Thought this was a Dr who meme at first
this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2024
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TenForward: Where Every Vulcan Knows Your Name
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“Why is Crusher gone? Who is this old Bones McCoy copy? Why didn’t Riker shave?”
One year later…
“Why is Pulaski gone? Why did the soccer mom come back? What did they do to the uniforms?”
Insurrection: Why is the beard gone?
Haha, yeah, so true bestie, wait what? ... Oh. Star Trek, not Doctor Who.
I much preferred Pulaski because she actually acted like a doctor, instead of a cheerleader with a medicine degree
Am I the only one here who's pretty much indifferent towards Crusher but couldn't stand that bigot Pulaski?? 😬
I'm going to defend Pulaski here because I don't think she was a bigot. Data was unique. There was no precedent there for how to relate to an android like Data. To the point that Starfleet literally had to have a legal case over whether or not he is sentient. She was a doctor. Her idea of sentience was biological. She did not have the framework to initially understand that an android can be sentient.
Look at it this way: let's say tomorrow, someone develops an actual AI, a sentient computer program rather than just an LLM. And you told people, "I know all those other LLMs sound like they're alive, but this one really is alive," a lot of people would find that pretty hard to buy. She was in a world where computers sounded alive but were not alive.
There's also a lot of bigotry in Star Trek that is a lot worse than that. I don't just mean O'Brien and the "Cardis" stuff. McCoy was just a bigot. He talked about Vulcans the way his Southen ancestors would talk about N-s. And he never learned considering he was still at it when he was an old man at Farpoint Station. Kirk is such an anti-Klingon bigot that he almost starts a war over it. And he essentially gets proven right even while also being wrong. There's even Federation-wide prejudices. All genetic augments are bad people even if their parents did it when they were babies. Romulans cannot be trusted. Ferengi are always trying to cheat you. Of course, these prejudices always get shown to be true in the show (or there's the "one of the good ones" character), but that's just justifying the bigotry.
So I would put Pulaski pretty damn low on the Star Trek bigotry level, especially compared to some more beloved characters.
Data was unique. There was no precedent there for how to relate to an android like Data. To the point that Starfleet literally had to have a legal case over whether or not he is sentient. She was a doctor. Her idea of sentience was biological. She did not have the framework to initially understand that an android can be sentient.
I see your point, but counterpoint: based on the fact that he was a Starfleet officer, which only people are allowed to be, and just interacting with him, it's pretty clear on an instinctive level that he has personality quirks, preferences, self awareness etc.
What's more, I could understand her initial doubts due to what you described, but even after getting to know him, she'd keep gainsaying his personhood for no apparent reason other than seemingly trying to convince HIM that he was nothing but a robot.
It's that stubbornness and lack of rationale that makes it feel like bigotry rather than just confusion and inquisitiveness to me.
As for bigotry being rife in Star Trek, this sounds like a cop-out but it's true: I haven't seen much yet since I started with TNG and am only a few episodes into season 3 so far lol
Even with what you have seen so far, think about how the bigotry is baked in when humans are super diverse but every alien in the show is part of a monoculture that has a bunch of very well-defined stereotypes. Worf is a Klingon so he acts like how any Klingon would act and it doesn't matter if he was raised by humans because Klingons are Klingons and will always be Klingons.
Worf is a Klingon so he acts like how any Klingon would act
Worf is a weeb, and his time on Deep Space Nine makes it super obvious. He is way more concerned with appearing Klingon than being Klingon. Among other Klingons, he sticks out like a sore thumb.
The Lower Decks character Mesk (who appears at Deep Space Nine) is a caricature of Worf.
In the case of Worf, though, he's extra Klingon. Which isn't all that unusual; second-generation immigrants sometimes lean extra hard into their perceived home culture despite the fact that they only know how their parents act and miss out on a lot of subtleties. I can imagine that even other Klingons think he's weird for listening to nothing but Klingon opera.
But yeah, in general Star Trek does simplify; species have one culture and planets have one biome. Then again, the narrative usually wouldn't be helped by lines like "it's a beautiful, verdant planet except for where you'll beam down, which is an asbestos desert that looks like a bowl of used cat litter" or "we're going to rendezvous with a Klingon ship but the crew are part of this subculture that doesn't consider physical combat valid and exclusively dresses in yellow".
We do see more detail with cultures the story spend a lot of time around; e.g. the Bajorans are shown to be multi-faceted because those facets are relevant to the narrative.
My very favorite instance of that happening was actually on SG-1. Where O'Neill and Carter accidentally end up in an ice crevasse, and she tunnels up to the surface, takes a look around and says "It's an ice planet."
spoiler
They're on Earth in Antarctica
Bajorans are a lone exception. Virtually every Klingon is the same. Romulans, Andorians, Cardassians, all pretty much the same.
Then again, humans are also pretty samey from an outside perspective. There aren't many humans who openly reject the Federation's ideals. A small number of exceptions does exist but other species get those as well. Even the Maquis still behave like Federation people; while they fight their own little war they generally do that while adhering to Federation standards.
a Klingon ship but the crew are part of this subculture that doesn’t consider physical combat valid
ENT has an entire moon-sized prison full of those.
True.. Tbf though, most of the races seem to be more or less allegorical representatives of different aspects of human nature, so having too many pacifist Klingons or brave and selfless Ferengi or whatever would just muddle the narrative IMO..
I would argue that Bone's anti-Vulcan specism isn't exactly like anti-black racism. Vulcans purposely held humans back and avoided sharing technology for about a hundred years after first contact. They were not a lower class of people, but viewed as elitists who know better.
To me it's closer to how (some) Southern folks view "liberals."
It’s definitely how southerners view and distrust Yankees. You’re spot on.
Yeah, Star Trek's monocultures make disliking a culture the same thing as disliking a species, but in Star Trek V Bones seemed delighted at the idea of a passionate Vulcan, showing it's not the species he has an issue with.
I would argue that any Vulcan who acts like they're inherently superior to other more emotional beings is being illogical.
Did that idea really exist in the franchise before Enterprise?
If I see someone shouting at a fridge and calling it names, then I wouldn't like them either.
Just because it is an object, doesn't mean you don't have to treat it with respect. Especially if it isn't even yours.
she was obviously written like that so they could give her some character growth.
lot of the star trek characters didn't exactly age well according to today's standards, just take it with a grain of salt. i definitely liked her more than crusher, who was always so bland...
Good point. Seeing her for the first time a few months ago did her no favors lol. Tbf though, she was casually yet stubbornly bigoted even by late 80s standards in a show that was inherently xenophilic if anything.
Also, might just be me, but it very much felt like the bigotry was supposed to be a POSITIVE trait to show of her scientific skepticism or whatever compared to all those Pollyannas just going around treating other people as equals by default 🤦
have you finished the season already? she does get some development.
Yeah I have, but I don't remember any development with regards to her bigotry, her stubbornness, or both being portrayed as her being "the rational one", which is what I hated about the character lol
she started the season acting like an asshole to data, she ended up admitting her prejudice, asking for his help and respecting him.
i think the biggest problem was her character left as abruptly as it entered the scene, so there wasn't enough time.
Even though she sometimes grated me, I liked Pulaski more simply because she was a more interesting character.
Not being a perfect pushover was a definite asset for her.
Pulaski was the best TNG cast member and I will die on that hill. She's the only one who showed real personal growth.
The only reason I didn't like her was she was a Mary Sue.
All of Starfleet and she happens to be the foremost expert on Heart Transplants, Genetics, AND Klingon biology? It's not that she knew medicine and struggled like McCoy in Spock's Brain. Nor spend an episode learning from the actual expert like Geordie in Booby Trap. No it was "Oh we are so glad to see you Dr. Pulaski- the universe's foremost expert on < whatever the episode's problem was >.
At least Spock in TOS had the excuse of being a super intelligent alien.
I mean that's just TNG in general. Everyone on the Enterprise was a top expert in multiple things.
Booby Trap was one of the few cases where Geordi needed outside help. The rest of the time, he was the greatest engineering genius in history. O'Brien is literally the most important man in Starfleet history (although I'm guessing that's more due to his time on DS9).
Picard was not just one of the best starship captains in Starfleet history, he was also an expert in archaeology and could do science and engineering if he needed to and probably any other job on the ship. Certainly any job on the bridge. On top of that, he was a talented actor, he was an expert in hand-to-hand combat and he was able to hold his own against omnipotent beings multiple times and sometimes even get the better of them, as if that makes a lick of sense.
Every character on TNG was an expert in whatever they needed to be an expert in that episode. That doesn't make them Mary Sues. You're supposed to be able to identify with a Mary Sue. I don't think the point of Pulaski was for audiences to identify with her. Especially with her relationship with Data. There was a Mary Sue character on TNG. That character was Wesley.
I always assumed that everyone on the Enterprise was the best of the best of the best because of the nature of their mission and the desirability of the ship.
It seemed that everyone on the ship because it was the most desired position in all of Starfleet, hence why people like Riker would rather stay as Lt Commander on the Enterprise instead of take their own command on another ship. It was a ship full of geniuses that seemed like relatively normal people since there were like a thousand of them all together.
That's exactly my take. At that point in the universe's history, the Enterprise was essentially the flagship of the entire Federation. You don't assign the crew randomly for that, you pick the best possible candidates, and they're all eager for the posting.
Like you said, Riker was willing to stall his career to serve on her.
Even the red shirts were the best possible red shirts in Starfleet.
It's also relevant that Starfleet as a whole had become more established, and working in Starfleet more prestigious than in TOS era. So you had the very best of the Federation wanting to be there, and then having to prove themselves via the Academy in a way that previous eras didn't (though, the extended universe kinda bounces around about that).
Every character on TNG was an expert in whatever they needed to be an expert in that episode.
I think there's a big difference between Geordie doing whatever the plot needs in Engineering and Geordie showing up at a planet and the top scientists on a planet of 1 billion saying, "OMG, it's Geordie LaForge. I read your definitive textbook on Plate Tectonics."
That hardly happened regularly with Pulaski in her one season.
It happened 3 times in one season! Being an expert in one subject is fine. Being the foremost authority in a federation of 980 Billion people is extremely unlikely. Also being the best heart surgeon and cybernetic opthalmologist is ridiculous in only a single season.
Picard had an interest in Archaeology. He didn't write the definitive textbook on it.
Pulaski was the best TNG cast member and I will die on that hill. She's the only one who showed real personal growth.
Not Data?
Losing Dr Frasier was rough. And at least when Atlantis replaced Dr Beckett, we got Jewel Staite in the deal.
The SG-1 replacement was... not great, as a character. The whole "estranged child" side plot was entirely uninteresting. Not that the series had ever really explored Fraiser as a character.
Who?
Oh.
I’m kidding in the sense that I want everyone to be happy and wish they’d kept Pulaski/Muldaur for another role - maybe Worf’s personal physician.
But I’m not kidding in the sense that Bev Crusher.
The barrel incident really made me fucking hate Crusher.
Ok I admit I’m unfamiliar but intrigued.
Big spoiler.
A heavy barrel falls on Worf and damages his spinal chord, resulting in paralysis from the neck down. He wants to die because being paralyzed and being a burden brings him great mental agony. He asks Riker to kill him. Crusher can't reconcile her own feelings with those of Worf and his values as a klingon and wants to force him to live as a cripple.
Other doctor (forgot the name) shows up later who proposes a risky procedure to artificially grow a spinal column and replace it completely, but which may end up killing Worf. Crusher once again bitches about how Worf could live a happy, fulfilling life as a quadriplegic (by her stupid humie standards), but is overruled and ordered to assist. The procedure is a close call, but ultimately successful.
Crusher then has the fucking audacity to call the other doctor dangerous.
Basically I wanted her to take a long walk out an open airlock then have Picard reverse course and later apologize to Geordi for causing an in-flight human ingestion. She is not fit to be a physician if she can't reconcile her views with another culture for the benefit of her patient. Great episode overall, but as always, I wish there had been some fallout later.
Agreed. It was one of those Star Trek episodes that tried to make a point (in this case a point about disabilities not being stigmas) and doing it so badly that they make the opposite point instead. And it's not the only one at all.
Even worse is that there have been several episodes with that message. Many of the Geordi-focused episodes, and the woman who couldn't live in normal gravity in DS9.
Don't even get me started on the Cogenitor
And we didn't even get a multi doctor episode
I so wanted them to attempt a connection between Diana Muldaur's TOS & TNG characters. Alas...