About The Doctor's holographic family in "Real Life"....

[The Rock]

Great episode, but something has always confused me about this episode.

It was a rare glimpse of regular, civilian life on earth in the 24th century that had never been seen in Star Trek before that (even though it was a fake family, I'm assuming it was an accurate representation of life back on earth).

The thing is, this family was pretty much like most families in the present day. The parents going to work, the children acting bratty, etc. But I thought that for people living in the 24th century, the acquisition of wealth was no longer the driving force of their lives? So why would families in the 24th century worry get so stressed out over the things that we present day humans get stressed out about?

I always figured, before that episode, that 24th century families would be mostly stress-free and laid back knowing that they are living in such a great time. Sure, they would still contribute towards society, but because they no longer had to worry about wealth and other things that we have to worry about, everyone would mostly be happy since they are pretty much living in a utopia.

 

[Sophie74656]

In the episode they were stressing about things that had nothing to do with wealth...the daughter playing dangerous sports, the son haging out with people he didn't approve of. Nothing they stressed about had anything to do with the acquisition of wealth.

Also, it was a story written by people who ARE concerned with the acquisition of wealth

 

[Tenacity]

I'm assuming it was an accurate representation of life back on earth

But Earth of what time period? Holodeck adventures often take place in the past, so any time after Kilingons had a presence on Earth.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I always figured, before that episode, that 24th century families would be mostly stress-free and laid back knowing that they are living in such a great time.

To be truly stress-free, you'd have to be DEAD.

 

[Tenacity]

I always figured, before that episode, that 24th century families would be mostly stress-free and laid back knowing that they are living in such a great time

They live with the barbarians constantly at the gates.

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

Even if you remove the 'acquisition of wealth' element from family life, I would assume many of the trappings of stressful family life would still exist. We are well aware that many (some? most? all? a few?) people still have jobs (running restaurants, joining Starfleet, painting, etc) and to be successful at any of those jobs you have to put yourself in a place where what you do means something. Just because you aren't making money from it doesn't mean its not important. If I were doing some big project for a 24th century architectural firm because I love architecture, and a project I had been working on for months, suddenly the client decided they wanted to do something different, I'd definitely be upset about it and that might affect my personal life. It's not hard to imagine. If things aren't going perfectly well, then it causes stress. Kids still act like kids, have to be told to do their homework, and all that kinda stuff. I'd like to think that the family portrayed regular every-day life in the 24th century reasonably accurately, albeit from a very 20th century lens.

I've never thought of Earth life as an actual EVERYTHING IS AWESOME utopia where everyone is literally happy at all times...more like a place where people don't have to worry about food, shelter, crime, and disease. Its a place where people can live their lives the way they want to, and the struggle comes from how they live that life, rather than a struggle to survive.

 

[Triskelion]

There is an unwritten rule in Hollywood that families have to be late for work and/or school. The morning is a time of chaos, and nobody wakes up early, apparently, (unless there's been a murder and it's 3:00 AM).

That episode is like - here, try on this pair of pants. Oh, they caught fire because it's possible. Gee, way to swear the Doc off of developing real relationships, by plunging him into the deepest despair possible during his pilot test. Nice job, B'Elanna! Now the guy won't even score a holo-girlfriend. In your face, Photonic!

 

[at Quark's]

Also, there might be a subtle difference in outlook on life between Picard (from whom the statement ' the acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force of our lives' comes) and b'Elanna, who probably grew up under more difficult circumstances.

 

[Lonely Horse]

I agree with @Sophie74656 and @at Quark's points. I think there was also a good chance B'Elanna didn't want Shumullus/Joe obsessing over his holographic family all the time.

 

[φ of π]

Just because the acquisition of wealth is not a driving force doesn't mean it's nonexistent.

Eating a Pepper Mayo Twister from the local KFC isn't the driving force in my life, but I do still enjoy getting them. Soo tasty.

 

[JasonJ]

Just because the acquisition of wealth is not a driving force doesn't mean it's nonexistent.

Eating a Pepper Mayo Twister from the local KFC isn't the driving force in my life, but I do still enjoy getting them. Soo tasty.

Agreed, saying that is "isn't a driving force" in our lives does not mean that people still don't acquire it, just that greed and the sole pursuit of wealth is not prevalent. That doesn't mean people don't get paid in some way for doing their jobs or need to be there on time. It's still considered courteous to be punctual and show up when you are expected in the 24th century.

 

[Sophie74656]

Remember B'Elanna didn't program the specific events that happened. She added some randomised behavioral algorithms to the existing program. Nothing that happened was her fault really.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I think there was also a good chance B'Elanna didn't want Shumullus/Joe obsessing over his holographic family all the time.

Nothing that happened was her fault really.

Yes, Sophie. Blaming her would be like blaming someone who died in a car accident for driving that day (assuming they were not impaired or doing road stunts) or blaming a man who decides to let his kids play in the backyard for the lightning bolt that strikes one of them from a clear blue sky, etc. Someone who may feel guilty but has no culpability because they couldn't have foreseen every eventuality.

 

[Sophie74656]

Though from a story telling perspective that could have been interesting if he did blame her for the death of his daughter

 

[Tenacity]

. Nothing that happened was her fault really.

If you shove someone in front of a fast moving bus ... well it's not you fault if the bus then hits them ... right?

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

But she didn't orchestrate her death by writing it into a script. She allowed the program to work as an actual, random simulation. Your analogy is imprecise. It's more like if you allowed someone to cross the street, knowing that there are dangers inherit to crossing a street, but had absolutely no knowledge that a bus was on its way that just happened to have it's breaks give out, and then struck by the bus. You would probably feel guilty and blame yourself, but that is only a natural, emotional response. Random occurrence killed that person, not you.

 

[Sophie74656]

If you shove someone in front of a fast moving bus ... well it's not you fault if the bus then hits them ... right?

Not really the same...it would be more like teaching someone to drive and then blaming yourself if they got into an accident.

 

[Prax]

I'm not sure what she did, but it went from family lollipop to home of hell. Why not give the Dr. a Real life? They're like spoiled, neglected Hollywood kids. The program could be realistic without having to have dad fix a dysfunctional family.

Poor Kenneth.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Between the two versions, they average out about normal. Plus, that might have just been a really bad day, the perfect storm of family chaos. Not typical.

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

From an storytelling standpoint, it wouldn't have really been dramatic if all we did was watch the Doctor deal with helping his kid do his homework and then having a mild argument about where to eat dinner with his wife.

This was the Voyager writing staff...the next logical choice was to kill off a character introduced in the same episode.

I say that...but actually, I would have loved to see the Doctor just have a regular day. We never get to see what civilian life on Earth is like in any meaningful way.