Though as a very good piece I can't find now argued, the TOS Kirk was not actually the hothead id-driven character he was remembered as (and reincarnated as in Riker, who is more homage to fan-memory Kirk than the actual TOS-Kirk, as is the Chris Pine version)
Conversation
But to return to the point, they HAD to write Picard as older, because he had to work off an existing Act 1 legacy cultural context. Almost like a growth-stage CEO or something. Kirk 2.0 would have failed badly, but as Riker (refracted through fan perceptions) it worked
1
2
Interestingly, Picard's foil was the opposite of Kirk's foil. Troi was the anti-Spock. Again, a necessary evolution from IQ to EQ as part of the aging of the franchise into an elder franchise.
1
3
Weirdly (and excuse the narcissism, in the interests of some actually fun musings), I've gone through a similar evolution. In my Kirk phase, I think the rationalist crowd (aka Spocks, modulo strawvulcan defenses) was my foil 2007-14.
1
1
Since then, it's been a composite foil comprising mainly female writers who see with clarity stuff I struggle with: Arendt, Le Guin, Harraway, and closer to home, the 2 Sarahs (Perry and Constantin). They're my Troi egregore (on stage little early, before I find my Picard voice)
1
2
Self-mythologizing/self-narrativizing is risky business, even apart from the egoism inherent in such an exercise, because the narrative template you use can blind you to possibilities. Still, the downside is low when you're fully blind to begin with.
1
1
The accurate part of such narrativizing is that I'm still going to be one person so makes sense to identify with evolving roles that still have some continuity to them. That's why I like Kirk --> Picard and Doctor Who to get me thinking about what to try next.
1
1
The inaccurate part is probably mapping everything else. Is a spaceship a good metaphor for a bunch of writers exploring together? I've used the analogy in Boat Stories, where I focused more on Voyager for the Star Trek ref (it's my favorite ST). Should there be multiple forks?
1
2
The common factor to stories I seem to gravitate too for sense-making is that they center a high-agency male having adventures. But I do break out sometimes. Lately, I've been on an Alice in Wonderland kick. Identifying with her in wonderland is interesting.
1
1
Alice is actually a bit of a high-authoritah jerk like Cartman, crossed with a high-ADHD weirdo improv artist who just rolls with whatever. Alice in Wonderland is just one giant Yes, And to absurdity, navigating murdered time with high agency, but low meaningfulness.
2
2
2
