Agreed. Given Earth's relatively homogeneous nature by 2350, they could have had him come from pretty much anywhere. Maybe even the moon... do we have any Luna-born main cast on any of the shows? Riker said about 50 million people live there.
Do we know the behind the scenes reason for Harry Kim being from South Carolina?
- Thread starter KlingonCereal
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Agreed. Given Earth's relatively homogeneous nature by 2350, they could have had him come from pretty much anywhere. Maybe even the moon... do we have any Luna-born main cast on any of the shows? Riker said about 50 million people live there.
I looked up the writers and directors of the two episodes where Harry's South Carolina birthplace was mentioned (VOY: Eye of the Needle and One) and none of them that had birthplaces listed mentioned being from South Carolina, though it's possible that they moved there later in life.
Jeri Taylor wrote the teleplay for both Eye of the Needle and One, and wrote the novel Pathways where Harry was further clarified to be from Monterey, South Carolina ("Monterey" is probably why so many people were confused and thought he was from California, because of the famous Monterey Bay and aquarium there), so it's safe to assume it was her idea. Taylor was from Bloomington, Indiana (Captain Janeway's birthplace) and went to school at Cal State Northridge in California, but perhaps she moved to South Carolina later in life or had pleasant vacation experiences there or just threw a dart at a map to choose Harry's birthplace.
There's no actual town of Monterey in South Carolina, but there is a Monterey Bay Suites resort in Myrtle Beach, so I suspect someone had a nice vacation there and wanted to give them a shout out in pre-Yelp days.
Wow this is absolutely remarkable investigating! That provided me with significantly more insight into this than I ever thought I'd have! Thank you so much.
I am bummed it still remains a mystery, but in all likelihood it was an arbitrary decision.
We'll always have Nurse Ogawa (British Columbia).
Beverly Crusher and Jack Ransom were born on Earth's moon. Neelix and Tuvok were from a Telaxian and a Vulan lunar colony, respectively. Am I misremembering or is Andoria itself actually a moon?
Yes, but I'm talking about the modern day actual writer's possible reasoning for choosing that name and location, not the fact that a city with that name could eventually grow there, because of course it could.
Hey there, late to the party argumentative person. The OP was specifically asking for possible reasons why the writers might have chosen that location, so I was doing a bit of harmless speculation based on what little facts we do know. You are perfectly free to disregard all of it, as I made no claim to any of it being accurate or unassailable truth, just speculation. The OP seemed very satisfied with my answer to their question, though. You, on the other hand, have parsed and incorrectly interpreted my post and my meaning twice now to score some hollow correction points.
If they had wanted someone to point out the blindingly obvious that the writers might have just randomly put a pin in a map, they probably would have asked someone to waste their time by pointing out what everyone already knows. But thanks for filling that critical niche.
I'm not the moderator of this forum, and I was exactly the same before I got the badge as I am now, so that has nothing to do with it. And be honest, both your comments were meant to imply that I was overthinking the subject, based on your apparent misunderstanding of what was being discussed, so I was not the only one throwing a little shade.Wow, someone who believes a Moderator badge freely entitles them to be an ass. Good for you
Actually I was merely attempting to be wryly observational and in no way intending to be argumentative or score "hollow correction points". Since you seem to have such an issue with people "incorrectly parsing" your own posts, I invite you here to examine your own parsing skills.
Still, one knows where one is not wanted; and as you've made me feel about as welcome as a fart in a space suit I have no interest in continuing with this thread, and I'll leave you to your smug supposition.
I have no wish for you to leave this thread or otherwise, merely to be a little more observant about what is actually being discussed before correcting someone on it. I didn't mind the first time, as it was just a mistake, but the second time you corrected me for the wrong reasons and then pointed out the obvious like I was an idiot for supposedly not recognizing that it did irritate me a bit, hence the (non-flaming, within the rules) snark.
This will be the last time I reply on this since I don't want to derail the topic, but if you want to discuss this with me via PM I would be happy to. Truly there are no hard feelings and I would be happy to interact with you around the board.
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@Vale @Ghost of Tuvix I think both of you can take a slight step back. I don't think this warranted such an escalation, more of a misunderstanding of sorts. Things kind of went off the rails here but let's just move on shall we. Vale you don't need to delete your posts but especially don't be flaming other members here and call them slurs or it'll net you an infraction next time. If you've got an issue with a post just notify on it and a mod will take a look. Thanks.
You know where Harry SHOULD have been from, IMO?
No, not South Carolina. Or China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Luna, or any other place you might guess.
Let's look at another character: Nog. For the first couple years of the show, he was a stock boy and part time juvenile delinquent. Then, in "Heart of Stone", his character journey took a hard right turn, when he decided that he wanted to be the first Ferengi in Starfleet. Which he eventually did.
In "Favorite Son" Harry's character journey looked like it was going to take a similar hard turn, with him being revealed to have been an alien, from Taresia. In the process, he discovered certain mysterious innate memories and abilities. Taken far enough, he could have become a very different character. Alas, some buffoon in a suit intervened, the script was changed, and Harry was declared to have been human all along, so his journey of stagnation continued uninterrupted.
No, not South Carolina. Or China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Luna, or any other place you might guess.
Let's look at another character: Nog. For the first couple years of the show, he was a stock boy and part time juvenile delinquent. Then, in "Heart of Stone", his character journey took a hard right turn, when he decided that he wanted to be the first Ferengi in Starfleet. Which he eventually did.
In "Favorite Son" Harry's character journey looked like it was going to take a similar hard turn, with him being revealed to have been an alien, from Taresia. In the process, he discovered certain mysterious innate memories and abilities. Taken far enough, he could have become a very different character. Alas, some buffoon in a suit intervened, the script was changed, and Harry was declared to have been human all along, so his journey of stagnation continued uninterrupted.
Gotta disagree. Sure I wish Harry had been better developed, but not as an alien. He was the one voice of the ship's desire to get home. Janeway and Tuvok, as the captain and a Vulcan, couldn't openly express how much they missed home. And the rest of the cast either had little to no connection to Earth, or were misfits that almost seemed better off lost.
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