I wish Guinan could have made a short appearance.

[The Mirrorball Man]

Yes, you did. I apologize for jumping to conclusions when you offered your explanation via the link to Wikipedia. I did not realize you were objecting to the use of a literary/dramatic archetype which further encourages stereotyping. (I confess I thought of the movie The Legend of Baggar Vance)

In my opinion, being aware of that stereotype and other similar "noble savage" stereotypes is eye-opening and useful.

I am sorry for misunderstanding you

Not a problem. Thank you for keeping an open mind.

 

[KimMH]

That is very gracious of you. After 40+ years of being only human you'd think I'd be - well, more thoughtful. Or less of a dumbass.

 

[ChristopherPike]

Ouch. Intention or not. Just had a brief flashback to Storm Front and Nazi soldiers racially harrassing Alicia and Archer walking down the street together...

 

[24thcenstfan]

I loved Guinan (and Whoopi Goldberg) and would have enjoyed a glimmer appearance. Not a huge role, but one that leaves us with a sense of wonderment. A "wow, that was Guinan" moment.

 

[bluedana]

Honestly, I call bullsh*t on the "magical negro" objection, at least as described in that Wiki article. According to that Wiki, almost any black character showing any kind of wisdom would be a magical negro archetype. That's crap. I mean, God in Bruce/Evan Almighty? Really? To me that's just a bullsh*t way of justifying never having black characters in a film and even if you do, certainly never having a black character be perceived as smarter or better than the white ones. Who says that only white characters can be wise, self-sacrificing, mysterious or (heavens forbid) instructive? The archetype does exist, but not every black character is one!

That Wiki article has made me very grumpy.

 

[dave_R_treker]

Reading the proposed Season 5 stuff just pisses me off more that the show was canned.

i second that.

 

[Newspaper Taxi]

I'm also going to disagree with Guinan as a magical negro:

The magical negro is typically but not always "in some way outwardly or inwardly disabled, either by discrimination, disability or social constraint," often a janitor or prisoner.

Guinan is fully abled. True, she might have had most of her species wiped out, but this is science fiction -- that happens all the time; furthermore , the Borg don't discriminate. While she plays the role of being the bar owner, which I supposed is a somewhat servant-like position, she only does this for a period of time and then goes off to do other things with her super longevities life.

He has no past; he simply appears one day to help the white protagonist. He sometimes fits the black stereotype, "prone to criminality and laziness." To counterbalance this, he has some sort of magical power, "rather vaguely defined but not the sort of thing one typically encounters.

She has a long past. Her people were destroyed by the Borg which forced her to be a galactic refuge; at one point or another she became well acquainted with the god-like being Q. During her plight she is sucked into the Nexus; she chooses to leave, but her echo remains. She made it to Earth and manages to help out some time traveling people who will later be her co-workers and friends.

She's not vulgar, criminal, or lazy.

She does have vaguely defined powers, but so does a white female main character, Troi, and Guinan's vaguely defined powers are infinitely more useful. "Captain, I'm sensing that he's hiding something." Vs. "Captain, I think the entire time line has just re-arranged."

He is patient and wise, often dispensing various words of wisdom, and is "closer to the earth.

This does fit Guinan; but it also fits Picard and Data, as well as most of the supporting cast, perhaps again excluding Troi.

The magical negro serves as a plot device to help the protagonist get out of trouble, typically through helping the white character recognize his own faults and overcome them. Although he has magical powers, his "magic is ostensibly directed toward helping and enlightening a white male character." It is this feature of the magical negro that some people find most troubling.

When she helps Picard, she helps out the Enterprise -- which has a crew of mixed race and species. Her own mutual existence is often at stake as well in the times when she helps save the day.

To save the white protagonist, however, he would do anything, including sacrificing himself...

Perhaps. But I think this is true for most of the crew of the Enterprise-D, and Starfleet in general.