In the debates over which Star Trek captain is the greatest, Picard was always my pick because The Next Generation was always my show: It’s one of the first instances of must-see viewing I can remember, and the biggest reason was the bizarre magnetism of this wiry, bald Brit who, for some reason, had a French name.
asserted
who → ’ → name
This, naturally, didn’t quite make sense (though he had a good explanation), but none of that mattered because Stewart was so damn commanding onscreen.
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Stewart → make → that
This may have been the first time I really realized what “acting” is: He just had a presence, an authority, one that transcended mere Starfleet rank.
uncertain
that → realize → rank
You could buy him as a leader because he had both forcefulness and empathy.
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he → buy → forcefulness
It wasn’t until some years later that I realized, “Oh, right, he was just a classically trained Shakespearean,” because a 6-year-old doesn’t know Macbeth from Mack Brown.
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old → realize → Brown
(One of my rare regrets is not having seen his Macbeth on stage.)
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One → see → stage
If you haven’t read his 2023 memoir, Making It So, you should: It’s deeply funny (his story about meeting Sting before knowing who the Police are is delightful) and also a reminder of a bygone era when working-class lads just kind of fell into acting and became learned monologists almost by accident.1
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lads → read → acting
His Professor X was almost too on the nose (I’m sure Stewart was offered up in more than one Wizard magazine fancast), but no less perfect as a result.
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Stewart → ’m → result
That he’s been returning to the role for more than twenty-five years (including a final appearance in Avengers: Doomsday this December) is a testament to how completely he has come to define the role of Charles Xavier, mutantkind’s best hope and strongest advocate for coexistence with humanity.
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he → return → humanity
In those films, Stewart played opposite Ian McKellen, another great Shakespearean whom he previously respected and knew but not very well.
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he → play → whom
After their turns as Professor X and Magneto, they became very close, enjoying a warm bromance and appearing together onstage in Waiting for Godot and No Man’s Land.
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they → become → Godot
McKellen—who back in 1987 had been the “single dissenting voice” warning Stewart not to give up the British stage for Star Trek, advice McKellen would go on to admit he was wrong about2—officiated at Stewart’s wedding in 2013.
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he → dissent → 2013
In the first of the four Star Trek movies in which he appeared, Generations, Stewart’s Captain Picard is told by the time-traveling villain played by Malcolm McDowell that time is “like a predator.
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time → appear → predator
It’s stalking you.”
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It → stalk → you
That’s a great line for an actor like McDowell to chew on, very menacing.
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actor → ’ → McDowell
Only at the movie’s end does Picard get off a reply.
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Picard → get → reply
His line could easily come across as unbearably, unnaturally, ruinously cheesy, but the Shakespearean Stewart delivers it with such comfortable seriousness that it just works: “Someone once told me that time was a predator that stalked us all our lives.
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that → come → us
I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey and reminds us to cherish every moment.
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who → believe → moment
Because they’ll never come again.”
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they → come → ?
“What we leave behind,” he adds, “is not as important as how we’ve lived.”
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we → leave → What
IndieWire’s Brian Welk wrote a pretty jarring story about the state of Texas’s decision to withhold grant funding for an indie film shot in Texas due to Governor Greg Abbott’s distaste for the film’s subject matter.
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Welk → write → matter
It is a reminder that financial assistance for the arts often comes with strings attached—or the threat of strings being attached—that may make some filmmakers think twice before attempting to take advantage of the money-saving benefits.
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filmmakers → come → benefits
You should read the whole thing, but the basics are pretty straightforward: Danish-Iranian director Milad Avaz shot Elastic Hearts, starring Cole Sprouse, Dean Norris, Stephen Dorff, and others, in rural areas in Texas last year.
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Avaz → read → Texas
After “an abnormally long delay,” the filmmaking team finally heard from the Texas Film Commission: Their application for a state production grant, which would have netted the production around $128,000, was denied.
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which → hear → 128,000
While no written reason was given for the denial, a phone call made it clear why: “You made a film about abortions in Texas.
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You → write → Texas
What did you expect?”
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you → expect → What
Yes, the film in question tackled the topic of abortion, a fraught subject in a state where almost all abortions have been banned since 2022.
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abortions → tackle → 2022
Needless to say, Abbott did not want to be seen as providing state funding for a project about a woman who has to flee the state to obtain an abortion.
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who → say → abortion
As Abbott’s press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, said in a statement, “In making determinations, the office considers general standards of decency and respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the citizens of Texas.
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office → say → Texas
When I talked to Rep. Laura Friedman (D., Calif.) about the push for a national tax credit, she insisted that there would be no mechanism to screen for content as part of the tax code that a federal credit would fall under.
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credit → talk → that
But Texas’s effort to restrict film incentives for political reasons is relatively common in smaller jurisdictions.
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effort → restrict → jurisdictions
Just this week, there has been consternation in California about efforts to tie film tax credits to affirmative action schemes that may well fall afoul of the law following the Supreme Court’s recent rulings on diversity efforts in higher education.
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that → tie → education
Back in 2010, Michigan’s film commissioner Janet Lockwood tried to crack down on violent horror films nabbing tax credits from that state.
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commissioner → try → state
In rejecting a request for public funds for The Woman, Lockwood wrote to one of the film’s producers that it was unacceptable due to “this extreme horror film’s subject matter, namely realistic cannibalism; the gruesome and graphically violent depictions described in the screenplay; and the explicit nature of the script.”
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it → reject → script
Back in Texas, Robert Rodriguez’s Machete lost out on funds in 2010 when anti-immigration activists protested that film’s politics.
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activists → lose → politics
Up in Canada in 2008, efforts were made to restrict the amount of sex and violence in films that received government support.
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that → make → support
And let’s not even get started on the Department of Defense’s policy of doling out material aid like Chinooks and Apaches to productions that submit to script approval while denying the same to uncooperative filmmakers.
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that → let → filmmakers
The simple truth about film tax credits is that they are an unfortunate necessity if you want to keep filmmaking jobs in America: the amount of money being offered up by foreign nations is simply too high for studios and independent producers alike to ignore.
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studios → want → nations
But it’s important to be reminded of the tradeoffs that come with some of these deals, the potential strings attached to them.
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that → ’ → them
Filmmakers shouldn’t repeat the mistakes made in the pursuit of access to China, when self-censorship justified by short-term profits was the order of the day.
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censorship → repeat → day
…and 25 more, not listed.
The Aporia
