By Chris Snellgrove | Published
As a lifelong fan of Star Trek: The Next Generationsomething strange about it Picard it was his insistence that the former captain of the Enterprise and his android crew, Data, were best friends. In TNG, Data's best friend was Geordi LaForge; Picard was someone he played with on the holodeck when no one else wanted to see him play VR Shakespeare. However, Picard introduced its titular character as best friends with her artificial ex-husband. Maybe Jean-Luc just had dementia; after all, this is the same show where he's suddenly cool with Starfleet using android slaves, something he helped do illegally decades before.
While Picard and Data get a little close in the TNG movies (next to a devil's threesome with a living child, I mean), they're never in danger of becoming best friends. Why am I so confident about this? Simple: The Next Generation presents Picard as a man with many hobbies, including books, archeology, music, and more. Did you know he tried his hand at art, too? No, it's possible he didn't you know that, and there is a reason for that. Namely, when Picard tried to paint something, Data dipped into it so hard that the captain never picked up the paintbrush again!
Picard the Singer
This story begins with “A Story of Vision,” a Season 3 episode Star Trek: The Next Generation. Inspired by Akira Kurosawa's classic Rashomonwe find the same story in many perspectives. In fact, Riker is accused of serious crimes, including beating a man's wife before killing a man. The Enterprise uses the holodeck to recreate very different scenarios as told by very different people. In the end, Riker is freed, and it is revealed that the man he was accused of killing actually tried to kill Riker, only to die by his own hands in a freak accident.
Once the episode gets down to business, there isn't much time for Picard to do any of his hobbies. But in the cold scene of “A Matter of Perspective,” the captain does something deliciously uncharacteristic: he creates a painting of a woman who is visible to all the musicians in the room. Data arrives to deliver a report to Picard; after that, he gives his artistic opinion on the work done by Lieutenant Wright, who he says “successfully combined the conflict of the surrealists with the absurdity of Dadaism.” Looking at Picard's painting, his first comment is just one word: “interesting.”
Who is Arted?
Picard then asks his subordinate the obvious question: “Which way?” With this edition, android is crying its chief executive. “While it advocates the free treatment of form often referred to as Fauvism, this inappropriately attempts to combine the different cubistic styles of Picasso and Leger,” he said. “Furthermore, the use of color suggests a disorganized mélange of conflicting styles. Furthermore, an unpleasant dissonance of proto-Vulcan influences-” Picard thanks Data sarcastically, and when the young art critic asks if he can offer any further assistance, the captain dismisses him.
In the context of “A Story of Vision,” this cold opening is meant to provide lighthearted humor before settling into a dark and serious episode. But here's the thing: after the criticism of data, Picard literally never paint again. Why do you think that is? There is no need to guess: in a deleted scene, the captain throws red paint on his place in shame for criticizing data. This is a guy who maintained his interest in books, music, and even archeology for decades, but gave up his new painting career quickly because he didn't want to hear an omniscient android disrespecting his art, again.
Data Make Motel Art
Do you know the real gutpunch of a punchline? In Picardone plot point revolves around a painting made by Data, and guess what: like a piece of art, absolutely delicious. There is no real contrast, the sign is clear, and the dull, dull sky takes up more than half of the image to use as a warm sign. This android wasted a lifetime of artistic ambitions on Captain Picard to use his superior mind to create a poorly lit painting of a woman floating on a canvas. Perhaps I am being too harsh about Data's creative abilities, and I have to admit his limitations.
After all, what were we? indeed Are you waiting for AI creativity?
