Alice Eve Refuses To Apologize For Star Trek Underwear Scene, Even Though Others Have
Alice Eve isn't backing down from a scene she did during Star Trek Beyond that had her stripping down to just her underwear.
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Alice Eve still doesn’t feel it is necessary to apologize for one of the most controversial scenes in Star Trek: Into Darkness. The 2013 sequel to J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot has faced a lot of criticism in the past from nerdy complaints like its decision to mess with the timeline of the original series, to more important critiques like whitewashing one of science fiction’s only Indian characters. However, perhaps the loudest criticism about the sequel came in the form of the gratuitous semi-nude scene featuring Alice Eve’s character, Carol Marcus.
The scene in question saw Alice Eve’s character, an otherwise brilliant scientist, strip to just her bra and underwear while half-heartedly making Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk turn his back so that she could change into her best torpedo diffusing outfit. Sure enough, the womanizing Kirk sneaks a peak and the audience gets a glimpse of Alic Eve’s very impressive-looking body. Still, critics reasonably noted at the time that the moment had no real narrative purpose and seemed solely designed to pander to the wrong kind of young adult science fiction fans (12 to 17-year-old boys who like boobies).
However, speaking to Inverse about her latest movie, another installment in the science fiction genre titled Warnings, Alice Eve addressed the criticism but stopped short of offering an apology. Instead, she seemingly noted that she could be a bit too close to the scene in question given how hard she worked to make her body look screen-ready. She explained that she’s proud of that scene because, to her, it represents the culmination of a lot of hard work with a personal trainer. She also makes sure to note that she voluntarily agreed to do said scene and get ripped in the process.
Alice Eve stated that the sentiment that developed among viewers and critics was that she shouldn’t have agreed to do a scene she now feels proud of, which she finds “confusing” to this day. However, it has made her rethink the way she’s portrayed, especially in the science fiction genre. That’s why she’s so particularly excited for the world to see Warnings, her collaboration with female filmmaker Agata Alexander.
Although Alice Eve stopped short of apologizing for the scene, the fact is that both the director and co-writer of Star Trek: Into Darkness have since seen the error of their ways. J.J. Abrams previously admitted during an appearance on Conan that he had hoped to use the scene as another way to show that Captain Kirk can find a beat to be a bit of a lothario even in the direst of situations. However, he admitted that he may have edited the scene incorrectly and fully sees why critics call it gratuitous, according to CBR.
Meanwhile, Damon Lindelof finally admitted that he screwed up with Alice Eve’s underwear scene in a tweet at the time, per The Guardian. While he took a moment to note that Chris Pine was seen in his underwear as well earlier in the movie, he still told critics that he would endeavor to do better in the future to ensure that not a single moment from his future projects are accused of being misogynistic.
