Approximately 162% of the total population of Twitter users has sent me this Gizmodo post about some mostly-awesome custom (unofficial) LEGO minifigs that are inspired by the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Approximately 600% of them asked me to comment, and since I can’t do that in 280 characters without resorting to the dreaded [THREAD 1/66], I’m doing it here.
Before I get into the Wesley part of this that you’re all here for: I love that this set exists. I love that enough people want to do TNG LEGO to create a market demand for these figures. I can’t speak for the rest of the cast, but things like this, based on us, are always awesome. Earlier this year, a guy gave me a little minifig that he made of Wesley, and even though it’s unofficial, it is a delightful thing to own. He’s in his little red spacesuit, and he looks like he’s got a course you can plot. I love it.
In this particular custom set, though, Wesley is depicted as a crying child, and that’s not just disappointing to me, it’s kind of insulting and demeaning to everyone who loved that character when they were kids. The creator of this set is saying that Wesley Crusher is a crybaby, and he doesn’t deserve to stand shoulder to minifig shoulder with the rest of the crew. People who loved Wesley, who were inspired by him to pursue careers in science and engineering, who were thrilled when they were kids to see another kid driving a spaceship? Well, the character they loved was a crybaby so just suck it up I guess.
“Oh, Wil Wheaton, you sweet summer child,” you are saying right now. “You think people actually loved Wesley Crusher. You’re adorable.”
So this is, as you can imagine, something I’ve spent a lot of time dealing with for thirty years. It’s been talked about to death (on this very blog, more than once), but I’ll sum up as briefly as I can: I reject the idea that nobody liked or cared about the character. Now, It is absolutely true that, for the entirety of the first season, Wesley was a terribly-written character. He was an idea, a plot device, and was not handled with much care or respect. I think the best example of this is in Datalore, which I wrote about in Memories of the Future Volume 1:
Wesley, who was sent to check up on Data, does what any smart Starfleet officer would do: He reports to his captain that something fishy is going on with the robot and suggests that maybe they shouldn’t be so quick to trust him.
Picard, the captain who recognized Wesley’s intellect and promoted him to acting ensign, and Riker, who chose Wesley over everyone else on the ship to check up on Data and report back on what he found, not only ignore Wesley’s concerns, they actually tell him that he’s out of line for expressing them!
“Data” (actually Lore) leaves the bridge — after making it clear that he doesn’t know what “make it so” means and arousing absolutely no suspicions from Picard — and Wesley decides he’s had enough of this bullshit.
“Sir,” he says, “I know this may finish me, but —”
And Picard, the captain who recognized Wesley’s intellect and promoted him to acting ensign, and the closest thing to a father figure Wesley has ever known, responds with three words that follow and haunt me to this day: “Shut up, Wesley!”
Trekkies around the country gasp in delight as an episode that was veering dangerously close to the Tkon empire suddenly has redeeming value. Printing presses, silk screens, and button-makers go into overdrive as entrepreneurial fans do what they do best: skirt the borders of IP infringement to make a quick buck. Children are still attending college today from the sales.
[…]
Wesley points out that everything he said in his report, and all of his concerns, would have been listened to if it came from an adult, or a competent writer. Picard considers this retort momentarily, and then sends him to his room to organize his sweaters. Then, for good measure, he sends Dr. Crusher to keep an eye on him.
“Personally, I hated the way they handled Wesley in this episode. He’s already on his way to becoming a hated character by the adults in the audience, and the writers cranked it up to Warp 11. It was stupid of them to have Picard give him an adult responsibility and then dismissively treat him like a child when he carried it out. It undermines both of the characters — how is the audience supposed to take either of them seriously?”
Another brief and related note on “Shut up, Wesley”, from a Reddit thread seven months ago:
People have been saying this to me since I was fourteen. I’m nearly 45. I’ve heard this for the entirety of my adult life. It’s annoying. It isn’t funny, it isn’t clever, and it’s just become obnoxious.
More than that, though, let’s put it into dramatic context: an adult says that to a kid who is doing his best to help, to do his job, to live up to the expectations that have been placed upon him. It’s used to shut him down, to disregard and silence him. And it turns out that, holy shit, the kid was right all along. In context, if we accept that it’s all real: Picard never says that to Riker, or Geordi, or Tasha, or to literally anyone else under his command because that would be profoundly unprofessional. But there are different rules when you’re dealing with the kid among the adults (and, believe me, the producers and directors on TNG treated me the exact same way).
So it’s a loaded phrase that bothers me, and I’d really like it if it just went away forever.
So back to the minifig: it’s “Shut up, Wesley,” made into what would otherwise be an awesome minifig, in a collection of truly amazing and beautiful minifigs. It’s a huge disappointment to me, because I’d love to have a Wesley in his little rainbow acting-ensign uniform, but I believe that it’s insulting to all the kids who are now adults who loved the character and were inspired by him to go into science and engineering, or who had a character on TV they could relate to, because they were too smart for their own good, a little awkward and weird, and out of place everywhere they went (oh hey I just described myself. I never claimed to be objective here).
I want to be clear here, because I know that future members of my Twitter blocklist will send me a cropped image of LEGO Wesley crying, or tell me to shut up because I’m making too much of this: this isn’t about me. This is about thirty years of people kicking Wesley Crusher around because writers in the first season of Next Generation (who gave us such memorable gems as Angel One, Code of Honor, and The Last Outpost) didn’t write him as well as writers did in later seasons, and once the fandom narrative was fixed, no amount of Final Mission or Starfleet Academy -like episodes could change it.
I understand that a lot of people will see the humor in this, and I respect that. From a certain point of view, it is very funny. I don’t think that this was done this way to be mean/ If anything, it’s just lazy. But because so many people asked me what I felt when I saw it: I’m disappointed, because this isn’t the way I’d like to see Wesley portrayed in a medium that I love. I just feel like Wesley Crusher and the boys and girls he inspired deserve something that isn’t making a joke at his expense, or just reducing him —again– to little more than an idea.
I ALWAYS liked Wesley. I am a little younger than you and I adored that there was a character close in age to me on the freaking Enterprise!! Made the show so much more fun for me and turned me into a Trekkie for life.
As someone who grew up feeling underestimated, Westley was always a sympathetic character to me. And he never cried, WTF! I always though Picard was being a dick in that episode.
Count me among the many kids who liked Wesley. In fact, I think he was one of my first crushes. I wasn’t aware of the fandom until much later in life, but I remember being disappointed in the way he was often treated on the show.
The Wesley hate from “fans” has always struck me as one of the many examples of so-called fans not understanding, in the slightest, the thing they claim to love. Being so mean and hateful is the complete opposite of the whole point of Star Trek.
Hopefully, you will see this amid all the pontifications here. I’m 41 and female and essentially watching TNG for the first time (I had seen a stray episode here or there growing up.)
After the election, my husband and I decided we wanted to watch something long, that would give us hope. And hey, in 400 years almost everything is great! So, here we are a year later, rounding out the last dozen episodes of the series.
I love Wesley. Not just because it’s you, of whom I am a fan. I love his pluck. I love his courage in being there with everyone else on the bridge, even his freaking mom, which seems like it would be the most embarrassing thing ever. I was extremely sad when the character left and elated for the brief returns. Maybe I’m a sucker for a smart kid, as I have two little sassy boys myself. So, even though that minifig is really terrible, I would like to recommend you adopt our family motto on this: Fuck ’em.
I was an 8 year old smart awkward kid who loved watching Wesley Crusher on TNG in the evenings with my dad after dinner :]
Here’s what always bothered me about how poorly your character was handled in the early years. TNG is supposedly taking place some ~80 years after TOS, which isn’t the “next” generation – it’s more like three generations later. In fact it’s clear they recognized this from the ship’s number – 1701-D. Yet here, on the Enterprise D, is literally the NEXT generation – the son of one of the top officers – and this chance to showcase the themes of continuity and change competing, in your character, was just squandered.
I’ve said before that “Journey’s End” would have been an excellent jumping-off point for a new Star Trek series based on Wesley exploring the universe with the Traveler. Still think so.
Wow. That’s pretty stupid of LEGO. Hopefully they’ll fix it.
Thanks for being willing to post about this.
It wasn’t Lego : https://minifigs.me/shop/star-trek-the-next-generation-full-set-custom-minifigure-set/
I think Lego would do better research and have a more appropriate Wesley head.
I’ve sent a tweet to minifig telling them to fix it. So damned rude.
Personally I love Wesley. He was my first sci-fi character crush that was remotely close to my age(I was born in 83).
Being able to look back on it through reruns and now with Netflix that episode has always bothered me. Being a child I was both furious and heart broken with my captain (I consider Picard my captain while Kirk is my mother and brother’s) . I couldn’t believe that he would treat Wesley that way. It was frustrating to watch and it still frustrates me today. I never found it funny or entertaining, yes in part because I totally crushed on you, but mostly because your character was really trying to be a responsible contributing member of the crew.
I saw the potential for your character as a little girl and had high hopes for the future for him. Reducing him to a crying baby is just insulting and rude. You might as well reduce all the other characters. It’s not fair to the people who portrayed them or the people who love the characters .
So I understand and respect how you feel about “Shut up, Wesley”. It’s something that has stayed with me all these years since that episode first aired. It’s sad to see people still doing a version of it towards you. I didn’t understand the need for it back then and I still don’t.
It bothers the mother effing stuff out of me. And really frosts my cookies (I am a person who does not like royal icing and there for hates with a passion frosted cookies)
Anyways I guess my point is that my brother and I loved Wesley. It was nice to have someone close to our ages (he was born in 79) in one of our favorite universes. There were things done and written for all the characters that didn’t really fit or work but Wesley really got the raw deal.
For the record, 7-year-old-me loved Wesley, as did 17-year-old me, as does 37-year-old me. Screw the ageism of some people.
That was a cheap shot, almost ‘bullying by toy’ of the makers. They didn’t have to go out of their way to make a crying Wesley.
TNG came out when I was 12. I’ve always felt Wesley was the show’s way of reaching out to kids and teens like me. I never thought Wesley was whiny. He was a teen developing into an adult. He was going to not be perfect. I have never understood the ‘Wesley hate’.
For what it might be worth, I was one of the kids who grew up liking Wesley. Just like Robin to Batman, he served the purpose of giving me someone to relate to amongst the crew. I wasn’t old enough to be an officer. I didn’t want to be an adult. But I could(at least in my mind) be Wesley.
Mi è sempre piaciuto Wesley, anche nelle sue fatiche di ragazzo prodigio (essere un genio non è facile). Mi spiace per l’espressione della minifig e spero qualcuno provvederà a farne una più realistica: Wesley Crusher sorridente e sereno.
L’abbraccio però non è per Wesley, ma per Wil. 💖
Man, some people can be so cruel.
You’ve inspired so many of us to do some really, really, REALLY innovative and unique things. Just because someone decided to be a dickhead with LEGOs (which is treading on pretty sacred ground, in my opinion) doesn’t change how massively you’ve influenced others. You’re a good dude, and this was a really uncool thing for the minifigs guys to participate in.
I discovered Star Trek and Wesley in my teens, and always liked Wesley, and I’ve never understood why so many put him down.
And as a person who works with children and was one once I find it disgusting how Wesley was treated in that episode, both by the writers and the other characters.
I really liked wesley too, I think he was the character I most sympathized with when I started watching, and the “shut up wesley” thingy more upset me, viewing it from the Wesley standpoint knowing that the kid is always right in every episode:P which, I realize probably is in and of itself a plot device(?) but it is kind of a part of the charm of wesley
Dont want to be rude, but what the hell, why is that the picture that represents my user? xd
Almighty Wheaton, fix please, me embarassed!
I never watched TNG as a kid, I was a late – blooming nerd, but watching as an adult, I STILL loved Wesley. It meant a lot to me to see shades of the kid I was, and to have his smarts be a positive thing instead of an endless joke. It makes me wonder where I’d be now if that drive to understand things had been nurtured by seeing characters by Wesley, but mostly it makes me grateful that so many kids could be inspired by him and by you. Thanks for all the rad stuff you do and have done!
As someone that 1) was already an adult when TNG came to TV, and 2) always liked the character of Wesley, I think the only person behaving like an ill-tempered child is the creator of the set.
I’d love to see a picture of the custom Wesley Lego that someone made for you – something to take the “SU, W!” taste out of our minds. Thank you again for being here & putting yourself out here for us. It really does mean a great deal to so many of us.
I agree so hard with your comments on Datalore. I totally get why “shut up Wesley” stings for you personally, but just as a fan of the show, it makes me cringe simply because it is SO OUT OF CHARACTER FOR PICARD. On that level alone I can’t understand why anyone would want to repeat that line! Wesley actually comes off better in that episode than Picard does – Wesley has a valid point, and Picard responds in a way that is unprofessional and frankly ridiculous. If people want so badly to see Picard give Wesley a dressing-down, they should watch The First Duty and see it done right, with respect for the characters and for the audience’s intelligence!
Er, sorry. I guess that episode is a bit of a sore point for me too.
As for the minifig… I can see they put work into this set, so I think it’s too bad that they chose to reduce Wesley to a tired old meme. If the character isn’t their favorite, that’s fine, but I don’t even recognize Wesley in that face.
As a kid, I really liked Wesley, and how he succeeded at a job adults did (driving the ship). I just liked him, he was smart, a tad nerdy, and he loved to learn. I rewatched TNG a few years ago at 34 years old, and I still liked Wesley! I don’t get why people wouldn’t. He made a few mistakes, like every other character did at some point, and he was disbelieved when he noticed something was wrong, like every other character at some point. I would get this set, but not with Wesley depicted like this. Sad.
I don’t think he’s crying. I think Wesley is screaming with frustration at always being ignored, despite being the smartest guy in the room. Besides, as pointed out above, the reverse head is just about perfect.
I like this interpretation very much.
I was not a Wesley Crusher fan, but I totally agree with what you’ve written.
Although your stint on TNG ended with Wesley leaving with The Traveller, the producers of the Star Trek series would be wise to reprise the Wesley Crusher role with YOU as captain of either “the next generation” Enterprise or another ship (freshly returned from traversing the universe). The producers could bring back several TNG characters in advanced roles (admiral, commodore etc) and set the series up for the next ten years.
I’m with you, Wil. This is disrespectful. It’s a stupid nod to trolls everywhere completely disregarding what the character meant to so many people. Thank you for continuing to have the backs of those of us who love Wes, we’ll keep having yours.
That’s pretty mean, done for whatever reason.
Remove the hair and swap the head for a generic Lego character though, and ‘Viola!’ (as they used to say on Snooper & Blabber)…
Rassa frassa custom minifigs…
I’ll update the body of the post to make this clear, but I don’t think this was done to be mean, or with a cruel intention.
As a smart, nerdy kid, I always looked up to Wesley. Even now I still love the character and hope he can eventually be a role model for my own kids. Thanks for sharing your take.
We’ve just started rewatching TNG with our kids, who are 12 and 14, and Wesley is unquestionably their favorite character. Watching with them has totally changed my perspective on that character, and I think you’re justified in being annoyed.
I did not watch TNG as a child, and as an adult I can find the character a bit cringey, because some of his awkwardness and frustration is relatable to anyone who has gone through life as awkward and frustrated. It sucks that people feel the need to bully you about something from thirty years ago that you had no control over (the shitty writing).
Hopefully the shitty joke will die.
My financee tells everyone that Wesley was her favourite character from TNG. Which is fine as I thought he was cool too. But then we were the same age as him growing up and identified with him. We were too young to realise the scripts you were given weren’t exactly Shakespeare, we just saw a cool clever kid in the uniform being smarter than the adults.
These days as adults (ok, kids in adult skin) we are more fans of Tabletop than TNG, but still hold the character dear, and are as confused as everyone why he would be depicted this way.
Go get ‘em Wil, we got your back!
Wil, that episode bothered me too when it aired and whenever I see it. It was crappy writing and you and Wesley deserved better.
Rather than repeat what has been said many times, let me share a thought from my recent rewatch of TNG:
Towards the end of “The Best of Both Worlds – 2”, assuming that they’re finished, (field)Captain Riker orders the young helmsman to lay in a collision course the the Borg cube. Wesley turns to his CO in disbelief, mouth agape, and so Riker reconfirms his order with a shout, “YOU HEARD ME…”
“Aye sir…” says Wesley, turning back to his console. This moment is pregnant with pathos for me. This 18-year old guy is about to input the command that will kill him and the entirety of his friends and family. And while he sounds defeated, he’s not flinching.
For me, that one, short line is one of the very best Wesley moments of TNG.
I agree with most comments here! I love Wil Wheaton, and I love Weslely Crusher! I’m mainly a STOS fan, but I’ve come to love a lot of other franchises. I have ones I don’t like, but Wil Wheaton has always been a favorite! Love you on Big Bang too! 😉
In all honesty, I never heard that anyone hated Wesley Crusher, until you said something to Sheldon about it on The Big Bang Theory. Even then, I thought, this has to be a joke. I was wrong.
I was introduced to the Star Trek universe via TNG (I loathe TOS), and Wesley is one of my all time favorite characters. So smart, curious and brilliant all around. Truly a gem on the show. Riker was the whiny kid for me, lol😃
I was 12 or so when I first started watching Star Trek, and besides the massive crush I had on Deanna Troi, I identified with Wesley. It was one of the things that made me realise that being smart shouldn’t be a thing that gets people bullied. Being smart is COOL. Being nerdy is cool. Because being nerdy and smart means you have a passion about something. Going to cons in cosplay is no different than going to a sportsball game in a sportsball shirt. (I say this as a soccerball fan in the UK)
It sucks that the representation of Wesley is as the problem child of the Enterprise, and it definitely sucks that the writing in the early episodes did not do justice to the character, or the actor. That being said, I still treasure Where No One Has Gone Before as the episode where Wesley started to be seen less as a kid and more as a potential officer. It’s pretty much my favourite episode.
Have you ever thought about doing a non-official “After Trek” series where Wesley explores the universe with his new-found powers? It would be a great way to interact with young people and continue the Roddenberry ethos into the future!
If you look at my Tumblr, you can find some things I did called “The Unpublished Memoirs of Wesley Crusher” about a year ago. I think you’ll enjoy them.
Oh awesome, I’ll check it out! I’m behind on the Tumblin’ and Redditin’ and all that (which ironically sounds like an Eric Clapton album)…
Wesley hair, Riker face, Wesley body.
Voila!
Enter here one of those kids that adored Wesley. I for one loved that episode because it felt true, and hated it,because it felt true. I was so often treated that way myself.
I adored the Wesley Crusher character. Smart and cute teen boy was too much for this little geek teen girl to handle.
Even better, I’ve been able to share you with my own kids through the Big Bang Theory and the Ready Player One and Armada audiobooks. I have severe depression. I’ve been able to show them through your work that it can affect anyone but that we can all make it.
You make a difference. Your work makes a difference. I appreciate both.
Luckily, it’s really easy to change out Lego heads, which is the first thing I’d be doing. I’m not going to show these minifigs to my teenager, it would piss him off no end. Teenagers have enough drama.
Based on my experience being a line wrangler at Supanova for your meet’n’greet queue, tonnes of people love and respect Wesley and yourself.
Wesley was my hero as a child. He was a little bit older than me when TNG came out, but he was absolutely an aspirational figure for me. As an adult, I agree with you totally. The writers in first season were terrible at the character (and generally terrible at the rest of the show…)
That’s a really bizarre assortment. Clearly Troi and Wesley are the only two portrayed from season 1.
yeah thats exactly how I always felt about Wesley. Up until he actually attended the academy he really felt out of place in the show, but I was too young at the time to appreciate the show flaws. I just enjoyed the show for what it was. Now that you look at it, to me it says this is probably the result of the writers trying too hard to over-emphasise that Wesley had a gift. He kept saving the ship in ridiculous situations, often at the expense of the rest of the characters if you think about it really. A teenage boy was required to do ‘the thing’ that the crew of the federation flagship always seemed to fall short on? Trying to hard guys.
All that said, fuck it, I enjoyed it. Some later episodes featuring Wesley, particularly “First Duty” for me, was amazing.
I read somewhere that Locarno was the actual basis for the Tom Paris character, but writer copyright/royalties forced the character to be renamed. Fascinating really!
Anyway… never shut up, Wesley. Fuck everyone who wants to be derisive towards you.
Wil, I was a huge fan of TNG when it aired, and still believe it is the best version of Star Trek. I watched (and videotaped) every episode at the time, and rewatch them occasionally now on Netflix.
I’m very close to your age, so seeing someone my age driving the Enterprise while in my teens was amazing and inspiring. Not only did your character drive the Enterprise, but he was a whiz at science and engineering, and he used his intellect to save the day more than once, particularly in The Game, one of my favorite episodes.
Wesley may have been a controversial character to some, but TNG would not have been the same without him. He was someone young fans could most identify with. He even helped Piccard to evolve and open up. He was not afraid of tackling any complex science or engineering problem. And he was an inspiration to many, many people, including myself. I chose a career in science and engineering, due in no small part to inspiring Star Trek characters such as Wesley, Geordi, and Scotty.
It’s unfortunate that writers in Hollywood don’t always make sensible choices, or choices that consider the actor’s vision of a character that they’ve poured their heart and soul into. Though a somewhat different situation, I’m reading how Mark Hamill feels about his character’s direction in the Last Jedi, and it’s a little heartbreaking, even though I loved the movie and thought Luke went out honorably.
Just know that Wesley made a very important mark on the show and a big chunk of its fans.
Wesley inspired me as a child. You inspire me as an adult.
Wesley was/is one of my favorite characters. This crying version ruins the set. I won’t get it now.
On the plus side, at least, since he’s quite young, Wesley doesn’t have any super distinctive facial features that would translate into Lego form. So if nothing else, it’s easy to fix by swapping in a different, plain looking head with a more reasonable expression. Still sucks that they didn’t do that in the first place, but oh well..
Thank you for speaking up on this, Wil. I find nothing humorous in the “shut up, Wesley” brigade or behavior inspired by poor character writing or just plain lazy scripts. And for people to continue to portray “Wesley” in this light makes me wonder about who raised them. I always wondered how Capt. Picard could reward Wesley for what he contributed in episodes like “Menage a Troi” yet mistreat him in “Datalore”. I hope you never “shut up” about this or about speaking out on real life issues.
The people that like to hate on Wesley Crusher? Fuck them. Fuck them and don’t use lube. I loved Wesley Crusher. I was roughly the same age when TNG started, maybe a year younger. Wesley taught me that if I wanted to fly a starship, I could fly a fucking starship. Wesley was important to me as a geeky teen. He might be annoying now, but all teens are annoying now (GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!). When I was just trying to get a driver’s license, he was flying the fucking flagship of the UFP. Wesley was bad ass.
I called them out on this, and to their credit they responded quickly. The reverse side of the Wesley head has a “normal” expression.
“Custom Minifigs Oh man, with didn’t see this. He has a double sided head with a regular expression on the other side. It really was only intended as a light-hearted thing.
We’ll have a look at it when everyone is back in the office – we’re fans, which is why we made these.”
https://www.facebook.com/CustomMinifigs/posts/1183069395126541?comment_id=1183856108381203&reply_comment_id=1183866875046793&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R9%22%7D
When I watched TNG, I felt bad for Wesley in the first season or two – even at ten and eleven, I could see that you had better acting skills than the writing was giving you (and many of your cast mates for that matter).
I liked Wes, and when we do our yearly TNG rewatch, we like to chat about how he was a good character for us to see as smaller us-selves.
Now I want to go find a Mini-Fig clock and make the Rainbow Sweater Wes Crusher. I have a goal now!