When
I chose the two episodes ("Journey to Babel", Original Series, season 2, episode 10, and "Cost of Living", The Next Generation, season 5, episode 20) that I intended to watch for this section of the course, I meant to
examine the relationships of Spock and his father, Sarek, in the
first program, and that of Worf and his son, Alexander, in the
second. As I watched each show, I found that I was drawn to the more
subtle examples of intersectionality in two of the female characters.
As the mother of two grown children, I think that the characters who
resonated most with me was Spock's mother, Amanda, in the first
episode, and Lwaxana Troi, Deanna Troi's mother, in the
second.
Amanda must retain her
own human identity while dealing with the Vulcan-centred world
outlooks of her husband and son. Lwaxana may seem link a frivolous
and exasperating character, but she works quite expertly to teach and
support Alexander. Her relationship with her daughter mayhave some
difficulties, but they are able to reach out and and interact well
with each other by the end of the show.
And although she seems
to have decided on an odd approach to a marriage arrangement, she
manages to get herself out of that relationship by shocking her
perspective husband into refusing to marry her by her use of a
Betazed custom of nudity as a bride.
These two characters
represent, in my opinion, the intricacies of interactions between
mothers and children, where the woman must be, in these examples,
parent to important crew members while preserving her own individual
identity.
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