kalinara:trek-tracks:One thing I treasure about this parallel in TOS is that it reminds us that bein

kalinara:trek-tracks:One thing I treasure about this parallel in TOS is that it reminds us that being a “good person,” while it can ultimately become part of our being, is a series of constant, difficult choices. We are shaped by our experience and circumstances, and choosing to do good is more difficult in some situations and for some people than others. It’s much more admirable knowing that Jim makes the choice over and over again to do the “good” thing, despite everything that has happened to him, so that he becomes the person the people who know him best think of as having an unassailable goodness, rather than just making a simple claim that some people are born to goodness and some are not. This extends to every character on the show, and into our own lives.Goodness is not who we are, it’s what we do. Eventually, those actions become “what kind of people” we are. Knowing the other choice was possible makes the decision more meaningful.This is why I’ve never been happy with the way DS9 and all subsequent series have handled the mirror verse.  In my opinion, they miss the point entirely.    The whole point of the original mirrorverse was that these characters were reflections of our leads.  Mirrorverse Kirk wasn’t just some sex-obsessed dictator, he was specifically a parallel to our Kirk, just one who didn’t fight his worst impulses.Kirk could have been mirror Kirk.  If he gave into his anger.  If he’d decided that ethics didn’t apply.  Even the relationship with Marlena underscored that point.  Real Kirk was attracted to her (as he had been to Rand), but Real Kirk knew that pursuing a relationship with a subordinate was wrong and exploitative.  That was also the point of Mirror Spock.  Mirror Spock had been a reflection of Spock’s capacity for callousness and apathy, and ends justified the means.  But just as Spock might have become this man, like Kirk might have become his own reflection, the mirror universe versions COULD HAVE become them too.  And Mirror Spock chose to do that.DS9 and later decided that the idea of fixing Spock was too naive, and that, therefore, things went to absolute hell for the Terrans later.  Which was an okay premise for a parallel universe, but it completely lost the “Mirror” aspect.The Intendent is not Kira and never would have been.  There’s nothing parallel about their lives, temperaments, or means to deal with problems.  Kira is a traumatized revolutionary who has been driven to extremes.  She’s not, and would never become, a sex-obsessed decadent dictator.  And unfortunately the DS9 version is the standing version: So we get Jonathan Archer the genocidal monster, Empress Giorgiou and Captain “Killy”, none of whom give us any sort of insight into our leads because they don’t reflect anything.It’s a shame, because a PROPER Mirror Universe could have explored so much.  A dark version of Kira as a righteous revolutionary that doesn’t care about collateral lives and considers everyone less extreme to be a collaborator could have been a great exploration of what someone can become under extreme trauma, if they don’t take efforts to hold onto their humanity.A dark version of Tilly as a scientist that actually explored the callousness inherent in watching a friend and colleague reduced to a component of an engine they were never meant to use, just to give them an edge in war, would have made far more effective a point given the themes of the first part of the first season.It’s really frustrating to see that missed potential.I also can’t stand the implication that these versions are in ANY way better. It’s EASIER to give into destructive impulses, sticking to the hard road is the hard part. Hence, Jim could adjust to the mirrorverse but Mirror Jim could not.The idea being pushed that the regular Starfleet was too weak and naive to deal with the Klingons until someone came in and showed them some mirror-tactics, that mirrorverse counterparts can easily slip into the roles and identities of the regular verse while the other ones are killed or “would never survive there” is deeply unsettling to me.I do love it on STO, though, because Mirror-Leeta goes on and on about how much more powerful she is than the STO Captain when she gets outmatched, outsmarted and outclassed in each storyline. And Killy manages a short-term win but ends up getting her ass kicked in the next installment, because the Terran Empire, full of those who always make the easy choice, is not nearly as tough as the Federation, filled with those who struggle with their desires and work to make the best choice. -- source link

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