Rom's Personality

[systemcat]

I did a forum search to find out if this has ever been discussed before and nothing came up. Given how Rom acts and his interesting way of problem solving to a particular focus. How he acts otherwise. Has anyone ever wondered if his character was meant to represent a person somewhere on the Spectrum?

 

[Boo-khat!]

DS9 was in 1993. So no.

 

[Ragitsu]

I don't understand this obsession with categorizing individuals based on mental...quirks.

 

[DonIago]

I did a forum search to find out if this has ever been discussed before and nothing came up. Given how Nog acts and his interesting way of problem solving to a particular focus. How he acts otherwise. Has anyone ever wondered if his character was meant to represent a person somewhere on the Spectrum?

No. I just thought his character was meant to embrace the notion of tackling Starfleet problems from a Ferengi perspective.

 

[systemcat]

I meant Rom. I can't edit the thread title.

 

[DonIago]

It seems possible Rom is neurodivergent, but I suspect it wasn't the writers' conscious intention for him to come across as such. Memory Alpha doesn't comment on it one way or another.

That said, I'm not even sure what constitutes neurodivergence amongst Ferengi.

 

[TheSeeker]

I meant Rom. I can't edit the thread title.

I fixed it for you.

 

[matthunter]

I don't understand this obsession with categorizing individuals based on mental...quirks.

This would categorize you as an individualist.

Sadly, for a bunch that shouldn't be a bunch... individualists online are mostly a bunch of cunts.

 

[Detached Nacelle]

Neurodivergence and autism as a spectrum were just not things in 1993.

Rom would have been written with the intention of being goofy but kindhearted with his flashes of great ideas being largely for comedic purposes like "how did an idiot just come up with that?"

 

[TheSeeker]

This would categorize you as an individualist.

Sadly, for a bunch that shouldn't be a bunch... individualists online are mostly a bunch of cunts.

Infraction for flaming.

 

[gerritfaber]

as someone with autism, i do not see it in Rom, just a person who learned to fix things with limited resources and had to become creative because of that.

 

[matthunter]

Infraction for flaming.

Flaming a group rather than an individual?

You might want to take a look at T'Bonz.

 

[TheSeeker]

I should have included "comments to PM", but since you brought it up...

You called a poster an individualist and then proceeded to call all individualists a name I shall not repeat here. I think the intention is pretty clear.

Any further discussion should be taken to PM.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

Intentionally? No, of course not. Trek's history with actual neurodivergence before the streaming era is... spotty at best. And that's not entirely a fault of Trek itself, because real understanding of what it is to have neurodivergences wasn't really even a topic of discussion for the layman until the 2010s, limiting what they could really even do with the idea at the time, even acknowledging the way that mental health in general was handled by Trek's writers in the 90s.

However, one of the strengths of Star Trek has always been in its applicability. The fact that Rom resonates with neurodivergence now speaks to the ability of the writing and the strength of the character himself, that the experiences of neurodivergence connect with this character who was very much not intentionally made to represent it yet still do.

 

[somebuddyX]

Rom got that lobotomy that turned him from a hardass intelligent prick who wanted to murder his brother and take over the bar into the lovable oaf with the heart of gold.

 

[Ragitsu]

If only he had been named Ram; he would have enjoyed greater flexibility.

 

[AntonyF]

Being kind and good with a spanner shouldn't make someone neurodivergent. Rom was divergent... but from what had been established as the Ferengi norm.

It was just by the nature of DS9 being given the room to explore the Ferengi further.

And to have Quark, Rom and Nog all as acquisitive Ferengi would have been boring. Hence they made Rom kinder and more technologically advanced, and Nog wanting just something different in life (which would also make perfect sense as he's being exposed to different cultures on DS9 on a daily basis and it's the soft power of the Federation at work).

 

[Mage]

I don't understand this obsession with categorizing individuals based on mental...quirks.

I do, because I was recently diagnosed with AuDHD and it's very normal for people on the spectrum to want to identify with characters that might represent them.

And it is NOT a quirk. Have some respect for those who are not like you.

 

[Leviathan]

...he was certainly divergent from the usual Ferregnism...

 

[Roundabout]

"Rom's an idiot. He couldn't fix a straw if it was bent".

That line was spoken by Odo in "Babel". I remember it because it was, well, funny, at least for me.

I got the impression that the Rom character was intended by the writers to be comic relief of sorts.

I guess, in universe, Odo's opinion about Rom is suppose to represent how Rom was generally thought about by the other characters. Bear in mind, Babel was a season 1 episode.

I recall another DS9 fan mentioned that the DS9 writers intended for Rom to be an idiot savant. I don't know if that is true or not.