Remember the ear-tapping therapy she taught him, for relaxation?...he was pretty darned funny in that scene!
Was I One of the Only People Who Weren't Annoyed by Lt. Barclay?
- Thread starter VulcanMindBlown
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Remember the ear-tapping therapy she taught him, for relaxation?...he was pretty darned funny in that scene!
I must be Frank & Ernest: I'm not at all confident that anyone like Barclay could've even been born in the 24th Century. I see would-be mothers, mostly, using artificial incubation instead of becoming pregnant, themselves. Genetic Engineering is, of course, not used, at least not extensively, in STAR TREK, unless it's to make the case for not using it. But if someone like Barclay could even be conceived, the tremendous likelihood is that he would be modified through STAR TREK medicine to correct for his deficiencies. By adjusting his Neural Peptides ... keeping his electrolytes balanced ... hormone therapy of the future ... all of that good stuff. By his first year, most of his Barclayness would've been screened out, so that he would be more robust, shall we say. Not that this would've turned him into another Riker, but just that he would've been given the best chance for success in Life, by not being burdened with the issues he eventually surrendered to and personified.
In DS9's Sons of Mogh, Kurn's physical appearance and genetic makeup are surgically altered, by Bashir ... his memory's even erased. There have been other examples of medicine used in a similar manner, or other variants along these lines, throughout STAR TREK canon.
Those are really good points. I would add though that I like that Pulaski is still friends with her ex husbands, and it's pretty progressive that she had three ex-husbands. Only a decade or so before tv wouldn't allow divorced female leads (both The Brady Bunch and Mary Tyler Moore shows planned that their leads would've been divorced and the networks wouldn't allow it).
And for what it's worth I liked Barclay, and everyone I knew who watched TNG liked him.
On the issue of Vulcan bullying, we see examples of Vulcan intolerance and their reactions to it in TOS. Sarek's disowning of Spock because he went into Starfleet was pretty extreme, a mindset that doesn't seem all that different from bullying. T'Pau clearly shows contempt and prejudice against humans.
I think that there's racial tensions between Sarek and Spock all thru their relationship. Sarek may have married a human woman, but he seems intent that his son be more Vulcan than full Vulcans would be.
In Spock's vision of his birth in STV Sarek comments on the infant Spock being so human, with much revulsion. I'm not sure if that was just a hallucination, but it still reveals Spock's perception of his father.
In Spock's vision of his birth in STV Sarek comments on the infant Spock being so human, with much revulsion. I'm not sure if that was just a hallucination, but it still reveals Spock's perception of his father.
Oh my God, you just assume it's all biological... that post you made about Barclay "manning up", that's the kind of thing that creates Barclay's state, that drumbeat of pressure, scorn, contempt, for being supposedly weak for having human vulnerabilities.
The message matters-- stop treating the vulnerable person as some freak, engage with him, and the cool, strong person in him will come out. Batter away 24-7 at him and it won't.
Prevent the births of Barclays? He's us. There but for the grace of God go we. He's a good guy who needs and deserves some support.
Can we have a socially inept character, to portray people... say on the Autism Spectrum.... but not get annoyed at them? I also thought that those with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) are usually REALLY good at one or a few things. Could that make him more interesting?
That's okay. He was a much more socially skilled and confident character then.
That's okay. He was a much more socially skilled and confident character then.
Barclay's just a character to me and I cannot relate to him, on any kind of a real world level. I do not take him personally, at all, but I finally recognise that you do. My friend's wife has a sister (named Teri) who was bullied, when she was a kid - by both boys and girls - for not being "all that" and, in particular, for having bucked teeth. Her father taught her how to fight, literally. She got so tough, that even now, she'll take on anybody, she don't give a shit. I'm kind of in league with the father's philosophy, that's all. Sometimes, we have to stand our ground. As I say, though, Barclay only exists in TNG to throw the "Evolved Sensibilities" of the bridge crew in their faces. And as others have already observed, he was riddled with every insecurity that could be shoehorned into the character. This only serves to make him appear false; not realistic, in any way. I like my STAR TREK heroes larger than Life, so Riker, Picard and all the rest are characters I can buy into. Not as relatable, but rather ... simply as admirable.
But then, Spock already had a biased view of his father. One could argue that that wasn't just a hallucination, but a hallucination Spock hallucinated to rationalize his issues with his father.
I mean, for god's sake, Sarek married a human. And it's hardly a Vulcan-specific problem to get upset when your son ends up taking a path you didn't want him to.
FWIW, I absolutely don't buy into the Spock flashback in STV.
But note that Spock doesn't challenge the veracity of flashback. He merely asserts that he is no longer troubled or ashamed of his human half. (In one of the movie's better moments.)
There's no indication in the movie that Sybok is fabricating things, and McCoy confirms the veracity of his flashback.
There's no indication in the movie that Sybok is fabricating things, and McCoy confirms the veracity of his flashback.
Sorry, I meant that in my personal continuity that particular part of the film doesn't exist. 
I see Sarek as not having been a great father all in all, but that he'd react that way to his son's birth isn't even up to the low standards we came to expect from Worf as a father.
I see Sarek as not having been a great father all in all, but that he'd react that way to his son's birth isn't even up to the low standards we came to expect from Worf as a father.
Are you talking about the Reboot or the Original universe?
The idea of Vulcan kids picking on Spock came from the Prime universe, specifically the TAS episode "Yesteryear."
Kor
I'm forced to agree with 2takesfrakes, medicine of the future would completely wipe out any type of mental disabilities. Barclay would have been given a 24th century version of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, a one time dose when he was diagnosed that cured the problem permanently. Don't forget this is the same medicine that back in the prior century a pill can regrow a kidney in a few minutes and if you get a shot for the flu it might accidentally mutate everyone on the ship into various creatures.
So, either way, Barclay would have been "cured" before anything could have happened.
Back to the op, I was not annoyed by Barclay, but Riker and Georgie annoyed me greatly in their treatment of him, and once again Data is the most human and sensitive of the characters on board.
So, either way, Barclay would have been "cured" before anything could have happened.
Back to the op, I was not annoyed by Barclay, but Riker and Georgie annoyed me greatly in their treatment of him, and once again Data is the most human and sensitive of the characters on board.
There is still the idea that Barclay's "type" should not be pathologized, but is merely another expression of the diversity of the human genome, rather than a disease that needs a cure.
This may be relevant in a general sense, whether Barclay specifically fits this particular neurotype or not: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_rights_movement
Will such discourse have a place in the 24th century, or will the majority still be forcing their paradigm on those who are different?
Kor
This may be relevant in a general sense, whether Barclay specifically fits this particular neurotype or not: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_rights_movement
Will such discourse have a place in the 24th century, or will the majority still be forcing their paradigm on those who are different?
Kor
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ITA. In the 24th century humans will still be humans, Picard's 'humankind has improved' mantra is no different from us stating we are a lot better than our 'kill and steal first and ask questions later when you come across a 'free' piece of land' ancestors but we are still as human as they were.
Because Kurn wanted to die since he did not consider himself Klingon any longer due to his cultural beliefs. It was the least worse option for him not because he was born defected.
As Gene allegedly stated regarding a bald Captain, when asked if there will be baldness in males in the 24th century..'In the 24th century it won't matter'. I hope humanity will be enlightened enough in 300 years not to consider people who are socially awkward sick people who need 'curing'.
