why do people hate Wesley Crusher?
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He was booooring and bland. For a genius boy he lacked personality.
I don't think I'd call Nog a geek. He was a thief and a Ferengi
I don't think I'd call Nog a geek. He was a thief and a Ferengi
The other three weren't arrogant jerks (or, on the occasions that they acted like arrogant jerks, were at least put in their places), and they weren't constantly, irritatingly outsmarting the highly-trained adult officers around them, or taking on jobs that should have rightfully belonged to someone else, or having gorgeous women fall for them, or turning into "gods."
Basically, the other three were flawed and believable.
I was young enough to have a wee crush on Wesley during TNG's first run, but upon rewatching it as an adult, I totally understand the hate.
Basically, the other three were flawed and believable.
I was young enough to have a wee crush on Wesley during TNG's first run, but upon rewatching it as an adult, I totally understand the hate.
No, there is nothing wrong with nerds. I think it's because people usually hate Mary Sues/Gary Stues.
I was about 12 when I first watched TNG, and I was indifferent to Wesley. He was just the doc's kid who was kinda just there. I had a crush on Riker and thought Data was cute. I doubt I'd have a crush on him even I had been younger.
I never thought of Jake and Nog as nerds, just as "kids," and Icheb was... well, inconsequential. I'd forgotten all about the little turd until you mentioned him.
Wesley was a needless annoyance. I assume he was there as an avatar for the young viewers with Mary Sue complexes, who pictured themselves on the Enterprise, always saving the day. It always made me roll my eyes that, with a thousand trained scientists and engineers aboard, Wesley was the one who kept coming up with the answer. With a thousand career officers aboard, "acting ensign" Wesley was the one given the helm, and given some choice assignments.
How many more interesting tertiary characters might we have met if that little jerk wasn't around?
Wesley was a needless annoyance. I assume he was there as an avatar for the young viewers with Mary Sue complexes, who pictured themselves on the Enterprise, always saving the day. It always made me roll my eyes that, with a thousand trained scientists and engineers aboard, Wesley was the one who kept coming up with the answer. With a thousand career officers aboard, "acting ensign" Wesley was the one given the helm, and given some choice assignments.
How many more interesting tertiary characters might we have met if that little jerk wasn't around?
It's basically because of the first season, where this untrained kid manages to know what to do and how to save the day better than the trained professionals. It's because Wesley was made more intelligent than the other characters at the expense of their own intelligence that people hated him.
This lessened as time went on, but you know what first impressions can do to people.
This lessened as time went on, but you know what first impressions can do to people.
...and I'm going to be 34 in Oct...I don't hate him, but I think the reaction he provokes may have something to do with how he's presented as so special and important. When episodes have a sub-plot about how such and such a mission can be used as a learning experience for Wesley, it gets grating. One example of him being used in an especially annoying way is the episode Pen Pals, where he's given command of a team of older, more experienced people just so he can learn from it - it seems silly.
Wil Wheaton's not bad and there are some episodes where the character is used well (e.g. The Bonding, The First Duty), but overall I don't think Wesley was put to very good use. Possibly it's because a teenaged character wasn't a great fit for that sort of setting.
Wil Wheaton's not bad and there are some episodes where the character is used well (e.g. The Bonding, The First Duty), but overall I don't think Wesley was put to very good use. Possibly it's because a teenaged character wasn't a great fit for that sort of setting.
I've rewatched seasons 1 and 2 recently and didn't find him as annoying as most. There is a fair number of episodes he's not even in or doesn't do a whole lot. And he wore lots of ugly sweaters in season 1. I think like anything else, the writers were trying to figure out what to do with him and it just went badly most of the time, but I like the closure they eventually gave him. And at least someone figured out that if they want to make "Wesley wants to go to the academy" thing believable, he would have to leave the show. Unlike Voyager where we had to believe Kim was never better than an ensign.
I really like Wil Weaton though. His recent appearances on The Big Bang Theory have been great.
I really like Wil Weaton though. His recent appearances on The Big Bang Theory have been great.
I don't care how much of a genius Wesley is, or how many super-beings like the Traveller say he's destined for great things...no teenager belongs on the bridge of any ship, much less the flag ship. Intelligence does not equal experience or maturity. I was in my late teens when TNG first aired and never took to Wesley, and would often imagine how many officers who had far more right to be on the bridge wanted to give Wes a damned good whacking.
I never did understand why Kim never got a promotion from Janeway.... even after seven years. He's probably my least favorite character on Voyager, just below Nelix, but he had some brains to him and should have eventually grown beyond Ensign.
But that's another topic I suppose.
W. Crusher.... well I never had a beef with him and never got what the big deal was over him (in regards to hating his guts)
As I saw it.... he was smarter then most his age, he took personal interest in star ships and starfleet, mostly because his parents were in starfleet. Picard didn't want any children on his ship, let alone on the bridge, but when he was told it was Beverly's son (the son of his best friend whom he felt responsible for him dying) he gradually moved into the father figure roll for Wesley..... though when he started to out show Picard and know the bridge so well, Picard obviously snapped back into his stuffy mode and ordered him back off the bridge.... but he saw his potential, and I think he had some personal interest in the kid.... so based on all that, he made the decision to let him on the bridge, to give him acting ensign rank and to nurture his abilities, especially after the traveler mentioned about his future. I imagine if it was any other captain, he wouldn't have had such special treatment given to him.
I see him no different then a kid who grew up around cars, who had a father as an auto mechanic and can work on engines at a young age..... some kids tend to focus or specialize in certain areas.... that's not their fault.
At a very young age, I could draw better then most adults, and in my teenage days, I was drawing better then most art college graduates...... just because someone is older and had training, doesn't mean they should automatically be better then someone younger who spent their own free time learning how to do the exact same things..... nor should they be shatted on for being better or par.
It wasn't my fault some of my work was better, nor did I boast.... but others liked my work and encouraged me to go farther.... if I was better and younger then someone who was trained in the same field.... well that's their own problem not mine.
As I see it, their own anger is more towards their jealousy of someone younger and smarter out-showing them... or insecurity of their own abilities. Nobody should be treated like crap for simply knowing what they know or having confidence in their own abilities over someone who's older and was doing the same thing for longer.
I'm not the best at what I do, nobody ever really is, since everybody has their own unique style..... but I'm also aware that there's a chance that someone younger then I will end up being better then I.... that's life.
Early Wesley was a precocious, irritating and excrutiatingly annoying child genius type - what's not to hate!!! Joking aside, the character improved vastly in later seasons.
even wil hates the character.
Wesley was annoying in the first season. He was supposed to be 15, yet he acted like he was 8. "I'm going to join Starfleet when I grow up! Howework to help me become an officer? Cool! Gee whiz!" Being the whiz kid boy genius who was constantly saving the day sure didn't help, either. Okay, so you got the best and brightest of Starfleet on board this ship, and it's the doctor's teenage son who is figuring everything out? And is piloting the most advanced starship in the Federation really so simple that a teenager with no flight training or Starfleet training of any kind can do it?
As the show went on they did manage to get some good character moments with Wesley. Family and Final Mission come to mind. The First Duty is perhaps the best Wesley episode in TNG. Journey's End was also pretty damn good, and perhaps the most realistic Wesley has ever been in the show. Well, aside from the nonsense with the Traveller, which I wish wasn't actually there and Wesley just left Starfleet for some other reason, maybe to help those Native colonists or something.
As the show went on they did manage to get some good character moments with Wesley. Family and Final Mission come to mind. The First Duty is perhaps the best Wesley episode in TNG. Journey's End was also pretty damn good, and perhaps the most realistic Wesley has ever been in the show. Well, aside from the nonsense with the Traveller, which I wish wasn't actually there and Wesley just left Starfleet for some other reason, maybe to help those Native colonists or something.
He was a totally unrealistic Marty Stu, who despite being fifteen and never having been to the Academy, was apparently able to serve as an acting ensign on the bridge of the Federation flagship.
Really, it boggles the mind that they never anticipated the backlash against this character. A supergenius teenager who serves on the bridge and is told how wonderful he's going to be by an advanced alien, and frequently outsmarts capable officers with far more expereience than him. Yeahhhh.... hard to see problems with that.
Really, it boggles the mind that they never anticipated the backlash against this character. A supergenius teenager who serves on the bridge and is told how wonderful he's going to be by an advanced alien, and frequently outsmarts capable officers with far more expereience than him. Yeahhhh.... hard to see problems with that.
The whole idea that teenage fans would rather see a teenager on the bridge than heroic officers doing cool stuff makes the whole concept a non-starter.
Like Sonak said:
I always wanted him to have a real confrontation with Picard and say something like, "I wish it had been you that didn't come back," or at least play up the tension Picard would have felt. What we're given is that Picard doesn't feel comfortable around children, and Wesley is a child, so Picard doesn't like him. A better story would be that every time Picard looks at Wesley, he's reminded of the death of his friend, a death that he was perhaps responsible for.
Like Sonak said:
I always wanted him to have a real confrontation with Picard and say something like, "I wish it had been you that didn't come back," or at least play up the tension Picard would have felt. What we're given is that Picard doesn't feel comfortable around children, and Wesley is a child, so Picard doesn't like him. A better story would be that every time Picard looks at Wesley, he's reminded of the death of his friend, a death that he was perhaps responsible for.
For me it's pretty simple - he was horribly, horribly, horribly written for (with very few exceptions later on). I have never understood how Gene Roddenberry could allow that character to be created and executed in that poor of a manner. One of his biggest failings IMO.
I put no blame on Wil Wheaton. In fact, those early episode reviews he wrote not all that long ago in which he relentlessly made fun of his own character were quite hilarious. I forgot where I read them, but I think he gave up not far into the project, as the episodes and his character were just so awful. I don't think he ever got past season 1. Could be wrong though.
edit: Oh, it was at TV Squad. If you've never read any, you should at least check them out. You may not like them, but I find them quite funny myself.
http://www.tvsquad.com/bloggers/wil-wheaton/
I put no blame on Wil Wheaton. In fact, those early episode reviews he wrote not all that long ago in which he relentlessly made fun of his own character were quite hilarious. I forgot where I read them, but I think he gave up not far into the project, as the episodes and his character were just so awful. I don't think he ever got past season 1. Could be wrong though.
edit: Oh, it was at TV Squad. If you've never read any, you should at least check them out. You may not like them, but I find them quite funny myself.
http://www.tvsquad.com/bloggers/wil-wheaton/
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