If you think you could live with being a scorned scifi character, look at Wil Wheaton and the Wesley Haters. Wil Wheaton does an insightful deep-dive into the character of Wesley on WilWheaton.Net – take a look:
“Wesley’s dream has come true, and he can’t even celebrate it. Yeah, he’s a full ensign, a Starfleet officer … but he’s a kid who has never been to the academy and learned what being a Starfleet officer means, how to behave and exist around other Starfleet officers who have also gone through everything it takes to get a posting on the federation’s flagship. He is wearing the uniform without having gained the experience that he needs to fill it. He doesn’t know that Picard and the Traveler did this. He just knows that, now, he has to show up and prove that he actually does deserve it.
And this kid has never been in a place where it’s safe and okay to make mistakes and learn from them. And he knows that. At fifteen. It’s a lot. Now this kid has to carry around with him not just the responsibility that comes with the chair and the rank, but he also has to exist on the Enterprise where he passes people in the corridors, sees people in the canteen, waits in line to use the transporter with all these other officers who have never met him, and DEEPLY resent him for something he didn’t do. Wesley feels that resentment every single time, and it hurts”
So that’s a bit of interesting insight – Wesley knew you hated him the whole time. He knew it. Feel better now? He knew you disliked him, but he showed up every day and did his job. That takes guts. Sand, as they say in old cowboy stories.
You may not want to admit it, but Wil Wheaton just taught the Wesley Haters an important lesson. Sometimes all you can do sometimes is keep going. No matter how much it hurts, no matter how hard it gets, no matter how many times they tell you to shut up. Just keep going. Also, earning your stripes and earning your place are two different things. You may have earned your place, but you still need to earn your stripes. Keep that in mind the next time you pile onto a ‘scifi hate thread.’
Yes, we can learn a lot from Wil Wheaton and the Wesley Haters – come to think of it, that’d be a great name for my new indo-punk scifi parody satire band. Just think of the Star Trek-based songs you could do:
- I Was a Teenage Helmsman
- We Built This Starship
- Money For Nothing (‘Cause We’re Secular Humanists)
- The Final (Self-Destruct) Countdown
- Nuthin’ but a ‘Q’ Thing
- Paranoid Android (Featuring Data!)
Thank you Wil, for your valuable insight. Really appreciate everything you’ve become as a human and as an actor.
Write on! 🙂
