this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2023
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Risa
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In addition to what was said about Berman, there's also Gene Roddenberry. The best way I can explain how his opinion of women evolved over time is that he allowed Marina Sirtis to have that role on TNG even though she didn't sleep with him. The same was not true of Nichelle Nichols in the 1960s.
Sirtis only stayed on the show after season 1 because Denise Crosby left. Not because there was a rift between them, but because she wasn't crossing the "too many women on the show" threshold anymore.
Gates McFadden left TNG for Season 2 because she ran afoul of Maurice Hurley, one of Roddenberry's lap dogs:
To his credit, Rick Berman asked her back, but I think it was only because Dr. Katherine Pulaski was such an unpopular character and the fans kept writing letters about bringing back Dr. Crusher.
Rick Berman and Gene Roddenberry understood, to varying degrees, that it was important to have women represented as strong, intelligent equals—but did not necessarily personally hold that value.
I am seriously in the minority but I got a huge kick out of Pulaski and thought she was the best characterized character on the show.
I get shit for this but my opinion is almost the exact opposite. Watching her, it feels like they scraped Dr. McCoy's lines from unused TOS scripts and directed her with "look, you're just Bones as a woman". There are also things I really like about her character, like being one of the only characters who can really butt heads with Captain Picard, but it feels like a retreading of old ground.
I respect your view on her character, and I understand it.
JFC, I hope that the next incarnation of Trek has writers and producers that aren't so sexist.
I say this as a dude who's sexual awakening was a combination of Stevie Nicks, Deanna Troi (as I knew her then), and Ryan Reynolds. JUST LET PEOPLE BE WHO THEY ARE. I don't know of any military institution (and let's be honest, that's what Starfleet is) that specifically dresses one officer different from another based on gender, and I can't figure out why the concept would transpose itself into a show based on being progressive. The only example I can think of is the Salvation Army, which has all the dress code qualities of your average preppy high school 30 years ago. But don't get me started on that racket...
Like SNW or DISCO?
I really loved Pulaski. It’s hard for me to imagine other reasons besides Crusher is hot that she made it back. She has no character.
She was unpopular because she was mean to Data right after Measure Of A Man. I know she turned around some near the end but tbh I had a bad impression of her because of that.
She wasn’t mean to data she was skeptical about his nature. I consider her relationship with data one of the best things on the show, and episodes like the one where Riker commanded the other ship in a war games exercise showed her to be fond of data regardless of her position on his sentience. It would have been amazing to see her mind changed over the course of seasons.
Even in the episode you mention though, she fails to respect his personal agency in what felt like a really gross way.
How so?
She challenges the strategy master to a game of Strategema, for Data, after Data has made it clear he's not interested
Despite her skepticism she should've treated him like a sentient being, since there was a clear chance she could be wrong.
She was meant to be a foil against Data, but came off as hating him.
I think it's because Brent Spiner was so damn charismatic as Data.