Crusher vs. Troi

In nerd circles, there are ideas so universally accepted that they have essentially become fact, although by their very nature they are subjective.  That Empire Strikes Back is the best Star Wars movie, for example, or that Aquaman is lame are opinions, not facts, but there are few who would passionately argue against them.  However, to nerds it seems to be a divine mandate to argue about something, whether it’s who would win in a fight between Superman and the Hulk or whether Picard was a better captain than Kirk*.  Being a nerd myself I am by no means immune to these kinds of quandaries, but was considering one the other day that I had until now totally unexplored.  As you may have deduced, I’m trying to figure out which of the principal female characters of Star Trek: The Next Generation I’d rather bone.

Not counting the short-tenured Katharine Pulaski or the short-lived Tasha Yar, Deanna Troi and Beverly Crusher were the two stalwarts of femininity that Next Generation had going for it**, and while their relationship with each other seemed to be one of fist-raising female solidarity their personality differences approach near-Ginger and Mary Ann levels of confusion for the young male viewer (me).  Similar to the Ginger-Mary Ann debate, one’s choice here probably says more about the individual making the choice than simply a taste for a certain hair color. The levels of physical beauty exhibited by actresses Gates McFadden and Marina Sirtis are not under scrutiny; this is a purely hypothetical situation in which an individual somehow exists in this fictional universe and (perhaps even more unlikely) has both Troi and Crusher rarin’ to go and can only choose one.  Both displayed the ability to kick ass on occasion, though mostly they acted as voices of reason or compassion on a male-dominated Enterprise.  I’d have to give Crusher the advantage in the strong/smart/confident department, plus kudos for juggling roles as a doctor, officer and mother all at the same time.  She occasionally teetered over into being excessively matronly, but the eventual departure of Wesley and presence of Guinan helped to even that out as the series progressed.  Troi definitely took longer to develop as far as character evolution goes, being mostly an eye candy retread of Uhura from the original series for the first few seasons.  According to the book The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry originally envisioned Troi as having four breasts, which would probably have made the entire question of this essay a moot point.  But then Troi can also read minds, or at least sense what others are thinking/feeling, which is pretty cool but really only seemed to come in handy at times when it was of little consequence.  I think a more impressive talent was being able to walk around confidently in the clothes that she did, which I imagine takes some pluck (especially if you can read the mind of any individual who happens to see you).  Beverly’s dress was usually more conservative (blue duster and all), though being an officer probably handcuffed her stylistic choices in a way that Deanna’s title of “Ship’s Counselor” probably did not.

In a way that probably speaks poorly for the role of women in fiction (science or otherwise) or maybe just poorly of me as a viewer, both Beverly and Deanna were defined almost as much by their relationships with the males around them as they were by their own actual characteristics.  While I’ve spelled out a few of their tendencies above, when I think of either character it’s impossible for me not to think of the two most important men in their lives.  With Troi, obviously this is Will Riker.

Troi and Riker were clearly the “hot couple” of the Enterprise, even when they weren’t officially an item it was undeniable that there was something there.  We learn through bits and pieces as the series goes on that before being posted together on the Enterprise the two were romantically involved and ended up going separate ways.  That they didn’t immediately jump back into each other’s lives speaks highly of their self-control, though that same self-control is rarely evident in either character’s other romantic entanglements.  If Troi started out as a second Uhura, Riker quickly became a second Kirk by the time his signature beard was in full effect.  It’s very possible that someone somewhere has done a well-researched count of how many sexual conquests each character on the show had, and though I have not done that research I think it’s safe to say that these are the top two (only counting Next Generation– Kirk would probably destroy Riker).  It would be easy to compare this with Dr. Crusher’s sort of romance with Captain Picard: the two have history before being stationed on the Enterprise, there’s obviously a spark there, and several times on the show the characters almost act on it.  However, I would say that the male character with whom Crusher is most closely linked is her son Wesley.  Why anyone thought it would be a good idea for him to be on the Enterprise at all is beyond me, but the fact is that Beverly frequently shows that her priorities lie with her son first and herself second. Whether this had an impact on her relationship with the captain, or if their chastity was a result of both character’s great strength of will, sense of decorum, or respect for Beverly’s late husband (who was a close friend of Picard’s) is sort of irrelevant, as it establishes the major divider between Crusher and Troi: Troi acts based upon her emotions, and Crusher (most of the time) acts based upon decisions.

This may or may not have been intentional on the part of the writing staff, but it is effectively at the very epicenter of the “who would you rather” debate.  Both characters have histories (Beverly has a dead husband, Troi’s slept around) and both have intimidating baggage (Beverly has a kid, Troi has a psycho mother), but so does everyone.  Where their priorities lie, not as Starfleet officers but as individuals, is where the decision must be made.  When I first started writing this, I planned to come around to a part where I compared Deanna and Will’s relationship with Beverly and Jean-Luc’s, and figured that the heart of the question would be figuring out what sort of man you are, a Riker or a Picard.  But as I wrote it I realized that it was Beverly’s relationship with her son, not her paramour, that was more important to her, which threw that whole idea out the window.  Still, I wanted to get to some sort of a personal aspect to this whole thing to hopefully give it some sort of heart, some sort of staying power, so here goes:  I have to go with Dr. Crusher.  Not because I have delusions of being a “real man” in the vein of Picard, the biggest bad-ass in history, or because I look down on the emotional rollercoasters that are Riker and Troi, but because intelligence is just sexy.  I’d rather think with Dr. Crusher than feel with Counselor Troi.  Since neither is actually a real-life possibility, though, I’ll just watch this video.  (I know embedding has been disabled, but just watch it at youtube, it is truly worth the time.)

*: Yes.  Yes he was.

**: Also really hot- Ensign Ro.  She had convictions too, which is pretty sexy.  But at only eight episodes I didn’t feel like she was worth putting into the main conversation.