his actions make no sense unless he was worried sick (about Jim, specifically), which destroyed his rationality, objectiveness, and reverted him to Vulcan emotional barriers in a situation where it's illogical to have them. It's baffling to me that no one in the episode questioned Spock's logic, since his sudden adherence to rules is inconsistent with how he behaves normally, but it does fit in with his tendency to get agitated when Jim is injured.
74 notes
·
View notes