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Friday, February 14, 2014

Observation

I am really amazed at how many Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes are becoming unwatchable for me, especially given how warmly I felt about the show for so long. Captain Picard and Beverly Crusher remain strong for me (I can even forgive that business about the ghost for a character who utters the line, "If there's nothing wrong with me... maybe there's something wrong with the universe!"), but Riker, Geordi, Barclay are all too creepy stalky rapey grossly mansplainy all too often, Data's pinocchio schtick is unbearable, Guinan and Ro appear in too few episodes with too little screen time for the most part, plot holes and inconsistencies and pseudo-scientific woo abound. I find that TOS has aged far better than TNG, not least because what is insufferable in the latter is not leavened by camp.

9 comments:

jimf said...

> . . .but Riker. . .

He's the worst. I'm never sure whether he was ironically **intended**
to come off that way, or whether he was intended by all
to be taken at face value.

> . . .Geordi. . .

Never did anything for me, either.

> . . .Barclay. . .

Well, you know, old Reg was the token sissy on the show
(even though he was nominally heterosexual).

Can't make it with the ladies, skeered of the transporter,
in constant need of encouragement from Counsellor Troi,
twitchy and neurotic in a Jack Lemmon-ish sort of way.

How did he ever get through the Academy?

> I find that TOS has aged far better than TNG. . .

Yeah, I've always thought so. But I'm suspicious of my
judgment, because TOS was **my** Star Trek -- I was 14
when it premiered

Anonymous said...

Agreed and agreed (esp. with respect to Guinan)!

Love is another thing that I have always felt is conspicuously absent in TNG. Of course, there are countless (and rather conventional) examples—it seems nearly everyone ends up hooking up sooner or later, the "fatherly" love between Picard and Wesley, Crusher and Picard's affection, etc..

But on the whole, the crew lacks the familial sort of love that gets me all warm and fuzzy every time I watch TOS. But maybe I am just vibing off your previous post. In any case, my two cents.

http://31.media.tumblr.com/0007fefa6e414a75e27d5831bc16924e/tumblr_mx8gdvE2of1r60h6bo5_r1_250.gif

Dale Carrico said...

The biggest sissy in the Star Trek universe is Q. Which is fitting. I prefer my gods to be sissies.

erickingsley said...

Well Jim, I was 14 when TNG premiered and I still think TOS has aged better.

Esebian said...

As a kid I didn't get the gender-relations angle, but I always wondered why they went the whole "wanna be more human" spiel with Data. In Trek's allegedly pluralistic society they live together with entire species that give proof of other ways of life. Vulcans reject any form of emotion and yet apparently have a rich existence.

Seems like the United States- I mean Federation of Planets is a WASP- erm, human-run club.

jimf said...

> Well Jim, I was 14 when TNG premiered and
> I still think TOS has aged better.

Maybe it was just that 60's magic.

http://www.mrpopculture.com/1966
http://1966myfavoriteyear.blogspot.com/

jimf said...

This might be fun:

http://www.amazon.com/These-Are-Voyages-Season-Volume/dp/0989238121/

jimf said...

A whole lotta Trek (I love this stuff!):

http://s17.photobucket.com/user/fendert/library/?sort=2&page=1

And on a related note:

http://typesetinthefuture.com/2001-a-space-odyssey/

jimf said...

> A whole lotta Trek (I love this stuff!):
>
> http://s17.photobucket.com/user/fendert/library/?sort=2&page=1

That's actually the image repository for the articles at:

http://tosgraphics.yuku.com/forums/58#.UwdRk86vlv8