Or at least what Gene thought of himself as when he was a kid? I was watching the TNG Special Features, and noticed that Will Wheaton commented on how Gene used to come up to him and say how much he inspired him, and the whole deal. I realized that maybe Gene was writing that character in the way that he saw himself when he was a kid, maybe he thought he was some type of child prodigy, and it influenced his writing of the Wesley character. I don't hate Wesley BTW, and I feel bad for the actor because from reading a lot of his stuff, I think he feels pretty bitter of being branded as the "brainiac nerd" of the series.
Yes. In fact, Wesley Crusher is a classic Mary Sue: Not just Gene as a kid, but an idealised, essentially faultless version of Gene as a kid.
Then what version of Gene is Deanna Troi? Maybe we should stay away from these waters... There is going to be something of the author in the characters, but then, you know, sometimes cigars are cigars and all that. I don't think it's that deep. But Gene was fond of Wil Wheaton. As for the latter, I get the impression he's at peace with his Uber-Geekdom. I was playing D&D in the same years he was. Geeks do get branded, but if the shoe fits...
Deep? Let's say you write a character, let's call him... CrewmanTeenageStoner. He's just like you as a teenager. Only he's got none of your flaws. And he's super-smart. He's so super-smart nigh-omniscient benevolent aliens say that he represents a key part in a culmination of millenia of evolution and is akin to Mozart. Slans are fans? Hell, this teenage you is a super-slan who has transcended them all with the ultimate in puerile power fantasies. And that's what Wesley is. It's many things. Deep? Not quite that.
During the auditions process, Gene took two actors under his wing and "groomed" them for their readings for the suits: Wil Wheaton and Jonathon Frakes. Roddenberry saw them both as representing himself at crucial stages of his past.
The writing was on the wall for Deanna occured when the show was being developed, because she was described as being "ethereal". With the exception perhaps of Dax, who at least had a purpose as a science officer, any time a female character is described as "ethereal", you know she'll be crap. Kes was described in the same way and she was as useless as Troi.
Very interesting. I didn't know the connections with Wesley and Riker characters and Gene's past were more significant than the other characters of TNG. I guess that explains the good cop/prankster aspects of Riker.