Well, at some point you'll have to figure out how to get past your overwhelming prejudice and cognitive dissonance. Jeri Ryan's boobs jiggled, and your friends saw nothing more... and you know what? Neither did you. How can I have an intelligent conversation with someone whose definition of a character starts and stops with the jiggling of boobs?
I was 15 years old. I haven't watched Voyager since. Instead of accusing me of prejudice, why not try to understand my experience? That would be more appreciated than the condescension.
As for cognitive dissonance, I am well aware of my opinions and their inconsistencies. Mostly, because, I think Worf was better done than Seven as characters. Both are played by capable actors-in fact, I would argue Jeri Ryan is the better actress. But, I think Seven's character was poorly developed and executed until later on.
And you did not consider the baldric, because it's clear that you don't understand the literary function OF the baldric. Worf's being Klingon sets him apart from the rest of the crew, and his wearing of the Star Fleet uniform sets him apart from other Klingons, and the baldric is a constant visual reminder of this conflict. To dismiss this by saying it "blends into the background" tells me your beliefs and opinions are inconsistent. You brought up a point that Seven's uniform sets her apart from the crew, I showed you that it is a common writer's device to add an out of place, conflicted character to an ensemble cast, and to provide a constant visual cue of that character's conflict. I gave you another example of when it was used on Star Trek. I can give you another: T'Pol on Enterprise. Another main character that adds an element of antagonism because the character is out of place and conflicted. The viewer never knows where their true allegiance lies. The T'Pol, Worf and Seven characters all provide the same FUNCTION on their respective series, the literary device is identical. From your response, its clear to me that you have no idea what I'm talking about because you cant get past boobs, and you offhandedly dismiss valid counterarguments. This is textbook cognitive dissonance
I don't need the textbook. I have several of mine own.
Now, that we've moved based the psychoanalysis portion of the post, let me get serious. I already conceded the baldric but I'll concede again for the sake of being clear-Yes, it set Worf apart. They did the same thing with Odo, but Worf's felt more in character.
T'Pol, similarly, as much as I don't enjoy ENT, was a well done character who felt very much at conflict. As a literary device, her and Phlox served as interesting outsider perspectives. Worf added a different wrinkle of being in conflict with his internal code of honor and external politics. Again, very interesting.
Seven had some interesting elements, but I felt she was overused in terms of being a quick fix to a problem through her Borg implants. I might be wrong on that and plan on reexamining VOY some time in the future. I don't think Seven was as successful of a literary device as Worf or T'Pol.
Beyond all this, both series were failing, or at least disappointing the networks and producers until these more complex characters were added and the lineup and direction was revised. Opinion is moot. The idea was for the series to be a success. It's fine to say how much you liked Kes and found her interesting and how much more there was to explore. The same could be said of anyone on the show. Someone could say that Vorik or Neelix should have been the main focus of 10 episodes per season. But then there would be no show to watch, because it would have been cancelled. Kes was boring, there was nowhere for the character to go, and the acting was poor. That's why she was asked to hit the road.
Um, no. Either Garrent Wang or Jennifer Lien were on the chopping block, with the axe hovering over Wang. Then he was voted in People's 50 most beautiful people and Lien was the one to go.
My biggest frustration with VOY is simply the fact that Seven basically took over, and the writers did little to invest in to previously established characters. Tom and B'Elanna manage to get some development, too, and were the better for it.
I disagree that Kes had nowhere to go. She had a short life span, which meant you could showcase her life span within the span of the show. Going from wide eyed and childlike, to more sage and wise, becoming a counselor of sorts in the show.
And that DS9 doctor, really? "KahMANdah, oh KahMANdah. Whine, whine whine, kahMANdah. I'm NOT going to do this, kahMANdah, and I WON'T do THAT kahMANdah. I'm superior to you, MILES." The acting was terrible, worse than any other trek actor, the actor was seriously unattractive and hard to look at, his accent was ridiculous and the character was just horrible. No growth in 7 seasons, just different things to make a dull character seem less dull. They tried to get rid of Beverly Crusher for being too unlikable, and this turkey was 100 times worse.
Thanks for reading.
I'll take Bashier over Seven, or T'Pol any day. Obviously, your opinion varies. That's ok.
ETA:
@Christopher makes a good point and I'm willing to admit that I'm wrong. I still think Seven's wardrobe was a mistake and overly sexualized the character, especially in the marketing department. But he adds more about her that I'm willing to acknowledge.
I think it's deeply sexist and superficial to dismiss Seven of Nine as a character just because of what she wore. Yes, her wardrobe was distracting, but she was a rich, well-written, superbly acted character. The reason she got so much story focus wasn't just because of her looks -- people forget that the Doctor got nearly as much story focus. (I did an article on this for Star Trek Magazine in the March 2009 issue, and my research showed that in the four seasons featuring her, Seven was the second-most heavily featured character after Janeway, with the Doctor in third place, but in season 7 the Doctor actually had more focus episodes than Seven.) The reason those two characters got so much focus is because they were the two richest, most complex characters, the ones with the most growing and self-exploration to do and the most potential for conflict. All the other characters had pretty much worked through their issues and settled into stasis by season 4, with the exception of the evolving Tom-B'Elanna romance. So you're absolutely wrong -- Seven's character journey, along with the Doctor's, was the main thing that did move Voyager forward in its final four years.
I still don't care for her as a character, but that's a credit to the writing, because it means she was a well written character that had traits that I found annoying or unnecessary.
So, Seven was a good character. Her wardrobe-no, I think it was a mistake.
