Comments on: WHY KIRK IS MYTHIC AND PICARD IS NOT Guest Blog by Sarah Beach http://adistantsoil.com/2009/05/20/why-kirk-is-mythic-and-picard-is-not-guest-blog-by-sarah-beach/ The Official Website of A Distant Soil, the legendary graphic novel series from Image Comics. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:29:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Star Trek Trinity « Scribbler’s Guide to Myth http://adistantsoil.com/2009/05/20/why-kirk-is-mythic-and-picard-is-not-guest-blog-by-sarah-beach/comment-page-1/#comment-1569 Star Trek Trinity « Scribbler’s Guide to Myth Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:22:37 +0000 http://adistantsoil.com/?p=2542#comment-1569 [...] in the character archetypes of Kirk, Spock and McCoy.  I made some initial comments about them as a guest blogger on Colleen Doran’s blog.   But that was comparing Kirk and [...] [...] in the character archetypes of Kirk, Spock and McCoy.  I made some initial comments about them as a guest blogger on Colleen Doran’s blog.   But that was comparing Kirk and [...]

]]> By: The Great Geek Manual » Geek Media Round-Up: May 21, 2009 http://adistantsoil.com/2009/05/20/why-kirk-is-mythic-and-picard-is-not-guest-blog-by-sarah-beach/comment-page-1/#comment-1372 The Great Geek Manual » Geek Media Round-Up: May 21, 2009 Fri, 22 May 2009 03:37:46 +0000 http://adistantsoil.com/?p=2542#comment-1372 [...] Here’s a good question. Why is Kirk mythic while Picard isn’t? [...] [...] Here’s a good question. Why is Kirk mythic while Picard isn’t? [...]

]]> By: scribblerworks http://adistantsoil.com/2009/05/20/why-kirk-is-mythic-and-picard-is-not-guest-blog-by-sarah-beach/comment-page-1/#comment-1371 scribblerworks Fri, 22 May 2009 02:54:34 +0000 http://adistantsoil.com/?p=2542#comment-1371 Good points, tyg. And yes, I agree that "coming first" had something to do with the matter of mythic status. I do think that the intital writers for NEXT GENERATION, created Picard to be Not-Kirk (although not exactly the Anti-Kirk). It's possible they could have achieved a character of more mythic stature, but they made him very cautious from the start, in a way that stuck. Good points, tyg. And yes, I agree that “coming first” had something to do with the matter of mythic status. I do think that the intital writers for NEXT GENERATION, created Picard to be Not-Kirk (although not exactly the Anti-Kirk). It’s possible they could have achieved a character of more mythic stature, but they made him very cautious from the start, in a way that stuck.

]]> By: tyg http://adistantsoil.com/2009/05/20/why-kirk-is-mythic-and-picard-is-not-guest-blog-by-sarah-beach/comment-page-1/#comment-1369 tyg Fri, 22 May 2009 02:39:29 +0000 http://adistantsoil.com/?p=2542#comment-1369 I think there are a couple of other reasons. First off, Kirk was, well, first. While it can be done (although I'll admit I'm not coming up with a good example off the top of my head), I'd think it'd be much harder to also become mythic or iconic when a character in the same role and same genre (and in this case, a very specific setting/universe level beyond that) is already such. And related, there were meta-reasons for Kirk to become mythic. As far as I can recall, there hadn't been a television/huge audience visual mass media spaceship captain done seriously for some time when he debuted. No, I don't count Lost in Space as serious. And the various space shows of the 50s had been off the air for several years. But the 60s were also when the space program was in full bloom. So there was a hole for a mythic character to step into. It also didn't hurt that TOS was being constantly rerun for years, and Kirk still had little if any competition in his mythic role for close to a decade. That reinforced his rise to mythic. I figure Han Solo, while different from Kirk in many ways, was the next such mythic space captain character to really hit. I think there are a couple of other reasons. First off, Kirk was, well, first. While it can be done (although I’ll admit I’m not coming up with a good example off the top of my head), I’d think it’d be much harder to also become mythic or iconic when a character in the same role and same genre (and in this case, a very specific setting/universe level beyond that) is already such.

And related, there were meta-reasons for Kirk to become mythic. As far as I can recall, there hadn’t been a television/huge audience visual mass media spaceship captain done seriously for some time when he debuted. No, I don’t count Lost in Space as serious. And the various space shows of the 50s had been off the air for several years.

But the 60s were also when the space program was in full bloom. So there was a hole for a mythic character to step into. It also didn’t hurt that TOS was being constantly rerun for years, and Kirk still had little if any competition in his mythic role for close to a decade. That reinforced his rise to mythic. I figure Han Solo, while different from Kirk in many ways, was the next such mythic space captain character to really hit.

]]> By: Colleen http://adistantsoil.com/2009/05/20/why-kirk-is-mythic-and-picard-is-not-guest-blog-by-sarah-beach/comment-page-1/#comment-1367 Colleen Thu, 21 May 2009 23:13:13 +0000 http://adistantsoil.com/?p=2542#comment-1367 Kirk. Hair. Kirk wins. Kirk.

Hair.

Kirk wins.

]]>