I loved that moment. It both made explicit and normalized Gray’s transition in the way it was presented, and is a wonderful example of authentic and meaningful representation.
Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 4x02 - "Anomaly"
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I loved that moment. It both made explicit and normalized Gray’s transition in the way it was presented, and is a wonderful example of authentic and meaningful representation.
It's kind of amusing that your Doctor Noel was one of the people working on the types of medical technology I mentioned given your attempt to put her on a pedestal.
Your mention of Troi too, given her job as Counselor was more Diplomat/HR manager to the point I think the only two people who's actual psychological issues she dealt with were Worf and Barcley.
Also your likening of Star Trek medical technology to a bottle of pills is designious enough that you might want to take a step back from this issue. Because it isn't. It's sticking a magic hockey puck on a persons head and repairing the brain damage causing the trauma.
That’s true! He’s probably the best person available to mentor Gray through the process of being reborn.
And will Book try to resurrect his nephew this way, as well, seeing as his katra is stuck in his mind somehow?
So? People still know who Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Cleopatra are and it’s been 2000+ years.
I really doubt that Picard is only remembered for being a synth. I’d imagine that being Locutus, attempting to rescue Romulans during the supernova, protecting the Synth planet, uncovering the conspiracy that destroyed Mars and created the synth ban, and being a complete contrast to Kirk as captain of the Ent-D & Ent-E are important parts of his legacy by the 32nd century.
I doubt it's all he's remembered for too, it just wasn't important for the scene.
Janeway in "Concerning Flight(VOY)" only remembered that James T. Kirk once claimed to have met Leonardo da Vinci, nothing else about his career.
Not great form trying to accuse someone of being disingenuous in the same post where you aggressively misrepresent what they've said. @Nerys Myk simply mentioned Noel, which is in no way comparable to "putting her on a pedestal." But since you're taking umbrage at that, it's also worth noting that Noel appears in "Dagger of the Mind," the TOS episode which is very explicitly a cautionary tale about purely technological solutions to mental health.
She is shown counseling almost every member of the crew at various points. Including Picard in the wake of his torture by the Cardassians in "Chain of Command." Going on about this point is basically just revealing that you really don't know what you're talking about. Maybe you're better off just letting it go.
There is tech shown in TNG that repairs neural damage. It's not the same thing as repairing mental health: trauma is a natural function and process of the human brain, so it would not be useful in treating many mental health issues, which is why mental health stories continued to be a lively part of Berman-era Trek.
While I understand the reason to mention Grey's transition in terms of real life representation, considering gender confirmation surgery was available in the space of a few hours in the 24th century, it's hard for me to imagine the transition process being anything like what trans people experience now.
Of course, I can headcanon this as being because they were on a relatively low tech generation ship.
Of course, I can headcanon this as being because they were on a relatively low tech generation ship.
It wasn't relevant to the conversation.
Do you recite the entire history of Alexander every time you mention him to someone?
What pedestal? She's a psychiatrist who served on the Enterprise, apparently along with several others. She's an example of a mental health professional on Star Trek.
No, she counseled several people on the ship, Starfleet and civilian. She did that more than anything diplomatic or HR related
Brain damage sounds more physical than mental. Emotional trauma from a horrific event like the loss of a love one isn't the same as having a rock fall on your head.
Exactly. Like, yes, there are plausibly certain mental health conditions that could be directly addressed with advanced brain surgery and neurology: sociopathy, which appears to arise from a specific structuring of the brain, comes to mind. So that could plausibly be an explanation for why sociopaths are relatively rare in the Star Trek future.
But mental health generally does not have a 1:1 relationship with physical surgery. I get that some of us nerds wish there was a "clean" engineering-type solution like repairing a gasket, but wishing doesn't make it so and Trek certainly doesn't have a history of representing it that way.
My guess? Trill can't use the normal genetic/medical techniques due to some unique biological quirk.
Everything's physical... Heck... In real life they can even sometimes track the damage causing the problems in things like extreme PTSD...
Remember, this is a universe where brain science has evolved to the point they can selectively edit memories as a simple procedure.
A terrible idea that employed without restriction directly produces chaos and abuse. That's the point of "Dagger of the Mind." It is something they do not play with any longer by the 24th century because they learned that lesson. Also a core theme of the TNG episode "Frame of Mind," where hostile memory manipulation by aliens is the main feature of the story.
Yet talk therapy is still a thing.
Like, I think the main theme here is that different moral choices prevailing in the setting than one might have wanted is not at all the same thing as those choices being stupid or the writing being "bad." It could be the writers have just thought through the social and scientific choices in a different way from the poster in question, and that their choices are just as valid.
I'm honestly baffled by "why aren't they just solving all the mental health stuff with magic pucks" as a writing "critique."
I'm honestly baffled by "why aren't they just solving all the mental health stuff with magic pucks" as a writing "critique."
This one gets a 5 from me.
I will give it that at least they didn't do the tired TNG trope of their first interpretation being right; BUT the whole 'Holo-Stammets' thing
(And yeah they can keep a clear Holo-Transmission going but CAN'T transmit the data back? (again )
And they really need to get rid of the random 'flame jet' generators on that Bridge set as that's the stupidest use I've seen in a Star Trek episode. You want to have an explosion when the ship is impacted by something, fine? But I swear those flame jets seemed to just randomly spout flame so many times during a scene it started being laughable to the [point it could be added to an ST: D drinking game - "Every time you see a jet of flame (in unison) from all sides on the Bridge, take a drink."
And what...a 32nd century Starfleet Science Ship DOESN'T carry a compliment of unmanned probes? The 1701 (TOS) and 1701-D (TNG) had a ton of them so why is Saru suggesting they could possibly jury rig a worker bee? No, I don't expect the probe to work, so yeah they have to send in a manned ship because 'ST Drama'; that's fine - but a Starfleet Science ship without a compliment of unmanned probes ?? maybe the current set of writers should watch some of the older Star Trek series.
I guess the set designer really wants to show they're using that 'new toy', eh? (Money well spent - not.)
Yeah, I better stop now or I might LOWER my rating here.
I will give it that at least they didn't do the tired TNG trope of their first interpretation being right; BUT the whole 'Holo-Stammets' thing
(And yeah they can keep a clear Holo-Transmission going but CAN'T transmit the data back? (again )And they really need to get rid of the random 'flame jet' generators on that Bridge set as that's the stupidest use I've seen in a Star Trek episode. You want to have an explosion when the ship is impacted by something, fine? But I swear those flame jets seemed to just randomly spout flame so many times during a scene it started being laughable to the [point it could be added to an ST: D drinking game - "Every time you see a jet of flame (in unison) from all sides on the Bridge, take a drink."
And what...a 32nd century Starfleet Science Ship DOESN'T carry a compliment of unmanned probes? The 1701 (TOS) and 1701-D (TNG) had a ton of them so why is Saru suggesting they could possibly jury rig a worker bee? No, I don't expect the probe to work, so yeah they have to send in a manned ship because 'ST Drama'; that's fine - but a Starfleet Science ship without a compliment of unmanned probes ?? maybe the current set of writers should watch some of the older Star Trek series.
I guess the set designer really wants to show they're using that 'new toy', eh? (Money well spent - not.)
Yeah, I better stop now or I might LOWER my rating here.
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Sounds like the pyro guy needs the week off.
Yeah, the flame spurts on the bridge? Also kinda baffling, I'll be real. Who thought those were a good idea? They're a minor gripe in the bigger scheme, but they do get a wee bit distracting.
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