Movies - TV
Why Famke Janssen’s Star Trek Episode Had The Writers Fearing Blowback
By DEVIN MEENAN
Before portraying Professor Charles Xavier and Jean Grey in “X-Men,” Patrick Stewart and Famke Janssen shared the screen in an episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
Stewart, of course, portrayed the series lead, Enterprise-D Captain Jean-Luc Picard, while Janssen played Kamala, one of the many beautiful alien women appearing on “Star Trek.”
In the episode "The Perfect Mate," Kamala is introduced as a Kriosian "metamorph," an empathetic being capable of discerning their partner's emotions and adjusting accordingly.
Kamala is betrothed to an ambassador from the neighboring world, Valt, hoping this will help end a conflict between the planets. However, she begins to grow close to Picard.
In "The Captain's Logs" by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, the writers needed to portray Kamala accurately and avoid sexist pitfalls that could alienate the audience.
Concerned showrunner Michael Piller believed fans would be controversial because Kamala’s abilities can be perceived as “[...] the [most] adolescent male fantasy of all time.”
To avoid angry fan letters, Piller instructed that she be portrayed respectfully and advised limiting any suggestive elements, as fans would then be less likely to sexualize her.
Piller notes that the solution was to make the episode a character piece about Picard; "If Picard is confronted with his perfect mate, could he resist her?"