Generations - "Call me Jim"

[Alrik]

It's a nice idea and all, and who ever wants to believe that the meld is the reason for his reaction, go for it. However, I still think you're reading too much into it. Picard has a great respect for Kirk. Look at the exchange from Unification:

SPOCK
I was involved with... "cowboy
diplomacy", as you describe it,
Captain, long before you were
born.

PICARD
Nevertheless, sir, I am not
prepared to leave until your
affairs are completed.

SPOCK
(beat)
In your own way, you are as
stubborn as another Captain of
the Enterprise I once knew.

PICARD
Then, sir, I am in good company.

Now he is standing face to face with this legend, and this legend has basically said 'welcome to the club'. Of course Picard has got to be thinking 'this is pretty cool'.


KirkSpockTOSFan

Kirk was only picky about which junior officers called him Jim. That was reserved for close friends. Throughout TOS and the movies, his senior officers often called him Jim. Now consider the fact that Kirk is coming to the understanding he has been in the Nexus for nearly 80 years and that he is meeting the newest Captain of the newest Enterprise, and that they are about to take on a life or death mission together. "Call me Jim", would be far from out of character.

 

[I am not Spock]

Do mind melds work both ways?

For example, in Trek XI, when Spock Prime melds with Chris Pine Kirk, does that give nuKirk clues of what is to come in the 24th century? After all, Spock melded with Jean Luc Picard.

 

[Alrik]

Do mind melds work both ways?

For example, in Trek XI, when Spock Prime melds with Chris Pine Kirk, does that give nuKirk clues of what is to come in the 24th century? After all, Spock melded with Jean Luc Picard.

I don't think it's an open door to the 'meldie'. I can think of two different occasion were Spock says something to the effect of, "I believe I was successful in getting our intentions across." One was with the Horta in 'Devil in the Dark', and the other was with 'Gracie' in TVH. It has always seemed that the one initiating the meld is the one in control of what is shared. Case in point, in TSFS Serak melds with Kirk to look for Spock's katra, but once he realizes its not with Kirk and ends the meld, Kirk asks what he must do. If the meld was going both ways, Kirk would have already known what he must do. The reason Picard retained so much of Sarek was because they completely shared each others minds while Sarek completed his negotiations, so it is the one time that we did see a completely open door between both.

 

[SRFX]

Picard was a fellow Captain. Didn't all the other Starfleet captains and commodores in the original series always call him "Jim" as well?

 

[Captain59]

Picard was a fellow Captain. Didn't all the other Starfleet captains and commodores in the original series always call him "Jim" as well?

Hmmm...possibly.

 

[Kor]

Kirk was retired. He didn't want to be called by his rank any more.

Kor

 

[cultcross]

that was because they were his best friends and were like brothers to him. Not many others called Kirk, Jim, like Spock and McCoy did.

Well most people that Kirk interacted with on screen were his subordinates, they called him 'Sir' or 'Captain'. When we see him with Admirals, particularly in the movie era, 'Jim' comes out there too.
I don't think it's that special a thing, really, Picard just liked this jovial man who asked to call him by his first name. It was a bonding moment, I didn't see anything more to it.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Hmmm...possibly.

Really? Six and a half years for "possibly"?

 

[cultcross]

Haha didn't see this was a necro. Oh well.

 

[T'Elann]

It was an opportunity to be on a first name basis with a legend I would smile too

 

[cultcross]

Happened to watch Generations again yesterday; the "Call me Jim" moment is throwaway, a part of the sequence where Kirk is having fun making a difference again. It's a moment of bonding which matters because the next conversation the two Captains really have is the death scene.

 

[eyeresist]

Here's the context:

PICARD: We're running out of time. ... Look! The control pad is still on the other side.
KIRK: I'll get it. You go for the launcher.
PICARD: No, you'll never make it by yourself. We've got to work together.
KIRK: We are working together. Trust me.
PICARD: Good luck, Captain.
KIRK: Call me Jim.​

Battlefield comradery. No further explanation needed.

 

[Spot261]

Maybe Picard had simply seen the film?

 

[cultcross]

Maybe Picard had simply seen the film?

Could be their third or fourth time through with the Nexus do over option available. They'd be good mates by then.

 

[Lance]

He wasn't saying 'Call me Jim'.... he was saying "Call my gym". As in, Kirk knew he was a little a little rotund, shall we say, and he was wondering if he needed a little toning up before trying any of those massive leaps across the canopies. Sadly, he was proven right when he misjudged his ability to traverse that bridge.