The differences that matter — that create comic friction and dramatic tension — are temperamental. Dr. McCoy and Mr. Spock provide the most obvious example. Their relationship in the new “Star Trek Beyond” illustrates one of the great fantasies of management literature, namely that interpersonal antagonism can be harnessed for productive ends. The hotheaded humanist doctor and the rigorously analytical first officer are always at odds, and yet their contrasting methods and styles turn out to be complementary. They don’t need to be good friends to be effective colleagues.
A.O. Scott, “Superhuman Resources”, The New York Times (14 August 2016), AR10.