His first appearance comes in the episode, "Hollow Pursuits" wherein he suffers from holo-addiction. Basically, he's created a fantasy world populated by distorted versions of his own fellow crew members, where he's the most popular, smartest, toughest, sexiest guy in town. Everyone loves him in the holodeck but everyone makes fun of him in real life. He's a smart guy. He's imaginative and creative. But, he has a lot of social problems and, when it turns out his peers can't identify with him, they resort to making fun of him, calling him "Broccoli" instead of "Barclay."
There is some contention as to whether "Hollow Pursuits" is a satirical statement about Trekkers. The writer credited with this episode, Sally Caves, actually said as much after the fact. Both Michael Piller, who worked with Caves on the episode and Cliff Bole, the director, disagree. They both played it straight ahead: a story about a guy with an overactive imagination who has trouble fitting in with his peers. Barclay was portrayed by Dwight Shultz, a longtime Trekker, who had mentioned what a huge fan he was to Whoopie Goldberg (another Trek fan,) who helped him get the job. Neither of them seem to have played it as if they were creating satire.
Really, it doesn't matter what was originally intended. What matters to me is how I always perceived Barclay--what the character always meant to me. Barclay has a hard time with the real world. He'd rather escape into his own fantasy world than deal with other, real life people. It's no wonder I identified so much with him. He is an honest, and sweet portrayal of anyone who ever felt more comfortable in their own imagination, wrapped up in a book, or staring at the TV than they did in a room full of their peers.
As Barclay says, "The people I create are more real to me than anyone else."
I get that. I spend most of my day either watching/reading about fictional people or creating them on my own. And the reason it's taken me so long to blog about my Star Trek obsession (and why I never contributed to forums) was a fear of sharing my private love in a public way. Like Barclay, I had to overcome my fear. And so far, also like Barclay, it's working out ok.
Thinking about you as Barclay makes me wonder: when you start watching/writing about Voyager, you will do something really heroic?!
ReplyDeleteIf the opportunity presents itself... you never know!
Delete:-) Great post!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Katie!
DeleteYou know, I guess I never really analyzed why I love Barclay so much, but you're definitely right - he's a lot like me. Granted, these days I have much more of a life than I used to, but back when I was growing up and in high school, my fictional life was much more interesting to me than the real world.
ReplyDeleteOh man, my life is still pretty much exactly the same as it was then... except now I don't actually have to go out in the real world very often. So, I guess I'm even more like Barclay. I would totally have a holo-addiction if I lived in the future.
DeleteI loved Barclay best in his Voyager appearances. The character had evolved, but he was still the same insecure guy you wanted good things to happen to. Truthfully during "Hollow Pursuits" I realized how much I didn't like Geordi for a long time. I realize he came around, but he was pretty mean and impatient with Barclay. Though, it was pretty entertaining when even Picard called him Mr Broccoli.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. It's weird to see Geordi be so impatient and snippy with Barclay through most of this episode. He does come around eventually but I think, for a while at least, they had a hard time pinning that character down. And, yes, the moment when Picard calls him "Mr Broccoli" makes me laugh/facepalm every time. It's well-directed too because the look on Riker/Geordi's faces is priceless!
DeleteHi there. Sally Caves here. Thanks for writing this. When I said so many years ago in an interview that it was a "satire" of fandom, I meant to include myself as well, writing for ST:TNG: in other words, throwing myself into the Star Trek "sandbox" and then having to control what I wrote, in the same way that Barclay was encouraged to delete his more satiric depictions of his fellow crew members (the Goddess of Empathy? Riker shortened in height?). When you write for a show that's not your own, you have to avoid writing fanfic. What an experience! So the fandom "satire" was merely a subtext, a fleeting reference in a serious story about media addiction and getting lost in a world of fantasy. Do I love Star Trek and other shows? You bet. Their power to create imaginative supplementary art is substantial. Keep on trekkin' !
ReplyDeleteSally, thanks so much for finding and commenting here! It's great to get your real intent behind this episode and I think your idea of including writer-as-fan comes through. I think it must be quite hard for a SciFi (and specifically Star Trek) fan to write for characters they feel they know so well. It could be easy to succumb to the temptation to basically write fan-fiction where every actor is saying exactly what you'd always imagined them saying. As a writer, I can only imagine the pressure that you must have been under and I love that you worked that anxiety about doing justice to the characters etc into "Hollow Pursuits." It's one of my favorite TNG episodes and, in Barclay, you created a character that so many fans relate to, even after all these years. Well done!
DeleteThank you so much, Ashley! My pleasure. Thanks for making this blog! There's a long story behind that episode and writing for it. It went under so many revisions it made my head reel. My original intent showcased Barclay entirely (no "science" story--which was REQUIRED) so I had to think up the "invidium" plot, and I made him darker than he turned out to be: bitterer, a kind of satirist of the people he admired and felt rejected by. I'm so pleased with Dwight Schultz' interpretation: I think he's more likable because more sympathetic and identifiable. They changed some things I wanted them to keep in, some of the funnier scenes with the holo-Troi for instance. And looking back at it now, I wish he hadn't deleted his fantasies--it's legitimate to have them. But they involved real people, I guess, and my intent was to expose the potential of the holodeck for encouraging pathology (which up till then was treated somewhat "wholesomely"). This episode only skimmed the surface of those possibilities. So did 11001001 (Riker, Minuet and the Binaires).
ReplyDeleteSally, thank you! I'd love to talk to you or interview you for the blog about your experience as a fan writing for Star Trek. If you'd like, just email me at ashleyrosesullivan@gmail.com! I think it's really interesting that every episode required a science story too since the science plots almost all just melt together in my head like a pack of chocolates. I think the idea of the holodeck encouraging pathology is really interesting too. The fact that TNG characters all used the holodeck exclusively as a means to live out their completely wholesome fantasies is a bit silly and I'm glad that once DS9 came along it was acknowledged that people weren't just playing Robin Hood in there.
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