Observation having to do with the cast

I just saw that episode for the first time a few days ago. "The Drumhead," it is called. It is a somewhat interesting episode. That was quite a negative encounter Patrick had with Jean Simmons - I've never seen Captain Picard in such an encounter before. I've seen Michael Dorn in one (with the ambassador who was annoying him), Data in one (with the woman who destroyed the Crystalline Entity), Commander Riker in many (with his ex-captain Eric, with Deanna Troy in Gambit, Worf in All Good Things, with the current captain and Captain Picard in Gambit, in Frame of Mind, on the Klingon ship in that officer exchange program episode), but not Captain Picard. It was interesting and instructive, and only possible with someone who is his rank or outranks him, and is also his age or older. Thanks for the info.

I never disputed that it makes sense to have a senior captain commanding the Federation Flagship though. It makes sense. He wasn't exactly senior though. He wasn't as old as he looked, only 53 at the end of the series.

 

Although it was only for one act of one episode, Admiral J.P. Hansen is another example of someone older and outranking Picard.

 

I'm confused as well. What's wrong with him being a fatherly figure?

 

Exactly.

 

Psychological issues with parents, I don't know too much about Freudian psychology though. Maybe the producers are trying to get us to subliminally like the show more by identifying Patrick Stewart as a father figure. Wouldn't work for people who are older then him though.

 

I don't think there's anything Freudian there. After all, Kirk was supposed to be an exceptionally young starship captain at his mid-thirties. I think that Picard is more or less the typical age. Of course, his age might make him seem more trustworthy - I myself prefer experienced pilots in their 50's to pilots in their 20's after all when I'm on an airplane...

 

Has anyone mentioned Guinan? She's possibly the oldest humanoid in TNG, and has hundreds of years on Picard...

 

What psychological issues with parents? What are you even talking about? Just because a character is old doesn't mean I automatically think of them as parents. Picard is an older, experienced role model for his crew. I still don't understand why you think this is a bad thing.

 

Oh yeah, they definitely wanted us to identify with him as a father figure. Which was why they made a point of him saying during the pilot that he didn't like kids, and wanted his first officer to deal with them. Very fatherly, to be sure.

Who tagged this thread with "brainwashing?" And why? Because I don't think having a veteran officer as the commander of a large vessel qualifies as brainwashing.

 

We're all confusing the actors w/ the characters. The ages of the actors themselves are irrelevant. Picard was born in 2305. According to Memory Alpha, he was captain of the Enterprise-D from 2364 to 2371, so he was 59 to 66 years old.

Good point.

Jonathan, I think you're trying to read way too much into Captain Picard's age. You taking psychology this semester?