Michael Leask

The following blog is a response to the question on Theme in my screenwriting class at the University of Calgary. The idea of Theme: the takeaway from the movie or script, what was it about?

As a class, we were asked to explain what Theme we saw in one of two movies. As most people had similar answers, I opted to consider Theme in another film or show. I chose something poignant, significant and straightforward. I decided on the episode from Star Trek: The Next Generation called The Inner Light.

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The posts discussing the Theme of Parasite have been engaging and thought-provoking. As many students have already given a thorough analysis, I have decided to submit my discussion on the Theme from a different media source. I will use the episode The Inner Light from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The Theme of the episode is “We were here.” I have summarized the episode in the following paragraphs for those who haven’t seen it.

The Enterprise encounters a peculiar, dead probe adrift in space. Captain Picard arrives on the bridge and asks for it to be brought into the cargo bay for analysis. When they lock the tractor beam onto the probe, the seemingly lifeless probe sends out a beam that penetrates the bridge and strikes Captain Picard; he collapses.

Picard awakens on a dry planet, Kataan and doesn’t know how he got there. He still has his memories of life in the Federation. However, Eline, his wife on Kataan, tells Picard what he remembers of being a starship captain is a delusion. He is not Jean-Luc but Kamin, a well-known community member.
On Kataan, Kamin has to relearn his culture, his history, society’s nuances, etc. He even learns to play the flute (penny whistle). Decades pass, and scientists (though not without resistance) have proven their sun will go nova.

The change in the nature of their sun is why Kataan is a dry planet and the cause of decades-long drought on Kataan. The planet’s populace is not space-faring, but they have the means to build a probe that can carry the memories of their people. After the probe launches to the stars, Picard awakens on the bridge of the Enterprise. Only half an hour passed while he was out, but for Picard, he lived on Kataan as Kamin for five decades. He tells his crew the probe was not a threat but a message in a bottle. It was meant to find someone and tell them the legacy of the Kataan people and that “they were here.”

Even though it was an episode, approximately 40 minutes in length, it was a compelling and moving piece of media. The society Picard experienced could be an allegory to our own. If a disaster occurs, natural or manmade, it asks the audience what our legacy will be? The probe, in a sense, gave Picard an unbiased view of the world because he lived on Kataan and came from an outsider’s point of view. Picard could talk to people and have disagreements or experience society’s ignorance. He could see and feel the resistance towards scientists who could prove how Kataan was being harmed, hear those perspectives or choose to ignore them. How would an outsider view our society.

When the mind probe finished and Picard returned to his reality onboard the Enterprise, he had all the memories of Kamin. While remembering his experience, he finds out that inside the probe is Kamin’s flute. Picard composes the same music he learned on Kataan. The music adds to the bittersweet lifetime he shared and one he now experiences. The episode ends as Picard holds the flute tightly to his chest, remembering the family and friends on Kataan, that they were here.

What I have discovered about Theme with this activity is how a singular idea, such as ‘remember me,’ can be integral to a story and how the story can be crafted around the Theme. It also makes me think that Theme can be a powerful narrative through the hearts and minds of those it encounters, not to persuade but to establish critical thinking.
I think this activity will help me in my work as it will make me ask myself, what is the point of the piece I am trying to write, and why is it important to me? Will it move me to feel something, or should it move me?

Michael Leask