Quote:
Originally Posted by BrotherMan
I caught the episode " The Perfect Mate" today. There are two things most commonly noted about this particular episode. One is that it stars a young Famke Janssen and second, she plays a version of the Perfect Male Fantasy. (If there's a page on TV Tropes about that part, it isn't listed on her page.)
Critics can have their way with the writers about Kamala and how she was simply created to fulfill the fantasies of any man she's close to. You can dress it up in "that's just their culture" language, just like defenders of certain DC Comics might (to note something recent and somewhat related), but it doesn't change the fact that this is a created character. One that doesn't quite pass the nudge-nudge, wink-wink, know what I mean test.
But she isn't what we're supposed to take away from the episode. The Perfect Mate was a character piece. And as with most of the really good character pieces of the Next Generation this one was about Captain Jean Luc Picard. I confess that I have had innumerable dishonorable thoughts borne out of this episode. But the better me is fascinated with how the Captain deals with Kamala. Because it's not just about how he works with her, but how he comports himself. I can't imagine the most honorable knight handling the situation with more chivalry. |
I liked how she took it upon herself to chose to bond with JLP, because she liked who she was when she was with him. It says a lot about his character, and like BMan says, it was a character piece about him, not her. Even though (or especially since) she was probably never going to see him again in her life, that meant that she would be her own person, not defined by her relationship with her mate. I also liked how the guy she ended up with couldn't care less either way. It was her own fucked up culture that gave her away like that, and the guy who received her was like, yeah, whatever, do your own thing, you are a person after all.