Why Do We Hate Wesley Crusher?
For Star Trek: The Next Generation fans, there's hate for Wil Wheaton's Brainy Character. Or is the hate for Wheaton himself?
Shut up, Wesley! Captain Picard to Wesley Crusher in the episode Datalore
And so the dark legend is born and spreads throughout Star Trek fandom….
Shut up, Wesley! How did a simple phrase become so toxic? Let’s deep dive and get ourselves as wet as Wesley got after falling into the river in the TNG pilot.
Datalore
The Next Generation episode to claim birthplace to Shut up, Wesley! is a first season Data centric episode entitled, Datalore. We meet Data’s evil android brother, Lore, whom Dr. Soong, the roboticist scientist father of the two, created first. In his plan to wreck havoc on Enterprise and replace Data, Lore insists Data was created first, but being found flawed, was replaced by Soong who crafted the more advanced Lore.
The scene which sees Picard utter the charged phrase goes thusly:
INT. BRIDGE: Data exits. Unbeknownst to the crew, it’s actually Lore. Only Wesley suspects it’s really Lore and that he’s done skulduggery to Data. It’s upset Wesley, fired him up. He tries to appeal to his Captain.
WESLEY: Sir, I know this may finish me as an Acting Ensign, but-
PICARD: Shut up, Wesley! Lt, pick a good security team, let me know what he does.
TASHA: Aye, sir.
CRUSHER: Shut up, Wesley?
PICARD: Doctor.
WESLEY: And since I am finished here, sir, may I point out that-
CRUSHER: Shut up, Wesley!
WESLEY: That everything that I have said would have been listened to if it came from an adult officer. Request permission to return to my quarters, sir.
PICARD: Agreed. Doctor, go with him.
CRUSHER: You're putting me off the Bridge?
PICARD: I'm asking that you keep an eye on your son during all of this, Doctor.
Many forget it’s not only Picard who orders Wesley to shut up. His own Mom, Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden), also chimes in and joins the fun. But is it so bad? Is it worth banning people who have fun with it?
What strikes me as a defense of the whole affair, is Wesley clearly pointing out - if he was an adult he wouldn’t be treated so harshly. If anything, the scene acts as a badge of honor for both Wesley and Wheaton. It’s pointing out the unfair treatment of Wes. He stands up for himself. Wheaton acts the moment wonderfully. It should be lauded by all.
In tribute to the great John Belushi, ‘But no!’
Wheaton & Wesley Woes
The phrase has taken on dual meaning. It’s both stern admonishment from a superior and a rallying cry for those who dislike Mister Crusher. Or, as can be argued, it’s become an insult spear for Wil Wheaton haters. The phrase has become so controversial for fandom and so emotionally laden for Wheaton (who fleshed out Wesley) that to use it in public basically defines which team you’re playing on.
I take a more decidedly measured, sober approach to the mind blowing matter.
Wheaton’s an actor who was fortunate enough to score a major role in one of the most profitable and influential franchises of all time. He got paid well for it. That fans now select one phrase - and many are probably not even Wes haters - to celebrate one moment from one episode strikes me as playful or even cool. To have the pop culture cred that Wheaton does is not common. For Wheaton to literally block anyone on his social media who ever utters it in his presence is curious at best and astounding in the worst.
You’re an actor. It was a scene from a fictional TV show. Lighten up, dude.
Did Clara Peller curse anyone who said Where’s the beef to her? I don’t recall Robin Williams throwing a tantrum if a fan said Nanu Nanu to him - his Mork from Ork phrase. If you were to scream I am Iron-Man or Avengers, Assemble to Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo or Chris Hemsworth, would they throw down? Doubt it.
Sure, those catchphrases aren’t a verbal penalty tossed off from a fictional superior, however, those actors may tire of hearing them so often. If you sang, Don’t Worry, Be Happy to singer Bobby McFerrin, I’m thinking he wouldn’t punch you out. He’d probably be, well, happy about it.
Wil Wheaton Lays Down His No Fun Law
What’s Wil Wheaton got to do with all of this animosity?
Plenty.
Instead of rolling with the public punches, instead of simply laughing off the phrase when he heard it or saw it posted, he decided to throw a fit of anger. This encourages the more merciless among us.
To not have fun with a fictional phrase levied at a fictional character which made his career and supported him for years, and label it so toxic and so off limits - to him anyway - the more mischievous among the fan base become more motivated and encouraged to use the magic words.
Wheaton can bitch about his character being ill treated on Star Trek: Next Generation - Wesley wasn’t written properly, he wasn’t handled in the right light, he was too smart for his own good, blah blah. All things the fans are more than aware of, yet isn’t it how someone deals with those facts which makes all the difference in the end?
Counselor Troi is empathic and slightly superior, even snobby seeming at times. Picard comes across as fatherly and stern. Geordi is super efficient, yet romantically lonely. Riker is… well I don’t know what the hell Riker is to be honest, but you get my focus.
Wesley Crusher was conceived of as brilliant - a boy with a genius level IQ. To simply abandon that at some point would be unrealistic and defeatist. Sure, Wesley could have been made to be more of a regular guy, though in the episode The First Duty, we do get a nice version of such a dynamic. Wesley is humanized in a believable and sympathetic manner.
Ultimately, Star Trek: The Next Generation - as with any well produced TV show - boasts characters with traits, arcs and easily defined personalities; like Riker’s inability to assume a command of his own. Does that make Will Riker a shitass? Arguable. However, as Jonathan Frakes has never made that a point of contention in real life, it’s not all obsessed over. Fans are aware of it, but don’t make it a big deal. With Wheaton, his continued inability to have fun with one line from one episode tells us his sense of humor with this aspect of the character’s history is so fraught with over sensitivity, we’ve no recourse but to say when he complains……
Great entry! I didn’t hate Wesley, but I think we all feel like we could have been “something more” if we had been given one magical opportunity at just the right time, and we watch this kid get to be an astronaut with absolutely no credentials. I get it. Also, the fact that Wil reacted so venomously to a line directed at Wesley speaks to the genius of the writing. It spoke to generations of teens who grew up watching Kids Are People Too, and validated our feelings of never being taken seriously.