Wither Wesley
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|---|---|
| Title: | Wither Wesley |
| Creator: | Susan Meinecke |
| Date(s): | 1989, or earlier |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: TNG |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Wither Wesley is a 1989 Star Trek: TNG essay by Susan Meinecke.
It was printed in an unknown issue of The Communicator, and reprinted in Academy Chronicles #14 in 1989.
The essay is a defense of the character Wesley Crusher.
From the Essay
Comments and opinions concerning "The Next Generation" abound in fandom. We devoted pages to it in the last The Communicator and have had discussions concerning it at Star Fleet Academy meetings. Through it all, yea or nay, I noticed a common element of opinion, and that was that nearly everyone disliked the character of Wesley Crusher. I have heard the vocal opposition and now I would like to stand in defense of Wesley.
I believe Wesley is a valuable character. I will admit the idea alone, the adventures of a 16 year old on a starship, held no appeal for me. But Wesley, because of the attributes of Will Wheaton turned out to be a character I liked instead of the reverse. He is young, that is true, and he is easy on the eyes (not a bad attribute) but most importantly Wes has a certain innocence about him that I find irresistible. A pleasantly welcome change from the television wiseguy kids we are so accustomed to seeing — Gary Coleman, the kids on "The Hogan Family", "Head of the Class", "Growing Pains", etc. Wesley is no smart mouthed kid, instead he is quite the reverse; nice to his mother!, respectful of Picard and the other authority figures, and for the most part, he does what he is told. In short, he seems to know well his place in the scheme of things and strives to keep himself there. I sense none of the typical teenage confusion and rebellion that you might ordinarily encounter in a boy of his age. This is also refreshingly different.
The biggest complaint people have about Wesley is that he is too smart (or just the idea that he is). During the first season, Wesley did have his share of the action (too much, some say). If it appeared that way, in my estimation only the writers are at fault, not the character itself. In my opinion, most of the first season episodes were ill-conceived and did not portray to any extent the real capacity of any of the characters. Also, an irony on the point is that even with his exceptional brilliance, Wesley was passed over for an alien and not admitted to Star Fleet Academy. The concept of this episode (even though I thought is was quite interesting) was a joke. Star Fleet passes up potential students of Wesley's caliber? Come on? This almost sounds like the 24th Century's version of Affirmative Action. Perhaps they have their own alien quotas to meet? And what of our tolerance (or intolerance) toward Wesley solely because he is brilliant? What does that say about how we view ourselves in relation to someone else younger or of greater intelligence? Most likely Wesley would be easier to except if he was an alien character, say a Vulcan perhaps? It is quite easy to imagine a Vulcan teen in Wesley's position and yet, I think, he would fail to engender the animosity Wesley has evoked. We are accustomed to brilliant Vulcans, we expect perfection from them. It is safe. But what about humans? How many brilliant humans have we come across? Richard Daystrom, Jackson Roy Kirk, Khan, Flint, Zephram Cochran, Captain Garth and Roger Corby, all were flawed or their creations were, and none were children.
James Kirk must have been an over achiever as a child. I wonder how much tolerance he came across in his early years. I think he must have resembled Wesley, if not in body, then in spirit. And perhaps the youngest captain in the fleet would have been someone else if he had not been encouraged vdien he was young.
Consider for a moment the difficulties that must be faced by anyone who is different from his peers. Wesley, being far ahead of kids his own age, no doubt, has trouble relating to, much less, having friendships with his peer group. Remember the trouble Kirk had with Finnegan, an upper classman, who tormented him at the academy? Being different makes you a target. Small wonder that Wesley is much more comfortable with adults, unfortunately the adults also consider him an oddity and have a hard time relating to him as well. And where does that leave Wesley? In the middle and alone.
And as for Wesley's youth, I for one will enjoy it, for the short time it will last. He will lose his innocence and naivete' soon enough (already this season he looks older). But for now he is a breath of fresh air and I intend to enjoy the breeze.