Open Flailing ChannelpinkthulhuSeptember 2 2010, 21:45:50 UTC
I remember watching STNG at home during high school in the early 90s. I was a massive fan. Wesley was certainly annoying, but no more than the pompous Riker or the wishy-washy Counsellor Troi.
I remember also being annoyed when Doctor Pulaski briefly replaced Doctor Crusher in Series 2, I believe. She didnt last long, fortunately.
Have you seen the "Star Trek" episode of Family Guy?
Also, did you know that Yaphet Kotto was originally a candidate for the role of Picard, and Denise Crosby (later Tasha Yar) was considered to play Troi..? It could have made things interesting. :-)
Re: Open Flailing ChannelextemporaneaSeptember 3 2010, 07:36:27 UTC
I rather liked Doctor Pulaski, she was a tough lady! but I infinitely prefer Beverley, and was glad when she returned. No Riker-dissing on my blog, I like Riker, too. In fact, I think I'm enjoying the series as much as I am because I fundamentally like all these people. The script screws them over relatively often, but the actors are great and the interactions feel real more often than not.
Re: BorgextemporaneaSeptember 3 2010, 07:41:12 UTC
I just bought the boxed set of all the Next Gen movies, because I fell over it in Loot and it was ridiculously cheap. I shall watch them all when I've finished the series :>. I rather enjoyed First Contact, as I recollect. The Borg are very effective bad guys.
Re: Captain Kirk is climbing the mountainextemporaneaSeptember 3 2010, 07:29:35 UTC
Good lord. That was ... extremely lateral. I'm baffled. Amused, but baffled. Also, "Captain Kirk ... is climbing the mountain" will be going round and round my head all day.
There's a difference though between other problematic characters and Wesley. The others were OK concepts problematically executes. Wesley was a terribly concept indifferently executed.
I found the character insulting, but not remotely for the reasons you suggest. The heavy handed "identification pandering" was an insult to my sophistication as a viewer. Similarly, he grated in an analogous way to the way fanfic grates.
No, see, that's entirely a matter of taste. I like Wesley. I don't think he was any worse a concept than any of the other characters - he's better developed, for example, than poor old Tasha was, and that actor lasted an even shorter time in sheer frustration.
And I also don't think your response is very far from the fan response I'm identifying: if you're reading it as "heavy handed identification pandering" then you are recognising something of yourself in him, and resenting it - I think you're just more self-conscious about the process than the majority of Wesley-hating geeks. In a sense, what you're responding to is the writers' stereotyping of the geeky fans; same problem from a different angle.
I really need to rewatch TNG, because I can't remember if I found Wesley annoying and if so how much. I know a lot of female writers who speak the fanfic lingo have described him as an enormous Sue. I don't know how fair that is.
You should totally watch Deep Space Nine because it's the awesomest Star Trek evar because it has Jake Sisko, a recurring teen character somehow done in a way which didn't piss anyone off*. He gets to grow up on the series. He does go away for a bit and come back, but he comes back properly and has a significant role later in the series
( ... )
Yes, of course he's a Sue. I still think he could have worked if he was better written. And you're absolutely right, the lack of peer interaction is one of Wesley's huge problems and has been bugging me throughout. So much that could have been brilliant about Next Gen was basically torpedoed by budget. Sigh.
I find it weird that I really don't remember most of the DS9 I watched on TV - I remember the Babylon 5 stuff vividly. The name Jake Sisko is familiar, but I can't say any more than that.
DS9 was pretty good; better than Voyager. I guess ecause it wasn't hurtling through space, it didn't need a monster-of-the-week, and could take time to develop characters, politics, and cultures.
I particularly liked the weaselly Cardassian character.
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I remember also being annoyed when Doctor Pulaski briefly replaced Doctor Crusher in Series 2, I believe. She didnt last long, fortunately.
Have you seen the "Star Trek" episode of Family Guy?
http://www.familyguy.ws/2009/08/02/not-all-dogs-go-to-heaven/
Also, did you know that Yaphet Kotto was originally a candidate for the role of Picard, and Denise Crosby (later Tasha Yar) was considered to play Troi..? It could have made things interesting. :-)
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/08/star-trekcasting.html
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http://www.epbot.com/2010/09/and-now-musical-interlude.html
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I found the character insulting, but not remotely for the reasons you suggest. The heavy handed "identification pandering" was an insult to my sophistication as a viewer.
Similarly, he grated in an analogous way to the way fanfic grates.
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And I also don't think your response is very far from the fan response I'm identifying: if you're reading it as "heavy handed identification pandering" then you are recognising something of yourself in him, and resenting it - I think you're just more self-conscious about the process than the majority of Wesley-hating geeks. In a sense, what you're responding to is the writers' stereotyping of the geeky fans; same problem from a different angle.
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You should totally watch Deep Space Nine because it's the awesomest Star Trek evar because it has Jake Sisko, a recurring teen character somehow done in a way which didn't piss anyone off*. He gets to grow up on the series. He does go away for a bit and come back, but he comes back properly and has a significant role later in the series ( ... )
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I find it weird that I really don't remember most of the DS9 I watched on TV - I remember the Babylon 5 stuff vividly. The name Jake Sisko is familiar, but I can't say any more than that.
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I particularly liked the weaselly Cardassian character.
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