Well, there's Marina Sirtis and then there's Deanna Troi.
Sirtis is an obvious B-movie sexpot. If you like Greek girls with somewhat voluptuous figures (natural, that is), then Sirtis is the ticket. She looks like a lot of fun to spend time with.
Troi is a Hollyweird caricature of some elite Ph.D. in psychology on a mission to psycho-analyze the world. And like
Elizabeth Dehner before her, she could easily let her emotions get in the way of her "work", witness how Cmdr. Remmick handles her in "
Coming on Age".
Marina Sirtis was a Hollywood natural to be hired to play Deanna Troi. She looks perfect for the part, and that's part of the problem. The Great Goddenberry's sexist legacy lived on long after he died through Sirtis as Troi, the first in a line of Berman-era D-cupped young women in tights. If that kind of thing tickles your fancy, then yes, she's "hot". It has limited appeal for me.
I've often wondered what it would've been like if Troi had been written as a more serious, interesting professional character. Forget all the psycho-babble, what if Troi had a more sophisticated and meatier purpose about the Enterprise-D? Maybe some kind of civilian liaison to Starfleet, or some kind of Starfleet mission monitor, or some kind of special diplomat like
Robert Fox... Put Troi in a 24th century business suit, and show her as a real professional who maybe could occasionally be a thorn in Picard's side. That would've been more interesting and potentially more fun. The only question would be if the "hot" Marina Sirtis' acting abilities would've been up to delivering the goods. I'd like to think she could.
Kind of an "all this and brains too" deal.
