Not to mention invasive mental trauma. Picard went through two such issues, Geordi went through two such issues and I'm sure the rest of the crew have experienced such issues.
Spoilers Star Trek: Lower Decks 1x01 - "Second Contact"
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Not to mention invasive mental trauma. Picard went through two such issues, Geordi went through two such issues and I'm sure the rest of the crew have experienced such issues.
The head of the eeeevil (read, laughable) Trade Federation was Nute Gunray, an anagram/amalgamation of Newt Gingrich and Ronald Reagan (with the syllables of the latter reversed). There’s really nothing “conservative” about Star Wars, nor has there ever been.
And I see a good deal of dynamics in these characters, at least as much as there could be for the episodic nature of the series, in the time it was made and they way Berman wanted to run things. I think there's a fair amount of relateability to them and at the same I kind of don't think they're "supposed" to be and are just more there to deliver the story. It's not a great way to run a TV series but it's kind of how it was done during the time.
I suffer from severe depression and mood swings (see: this very thread) but I can't say that myself or the people I'm around and I wouldn't say it's entirely people "laughing dozens of times a day." YMMY depending on the situation and circumstances, and usually when we're with these people there's fairly serious stuff going on. When Crusher is being held captive by alien terrorists threatening to blow up her ship maybe it makes sense that she's sitting there with a captured Picard and they're not swapping knock-knock jokes and chuckling over the dumb thing Data said yesterday.
When we see them in more causal or less tense situations we see them behave pretty human. "Frame of Mind" starts with a jazz concert night in Ten Forward with Riker, Crusher and Troi acting pretty human and relatable with Troi teasingly trying to get Riker to play a song she knows he struggles with doing the solo on with the trombone.
It's a fun scene and they all feel like people in it, then Riker goes into a spiral dealing with wondering if he's losing his mind and, yeah, he kind of stops laughing about getting out of having to do the solo.
Anytime they're playing poker, notably in the aforementioned "Cause and Effect" episode, the entire play of everyone in that scene is fun. Crusher teasing Riker about having a "tell," her squeeing over winning the hand, the look Worf shoots Data as he's dealing and says he dealt card was no help to his hand, there's a lot going on in this scene that just makes these characters feel like real people and serious-minded adults in a serious job. They're having fun, but know to snap to business when things start seeming to get serious (as Crusher does when the deja vu sense gets stronger and then in a later scene when her, Riker and Worf all start feeling the deja vu.)
I could give you plenty of times the characters laugh or "act human" more than people think they do.
"Angel One" Yar and Troi laughing at and teasing Riker over the outfit he's given to wear on his date with the Mistress leader of the planet both when seeing the outfit itself and then then seeing him in it. It's kind of fun in a sort of bleh episode.
It's there, it may be subtle, but it's there. Not everything has to be in your face like say,.... Oh a character constantly shouting her dialogue and "playfully" swinging around a Klngon sword.
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Quite so.
is conservative straight white heroes fighting against the evil empire that has a Nazi aesthetic
Yeah, that pretty much ignores all of Lucas' intention then.
people who usually talk about star wars always talk about the original trilogy, I liked the prequels
Tough to override what we see on screen with intention.
Yeah, there are a lot of examples of them being people. I don't disagree. It's largely a matter of perception I think. I am looking at it as a whole and seeing people who don't act human in many expected ways, and there are any number of individual moments that contradict that. When I think of an episode where I really feel a character is reacting in a human way, it's in "Remember Me". It's kind of a silly episode, and there's a lot of humor in the absurdity. Crusher makes quips at the computer even though, as far as she knew, everyone she knew was gone forever, because sometimes you make a joke, even if it's to yourself. And yet, with each disappearance (and yes, music and cameras and all that enhance it), I can feel Crusher's sense of loss but also an understanding that she has to put aside that pain to try and save the day. There is a verisimilitude in her behavior.
Bringing it back to Lower Decks (your reference to Mariner made me remember what this thread is for), I think Lower Decks does (so far) push the envelope of what real people would do. Some if it lacks that verisimilitude of human behavior. I actually very much dislike that she sliced open Boimler's thigh. Accidents happen, but it felt very false that it was brushed over.
Some thoughts:
Having these Ensigns like pop culture rather than high culture stuff from the 20th century was interesting. Sometimes it feels like the 24th century is full of snobs and stuff shirts only like classic music and Shakespear.
Frankly, I like that Tendi is cute rather then hypersexual and I think that stuff about Orion women from Enterprise should just be ignored. I think alien characters defying stereotypes from their culture is always good in Star Trek.
I guess Star Fleet has nepotism, oh well, that is hardly the worst thing a Star Fleet admiral has done. I wonder if Mariner has ADHD, we have seen some people not quite fit in with Star Fleet in the past, like with Reg Barclay, so not everyone is some super perfect officer right off the bat.
It was kinda interesting to see some of Star Trek's ''bumpy forehead'' aliens in animation and to see some truly alien creatures and beings in this show.
So far I think this show is alright, but I am curious if it will get better throughout the season.
Having these Ensigns like pop culture rather than high culture stuff from the 20th century was interesting. Sometimes it feels like the 24th century is full of snobs and stuff shirts only like classic music and Shakespear.
Frankly, I like that Tendi is cute rather then hypersexual and I think that stuff about Orion women from Enterprise should just be ignored. I think alien characters defying stereotypes from their culture is always good in Star Trek.
I guess Star Fleet has nepotism, oh well, that is hardly the worst thing a Star Fleet admiral has done. I wonder if Mariner has ADHD, we have seen some people not quite fit in with Star Fleet in the past, like with Reg Barclay, so not everyone is some super perfect officer right off the bat.
It was kinda interesting to see some of Star Trek's ''bumpy forehead'' aliens in animation and to see some truly alien creatures and beings in this show.
So far I think this show is alright, but I am curious if it will get better throughout the season.
I suppose so. I mean, audiences are always going to identify with the hero, so the idea of America as an imperialist regime probably wouldn't register.
But, I would never describe Star Wars as "conservative" and certainly Lucas would find that rather strange as well. I mean, this is the guy who once described Dick Cheny as the Emperor and Bush as Vader.
people usually see the rebels as the founding fathersI suppose so. I mean, audiences are always going to identify with the hero, so the idea of America as an imperialist regime probably wouldn't register.
But, I would never describe Star Wars as "conservative" and certainly Lucas would find that rather strange as well. I mean, this is the guy who once described Dick Cheny as the Emperor and Bush as Vader.
rebels = united states
This person does not. Even if that is historically accurate.
Also, rebels=confederacy ("Johnny Reb"). Perhaps the Rebels are representative of the Confederate states? I mean, that's my interpretation.
Regardless, my point remains-Star Wars is not conservative. No doubt many would argue that fact, since Star Wars is very much the monomyth and can be read in to and support many different points of view even that was not the intent. You can interpret it as conservative but that does not make it so.
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That's one thing I had wondered is, what was the conversation like in sickbay? I mean, you'd think that action alone would have gotten her tossed off the ship by Captain Mom instead of the spy mission with Ensign Purple Hair. She was drink on an illegal substance (We could argue whether or not it'd be illegal considering the improved relationship between the Federation and the Romulans at this point, but I digress) swinging around a deadly weapon in the corridor and then sliced into the leg of a shipmate. Probably a superficial medical procedure to fix it but you'd think questions would have been asked.
I always felt that is what comedies do is often times overemphasize certain aspects of human behavior to the point that it strains credulity, though I personally don't think it has crossed that line...yet.
It's early yet.
I think Barclay sort of pushed the limits of what made sense in the Trek world when it comes to human behavior, he's really someone who should exist in this time period if we're to assume mental health care has improved as much as physical health, you'd think there'd be some meds or even an implant he could be on to help him. And assuming it can't or he just simply didn't get the treatment available to him it seems hard to believe he made it so far in the Federation, as far as making it to the Enterprise. (Though it's implied previous superior officers may have been lubing his resume to get him out of the way) I mean, he really went his entire career to that point avoiding transporters?
But, all of it's sort of easily looked past because Dwight Schultz gave such a great performance and his more extreme mannerisms were saved for later in the episode or even for future episodes, he didn't immediately come out of the gate in his 3 Musketeer fantasy with the overly sex-ed up Troi and his hypochondria and transporter phobia dominating his actions, we saw his holodeck fantasy and then him being nervous around Riker and LaForge. It sort of built up.
With Mariner we're pretty much instantly thrown to the wall with her knob cranked to 11.
I think Tendi could probably be the "best" character of the show with her wide-eyed enthusiasm for everything and maybe it not all living up to her expectations. I think the Orion women deal from Enterprise can be "ignored" without pretending it never happened, it did after all happen a couple hundred years earlier, maybe Orion civilization has changed.
I think a lot of that is just that it's hard to know what of popular entertainment and such will survive to the 24th century. Just because the Beatles have lasted as pop culture figures for 60 years now doesn't really mean they'll last for another 3-400, particular through two major wars the impacted the global society.
Shakespeare and classic music has lasted centuries and through major world-shaking events, and entire shifts in the way society even operates. So it's fairly easy to say they'll still be around for another few hundred years.
But, popular culture references are more or less fine, I mean Picard was into pulp-crime novels and Paris 1950s movie serials, so I think maybe referencing the Beatles is wthin that bracket.
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Some people just hide it really well, and, as others have noted, the Captain is Mariner's mom which means her acting out may also be in reaction to that.
ETA: A few further thoughts. First of all, the need for personnel would be great given the time period for Starfleet. I would imagine Mariner being pushed towards that career because of two career parents who saw that need first hand. Well intentioned but ultimately ignoring Mariner's own talents and interests.
ETA: A few further thoughts. First of all, the need for personnel would be great given the time period for Starfleet. I would imagine Mariner being pushed towards that career because of two career parents who saw that need first hand. Well intentioned but ultimately ignoring Mariner's own talents and interests.
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Yeah, I doubt Lucas’ political proclivities changed in any way between the first and second trilogies. It was just more trendy and acceptable to be anti-conservative in the early 2000’s, when the second trilogy was released, because of the neo-cons who were in power at the time.
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