{"id":199,"date":"2005-03-14T22:56:02","date_gmt":"2005-03-14T22:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasonbennion.com\/?p=199"},"modified":"2005-03-14T22:56:02","modified_gmt":"2005-03-14T22:56:02","slug":"whos_your_most_annoying_trek_c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jasonbennion.com\/index.php\/2005\/03\/14\/whos_your_most_annoying_trek_c\/","title":{"rendered":"Who’s Your Most Annoying Trek Character?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s some news that’s somewhat related to my previous post<\/a>: TV Guide<\/i> is conducting an on-line poll <\/a> of the favorite (and least-favorite) Star Trek<\/i> characters. The results will be announced in an April issue of the magazine, to coincide with the final episode of Enterprise<\/i> and the likely end of “The Franchise.”<\/p>\n

So how, you may ask, does this relate to the previous post? Well, for many years now Wil Wheaton has borne the burden of having played Wesley Crusher, one of the least-liked regular characters in all of Trek<\/i> history. I’m not a big Wesley fan myself, but if you read Wil’s blog<\/a> (or his highly entertaining memoir, Just a Geek<\/i>), you’ll soon discover just how vile supposedly grown-up human beings can be. Wil has taken a lot of crap over the years because of Wesley, including death threats and fanboy wishes for his character — and by extension, himself — to get gang-raped by Klingons. Isn’t that a lovely image? Wil doesn’t find such things amusing, and I don’t blame him. After all, it’s not his fault the character was such a putz. He was just an eager-to-please teenage actor saying the clunky lines that adults were putting in his mouth. He quite rightly views the “Most Annoying Character” title as an albatross around his neck, and he’s asked all his loyal readers to please take the poll and make sure that someone — anyone! — other than Wesley\/himself gets the title. I’m going to pass that request along to my readers here on Simple Tricks. Even if you don’t like Star Trek<\/i>, or even if you do and you despise Wesley Crusher with the furious heat of a million white-hot suns, try to imagine what it would be like to have pimply-faced strangers telling you day after day how much they hate you because of a job you did fifteen years ago. Does it feel like a raw deal to you? Me, too. That’s why I’m asking you to go vote for some other character in that category.<\/p>\n

(Incidentally, I don’t think it’s hypocritical for me to ask some actor to take on the burden of “Most Annoying,” in order to spare another actor’s feelings. For one thing, Wil Wheaton, by dint of having been on the second-to-oldest Trek<\/i> series, has been on the receiving end longer than anyone else. He’s done his time and is ready for parole. Secondly, he was just a kid when the crap-rain started falling whereas the other actors up for the title are grown-ups and thus should be a little better equipped to handle it. Thirdly, the dislike of Wesley has been unnaturally violent within fanboy circles, and an “official” poll naming someone else would go a long way toward lancing this festering boil. And lastly, I’m just plain sick of hearing everyone excoriate this character when there are plenty of others who sucked every bit as hard as Wesley. It’s gotten boring, and it’s time to hear a new tune. The same goes for you haters of Jar-Jar Binks, too!)<\/p>\n

If you’d like a preview of the poll questions or if you’re interested in how I voted, keep reading below the fold. Otherwise, just go forth and vote!<\/p>\n


\nStill here? Okay, then, let’s go full-bore geeky. The poll consists of six questions with possible answers taken from all five Trek<\/i> series. Naturally, as an old-school Trekkie, my affections tend to run toward the original 1960s Star Trek<\/i>, but I think I was pretty even-handed in my responses. I’m going to go through the categories, list the possible responses, discuss them briefly, then reveal my own choice.<\/p>\n

1. What’s your favorite Star Trek catchphrase?<\/span><\/p>\n