Picard when he had conviction
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 พ.ย. 2024
- Star Trek The Next Generation season 3 episode 13, Deja Q
Q is deemed unworthy of his status as an omnipotent being by his peers and is turned into a mortal race of his choice, after a close shave with death he is moved by Data’s selfless act to save him, but after having caused Picard and the Enterprise so many unnecessary inconveniences and life threatening encounters over their voyages he is not moved to compassion
1:05 "I am not your father confessor. You will receive no absolution from me. You have brought nothing but pain and suffering to this crew."
A friend I had a falling out with over poltics reconnected with me recently. We bonded over Star Trek in our early 20s.
Our paths started to diverge as NuTrek was taking shape, which coincided with the political landscape. He cut me (and family and other friends) out of his life and became more and more obnoxiously politically outspoken.
He went through some betrayals and cancelations with the crowd he immersed himself with and reached a point of deep despair and loneliness.
He started watching old shows and reading old comics and books that he used to enjoy and relate with people over, he said he kept asking himself why people that he came to believe were ignorantly dangerous or willfully harmful could've liked so many of the same things he did.
He said at his lowest and darkest point that he reached out to people in the crowd that cast him out, none of them would associate with him and made fun of him on social media for trying.
He reached out to family members he'd cut off and they responded. They helped him out of the emotional pit and situation he'd been drowning in.
He said one night he was watching this episode of TNG and it felt like it was speaking directly to his soul.
This particular interaction between Picard and Q broke him. He said he knew exactly what Q was feeling in this scene and felt like Q was describing him.
He said he knew that every person that he'd cut off would've done what Data did for Q for him despite how he'd treated them,
and he felt as selfish as Q for heading to the Enterprise for protection against the enemies he knew would seek him out now that he was vulnerable, because he felt that reaching out to his cut off family members was effectively the same thing.
What Q says about being afraid of everything without his powers and feeling like a coward without them, he said he felt powerful when being a part of the crowd he was in and felt vulnerable being stripped of that power and cast out and vulnerable to people he'd condemned.
Q's line, "When I ask myself if I would've done the same for him and I am forced to answer no, I feel ashamed," destroyed him.
He said it made him remember how he reveled when he heard that family and former friends were dealing with difficulties like illnesses/ injuries, loss of family members, loss of jobs, and if any of them had reached out to him when they needed help, he would've said no.
I'm glad he's at the point and place he is now and that he's had all the epiphanies he's had. He's doing much, much better.
@@MRF1983 That is a truly amazing explanation behind the deeper meanings behind all the things he said and you sharing your personal story about your friend and comparing that with his lines really makes makes hit harder, thank you for that.
Many people have experienced hard times in their life, and it’s truly tragic when those dark thoughts start to pervade and keep coming up, at first tentatively, then casually, then with more acceptance, and it can really hard to escape it. I’ll share a little bit of my own experience briefly, but when I was in foster care for 11 years from age 7-18, I lived in 5 homes. 5 parents with different rules, beliefs, and standards and expectations. I also had the government visiting monthly then twice a year to take reports and recommend which new drug they should test out on me, aderall, straterra, concerta, before that just plain Ritalin.
In those dark times I often went through an insane amount of pressure from all these sources, as well as not having a social life due to strict policy of police checks on anyone that I might want to visit or hang out with, and always being promised by my real mother (who was partying the whole time) that I would be getting out next year blah blah blah, and I never really was able to focus and plan my future, it was more like just serving time, waiting to get out.
Anyways one of my foster parents was the Superintendent of Youthside Detention Ceneter, the warden, and let’s just say he never let me get away with ANYTHING. No lies, no instance of petty theft, no exaggeration, no manipulation. He broke me of a lot of bad habits that I had developed from poor/lack of guidance up till then, and if it weren’t for his discipline, his sits downs with me to get me to repeat my lies again and again like an interrogator until I messed up then he blow apart my story lol
When I first moved into his home it was his wife(my driver that took me to visit my mom each month) who actually asked for me to move in with them, and it was her that I got along with, he was fair and gave me a chance at first but I was up to too many dumb antics, and lying about it so blatantly, that he knew it was I lying, I knew I was lying, and I knew he knew I was lying, but I had developed such an aversion to telling the truth (because of abuse suffered in the past for telling it anyways) that I just was afraid of consequences and responsibility for my actions, so he recognized that over time and as his marriage with his wife got worse behind the scenes, we started hanging out more after a very pivotal moment in my life where I realized I telling the truth and owning up was a lot easier and better then lying trying to hide it.
Basically I had a full disclosure moment with him and admitted to everything I had ever got away with, as well the current thing I was doing,(concealing a can of tuna)
After that I never had to lie again, and we became good friends until they got divorced and I was moved away forever never to see them again.
So for me I focus on Picard reactions with positivity because it reminds me of my old foster dad, who did not give up on me and taught me to be a better person, through tough love and discipline.
I can see now though more clearly the other side of that tale from a different perspective , formed by diffrernt circumstances but with an equally profound message.
Thanks again for sharing,
Those writers really were good back then
@paintedweasels Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm glad there were positives along with those negatives that all shaped you and your perspective and I'm glad that you're at a good point now.
One of the things my dad said to me a long time ago about Star Trek was to think of the people I'd meet in real life like the people in Star Fleet or from other groups/ species and to think of the world like the Enterprise or a star ship.
He said that we all come from different backgrounds and different ideas, but that we need to find ways to cooperate together to make the ship (our world) function properly.
I've tried to carry that into every interaction. Sometimes I'm more successful than other times.
In terms of my dad's analogy to me, Voyager is a good example of two ideologically opposed factions being forced to work together. If Voyager is America, than the two politically polarized sides are Starfleet and the Maquis.
Voyager is full of scenarios when both sides had to put aside their differences and adopt a little bit of each other's modus operandi to resolve their immediate problems and achieve their long-term goal.
TNG's "The Drumhead" is an episode I often come back to, to remind myself to always keep an open mind and question whether or not I'm helping or hurting.
We all like to think that we're doing the right thing and on the correct side of a situation, but all too quickly, we can fall into the same trap as Mr. Worf.
Thank you for your reply, friend. Happy Thanksgiving to you, peace and long life, live long and prosper 🦃🥧🖖
One of the testaments of the writing in TNG and the acting talents of John de Lancie is you can never tell if Q is being 100% sincere in anything he does or is continuing to test humanity.
Q basically announces he's going to commit suicide and Picard sips his tea. Conviction?
@@pbdye1607 lol, I know I had to look it up to make sure I was using the word right, but ya he is not moved to compassion through Qs words because he’s a man of action not empty words, his belief in right or wrong, his conviction, is so strong he doesn’t react the way most people these days do, giving the criminals the benefit of the doubt and not taking action or just believing them, feeling sorry for them.
In most serious cases, one takes the situation seriously and reserves judgement, any judgement, until investigating.
Here though, the character if Q is the boy who cried wolf, were that boy also a murderer, arsonist, and terrorist. The Q character context isn't within a single clip.
Today, many lazy, honorless people use all kinds of excuses to act inconsistently with 'justice' and 'compassion' redefined to fit whatever narrative they promote.
I look at this Picard and look at what he has become. Its tragic.
You ever seen Stewart's performance of MacBeth? "Life is but a walking shadow." This actor IS a talent of tragedy and comedy, and from Encounter at Farpoint to the Last Generation, I would expect nothing more or less from him than this. Jean-Luc Picard is not a Shakespearean character. He's just a silly TV space captain that happens to be played by a man who understands The Seven Ages and how to bleed them all on the stage for your whimsy. Show some respect.
That furnace fan in the background is ludicrous sorry about that
Just an old impulse engine?