Data x Tasha. Was that affection or abuse?

Discussion in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' started by xvicente, Sep 19, 2013.

  1. xvicente

    xvicente Captain Captain

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    There's no doubt they had sex in The Naked Time.

    But Tasha was under influence.

    She seemd to regret that at the end opf the episode: "It never happened!"

    Roddenberry was portraying the future as sex-liberal, but I'm not sure this is liberality.

    OTOH Data is clearly immature at that point. He could be argued to be incapable of understand his actions. He annoyed Picard with embarassing questions often.


    Edit: given the occasional truculence of the moderators I've seen around here I half-expect this thread to be deleted or closed on sight. If so, oh, well.
     
  2. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    Are those the only two options?

    Tasha was drunk and Data didn't pick up on the fact that Tasha was not in control of her actions at the time. That was probably bad writing, I don't know, Data should be programmed understand the subtleties of consent, right? It was clear to me that Data was under the impression it was a fully consenting invitation.
     
  3. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    Don't forget, once touched Data was "infected" too so we could argue he wasn't in his right mind either.
     
  4. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Tasha's advice of "It never happened" is good. For the whole episode.
     
  5. Chensams

    Chensams Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I don't really think it was abuse. Not a good decision but not abuse on either party. Data had no way of knowing Tasha Yar was infected.
     
  6. Mutai Sho-Rin

    Mutai Sho-Rin Crusty Old Bastard Moderator

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    Whatever gives you that impression? We try to be very light-handed in the show fora unless obvious abusive or pornographic content appears. I've been mod on this forum for nearly a year and awarded one warning and closed about three content-free threads. Nothing in your thread even peeks over any arbitrary line, much less crosses it, in fact, it is a very good observation IMO.
     
  7. bbjeg

    bbjeg Admiral Admiral

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    The fact that Tasha said "it didn't happen" and that Data kept talking about it could be viewed as abuse.
     
  8. Silvercrest

    Silvercrest Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Did he keep talking about it? I thought I remembered that he got the hint immediately and clammed up ... even though that would be a little unusual for S1 Data.

    Directed to the OP: Who's supposed to have abused whom, anyway?
     
  9. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    Agruably Data since he took advantage of someone who was not in a state of mind to give consent at the time of their encounter. Though at that point it may have been early enough in the events for Data to not know Tasha wasn't in her right mind and, as I said, once touched Data no longer was in his right mind either as he was also vulnerable to the Psi 2000 virus variant.
     
  10. bbjeg

    bbjeg Admiral Admiral

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    [LEFT]Data talked about his romance in later episodes (he even told the Borg queen :lol:), after Tasha said not to. He may not have been in the right state of mind but after he was, he should have dropped it as suggested.[/LEFT]
     
  11. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    "Drunk" or not, Tasha was the sexual aggressor, and Data was virtually a child when it came to sexual experience. I'd say that nobody was at fault.

    Clearly not, since he was reluctant to bring it up in his own defense at his trial in "The Measure of a Man", on the basis that he'd given his word.

    Perhaps bbjeg was under the impression that Picard knew because Data had told him...I was always under the impression that Picard was just that perceptive...and/or possibly Tasha had dropped a hint somewhere behind the scenes that he'd picked up on.
     
  12. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    You have some funny ideas on consent. :wtf: Tasha may have been the aggressor but she still wasn't in her full state of mind, it'd take an immoral person to take advantage of that. Plenty of times drunk women get in "aggressive" moods sexually and it's still pretty much universally considered dickish to take advantage of that.
     
  13. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    If Data were a sexually mature human, and was aware that she wasn't in her right mind, that would be true. You chose to ignore the part where I said that Data was virtually a child when it came to sexuality.

    Hypothetically, if a drunk woman seduces and has sex with a minor, who's at fault?
     
  14. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    The moment she touched his shoulders he was infected with drunk whatever too. So yeah... they both were impaired. Casting blame on either of them is unfounded.

    The only time he mentioned his relationship with Tasha was during the trial for his life, and Picard said it best, "Under the circumstances I don't think Tasha would mind."

    All he did with the Queen was state to the second how long it was since he had sex. He didn't say with who, or announce the circumstances.
     
  15. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    On every forum I've ever been to threads tend to get closed if they brooch on the topic of sexual violence. I think the original poster was worried because he raised the question of whether this constituted sexual violence.

    I think in this case Data was just not capable of identifying Tasha's body language as drunk body language.
     
  16. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    She wasn't really acting "drunk" anyway. She was acting uninhibited, but she wasn't stumbling, slurring her speech, etc.
     
  17. Mutai Sho-Rin

    Mutai Sho-Rin Crusty Old Bastard Moderator

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    OK, I get it now. The way the question was framed, It seemed both logical and interesting. IMO, It is not like it glorified or advocated for sexual violence in any way.
     
  18. Mycroft Maxwell

    Mycroft Maxwell Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    I think this is more like a situation where a person goes to a bar, gets drunk, has a one night stand, then wakes up regretting it. If it were demeaning in anyway, I think it be demeaning to Data. Yar just pretty much used him as a...how can i say...sex toy.

    And btw, Hi Mutai!!! I didnt know you was moderator here. Small world. I'm new to this place. Makes me feel more comfortable seeing someone I recognize . - (Sherlock Holmes, Hence the "Mycroft")
     
  19. Mutai Sho-Rin

    Mutai Sho-Rin Crusty Old Bastard Moderator

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    Greetings as well. Here, I'm only a mod on this forum as opposed to The Omega Sector where I cover the whole site. Obviously, this place is much busier. I wish Omega Sector had 10% of this kind of activity. People are missing out.
     
  20. Hober Mallow

    Hober Mallow Commodore Commodore

    Am I missing something? Data was also infected, was he not? This was at a time when the character was still supposed to be part biological and created by aliens.