Jeri Ryan and Good or Bad SF

[roseembolism]

Over on io9, there was a discussion about bad science leading to good stories...which for some reason had a picture of Jeri Ryan involved. this lead of course to comments about her being biologically impossible, or a silicone-based cyborg.



But really, the article should have been about bad science leading to bad stories...because never mind the cheesecake factor of Jeri ryan, what's always ticked me off about the Borg is that they are so utterly STUPID. Yeah, this race of beings tht absorbes the cultures and technologies of a thousand civilizations has the strategic sense of a three-year old.

The ironic thing is, if the Borg were written with any sense, if they weren't so artificially stupid, Jeri Ryan would probably be the model for most of them, not the walking tin men. Smart Borg wouldn't come on like B-grade communists in their clunky, evil-looking cubes. They'd have sleek, cool-looking ships, and they'd have advance PR involving Jeri and equally hunked out guys, smiling and welcoming. They'd be cooperative, helpful, and have a message.

"Hi, we're the Borg. How would you like to expand your capabilities a thousandfold? How would you like to have the knowledge of a thousand civilizations? How would you like to never be lonely again? Try us: we're the future, and we're here for you." And of course anyone who voluntarily joins the Collective would also be smiling, and so happy they'd never want to go back.  really. 

Or more simply, "Hi, I'm Seven of Nine. Fly me."

But that's the difference between stupid SF and smart SF; the latter actually requires thinking about the concept a little bit. Stupid SF is fast and easy, and it's not hard for it to touch on a concept in a shallow manner. SF that actually gets you to think about something requires more effort than most scriptwriters are willing to give.
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Comments

[rfmcdpei.livejournal.com]

That's just sad. What a waste of potential.

Potential as to what the Borg could have been, perhaps, but in regards to the Borg as they were established as existing IMHO the sendoff they got was as good as they could have plausibly expected to get. They were painted as blind blundering masses of power to be outwitted or--alternatively--shot to bits using soon-to-be-defeated technologies. There's only so many places you can go with that.

I wouldn't blame Picard. Earth's fate as an eventual Borg target was arguably inevitable as soon as that Borged Earth transport escaped Sol system and sent that subspace message into the Delta Quadrant.