Inspired by a recent post, and some dialogue with fellow fans of Star Trek, I have decided to pay tribute to a man I have a profound respect for, as both an actor, and most importantly, as a human being: Sir Patrick Stewart!
My initial muse for writing this blog entry was from a post on my personal WordPress page (neoethereal.wordpress.com) earlier this week, “Neo’s take on gender equality and sexuality.” More specifically, about how, in that article, I failed to mention the wonderful work being done in the championing of women’s equality, by men such as Patrick Stewart. The other reason that I strongly felt a need to publish this, is that I, in the simple act of wearing a t-shirt, have sparked a great deal of interest from fellow geeks and fans of Star Trek, in the immortal debate of Kirk versus Picard.
The shirt pictured above, is what I have worn to my last two conventions, and it has sparked a lot of conversation! More often than not, people who stop me side with Kirk, or say something about how they prefer The Original Series. While I have come across fewer people who prefer Picard, those individuals seem to be way more passionate and dogged in defense of their favorite captain. One person even took it as far as to consider it a debate between William Shatner and Patrick Stewart themselves, and seemed to insinuate that I was dissing the man who played Jean-Luc Picard. My reaction was, “woah, woah, wait a minute.”
You see, I may wear that shirt around, but it is with my tongue planted firmly in cheek. I may prefer Kirk over Picard as my favorite Star Trek captain, and I may prefer The Original Series over The Next Generation, but I still like both. The analogy I made to a friend, was that if I was grading the captains on a 1-10 scale, I would put Kirk at a 9.75, and Picard at a 9.5, just to show how highly I regard both of them.
However, beyond Jean-Luc Picard, I have a tremendous amount of respect for Patrick Stewart, not only as an actor, but as a person. The causes he has undertaken in tribute to his mother, a victim of domestic abuse, and his father, who suffered from PTSD that was inflicted by fighting in World War II, are nothing short of inspiring and moving. While I had known much of his story from watching a documentary called The Captains, a recent interview with Stewart in AARP elaborated a little further on the troubled domestic life that he had endured as a youth. Honestly, Stewart’s story is enough to move one to tears, but rather than let his experiences keep him down, Patrick Stewart has taken an active part in making sure that the same problems do not afflict other families.
The following is an excerpt from Stewart’s AARP interview:
“Sir Patrick reveals how speaking out about his childhood experiences of an abusive father led to his work with Refuge – the first safe house in England for women and children – as well as Amnesty International’s Stop Violence Against Women campaign.
“I do it for my mother, because I couldn’t help her back then,” he says.
He also talks about how he has come to understand his father’s battle with post-traumatic stress disorder, which has led him to become patron of Combat Stress.
“I work with Refuge for my mother, and I support Combat Stress for my father.””
I highly recommend checking out the full interview here: http://www.aarp.org/entertainment/style-trends/info-2014/patrick-stewart-aarp-magazine.html
And also, hearing Patrick tell some of his story in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqFaiVNuy1k
In a nutshell, I just felt tremendously motivated to send kudos and nothing but respect toward the man behind Jean-Luc Picard, Sir Patrick Stewart. I may side with James T. Kirk on-screen, but in real life, Patrick Stewart is a hero that I hold in the highest regard, as a champion of equality, and as a man who is willing to take a stand against the victimization of women, children, and veterans everywhere. He is living proof that standing up for true feminism has nothing to do with making women superior to men, but rather, it is about standing up for true equality between the genders, and about stopping the abuse of women around the world. Sir Patrick also has the strength of character, and the intelligence, to understand that while nothing could justify what he did, Stewart’s father was a victim of not only World War II, but of a society that then, and still today, puts unrealistic pressure and expectations upon men. Society’s grand idea of what masculinity “should be” leaves many men, especially veterans, ashamed of themselves and unwilling to seek aid in their times of crisis.
I feel that I can do little else to express how much respect I have for Patrick Stewart, but I do feel it important to further highlight the causes for which this awesome human being stands for. They can be found at the following links:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/women-s-rights/violence-against-women
http://www.combatstress.org.uk/
In closing, I would just like to say thank you to Sir Patrick Stewart for being an inspiration to this Uncommon Geek, as both a tremendously gifted actor, and as a great human being. If I ever meet you in person Mr. Stewart, the beer is on me.
FIN
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