He's a character that's evolved wonderfully over the years. He evolved along side the Klingon culture and he was used not only from a demonstrative perspective, but also an observational.
I mentioned yesterday that he started as the token alien aboard the Enterprise in the same way the Spock was. They had both the alien and the human point of view. But while you largely got the Vulcan perspective from Spock, having been raised as a Vulcan, you got a more complex and often conflicted perspective from Worf who, though fully Klingon, was raised by Humans. He became one of the most intriguing figures ever created in the history of the series. But, as I said yesterday, there seems to be less respect shown him than other alien characters.
At first his presence didn't make much sense as with a lot of things in the first season. He was there to bristle up and be a watch dog of sorts only to have his leash pulled. I thought the idea of a woman at tactical was a good one and I wholeheartedly approved of Tasha Yar. But it wasn't until her character was written off that Worf really found his niche. Head of security is the most logical place to put a Klingon. It just made good sense. However, he was still not very high ranking and his opinions and suggestions were often superseded by others. The video above laments how he is repeatedly denied, although it doesn't give the full story in most cases. However, it's good for pointing out than in many scenarios he was right and should have been taken more seriously. It's something that could be offensive and certainly when you watch this video it seems like Worf can't get any respect at all. But as Star Trek TNG evolved, you can see the way that all of the crew became representative of the different facets of one mind and one personality. Data represented logic. Troi represented empathy, etc. Worf represented the fight or flight response and relative paranoia that exists within each of us. His viewpoints are carefully considered by the rational portion of the brain (Picard) and either utilized or dismissed at least at first until needed for survival. When you look at it like that, it doesn't seem as offensive that Worf seemed to be constantly snubbed and overlooked.
But Worf also is representative of the changes made to Klingon culture. Bringing them from a Cold War Russian-type of adversary to a culture that blends Viking and Eastern Asian cultures together to make a complex race of honorable yet still very dangerous beings that can walk the line between good and bad with remarkable ease. The camaraderie and the importance of honor among the Klingons was very deep and complex. On one hand it seemed almost barbaric that they would execute for matters of dishonor, have ritual suicides, or basically allow murder if the person claimed the right of vengeance. Although their females couldn't be leaders, it didn't stop them from being powerful and dangerous otherwise. On the other hand they were tender when it came to courtship and marriage. You'd think a bunch of crazy Viking warriors would take their pleasure where they may, but their relationships were either cemented forever, or they weren't pursued at all. You get three examples with Worf.
K'Ehleyr was Worf's first mate. She is his half Human and even though Worf never pursued a fully Klingon woman in his story, K'Ehleyr is the first example of what a Klingon mate should be. She is his equal. She is just as violent and aggressive as any male. However she shuns Worf's desire to be married because of her independent Human side and even when she's ready there are complications with Worf's social standing in the Empire. They have a son. He doesn't have even a flirtation with anyone else as long as she is alive, much to the contrast of Riker, who gets to be the ladies man of the show... channeling the Kirk charm and reputation.
His next relationship with Deanna Troi never really gets off the ground. They teased at it a few times in three different episodes to see how the audience would react and the reaction was favorable. I thought it was a sweet romance and enjoyed the idea very much. But in the end it wasn't quite right. Troi really did seem to be too delicate, which was something pointed out in the first season in an immature joke about Klingon sex. But I don't mean that she would've been to delicate for the rowdy sex life, I mean that she would've been too mentally delicate to handle being a Klingon wife and dealing with the warrior core of his nature, especially when one day they presumably weren't on the Enterprise anymore and living on the Klingon home world, Qo'noS.
In the end they found a compromise. A woman who was humanly beautiful (although I thought K'Ehleyr was gorgeous as well, personally) and could also be strong and equal in the relationship with her background as a friend of Klingons who was steeped in their ways. Jadzia Dax. With her we got to see a Klingon relationship from beginning to end complete with a wedding and the rituals that accompany it. It was another vehicle for developing the culture that you didn't really see as much of with Troi and it was wonderful. It became one of the greatest love stories in the whole Star Trek franchise. His entire time on Deep Space 9 was good for the development of him and Klingons since there was an actual war to experience.
But they don't leave out his Human upbringing and family and how it all relates to the raising of his own child as a single father over the course of the years. I wonder if it was kind of an inside joke that Worf's human parents were Russian since that's what the original conflict with the Klingons was based on in TOS. Worf's struggle to respect both Humans and Klingons in raising Alexander actually showed Humans in a good light for the most part which is such a relief from the way the writers would belittle the Human race in the first season. After all, Worf was raised by humans and he turned out fine... better than fine, even. Worf is an excellent example of the complex writing and story telling that Star Treks TNG and DS9 were so good at. It's always a win if you can create a character that you can glean enough material out of to fuel entire episodes and Worf had that quality in abundance. I'm sure there's tons of fan fiction out there that has elaborated even more on his life and his impact on other characters.
So, much respect and love for Worf, son of Mogh. He is a great, great character and much beloved by me.
No comments:
Post a Comment