Not me. The.older I get the more I think it’s creepy that when we meet him he’s dating a 2 year old. As a teenager I bought the “they develop faster” hand wave, but if you think about it regardless of how quickly kes’s species develops physically, they still only have a level of experience and knowledge you can learn in 2 years. Dating someone that naive is a very rapey power imbalance. I can’t believe they allowed him around Naomi. Should have thrown him out the airlock.
Comment on Reason #72151 why I don't tolerate Neelix hate
Snowcano@startrek.website 1 year ago
The older I get, the more I appreciate Neelix.
thecrotch@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Rowsdower@lemmy.ca 1 year ago
[deleted]Abnorc@lemm.ee 1 year ago
I agree that you can’t really compare years to years here. They clearly mature mentally and physically faster. It is altogether weird still, but so is the basic concept of dating aliens from another species.
thecrotch@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Vulcans may live longer, but they mature at about the same rate, reaching adulthood in their early to mid 20s. I’m not saying humans (or talaxians) are superior to kes’s race, only that there’s only so much you can learn in 2 years. It’s more like a 50 year old human dating a 17 year old human, it’s creepy and exploitative.
CeruleanRuin@lemmings.world 1 year ago
On the surface, yeah, it’s pretty bad, and if Neelix was a human I wouldn’t excuse it (cough cough TOM), but Talaxians had much more cultural exchange and knowledge of the Ocampa. I can criticize the writers for not properly dealing with the squick factor, but in-universe I have to give characters the benefit of the doubt and take them at their word.
Ocampans really do mature and accumulate knowledge and understanding at over ten times the rate of humans. They have passed all galactic cultural standards for being able to consent, and are granted the ability to choose for themselves.
Stamets@startrek.website 1 year ago
Yeah when I was younger he was a bit cringy but now after realizing everything he’s gone through and keeps going through? There was no one better suited to be ships Morale Officer.
Hyperreality@kbin.social 1 year ago
The problem, I think, is that people think Neelix is this vapid obnoxiously happy character.
Once you're a bit older or if you've been through shit, you realise he's suffering from severe trauma and mental illness, and that the whole jovial extroversion thing is often a coping mechanism. He's been through a lot, so he doesn't want others to be sad.
Serdan@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Not too different from Robin Williams
Hyperreality@kbin.social 1 year ago
Exactly what I was thinking.
Stamets@startrek.website 1 year ago
Exactly. I thought he was exactly that too for a long time until started seeing those cracks under the facade. He’s a really deep and, like you say, complex character. I love him. Honestly relate to him a little bit. Didn’t go through something as monumentally horrifying as watching my planet burn but I adopted the same defense mechanism. I feel for the dude.