Firstly, I will admit that I fired off my “mouth” when I said that statement about backfired and thought I would just let it sit in the ether rather than let my passions drive me some more. Well, my brain wouldn’t shut up.
So, in a word: “Transcendence”.
In many words (sorry for the bullet point form but I still haven’t gotten that out of my system from my work days)...
* Completely destroyed the image and depth of the highly admired lead woman on the show.
This introduced immense stress, insult and hurt, to the actor who is playing an important character, the first woman captain, and someone who had put so much heart, soul, thoughtfulness and care into constructing a woman captain who had earned the position as a solid, professional leader and diplomat so that you can see her for her competency, brains and devotion to Starfleet. She was as excited as the rest of us and did all she could to PR for the show.
Suddenly, it was decided that it needs to be about sexuality. It’s now all about the look of the character and what it would do to the “male gaze”. Completely undermining everything Kate Mulgrew had been working for in her portrayal of Janeway. And they made Janeway as equally “obsessed” about Seven of Nine as any one who would be to the desirable body.
Direct slap in the face if you ask me.
* It stressed out the “new star” they were counting on “to save show”.
The story of Seven starts with that she was assimilated by the Borg and literally had no autonomy over her own mind much less her body. Then along comes the federation that makes the decision to do the same in an oddly opposite manner. And, very ironically, the show now puts the actor into as tight fitting as they can suit which leaves nothing to the imagination and unleashes her to the crew made up of puerile boys and and a captain who has now been made singularly obsessed with getting her “family" home at all costs and making sure Seven fits into her idea of that family.
The PR machine had started grinding as soon as the ink was dry on the contract. Behold the sexy savior of the show before she had even reported for her first day of shooting. That’s a good formula for team work - tout the new person’s savior qualities completely ignoring everyone else who has worked so hard for 3 years already. Add in how it insults everything someone had tried to do to present a competent, hard working, intelligent presence that has nothing to do with a person’s gender or sex drive and shake well.
Jeri herself said that she would get nauseous when it was time to be on set. Is this how you treat a savior? (Don’t answer that rhetorical question please). At the end Jeri swore never again.
Yet somehow, next point.
* Enter the Borg Beauty-Queen. With a Beautiful Brain.
As my favorite reviewer of the time wrote in a retro review (and who says it better than I ever could, hence she’s a reviewer and I’m not):
“I’d become so accustomed to the hyper-feminized Seven of Nine from late in the series – who longed for a traditional love life and more than once had to be rescued like a damsel in distress – that I’d forgotten her powerful introduction, as a character who paradoxically represents a vast collective yet comes across as a determined, striking individual with a surprising range of emotions. Given that all advance publicity about the character’s arrival had focused on her appearance and the beauty-queen background of the actress playing her, it’s delightful to see right from the start that Jeri Ryan can portray both the scope and subtlety of feeling of a drone with human antecedents, and that she can stand in opposition to familiar characters without becoming antagonistic.” Michelle Erica Green, Trektoday.com Retro Review: Scorpion, Part II
My spouse, who was never really a Star Trek fan, got introduced to it when I started watching the new shows. Along came ST: Picard with the quirky, fun, lovable Raffi. And, “kickass” Seven…the attitude had matured. Determined, striking individual indeed. After we finished watching ST: Picard, I mentioned it would be good to see how/where Seven came from. We started watching ST: Voyager from when Seven came onto the show (I provided background of how Voyager go to this point in the show and the turmoil behind her inclusion in the show). Several good and bad episodes later my spouse commented “I love how she shows the hurt little girl inside with her eyes”.
Show-runners: “ignore the little girl, just look at that vavavoom body!” (not to mention how incredibly uncomfortable it is to see a little girl in a woman’s body treated this way).
Doesn’t it speak to human frailty that it was most surprising that Jeri was a far better actor than most expected for a beauty-queen. She pulled the focus from her tight fitted body up to the eyes that were a window into the heart and soul of the character. I’ll say it again, she did this…not them.
And, it was a wonder to watch Jeri on a talk show at the time where the host kept harping on the tight suit and the sensual nature of the character and Jeri quickly and “without becoming antagonistic” replies “Seven of Nine is not a sexual character at all.” She gets it. She has a beautiful brain alright.
* Enter Seven’s story arc and Jeri’s return from “never again”.
Somehow all the right elements combined to produce a much deeper, wider and heartfelt story arc than I ever believed they had ever planned during the time of ST: Voyager. Or that would actually ever come along. Oh yes, they most definitely underestimated Jeri Ryan and the power of understanding trauma and resilience and what draws you and endears you to a character. And it has nothing at all to do with them or that darn "cat suit".
It loosely translates as "Hail, True Body" (of Jesus Christ).
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