So…the first post in a long while, and it’s about Star Trek. It’s taken me a few days to process this, so here goes.
I am a lifelong Star Trek fan, ever since I was little, and in my formative years, I watched a LOT of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It captivated my young mind, and showed me a hopeful future where a society could have advanced technology, and yet still also have the strong ethical and pluralistic values with which to use it. It was a setting where often the dilemma wasn’t some monster or alien of the week or some dazzling space battle, but a moral, scientific or philosophical quandery for which there was no easy answer. It opened the doors to a lifelong love of science fiction in general. I literally have a tattoo of the Enterprise on my right arm, that’s how big of an impact the show had on me.
And at the center of the show was Jean-Luc Picard.
He wasn’t the character that young, autistic me identified the most with (that was Data, easily), but he was the beating heart of the show. He approached every dilemma first and foremost through reason and the lens of diplomacy, always working towards mutually beneficial or optimal solution, but never hesitating to defend lives or the dignity of the Federation or his crew if either was threatened. He had the intellectual curiosity of a scientist and archaologist, and the daring of a true explorer, but always showed the ethical restraint that is needed for either, abiding by the Prime Directive wherever possible. And above all, he showed what good leadership could look like: soft spoken but assertive, confident, and always trying to bring the best out of his crew.
All of this was helped by the fact that Sir Patrick Stewart could have read a grocery list and made it sound engaging, such was the Shakespearean delivery he brought to each episode. Picard was without a doubt the central character, and Sir Patrick always delivered a soft spoken gravitas to
every episode.
While Picard wasn’t always in the right, he still always led by example and still always tried to make the most morally sound decision, and more than once in my life I have asked myself “What would Picard do?” Yes, he may have been a fictional character, but he also was a fantastic example of how to live with integrity, dignity, professionalism and an overall belief in fairness.
Sir Patrick Stewart played a formative role in my life and the lives of millions of other nerds. And he too, always seemed to be living by example, championing causes such as greater awareness of domestic abuse, mental health relief for war veterans, and promoting the arts and theater wherever possible. And, well, outside of Star Trek, he was excellent in a great many other roles: I Claudius, Macbeth, Excalibur, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Dune, The Green Room, and of course, as Charles Xavier in the X-Men movies. Seriously, I dare you to watch his scenes in Logan and not be moved.
Star Trek: TNG hasn’t played a huge part in my life for a long time, but still, hearing of Sir Patrick’s death was like having to say goodbye to an old friend.
Farewell, Captain.
