Star Trek: Picard and Getting Older
The moral case for aging with dignity and still contributing to the world.
Eventually, all of us get old.
It's a sad reality of being alive. When you're young, it feels like the world is made for you. That you can have such a profound impact on the world that you'll somehow make it better. It's one of the benefits of being young. You have all the energy in the world to go in whatever direction you want. In so many ways, the world is your oyster. As you get older however, you learn that things aren't as open as you might want. Your opportunities to make a difference get smaller and smaller. At some point, you have to choose a specific path. Something to which you'll be able to dedicate your life to. Your window for doing so gradually closes in on you. It can be profoundly disappointing how much used to be open to you and to realize that's no longer the case.
The older you get, the more you realize that the world is passing you by. Younger people come along who have all the hope and desire to make the world better you used to have. No matter how much you might want to, you'll never have the kind of energy these other young people have. Seeing the world change around you in ways you can't even imagine can make you feel as though you have nothing left to offer the world. Other people have moved on and you have to as well. This is far from true however. What you bring to the world is experience. An understanding that some of the things you might have tried when you were young didn't work. You can provide that knowledge to young people and help them to build on your ideas. Refine them to the point that might actually work.
Star Trek: Picard is on so many levels about this process of getting older. Of coming to terms with the world passing you by. We've seen Jean Luc Picard, as played by the incomparable Patrick Stewart, in his prime when he was out there making a difference in the galaxy. Changing people's lives and giving so many people hope with the work he's doing along with his crew. That was then however, and this is now.
Time has caught up with Picard, forcing him to make different choices with his life. No longer can he do the things he wants to or could do. But more than that, the people of Earth and the Federation more broadly have moved on from the things he used to value when he was in his prime. They have different interests and are trying to achieve different goals. Ones he may not have the best insight on when it comes right down to it. However, this doesn't mean he can't still contribute to society in a powerful and meaningful way. All of the years he's spent working towards a better galaxy have helped him to understand where those now in charge might be going wrong.
Which is what makes watching him so fascinating.
Explore the wisdom of getting older by checking out Star Trek: Picard as soon as you can.
Watch Star Trek Picard on Paramount Plus as well as Amazon.
Haven't seen it but interested in its focus on age and time passing. The finale of TNG sounds like the basis for this series.
this was beautifully put, TQ