# Hatin' on Deanna Troi **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 12, 2007, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082 "2007-11-12T02:31:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/1 "2007-11-12T02:31:24Z")
Inspired by [Hatin’ on Wesley](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=443564&page=1&pp=50) You know you’re out there. It doesn’t matter what she does to her hair or what color jumpsuit she has on, you hate Deanna Troi. Maybe it’s for her psychobabble. Maybe it’s because she’s totally useless outside of manipulating people’s emotions. Maybe it’s because she thinks she’s too good for a proper Starfleet uniform. Maybe it’s because she’s just plain irritating. If you can’t stand The Good Counselor, this thread is for you to vent. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/2 "2007-11-12T02:32:49Z")
I don’t like her because she’s got no reason being on the bridge all the damn time. Plus, she’s a big ole slut. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/3 "2007-11-12T02:37:41Z")
Captain, I sense great flustration… ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/4 "2007-11-12T02:40:24Z")
Let’s be honest. Q was the only reason to watch that show. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/5 "2007-11-12T02:49:31Z")
[QUOTE=monstro] Plus, she’s a big ole slut. [/QUOTE] This sounds more like a reason to like her. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/6 "2007-11-12T02:53:01Z")
It’s the accent. As wretched as the character may have been it was the accent that made her irredeemable. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/7 "2007-11-12T02:55:45Z")
She always annoyed me because her awareness of others’ emotions never seemed to be any more profound than your average human would have if they paid the least bit of attention to facial expression or tone of voice. “I’m sensing…frustration.” “I’m sensing…a feeling of isolation.” And everyone would nod as though they had no clue and she was giving them some deep psychological insight. GOD I found that annoying. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/8 "2007-11-12T02:55:53Z")
I didn’t like that everyone seemed to be expected to go and get _counseled_ all the time, for God’s sake. Like it was a requirement that to become a member of starfleet, you had to go tell Troi what you were _feeling_. (Shudder) Plus, that clandestine betazoid-ish dude she had a mad affair with was just about the un-sexiest, no chemistry guy I ever saw. Rowlf. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/9 "2007-11-12T03:06:11Z")
[QUOTE=monstro] I don’t like her because she’s got no reason being on the bridge all the damn time. Plus, she’s a big ole slut. [/QUOTE] And a not particularly attractive one, at that. Honestly - I mean, she was okay. I guess. But ye gods, how she _grated_. I felt real sympathy for the Romulan rebels when they kidnapped her - unscrupulous bastards or no, they didn’t deserve that. ---
**Author:** ![DataZak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@DataZak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataZak)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/10 "2007-11-12T03:10:43Z")
I misread the thread title and thought the OP meant [her](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Troy). ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/11 "2007-11-12T03:19:23Z")
[QUOTE=teela brown] I didn’t like that everyone seemed to be expected to go and get _counseled_ all the time, for God’s sake. Like it was a requirement that to become a member of starfleet, you had to go tell Troi what you were _feeling_. (Shudder) [/QUOTE] OMG, yes. If it was me, I can hear Deanna now…“I’m sensing _annoyance_…” ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/12 "2007-11-12T03:22:50Z")
I think Troi had a lot of storytelling potential, but it took several seasons for the writers to figure out what she was even supposed to be doing. A “ship’s counsellor” is not an entirely out-of-place idea in the \*\*Star Trek \*\* universe: given the established presence of psychic powers and the potential for mind control, it makes sense that a telepathic counterpart to the ship’s doctor would be useful for alien contact and to monitor the mental well-being of the crew. That’s a high bar to set scriptwise, though; otherwise what’s to keep your psychic character from reading the alien-of-the-week’s mind every episode? So her character was hobbled from the get-go; she couldn’t ever be allowed to be very good at her job. So ultimately she just sort of got pigeonholed into that annoying routine: “Captain, I sense a presence…” Yes, Deanna. They’re right there on the screen. Thank you. Most of the rest of the time, she was just there to model her asymmetrical decolletage. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed that. But as a character, she was never really given much to do. It probably didn’t help that I never really bought into the romance between her and Riker. Ah yes, the sublime erotic tension of a harsh-featured, oily-haired brunette and her fleshy, bug-eyed suitor. Kept me awake on those hot, sultry summer nights, I can tell you. I could also never quite figure out if Martina Sirtis was trying to convey the impression of a therapist’s detached, vaguely unctuous professional demeanor and succeeding, or trying to portray a deeply sincere, uncannily perceptive character and mostly failing. Honestly, I was never persuaded that she could sense her way out of a wet paper bag. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/13 "2007-11-12T03:40:25Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Excellent] I felt real sympathy for the Romulan rebels when they kidnapped her - unscrupulous bastards or no, they didn’t deserve that. [/QUOTE] I did enjoy her getting into her Rommie spy cover and threaten to eject some guy into space. But even then, wet paper bag. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/14 "2007-11-12T03:43:15Z")
I’d do her. “Captain…I’m sensing…disgust. And it’s coming from me!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/15 "2007-11-12T03:45:09Z")
She did suffer the same problem as Wesley, where the writers didn’t know what to do with her. The problem is that they didn’t even have a good idea what an empath was. Did she read minds? Emotions? If it’s emotions, it’s of limited use, since, as others have pointed out, there are plenty of ways to read emotions that don’t involve any psychic powers. At the very least, her insights were lame. It’d be nice if at any time she didn’t confirm the obvious (“Yes, he looks angry, Captain, but I’m sensing he’s really hot for my body.”) It also would have been interesting if she could manipulate other people’s emotions, but that was too dark for the Roddenberry vision. And remember, the character was created not by any of the series eventual writers, but by David Gerrold, who wrote the series bible (but was fired early on, so the creator credit went to Roddenberry). If Gerrold had been around, he probably would have had a better idea on how to use Troi. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/16 "2007-11-12T03:46:12Z")
Empathy is not put up with around here, I often wonder why? This place is barren and deserves its curse. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/17 "2007-11-12T04:00:24Z")
She only had one schtick, which got repetitious by episode 3 and never changed ever again. Plus, she never wore that short skirt she had once. Lwaxana Troi, on the other hand, was a great character. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/18 "2007-11-12T04:12:06Z")
“Counselor, you’re about to be sensing a size 9 Federation-issue boot up your Betazoid butt if you don’t start being more useful around here.” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/19 "2007-11-12T04:57:23Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] She only had one schtick, which got repetitious by episode 3 and never changed ever again. Plus, she never wore that short skirt she had once. Lwaxana Troi, on the other hand, was a great character. [/QUOTE] Really? How so? I found her even more annoying than the Counselor, and without the younger Troi’s marginal claims to hotness. By the way - I think Babylon Five took a couple similar characters - psionics stationed on B5 - and did some much more interesting things with them, mainly by working them into the larger story arc and exploring some of the really darker sides of what they could do. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082/20 "2007-11-12T05:05:33Z")
How do photon torpedos make you “feel”? What “emotion” are phasers on vaporize? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hatin-on-deanna-troi/426082.md?page=2)