TNG Movies: A Study of Picard...

[HaventGotALife]

It's been nearly twenty years since the last entry of TNG on the big screen. It's taken years to see them as great entries in the movie franchise mostly because, like all Americans, I focus on the plot, what the movie says to me, and didn't look at them collectively.

Jean-Luc Picard is our hero. Q warns at the end of the series that exploration of the internals, not space, is the real journey. So, through that prism, I pose the following:

Picard is damaged by the Borg. He was used to destroy and kill Starfleet officers by then, and he is not alone in this damage. A dark Guinan, Soran, has the nihilism, and quest for peace (the Nexus), that rages internally within Picard. He grapples with family, lineage, and time and has to argue with Soran about all of the above. That is the heart of this movie.

Then, the damage is Picard is reignited by having to face the Borg, again, turning him into a rage monster facing them down like he never could while kidnapped. He shows that trauma can lead to destruction, in his character, something that will resonate two movies from now, but more on that later.

The Borg and The Dominion have kept Picard from exploration, his reason for being in space, giving up children, and a wife. The Ba'ku heal that wound by exploring a culture that is unlike himself (respecting differences)--but the Federation has abandoned his dreams of imagination from his youth--making him put down the uniform in order to preserve his way of life. Treating this planet as a resource is as destructive, in Picard's eyes, as a Dominion invasion. Why did he just fight that war?

Then, the threads of all this tie into Picard examining his dark side. Shinzon of Remus is ambition for greatness, damaged by slavery, angry and hurt by it, curious of the stars, looking for family and finding it among the stars, in need of tempering and seasoning. He is Picard, although, a dark mirror, of him. Outside of the sore thumb of raping Deanna's mind, every single trait of Shinzon is a trait of Picard's. And, ultimately, he is broken by facing the extreme version of his negative traits, asking "is this truly me? Am I this damaged?" To the point, without Data, the Enterprise would be destroyed by his inaction.

Picard is our hero. Q told us to look within. Maybe that's what these movies were attempting to do, and are deeply misunderstood.

 

[Vger23]

Respectfully, I think you're giving them (and the process) way too much credit.

Paramount wanted crowd-pleasers with the lowest risk necessary. Limited budget, maximize the return. Milk the cow.

Stewart wanted to throw his weight around and not play the same character he had played in the TV series (action hero, moon buggy driver, love interest, etc).

I think your take on it is beautiful and works extremely well...but I think you can imagine that and spin it despite the failed intent of the films rather than because of it.

 

[KeepOnTrekking]

While I agree the individual movies were probably written without this much forethought put into each of them, sometimes the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. I love how you dug deep into the character of Picard and analyzed his personality and motivations. It gave me some very interesting insights. This is what I love most about Star Trek--exploring the "human adventure" in these stories. Katherine Wolterink did a similar study of the Spock character ("The Gates of Death" in The Best of Trek #17) as he "evolved" through the first 5 movies that changed how I view those movies. I'll have to keep your ideas in mind the next time I re-watch the TNG movies.

 

[HaventGotALife]

My analysis has actually deepened since this post. Often, after posting on sites such as this, I will re-watch the material in an attempt to analyze what I have said. So, I want to add a few things:

--Picard is moping, neglecting his duty after Robert and Rene die. Data is processing emotions and essentially wants death or to return to how he was before the emotion chip. Picard must stare himself down as he orders Data to perform his duty. Geordi is put in jeopardy by Data as the Enterprise is put in jeopardy by Picard. Both neglect their duties because of strong emotions.

This resonates throughout the film franchise. First Contact, it's Picard's anger. Insurrection, it's about how to control those emotions, through mindfulness (the philosophy behind meditation, being present in the moment), and Picard Inis stressed. Nemesis, it is freezing because Picard is overwhelmed by remorse, guilt, and in-shock, after the way Shinzon dies.

--Soran is destroying stars, where Picard looked, saw light, and dreamed. He is wishing for Iife without the Enterprise, which is when the first star is destroyed.

I think this is relevant as the Enterprise not only crashes, but is destroyed, before Picard enters the Nexus, and sees his life, had he not joined Starfleet, and what the Galaxy looks like, without him joining Starfleet (The Enterprise crashes, the mission is a failure, millions die, and the planet destroyed).

Kirk's struggle between family, and the chair, is the same as Picard's--life in Starfleet, outside of it. Again, Picard stares down himself as he convinces Kirk to take a risk, and make a difference, again.

It seems Picard needs trauma therapy over the Borg. He is deeply private which lends to stuffing your emotions until you explode and break your ships, spewing hatred. You fear Shinzon is right, and freeze when you see his self-destruction. Without the Borg, there's no mirror to peer, see your actions, in his. He has forgotten where he's been, what he has done, while in Starfleet. He can't get over those 39 ships he destroyed at Wolf 359.

"You don't know, Robert. You don't know. They took everything I was. They used me to destroy, and kill. I tried. I tried so hard! But, I wasn't strong enough! I wasn't good enough!"

That's what they took from him; his peace of mind. He takes too much credit, but he wasn't assimilated when he threatened the Borg with genocide or became Ahab, and that is why Shinzon cuts him, to the core.

"You are me!"

And with that line, he defeats Picard.

 

[Lord Garth]

Hmmm. Picard did have trauma over the Borg and regret over some of the choices he made, i.e. Starfleet over family. In INS, I see Picard as wanting to escape everything. In NEM, he probably sees Shinzon as what he could've been at his worst, but "could've" is the operative word. He wasn't. We could be anyone other than who we are under different circumstances.

Some people look at the Picard Series and say he didn't take Kirk's advice and stay in command of the Enterprise but if the Enterprise was all Picard thought he had, then he took advice from someone else who was in that same position. If Picard has a reason to be something besides just Captain of the Enterprise or no longer felt that role fulfilled him, he could move passed it. Picard -- at over 20 years passed Nemesis and 15 years passed Romulus' destruction, has now reached a point that Kirk never did: living a life beyond the Enterprise for a permanent, sustained, long-term period.