I wonder if the writers themselves ever realized how silly the scenes of Riker 'romancing' various guest stars usually looked. Come to think of it, post TNG, good guy characters who appeared to be something of a classic 'ladies man', or one you'd expect to be one, were portrayed as, for the most part, unsuccessful with women/unlucky in love (Bashir right until the finale and to a degree Paris before hooking up with B'Elanna). It looks almost as a subversion of if the ladykiller stererotype of Kirk and Riker.
Good observation. As for your initial question, I doubt it. I could of course be wrong, but I think when they were having Riker act like the poor woman's Cary Grant (who had more sex appeal in his pinky finger than Riker had in his entire body, BTW) or James Bond or whatever he was supposed to be, they honestly believed he was alluring.
And apparently he was to some, since he has lots of female fans, including some very nice and smart women here on the BBS. But me? I either was embarrassed for the guy or just repulsed. I mean, euw. Euw, euw, euw.
Though I bought it in "The Outcast." To someone from a world with virtually no men, and no one who would admit to being one, Riker must have looked pretty tasty.
True - and there (if I'm remembering correctly, but it's been a long time since I've seen that episode) he wasn't so gung-ho, pull-out-all-the-stops, come-on-strong, ladies'-man "charming" as he usually was with women. He was a lot more...tentative, I think. More restrained for sure. So it was a lot less yucky than usual, at least for me.
I also liked that his one true love was, according to the telepathic holodeck insect dude in "Future Imperfect," a freakin' hologram, that he saw once. I think we learned a lot about him--he's the most shallow SOB in known space.
I have. He's well on his way to being a self made millionaire by the age of 25. Extremely charismatic and lead-by-example manager. He collects unsolicited phone numbers from random women all the time, but isn't a "man-whore". He even played an instrument (guitar) so-so (and hardly ever in front of people) He's intelligent, in the street smart sense and has a work ethic that would kill most people. If he grew 6 inches taller and a beard, he'd be f'ing Riker.
Funny thing is you love a guy like that and hate the bastard at the same time.
But the thing is...your friend
isn't the image of Riker. He's the (significantly shorter and clean-shaven
) image of what the writers
wanted Riker to be. But Riker, or Frakes, just didn't pull it off, at least not so that it was convincing to me (or, apparently, to
DevilEyes).
Riker was supposed to be charismatic and lead-by-example, but to me he always seemed like a by-the-book, my-way-or-the-highway
stiff. He was supposed to be the kind of man who attracted women like honey attracts bees, but my reaction to him is and always was "Oh, please. Get
over yourself, Romeo." We were supposed to think he was intelligent, we were told that he was, but he came across as not much better than average.
And by the way, I am partial to very masculine men, so you'd think I would be prime Riker fodder. But no. And the reason was that it all seemed like an act. I like the real thing, not somebody pretending to be the real thing. And that's what Riker always came across as - a big ol' faker, a guy trying to prove to everybody what a lady killer he is.
Edit: Ooh, and I agree that there were always big problems with Rom,
SFRabid. He's another character than the writers used like a prop, to be whatever they needed him to be at any given time.
