I have been reading through your Deep Space Nine reviews. In your introduction, you said Odo was your favorite character, but in your reviews, you progressively sour on him. Kira Nerys sounds like the character you really like. Did you change your mind while reviewing the series?If asked, I will still say Odo is my favorite character on most days, but I could flip a coin between him and Kira on most days. It can really depend on my current mood. There are several factors for me to consider.
First, the reviews were the first time I had watched DS9 on a daily basis. Up until that point, I had only watched the series when it originally aired. The introduction in which I described my presuppositions about the series and opinion on characters was coming from memories anywhere from ten to seventeen years old. Age and circumstances changed my perspective, so much so I did not bother to introduce The Wild Wild West or The X-Files because I figured there would not be much value in what I would have written in hindsight. The idea that I will see something at 16 the same way at 34 is a bad assumption. My enthusiasm for Odo did not survive the test of time.
Second, I had forgotten how much Odo petered out as the show went on. I identified with him early on. In the first couple seasons, he was a guy who was alienated because of his physical differences. Lonely, but not but too impatient for the social trappings that are involved in making friends, he tried to become an outside presence so he could intellectually observe others and be a neutral party in disputes. As a disabled teenager in high school who could not play sports or date as freely as the pretty people, I adopted a similar attitude/social role. What I remembered most about Odo is how well I identified with him at this point.
Odo suffered two developments which screwed it all up for me. One, he discovered his people. He was no longer alienated, nor saw the value in being an observer of social trappings. He was now a part of something. Being part of the Founders turned him into a real dick in the latter seasons. Two, he began a romance with Kira. Trek does many things poorly, but romance is by far the worst. Romance in trek is always done as a lonely 14 year old virgin’s fantasy. Either it is all about sex, or it is an idealistic Lady and the Tramp fantasy completely devoid of any real emotion. I have matured too much in the ensuing years to tolerate the way odo was handled in both regards.
Finally, I am not an alienated, crippled high school student anymore. I am a 34 year old man with very little idealism left, tons of baggage, and a begrudging resignation there are more shades of grey than black and white. I have to live with emotional pain that runs far deeper than not playing junior varsity soccer or fondling that cute redheaded cheerleader in the Hardee’s parking lot Friday night. Yet I persevere in hopes of better things, often motivated by religious belief. In other words, the older I get, the more I appreciate Kira, the cynical former freedom/fighter terrorist who is a damaged soul, but still clings to the idea there can be gentler, happier future.
My preference between the two characters depends on whether I am feeling nostalgic for my younger self, or feeling the weight of my current life. Whichever answer I give you, you will know how I am feeling that day.
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