If Maddox and Jurari are her literal parents (at least of the human component) - and both of them are "white" - than Dahj/Soji wouldn't come out looking like they do. You'd need to have one Asian biological parent.
Spoilers Star Trek: Picard 1x05 - "Stardust City Rag"
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If Maddox and Jurari are her literal parents (at least of the human component) - and both of them are "white" - than Dahj/Soji wouldn't come out looking like they do. You'd need to have one Asian biological parent.
What does the actress have to do with it?
Obviously casting can be whatever. But her "mom AI" is absolutely played by an East Asian woman, meaning not only is Isa Briones biracial, but the "cover identity" for Dahj/Soji is also supposed to be biracial.
So what? We don't know if that woman on the video was the mother or someone acting for the android. Besides, genetic manipulation being what it is race is a ridiculous concept. So again, not white enough? Too white? What does race have to do with the Maddox Jurati theory at all? For all we know Jurati is just as much a mutt as the rest of the human race.
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Alrighty, so, I've watched the episode a few times and I've come to the conclusion that it is good. My initial thoughts were that it went a little off the rails, but it clearly serves as a transitional episode, of sort. While I wish Maddox wasn't killed off, there was no need for his character any longer. His only purpose was to get us to the next leg of the journey: to the Borg artifact. While I'm sure there's more he could have told us about Dahj/Soji, given that Dr. Jurati was his former lover, I'm sure those are some gaps she can fill in for us.
Definitely my least favorite of the lot so far, though.
Definitely my least favorite of the lot so far, though.
I'm just saying, it seems implausible to me that the twins are meant to be the biological offspring of Maddox and Jurati. Maybe some DNA went into the mix, maybe not, but they don't even vaguely look like either one.
Also, one of the earlier episodes basically implied they were constructed as full-grown adults a few years prior, so it's not like Jurati lent her womb to the project. Which would have been clear anyway given Maddox asked if she ever got to see them.
I think it's pretty clear when Maddox said he couldn't have done it without her it was intended to mean her work as his assistant. And in terms of the narrative arc, it was to twist the knife and make her feel more guilt.
Why doesn't she look enough like them, looks being one of the least reliable ways to judge ancestry. How does the actress not fit without moving the goal post from being not white enough to doesn't look close enough?
Barring any discussion of race, it is incredibly common for actors to not look like the actors that portray their parents.
What the Hell? Really? You know what I don't like? The fucking smugness right there.I don't see it as a valid criticism. Makes me think of the people who complain that I read too much or work with poor people. "Oh, you think you're so much better than us." Well, yeah.
Even if you wanted to go with looks, Maddox's very dark hair and Jurati's rounded facial structure, I could easily see Siji/Dahj in that mix. Eye coloring, too.
In the exact same episode, we meet Raffi's son. He looks very similar to Raffi in his overall mix of ancestry. Overall arguably a bit too much since I believe he had a Chinese last name, presumably from his father. But still, they made a decision in casting to pick an actor who could plausibly be read as Michelle Hurd's biological son, rather than say picking an actor from Norway or Japan. You're supposed to know it's her son before she opens her mouth.
Literally the only possible evidence of a genetic relationship between Dahj/Soji and Jurati you can give is Maddox saying "Your contribution was...essential." Which can be read in a dozen different ways, but the easiest is just that she was his assistant. And even if she did comprise a genetic component of their ancestry, there is zero evidence that Maddox was literally the "father" as of yet.
Sure. It's not a stretch, unless you bring in some stereotypes.
I don't even think she's a real person. When Dahj was talking to her in the pilot ep, the mother appeared to "glitch" when Dahj asked an odd question. I think the mother is actually some kind of computer program.
Staying on topic, why is the actress not white enough? Data's had Lal looking like an Andorian at one point. Genetic manipulation makes race nothing but a fantasy. So, why is the actress not white enough to play someone fictional with genetic material from two other fictional characters?
In the last episode, Maddox directly called it an "embedded Mom AI."
From a within-universe perspective, you are correct. They could modify the appearance of Dahj/Soji to look like anything. Though the question would of course be why bother. Clearly in this case they did not make the decision themselves as to their appearance after all.
From a show perspective, if Dahj/Soji are meant to be the biological children of Jurati and Maddox, the show would want to hint this in some manner. As of yet, it has not, which is why I do not suspect this to be the case. It does look we'll get to see who Soji believed her dad to be via dream sequence next week, but these were implanted memories anyway, so there's no reason to think this person is any more real than the "Mom AI" - regardless, it doesn't look much like Maddox.
What are you doing? You're getting bizarrely worked up over this.
Hint at it, like they were lovers and that whole cookie business? That seemed a strong hint of something. Jurati is awfully desperate to find Soji. Maybe like a mom?
It's a message board.
Unlikely and I hope it is not that. It would be really unfortunate if the woman scientist's contribution to this revolutionary project was to act as womb. And I think they showed that Maddox and Jurati were lovers to underline how drastic her move was.