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At risk of being a dork I’ll also compare this to Star Trek (largely because OP is a clear fan). Both series are really timeless and impactful imo because they portray people as almost supremely emotionally intelligent. Everyone is very professional when they need to be - capable of great emotional restraint, but also deeply empathetic and caring and ‘tender’ when the time is right.
I mean Gimli is supposed to be the “emotional hothead” of the Fellowship and he’s literally more chill and emotionally controlled than most of the people you run into working retail
That's why Star Trek is sometimes referred to as "competency porn."
As someone who spent time in the military, I know exactly what you mean.
I wish the people I worked with were 25% as competent, rational, and level headed as the crew of the Enterprise.
Edit: Spelling
It’s funny, when I was a fresh college grad I actually considered joining the millitary because I really did have a desire for that competent, almost bureaucratic professionalism and mature outlook.
Then I kind of got my heads out of the clouds and realized diction and reality are pretty separate
It's almost embarrassing to admit, but TNG was a factor for me in finding emotional maturity.
I was a happy, naive child that was lucky to get to 8 before everything sorta fell apart. Parents divorced, sexual abuse from within the extended family by different people, having to toughen up at school due to the emotional issues starting to crop up, abandoned by a parent because of their addiction, and even the social pressure during the satanic panic (this was obviously the 80's).
Somehow, I did manage to keep some of the happy-go-lucky and naivete, but otherwise I had a rough time reigning in my temper and sometimes would break into tears from being overwhelmed (alone, obviously, because I had to be manly).
When I got into watching TNG, I really admired Picard as a character template, and worked on some of my own self perceived character flaws, and why I acted the way I did. Essentially, looking for the causes and not the symptoms. It was the start of a growth that continues still. His morality and introspection as an archetype gave me hope.
A therapist surely would've been a better way to go about it, but those weren't really much of an option for us back then.
I wouldn't be embarrassed about that at all. TNG also showed me the world I wanted to build for the future.
Thank you!
I'm a pretty pragmatic at heart, so I feel silly sometimes when realizing that I used fictional characters for inspiration to build myself up. I don't aspire to be the hero of anything, but do want to be someone that is worthy of respect.
Reality reflects art reflects reality. Star Trek has inspired countless people to live up to their potential and even bring to life the fantastic devices we see in those shows.
Very apt. Oddly enough I’ve only heard the phrase applied to The X-Files
But Scully and Mulder never succeed and demonstrating paranormal phenomena to anyone.
Can't blame Scully, pretty sure she gets amnesia on a weekly basis
They're talking about the guys keeping everything under wraps
See also “The West Wing”, which is also entirely more fantastical than 24th century utopian space exploration, based on (gestures broadly)
Television in general can be "competency porn". Nobody speaks to each other in real life with the attentiveness and thoughtfulness of TV show characters. Most people are devoid of empathy and bad at conversation. If you try to be as attentive and witty and empathetic as characters on TV (the ones at least that aren't written to be terrible people a la IASIP) people will think you're autistic.
Oh shit, everybody knows I'm autistic.
Suddenly vanishes the moment you're promoted to Admiral, apparently
turn it around, only shitty people tend to be promoted to such positions, it's like the saying that the best president is one who doesn't want the position.
I was just making a joke about how every admiral in the franchise turns out to be the bad guy in some way, due to malice, incompetence, or because they were replaced by aliens wearing their skins.
Its so relaxing
Put Gimli in retail and watch him pull out his battleaxe.
Only if he works at Walmart.
Oh Walmart isn't the bottom of the barrel. A rite aid in the bad part of town is worse, or fuck being one of the only two people controlling a dollar store seems like some kind of weird hell.
capable of great emotional restraint, but also deeply empathetic and caring and ‘tender’ when the time is right
Then there's Beverly who wanted Worf to live as a cripple and would deny him both an honorable death and a chance at a normal life, all because she couldn't reconcile her views with those of a different culture. That episode still pisses me off to no end.