The Schizoid Man/Measure of a Man Parallels

[JediKnightButler]

I was just re-watching The Schizoid Man and I noticed a lot of themes in the episode that are re-explored in Measure of a Man. First off, "Data Graves" initially refuses to relinquish control over Data's body, saying that he is nothing more than a machine, with Picard arguing for his sentience, something that he would go on to do again during a legal proceeding on behalf of Data in Measure of a Man Also, at the end of The Schizoid Man, "Data Graves" ultimately decides to transfer his body of knowledge into the Enterprise computer, however, as Picard notes, while the information is there in the computer, Graves' consciousness or the "substance" of his personality has been lost and is no longer present in any form. Data raises the fear of this kind of loss in his objection to Commander Maddox over the experiments that Maddox wanted to run on him- that the information and experiences within him may survive the process but that the "substance", or the "flavor", of his experiences would be irretrievably lost if Maddox didn't have the proper skills to preserve him.

 

[Ragitsu]

I was just re-watching The Schizoid Man and I noticed a lot of themes in the episode that are re-explored in Measure of a Man. First off, "Data Graves" initially refuses to relinquish control over Data's body, saying that he is nothing more than a machine, with Picard arguing for his sentience, something that he would go on to do again during a legal proceeding on behalf of Data in Measure of a Man Also, at the end of The Schizoid Man, "Data Graves" ultimately decides to transfer his body of knowledge into the Enterprise computer, however, as Picard notes, while the information is there in the computer, Graves' consciousness or the "substance" of his personality has been lost and is no longer present in any form. Data raises the fear of this kind of loss in his objection to Commander Maddox over the experiments that Maddox wanted to run on him- that the information and experiences within him may survive the process but that the "substance", or the "flavor", of his experiences would be irretrievably lost if Maddox didn't have the proper skills to preserve him.

It does feel like the scriptwriter of the latter episode reworked and refined the earlier script, yes?

 

[maneth]

I felt the same way when I watched these episodes recently. Same idea, but the execution was a lot better in Measure of a Man, IMO.

 

[JediKnightButler]

I felt the same way when I watched these episodes recently. Same idea, but the execution was a lot better in Measure of a Man, IMO.

Oh yeah. Measure of a Man was clearly the better episode. However, Data Graves' "To know him....." eulogy still cracks me up everytime LOL! BTW there was an album that Spiner sung on that I found on iTunes where "To know me is to love me" is part of the lyrics LOL. No connection to Star Trek I don't think but still have to mention it.

 

[JediKnightButler]

It does feel like the scriptwriter of the latter episode reworked and refined the earlier script, yes?

Yes. Sure seems like it in retrospect.

 

[Mojochi]

What's cool is it kind of works for the narrative too. Data isn't just guessing about the substance loss when he objects to Maddox's procedure. It's more than a hunch, because he's experienced the events with Graves. So there's a little bit of anecdotal evidence to support his concern, a least enough to not just go willy nilly into it imho

 

[Oddish]

Both episodes have Patrick Stewart make well-done impassioned monologues, advocating Data's rights.

TSM: "No being is so important that he can usurp the rights of another. Now set him free!"

MOM: "Your Honour, Starfleet was founded to seek out new life. Well, there it sits... waiting."