Synopsis: Captain Kirk, Lt. Uhura, and Ensign Chekov are kidnapped and transported to a planet where they are expected to fight for the pleasure of the Providers.
This is the episode made famous by the tin-foil bikini, that worn by the character of Shahna, Captain James T. Kirk’s training thrall on the planet Triskelion. And yes, she is a beautiful woman, and the tin-foil bikini does reveal that – but I believe she represents something much more to Kirk, she is an embodiment of his anima, a term from the Greek for soul. Or at least Kirk leads her to believe that in order to escape the planet.
Anima is one of the key terms in Depth Psychology of Carl (C. G.) Jung, and in the Archetypal Psychology of James Hillman, yet it is also one of the most controversial. Controversial, in that it reverberates with dualistic, gender specific ideas, that were androcentrically biased when first written, and now, just antiquated in an age of non-binary sexual identity. The concept is that in everyone’s psyche there is an ideal opposite partner. In Jungian terms, this is the feminine anima in a man and a masculine animus in a woman. Already, just the terms used are almost radioactive. But the theory continues that one projects this inner ideal of a partner onto one’s love interest. This results in a fascination with or attraction to a beloved, a feeling that this person is someone one has waited for one’s whole life. One’s soul mate, or Mr. or Ms. Right Now.
With that in mind, Shahna is beautiful, and caring – she not only takes care of Kirk by nourishing him with food and love, but she also instructs him in the way of the thralls, and gallantly fights for him. She is even punished by the Providers for her loyalty to Kirk, much the same way that we saw Vina being punished by the Talosians in “The Menagerie.” Shahna projects her ideal inner masculine onto Kirk. She listens intently as he speaks of the stars and how life is different in other places.
Shahna fully accepted Kirk’s anima projection and fell for him deeply. She would have left the planet and accompanied Kirk if he would have her. But while Kirk accepted Shahna’s animus projection onto himself, his feelings were not the same, he used it to free himself and the freedom of all the thralls. Instead of taking her with him, Kirk tells Shahna that she needs to help create the new civilization on Triskelion. Shahna receives his projection of duty, and will stay on the planet, carrying out this responsibility. The episode ends with Shahna saying: “Goodbye Jim Kirk. I will learn . . . and watch the lights in the sky and remember.” A similar parting will be seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation in the episode “The Perfect Mate,” when Kamala and Captain Jean-Luc Picard part, as she has accepted the projection of his anima and will carry on her responsibilities to her people.
Original post created 23 February 2021
mydailysoultrek 