Does anyone care that they killed Picard's family in Generations?

[BillJ]

Well sure he does, but his crew is the secondary objective here. He's really stopping Soran to prevent the destruction of Veridan III.

But if Veridian III is meant to die as a whole... who's Picard to interfere by going back in time?

 

[Admiral_Young]

I think we're succeeding in identifying a plot hole in the film

 

[MANT!]

I've always thought the death of Picard's family in Generations was handled too poorly for the audience to even care...

I know I felt almost no emotion in it..nor did I in the slightly extended "emotional scene" in which Picard reacts... simply a poorly-written throwaway plot device that contributed almost nothing to the main story...

Perhaps if Rene was the only one killed and Picard had to comfort his grieving brother and sister-in law from very far away, it might have had more impact...but it was handled poorly... Something that got worse in almost every iteration of Berman Trek..

Sloppy/lazy plot writing and a lack of emotional committment to the characters seemed to become almost predictable in each movie, reaching it's crappy climax in Nemesis. Don't get me wrong, it was showing up in TNG before Generations but it became almost laughable in each following series and movie...


And the death of Kirk..the less stated about that the better...

 

[TenLubak]

Yes, it feels like this movie was made quickly and without much thought to cash in on Star Treks popularity at its height in 1994.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

I think we're succeeding in identifying a plot whole in the film

It's not so much a plot hole as it is a terribly complicated and contradictory McGuffin. The Nexus is, at the same time: a huge energy ribbon that moves through space and destroys spaceships; a place where people can find eternal happiness in a virtual world made especially for them; a way of traveling instantaneously through space and time; a recording device that keeps copies of everyone that spends time in it. Just trying to make all of that clear and relatively straightforward is be hard. Expecting it to make sense is too much.

 

[Trek Survivor]

I was disappointed. That final huge between Jean-Luc and Robert in "Family" gets a lump in my throat everytime I see it.

Losing the Picard family in the manner we did in "Generations" was the most annoying thing about that movie for me. Especially as the only reason Braga and Moore did it was so that his Nexus experience (which was pretty poor) would have more "emotional resonance".

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Especially as the only reason Braga and Moore did it was so that his Nexus experience (which was pretty poor) would have more "emotional resonance".

Is there any other reason to write anything?

 

[sonak]

Especially as the only reason Braga and Moore did it was so that his Nexus experience (which was pretty poor) would have more "emotional resonance".

Is there any other reason to write anything?

yes, because it fits in well with an overall plot or story, because it conveys an important lesson about human nature, because it flows organically from character growth and development, etc.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Especially as the only reason Braga and Moore did it was so that his Nexus experience (which was pretty poor) would have more "emotional resonance".

Is there any other reason to write anything?

yes, because it fits in well with an overall plot or story, because it conveys an important lesson about human nature, because it flows organically from character growth and development, etc.

All those things would certainly reinforce a story's emotional resonance.

 

[Ssosmcin]

The only reason I felt anything for the death of his family - the only reason - is because of Patrick Stewart's incredible line reading of "burned to death in a fire." Not "they died in a fire." Not "they were killed when the house burned down." "Burned to death" is horrific and the delivery of it hammers it home. But that is the only reason. Otherwise, substituting Jeremy Kemp's image with a picture of what looks like Patrick Macnee, and some kid who looks like he's one of Santa's misfit toys did nothing for me ("I want to be a dentist").

Besides, he only really seemed to grieve for Rene. It was like "well Robert had a good run and he was a prick most of the time anyway." And I'm not sure when Jean-Luc forged such a tight relationship with his nephew since he apparently got back to Earth once every 20 years. He didn't even meet Rene until "Family." Not to deminish the tragedy of a child burning to death, but would it be enough for Picard to emotionally collapse like he did in Generations? Enough to not be able to remain on the bridge? Picard? The guy who saw four lights? Who resisted the Borg? Just sayin', it feels extreme and not well thought out.

 

[BillJ]

It was like "well Robert had a good run and he was a prick most of the time anyway."

 

[sonak]

Is there any other reason to write anything?

yes, because it fits in well with an overall plot or story, because it conveys an important lesson about human nature, because it flows organically from character growth and development, etc.

All those things would certainly reinforce a story's emotional resonance.

as an effect sure, but that wouldn't be the reason behind doing it.



I mean, had Picard committed suicide after hearing about the deaths of Robert and Rene, that would've had some serious emotional resonance, but it would've been an awkward fit with what we know of the Picard character, and would've been bad writing.

 

[Ssosmcin]

I think the term you're using is what's throwing it off. "Emotional resonance" is a positive, because all good writing should include it. You seem to mean "cheap emotional manipulation" or creating an action merely for the sake of an emotional response rather than in service to the overall plot. They could have left out Picard's arc and not really changed the plot. Or they could have had any old friend or acquaintance die and still have Picard reflect on his mortality. Everyone should be granted a mid-life crisis without having to suffer a crippling tragedy. This would then make the "Chipper Picard" at the end a little less jarring. But it also would have robbed Patrick Stewart of his one truly powerful moment in the film.

 

[Admiral_Young]

After thinking about it some, I really think Picard's character arc in the movie hurt it somewhat. The first TNG movie right off the bat should have been exciting and fun. Instead you have this lingering sort of depressing moment that effects your lead character right away and it permeates the rest of the movie. There were some light hearted moments in the movie but the death of Picard's movie really put a damper on what should have been a totally different film in tone. At least I think so.

I tend to agree with an earlier poster who stated that this film was rushed out. I understand they wanted to capitalize on the hype and what not and dive right into feature films but I think taking a couple of years to develop a proper story wouldn't have hurt and only added to fans anticipation. You could still do the "passing of the torch" story if you wanted to (and it's clear they wanted to) but take some time to get it right.

 

[antiquityscion]

Picard losing his family, killing off the Duras Sisters, Killing off Kirk, destroying the Enterprise, and killing Data's character by giving him an emotion chip and making him emotionally unstable was just too much change; too much "out with the old\in with the "new" (and not really new-Next Gen had been around 7 years by then!), to be crammed into one film. And all that change, made me sad. It was a movie of loss.

 

[CoveTom]

Instead, we can't even have that fantasy, because we get a shitty canon ending to the character that basically says, "fuck you for caring about this character (again), we're going to kill it off in a shitty way (again)".

Amen. I hate what they did to Yar with the Sela story. I don't mind the Sela character per se. It's the fact that in order to introduce her, without the complication of a much older Yar now being alive as well, they felt they had to kill of the Yar character again.

@Dukhat...you and I might choose to save our families from a horrible death given the circumstances but the poster was talking about Picard. Picard as he was in Generations and prior to that would not take matters into his own hands like that. He might be seriously tempted to do but probably would take into consideration everything that could result from that decision. Plus there's the matter of the Temporal Prime Directive (lol which of course was created later but we can assume existed and was imposed then).

Under normal circumstances, I would agree with you. However, we have definitely seen circumstances where when something has a deepy personal emotional connection to Picard, his judgment can be affected. Heck, look at how obsessed he became with the Borg in First Contact. So I do think it's in character for him to do something like trying to save his family.

 

[Admiral_Young]

If Picard had used the Nexus to save his family I think he would have had a visit made by Q asking him "Have you learned anything that I've taught you mon capitan?"

 

[sonak]

If Picard had used the Nexus to save his family I think he would have had a visit made by Q asking him "Have you learned anything that I've taught you mon capitan?"

if you're referring to "tapestry," I don't think Q's message was so much "don't try to change the past at all, ever," rather I think his point was "don't be ashamed of the stupid decisions in your past, they're part of who you are."


I don't see Q objecting to Picard trying to save his family here, since as pointed out, he's ALREADY changing a past event here.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I was really referring to Q teaching Picard about the big picture overall.

 

[dannyboylee]

Wait... there were Next Generation movies?