Do Trek fans really hate Wesley Crusher that much?

My problem wasn't just with Wesley. The problems with his character were problems I had with the entire first season.
TNG at the start was an excruciating utopian fantasy with little dramatic tension - where themes of moral superiority through political-correctness had the Feds lording over misguided alien species.
[sarcasm]
Wow! The female security chief can beat up male chauvinist aliens and teach them the error of their ways!
Wow! We can have a kid in the bridge who is smarter and more talented than anyone on the ship!
[/sarcasm]

I suffered through the first sophomoric season and stopped following the show. I know things got better but I had already moved on.
 
I think Roddenberry sort fell in to his overly utopian vision because of what he mostly got from the TOS fans. Fans saw in it this positive vision of the future and humanity that that's what they focuse on. Gene went from seeing himself as just a producer and story teller to some sort of visionary. I mean, at some conventions, I think he was made to feel like a religious figure and started to believe it. There's also a few stories about a few other individuals that stirred the pot and made things a lot worse. In a lot of cases, a lot of writers (and a few
Cast members) quit TNG during the early seasons because Roddenberry's box and some of the producers had made things so difficult.

But I think Wesley was created not just as a character that Roddenberry saw as himself, but as a way to appeal to a younger audience. So he was partially a business decision. Fans of TOS were now adults. They needed young fans that would buy toys. They needed to expand the audience anyway they could.

As to the in-universe explanation for why he was nurtured- Picard was good friends with the Crushers. He knew Wesley as a child and I'm sure felt a bit of responsibility for his fathers death. And then the Traveler told him that Wesley was special and that his talents should be nurtured and indulged. And why not? He was intelligent, open minded, willing to learn and wanted it so much. Then didn't... Someone dropped the ball on that...
 
Solo4114 said:
You mean like Wesley, and those "skant" uniforms?
Click to expand...

Yeah WTH were those about? I was watching an early episode the other day and was wondering about them. Is it that everyone is "enlightened" so that one guy can wear a skirt if he wants? :lol To me it was kind of like "Hey we'll stick Marina Sirtis in the shortest Starfleet skirt we can get away with. Then will stick some dudes in them too so we can't be called sexist."
 
The skant was meant to demonstrate that we were past the stereotypes of uniforms (and I admit even "I" wasn't really ready for that either).

I was 17 when TNG premiered and started to loath Wesley after the third episode. Later episodes in the 3rd season he had been reigned in and his best work was "The First Duty" (my opinion only of course).

Was Wesley really only 12 in the series? I always thought he was written as 15 or so (same age as Wheaton at the time)? Seems a little young to have a 13-14 something "acting" ensign.


Kevin
 
I really didn't find the Wesley character any different than many idealistic people I knew growing up. Just about everyone is told as a child that swearing, drinking, drugs, and such are bad and you shouldn't do them. Some of the more idealistic ones hold onto that without question until the day comes when they are confronted with a drug addict and then they ask "why do people use drugs if this is the result?" That's how I've always seen his character - idealistic. That coupled with the fact that he's a kid thrown into adult situations. Most 12 year olds are playing with friends, scraping knees, shooting bottle rockets at their friends, not trying to figure out star charts, hostile alien takeovers, and Deanna Troi.
 
That was mostly Genes fault with the writers, pissing on and pissing off a lot of people which he frequently did throughout his career.

David Gerrold is owed a huge debt from us for all the work he did on TNG in its infancy

darthgordon said:
In a lot of cases, a lot of writers (and a few Cast members) quit TNG during the early seasons because Roddenberry's box and some of the producers had made things so difficult.
Click to expand...
 
dascoyne said:
I dislike Wesley Crusher.
I really like Wil Wheaton.
Click to expand...

My thoughts as well.

He wasn't terrible in some episodes. The one where he and Picard are stranded on Crusher's way to the Academy strikes me as a decent one.

What really kills it for me is the crap they pulled at the end of the series where he gave it all up to become the God child with the Traveller. What a load of crap. :lol

As if he wasn't already insufferable!
 
Mola Rob said:
I didn't hate the character but I hated the way he was used on the show and the inconsistencies in his overall storyline. If written properly with more attention paid to how the character developed he might have been more interesting but as it was he was, to put it mildly, a dork.
Click to expand...
It was like they did not have him in the show bible. Writer one: "Hey, the new story is looking pretty good, but how are you going to have the crew get away from the giant space flounder?" Writer two: "Oh, I'll just have Wesley deal with it. Maybe something to do with a school science experiment again." But they had a lot of inconsistencies on that show. One episode the 3rd grade class would be taking a tour of the engine room and the next episode they would be flying into the Romulan neutral zone.

As for Wesley, I never hated him. For me it ranged between neutral and dislike.
 
SSgt Burton said:
Was Wesley really only 12 in the series? I always thought he was written as 15 or so (same age as Wheaton at the time)? Seems a little young to have a 13-14 something "acting" ensign.


Kevin
Click to expand...

Well, apparently I'm no Wesley Crusher, because I suck at math. It looks like he was 15 at Farpoint... Which kind of adds to his annoyingness. My god- he was childish for 15! He didn't look that old to me when I was 8... Makes sense though; they let him start to drive when he was 16...
 
I want to know if his dad really died or if he ran away after Dr Crusher bitched at him too much lol. She made Bones seem warm and cuddly.
 
ahahaha. The running joke on my Trek series is that I'm alternate universe 'easy' version of Beverly Crusher. (Because my character has mentioned a past crush or boyfriend in almost every episode and I play the ship's doctor.)
 
This thread is more than 9 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.

Similar threads

Sluis Van Shipyards
First time in history that companies hate their fans?
2
Replies
30
Views
1,472
Master Boda
M
Sluis Van Shipyards
Movies that you stopped watching because of inaccuracies
2 3 4
Replies
62
Views
3,023
joberg
joberg
Captain Dunsel
Star Trek: Discovery Season 5
2 3
Replies
42
Views
1,563
universaljoint
universaljoint
JiminSTLouis
Paramount Plans Another New STAR TREK Film, Set ‘Decades’ Before TREK ’09
2 3 4
Replies
63
Views
2,928
blewis17
blewis17
Moviefreak
Back to the Future 4. Not really!
Replies
2
Views
551
Funky
Funky
Back
Top