Bruna. 28. Bisexual. Brazil. I've got a film degree.
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This is a multifandom blog. Expect lots of Hannibal and Star Trek. Also Vampire Chronicles. Lots of movies. There will be on occasion rock bands and singers. Also books and TV shows and random stuff.
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Keiko does not have time for your space-racism, Miles.
Why is she with him
The cynical side of me would say that the answer is “because the show writers said so”
But I think another answer is, Because Miles proves himself open to being corrected. He isn’t too proud or defensive (or bogged down by toxic masculinity) to listen when people call him out on bigoted bullshit: he listens. Keiko is with him not because he messes up so bad sometimes, but because when he does mess up, he stops, and thinks, and behaves better in the future.
I also appreciate the comments from @firespirited and @onsomekindofstartrek on how the ethnicities of the actors of Keiko and Miles influence this scene, so be sure to check those out in the notes y’all!
Someone had to be the “bad guy” exhibiting the bigoted view for this important scene to take place, and I appreciate that Miles’ actor was willing to play that role. Together, these two skilled actors create a compelling scene that demonstrates to viewers 1) that alluding to the “bad breeding” of any group is very wrong indeed in any context, and 2) that one effective method for calling out bigotry in loved ones is simply to express disgust and disappointment in them, because if they truly respect you they’ll get the message and fix their attitude.
Sometimes a family is a shapeshifting pile of goo, a Japanese botanist, an Irish engineer, two biracial kids, a Bajoran resistance fighter, a genetically augmented doctor, and his space lizard husband.
I often think that the Keiko haters forget how boring Miles’ character would be without his family. The love for his family, his desire to return to them, is in the background of everything he does. It informs his decisions and ads emotion and seriousness to him being in danger. Knowing his family you know what would be lost if he’s gone and that brings a lot of depth to a character that otherwise isn’t very complicated (Or interesting, in my opinion).
Even when it comes to his most complex side, his experiences in the war, it works best with his family around. His family life is contrasted with his younger self and his bigotry shaped by those experiences are rightly questioned by his wife. A Miles without Keiko is bitter and without a truly compelling reason to change, evolve or return back home. As is shown in both TNG and DS9.
I assume that a lot of the Keiko hate comes from people that think his relationship with Julian is the actual center of his life and that family responsibilities hinder his “freedom”. I do think that his relationship with Julian is important, in the sense that it shows MIles having an active social life, fulfilling career and a caring family. But he always has a home base.
We can definitely discuss how Keiko is written, how she sometimes is shown to be the nagging wife character. How she should have been given more to do. But Julian doesn’t really call Miles on his bullshit. He is a friend, and we all deserve supportive friends. But ultimately Miles as a character is only interesting if he evolves and his interactions with his family is where this mainly takes place. If not explicitly, then in subtext. The fact which some people use to hate on Keiko (That she, Molly and Yoshi has needs that need to factor in to Miles’ decisions) is the very reason he has any sort of compelling character arc.
AnonymousArt idea: DS9 family portraits? All four O’Briens on a day out Quark, Rom, Nog, and Moogie (and Leeta and Zek?) Three generations of Siskos Garak, Tain, and Mila Or, a Merchants’ meeting on DS9
Boy, what a day this was. I’m doing an isozyme study on some populations of Cardilia but they’re turning out to have these really weird polymorphisms. What a headache!
