Is he, though? Or is he feeding Picard a story to rationalize the rule of the Central Command?
Worthy aspects of Cardassian culture?
- Thread starter Ragitsu
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Is he, though? Or is he feeding Picard a story to rationalize the rule of the Central Command?
Madred didn't strike me as the kind who would make up lies out of whole cloth. Dukat has a history of exaggeration and narcissism, but I don't think Madred is like that. I really don't think Madred has any reason to lie.
I mean, Madred might think he can bond with Picard by relating tales of his impoverished childhood but I really do believe Madred was telling the truth. That's just the vibe I got.
Madred didn't strike me as the kind who would make up lies out of whole cloth. Dukat has a history of exaggeration and narcissism, but I don't think Madred is like that. I really don't think Madred has any reason to lie.
I mean, Madred might think he can bond with Picard by relating tales of his impoverished childhood but I really do believe Madred was telling the truth. That's just the vibe I got.
I mean, it's not impossible that he was telling the truth.
But the guy was literally torturing prisoners for a military dictatorship. I would respectfully suggest that it is a better idea to assume that anything a torturer working for a military dictatorship says is a lie until proven otherwise.
Neither did I really see the hook with 2024's earth (Sisko & Crew) (ok, except for the rather flimsy excuse: Oh noes, the future won't happen as it's supposed to!) or 1947 earth (Quark & co), but I still enjoyed those episodes. And explaining how the Cardassians came to be where they are today is reason enough for me.
...except that we already got that explanation in "Chain of Command".
The other two episodes are, respectively, social commentary and comedy, and in both of those cases the time travel was accidental. What seems to be being proposed here is intentional time travel, which requires more plotting.
The other two episodes are, respectively, social commentary and comedy, and in both of those cases the time travel was accidental. What seems to be being proposed here is intentional time travel, which requires more plotting.
Meanwhile, in real life, if I'm captured and tortured by a military officer working for a military dictatorship, I'm absolutely not going to trust a word he tells me. Nor should we the audience trust Madred.
I'd be more inclined to pile on the quarry of salt if A) Picard hadn't made a positive remark about Cardassian history and B) Even-tempered/far more objective Cardassians hadn't commented on their past (not state-sec propaganda, in other words). It is entirely possible for two people to recognize and work with the same set of facts and yet arrive at two entirely different conclusions.
He wouldn't do that. From Madred's perspective, Cardassia doesn't NEED rationalizing. It's just there. And in any case, it's not the problem anyway, since literally all Madred is doing is getting information from Picard. He doesn't need to LIE to Picard to do that. The big picture is not Madred's concern for the moment.
He wouldn't do that. From Madred's perspective, Cardassia doesn't NEED rationalizing. It's just there. And in any case, it's not the problem anyway, since literally all Madred is doing is getting information from Picard. He doesn't need to LIE to Picard to do that. The big picture is not Madred's concern for the moment.
If that were true, he wouldn't even bother telling Picard the story about how he was starving on the streets under the previous government as a child before the military got people fed again. He wants more than just to extract information from Picard or else he wouldn't be telling these stories to him.
Damar is one of my favorite characters in all of Star Trek.
But to the question- the difference between them and Klingons say is that while Klingons hold personal honor in high regard Cardassians so often seem to prize specifically patriotic honor.
Devotion to one’s country has made a lot of people terrible or great over time depending on how they interpret what that looks like and how they act on that.
Outside of that they seem as varied in qualities as humans. The loving “father” of Kira (can’t think of his name), the loyal and straight forward qualities of Damar, the cleverness of Garek, the brains of the three vipers…er…scientists.
But to the question- the difference between them and Klingons say is that while Klingons hold personal honor in high regard Cardassians so often seem to prize specifically patriotic honor.
Devotion to one’s country has made a lot of people terrible or great over time depending on how they interpret what that looks like and how they act on that.
Outside of that they seem as varied in qualities as humans. The loving “father” of Kira (can’t think of his name), the loyal and straight forward qualities of Damar, the cleverness of Garek, the brains of the three vipers…er…scientists.
I think Garak and Bashir's discussions on literature and culture are what I have constructed Cardassian culture from (probably because of my affinity towards both literature and exiles). Garak is an exile and romanticises Cardassia so, it has to be taken with a grain of salt but I think exiles' analysis often gets at the heart of a place or culture, like James Joyce. As per Garak, they admire certainty (hence the repetitiveness) and their own supremacy (the nature of the stories discussed). While I don't really admire those qualities, I thought it was an interesting culture and I would have wanted to know more about it.
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