“Someone once told me that time was a predator that stalked us all our lives. But I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey, and reminds us to cherish every moment because they’ll never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we lived. After all, Number One, we’re only mortal.”
It’s a testament to Patrick Stewart’s profound acting ability that some of the most quoted lines of his career come from Star Trek: Generations, a movie that often suffers in comparison to, say, Star Trek: First Contact or any number of standout episodes from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
That’s because whatever role Patrick Stewart played, he lit a fire under it. It didn’t matter if it was a silly commercial or a Shakespearian soliloquy. The man didn’t know how to do a bad job.
Since his passing last week, I’ve come back to these lines from Generations over and over again. They hurt.
They hurt not just because Stewart leaves behind a void even after living a full life, dying at the age of 86 (though that always seems too soon in the case of someone as talented as he is).
The pain is there, because the words are true. The overarching narrative of The Next Generation was always based on endless exploration, while striving to be a part of something bigger than yourself. Yet as the show always reminded us, it doesn’t matter if human beings get to conquer the galaxy – we will always remain fragile.
The dream that Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard personified is a dream that isn’t shared by our technocrat overlords. Their idea of the future is based mostly around tireless consumption or, even better, an erasure of humanity in favor of a super intellect.
Captain Picard, by contrast, believed that technology is fundamentally a tool that humanity can and should and will use to constantly better itself. He exemplified Gene Roddenberry’s idealistic vision better than any other Star Trek captain (and they all have their merits, believe me) – but it was an idealism tempered by hard work, humility, and deference to chain of command for the most part. An old school liberal vision of the sort that, today, we’re told is laughable.
I want the Star Trek vision to win, in the end. I just have a feeling that it will be an ugly fight.
When asked about my ideal man, I’ve often said that it’s Jean-Luc Picard. I have always meant it, too. Yet the irony is not lost on me. Picard’s relentless drive usually meant that romantic love had to be left by the wayside. Duty came first. Intellectual pursuits came first. Duty makes a man more attractive and more unavailable.
Leave it to me to consciously create an ideal that, ultimately, would find love and marriage limiting, even suffocating. And I’m by far not the only one!
Stewart always walked a curious line with Picard. This was the tireless visionary who could, at any moment, become a romantic hero – but restrained himself. The restraint created tension, always the slight tension, in Picard’s face, giving the character endless depth.
And then Stewart could flip a switch, and instantly turn loose. “Qpid” is one of the silliest, even stupidest Next Generation episodes ever produced on screen, and yet I love it to this day, because of just how much fun the cast has with the legend of Robin Hood, Stewart in particular. He was the ren fair version of Robin Hood, mortifyingly perfect.
It’s no wonder Mel Brooks later cast Stewart as King Richard in his jokefest Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Stewart was wonderful in comedy precisely because he didn’t try too hard to be comedic. A bit like playing a drunk character involves a good actor trying to appear very sober, almost a little too sober, Stewart’s comedic turns took root in his innate seriousness, his gravitas.
Still, my favorite Stewart performance is in Star Trek: First Contact. It’s a spectrum of all the elements of Picard’s personality – stoicism, kindness, courage, vulnerability, a rage that simmers beneath the mask of propriety, and the aforementioned romantic restraint.
Picard and Lily, played terrifically by Alfre Woodward, are the best non-couple of the Next Generation universe. Nothing really happens between these two people. And yet everything happens.
So what can you really say when a man like Patrick Stewart passes? There will likely be future attempts to find a new Captain Picard. It did happen with Captain Kirk, after all.
I don’t want to be too conservative when I consider our companion, time, and look toward the future. Picard should live on, and will live on.
I’m just saying – these are gigantic shoes to fill. Galactic-sized shoes, in fact.
Thank you for everything, captain.
Images: Gage Skidmore, Urbantog and Gage Skidmore again
