Do you think she’s acting like a teenager in a substantive way, or just in her style?
I like her irreverent attitude and I don’t consider that childish. She doesn’t act impulsively, thoughtlessly, or disrespectfully. She takes her job seriously. She intentionally goes against the grain of traditional military stuffiness because she is decidedly not trying to train a military.
The underlying military culture of classic Trek made sense at the time, but we can do better. I’m actually optimistic about SFA and that’s almost entirely thanks to Hunter’s portrayal of Ake.
SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 3 days ago
It’s not just military captains that are responsible for the lives of those onboard their ship. That’s true for the captain of any ship. Even on a cruise ship. Read about the Costa Concordia. Captain didn’t take the job seriously bent the rules and a bunch of people died. That captain sounded like he’d be a fun guy to go have a beer with at a bar or whatever, but he had no business being the captain of a ship.
And this is my point. You want a show with a bunch of people that seem like they’d be fun to hang out with. I want a show about people that are actually good at their jobs. Sure they aren’t really on a spaceship, so none of it really matters. But it’s more interesting to me to see someone commanding a ship that’s actually acting like someone commanding a ship. otherwise it’s just actors on a spaceship set being quirky. The responsibilities of command the ethical dilemmas that come with that, that’s interesting. A captain is someone the crew should respect, not someone they want to hang out with because she’s like your quirky aunt.
Besides that, isn’t she supposed to be training these people? What happens when these cadets finish their training and get assigned to a captain that’s not a quirky auntie type? In real life the drill sergeants that train people are the most hard ass people around so when people complete training they’re ready for anything.
And I’m pretty sure people in the federation aren’t required to be in starfleet. It’s something like a combo between NASA and the military both of which demand a high degree of discipline. Even in a utopian future there will be jobs that it’s dangerous to have people that fuck around doing those jobs. Physics can be harsh and I think the vacuum of space will kill people even in a utopian future. Just that in a utopian future people will volunteer for those jobs knowing the risks and knowing they will need to be disciplined when doing the dangerous work.
GenderNeutralBro@lemmy.sdf.org 2 days ago
I agree with what you’re saying; I just don’t see it in Ake’s behavior (perhaps because I am a few episodes behind).
I haven’t seen her behave irresponsibly or take the safety of her students lightly. Lounging and going barefoot are not safety issues, unless you consider all forms of unconventionality to be unprofessional, and all forms of unprofessionalism to be irresponsible.
What I see in Ake is someone who takes her job seriously, and is conscientious about what deserves her care and attention – and what doesn’t.
SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
It’s a morale issue, which a competent captain would be aware of. Crew members see that and think “if the captain doesn’t give a shit, why should I?” Crew starts blowing off their duties which would ultimately result in a safety issue.
There’s a reason why people in positions of responsibility behave the way they do when in front of others. I’m sure Picard lounged around in his quarters reading books or whatever, but when called to the bridge he’d put on his game face and behave in a way that commands respect in front of the crew. It’s part of the job of being captain.