Klingon Will Endure, Says Rushdie

The new TIME magazine packs an interview with Salman Rushdie, whom some may remember was the subject of a rather unwelcome edict from religious authorities some decades ago.

Rushdie, it says, believes that the language "Klingon" may endure for longer than we might think.

"Klingon", as in Star Trek.

And so, it is properly the attention of a Salman Rushdie, concerned as he is with reality? One may be astonished that such ideas pass his muster. Let's all stipulate that "Klingon" is an artificial language. But then again, so is Esperanto. And dare I say that Esperanto was, and is, geekier than Klingon ever was.

If Rushdie believes that Klingon will endure as a language, as he says, one might ask why.

Klingons are warriors, who believe in nobility. Klingons are our version of the Vikings, whose Valhalla is the Klingon's great hall of the afterlife. They are unabashed in their worship of the martial arts, but equally brash in their adherence to honor, or at least their avocation of same.

And I would submit that this is the possible reason that Klingons may survive as a concept for longer than we might think. They are part of an archetype of the unrefined hero -- the anti-hero, even, or a race of James Deans in space-age garb.

If James Dean lived today, I think he would be the ideal Klingon.

It would be a most honorable role.