Let's be real, Picard is also a weiner in First Contact. Both him and Kirk get a character development arc that shows they have room for improvement and how they grow from it in both stories.
Like First Contact, TMP serves as an important source of character development for Kirk and Spock (even though they signed on Nimoy so late into filming that it sadly doesn't read like that onscreen the way it should/did in the book).
For Jim, he has to learn the hard way that how great he was wasn't just about him being a captain -- it was about the core seven crew, how their insight and guidance is what helped shape him into a great leader, and how together they were an incredible force to be reckoned with. But Kirk has to admit that he needs them before he can grow from that realization.
Both Kirk and Picard have to swallow a great deal of pride, hubris, and wash it down with a tall glass of humbleness through the events of TMP/First Contact.
Continue below if you are down for a read. :) Feel free to jump in!
The point of TMP originally was to tell a story about **Spock**, especially his relationship to Kirk and how despite his fighting it, he belongs with his found family.
It also shows by contrast how Jim is also extraordinarily miserable in the life he ended up in and desperately wants to go back to his found family on the Enterprise crew. He took the promotion because everyone told him it was the natural next step in his career. And he hated it, or admitting he chose wrong.
It shows how separated they are both are miserable and kind of going through the motions, too proud to admit they hate it. Neither are relishing life or where they ended up because they focused too hard on the job and not enough on what fills their cup *while* working. And that's the concept of found family. They thought the job is what gave them life, but it is actually **who** they found through the job -- realising it was the people, not just the gig, that gave them life.
While that lovely story and concept is fairly clear via the TMP novel, the production issues, timing, conflicts with Nimoy and his contract etc led to a version of TMP onscreen that had very few genuine interactions between Spock and the og crew.
Even the much maligned Star Trek V at least had that poignant scene about McCoy and his father -- even that film, while insanely flawed, had some of that TOS of character heart.
Even the TMP sickbay scene, despite being lovely, falls kind of flat in the film because they had Nimoy for so little filming time that all the nuance and events that happened between the big events in the novel never made it to the film. But tons of special effects did.
That is a big part of what was left out/missing from TMP due to budget and time constraints. On screen, the story has always read as very disjointed and cerebral for that reason.
It culminates in the poignant sickbay scene which would have had a lot more impact had there been some of the of camaraderie we all enjoyed from the TOS show. Then that is paralleled with the V'Ger and Decker storyline.
What we ended up with was a very glossy, shiny film that had lots of great special effects and virtually none of that camaraderie, closeness, and humanity we all came to love and expect from the TOS crew and their stories in the TV series.
I mean none of us watching TOS pulled up specifically for mind boggling special effects, it was the characters, their dynamics, and the power of that found family against impossible odds that made us tune in -- and we didn't care if there were dogs in alien costumes for effects because we loved the characters and their stories.
Sadly, they just didn't have that time with Nimoy before the film was released to meaningfully develop some of the more personal/character driven facets of the novel -- they used up all their time doing special effects and rushed the Nimoy stuff at the end of production.
If they had had time to infuse some of that familiarity, camaraderie, and character development in between the big events and special effects of TMP the film, I think many more TOS fans would have loved it.
What we got isn't the same story as what is told in the novel, but I think TOS fans would have liked it a whole lot more of, you know . . . The TOS cast was actually in it, interacting, instead of moving from scene to scene with hardly any character interaction or development. It felt so cold and sterile, but sadly that's all the time they had.
TLDR: They should have just paid Nimoy in the first place, had him on board from the start, and made the film as they had wanted to instead of rushing to get it out for the sake of meeting a deadline.
The film we got lacked a lot of the heart and character development/camaraderie we came to know and love about TOS. While that was present in the book, the film lacked a great deal of that warmth. I like the film, but you can clearly see where it is lacking in the "tying the story back to the TOS crew" department, or their relationships.
Anyway, that was my take/two cents on why for a number of fans, the TMP film can sometimes feel quite heavily cerebral and lacking that warmth or spirit of the original show. I love it, but having read the novel I also get why it translated that way to screen given the plethora of limitations during filming.
I'm starting to doubt my ability to follow t'an sahat. My emotions are strong. May I please get some second opinions before I make life altering decisions?
Do I subdue the emotions which cause me to desperately chase after love which I will never have in the pursuit of pure logic or do I continue my emotional path of destruction because it makes me human?
I can't be constantly rejected if I don't try, but I'm already a suppressed pervert and if I go through with t'an sahat, I'll be denying that side of myself. But what's the point if my emotions only hurt me, and I can never even explore that side of myself.
I still want calm love, I still want passionate lust, but where is the logic in yearning if I'm never perceived that way? If I'm always alone. Kolinhar, if achieved on a journey of t'an sahat, could purge these pointless wants from my life bringing me peace... Finally accepting the fate I hate.
But why do I even ask? This is the only logical path and I see no alternatives. No hope. I have no control whether I am loved or not, so I must accept that if I'm not loved or flirted with or seen or heard, that it's pointless to want those things and to pursue a path of logic.
I can't go through with it... As Kirk once said... "I need my pain". No matter how hard I'd try to subdue my emotions deep down I'll still have the same desires and no amount of t'an sahat training will purge them completely. But even if kolhinar were possible... I want to be wanted and even if that's not possible, I just can't accept that it's not possible... I hate that I want so badly what I can't have but it's all I know.
I think today I will begin a path of Kolinhar. My emotions are strong and self destructive. My dependency a fatal flaw. All my yearning and hoping only brings me pain and suffering. Pure logic and rationality seems to be the only remedy. I must confront myself and my emotions. I must understand them and make peace and allow logic to guide me. If I can't be loved, then I must love myself in the best way possible, and to cut the root of the pain at its core. I will be dedicating this blog from here on out to my pursuits to achieve Kolinhar.
