Eternal Cyclicality

*** The Lounge ***

"Thanks, Dusa. We'll catch up again, soon." ~Megaera, to Dusa

first it was the klingons—they’re originally supposed to be this cruel, bloodthirsty, war-obsessed people—and then tng comes along and it’s like wait no maybe war and violence is a part of their culture and actually ties back to ancient traditions and philosophies so we have to be woke about it.

hey these are the ferengi and they’re supposed to represent everything we hate about capitalist society; they’re greedy, scheming, profit-obsessed, and they look like ugly little trolls to emphasize how much we fucking HATE capitalism. oh wait fuck here comes deep space nine and we have to recognize that they’re PEOPLE. okok what if the pursuit of profit is actually part of their culture and ties back to ancient traditions and philosophies. so we have to be woke about it.

this is the borg, they’re a hivemind race of cyborgs who have no sense of individuality and their only motivation is assimilating people into their society. they want to assimilate humanity and we are completely defenseless against them because their technology is eons ahead of our own and they’re incapable of being reasoned with. oh sweet we have a borg prisoner this is the perfect opportunity to commit genocide against them. fuck actually we can’t commit genocide we’re woke and communists and in space.

hey these are the cardassians, they’re part of a cruel and vicious empire which is supposed to be a representation of fascism and authoritarian regimes, they’re a cold, bloodthirsty people with no sense of empathy or compassion, their society literally references 1984 on multiple occasions, and they’re known for the insanely cruel and inhumane methods of torture they use against their prisoners of war. we hate the cardassians…….. except, here’s a cardassian kid who grew up on bajor, and……. fuck. he’s a person. now we actually have to consider his humanity. and being racist is actually……. bad.

this is the jem’hadar, they’re genetically engineered soldiers who have no sense of individuality and only live to defend the state. they’re all born addicted to a synthetic drug that’s manufactured by the state and administered by their masters—this is how they’re kept subservient. they’re ruthless and powerful and they’re incapable of being reasoned with because their only motivation is violence and killing. so we should kill them all, right? FUCK….. what if they’re actually people. goddamnit. now we have to consider their humanity.

It was definitely tricky. Quark does some pretty terrible things early in the show, notably in "The Passenger" and "Invasive Procedures," which probably could have made the character deeply unlikeable. I think what mollifies that are a few of things:

Armin is a terrific actor and keeps the character relatable even when doing despicable things.

Quark isn't doing anything wrong by HIS culture. He's a very moral Ferengi and we tried to convey to the audience that everything he did was motivated, at least in part, by his culture. Additionally, Quark evolved over time to become more culturally flexible (settling the strike in "Bar Association" for example) and more "good" from a human perspective.

Quark never means to hurt anyone. Even when he arms bad guys or lets them onto the station, he doesn't directly harm anyone. In his mind, he's just a merchant providing goods and services and it someone does something bad with those goods and services, well, that's on them.

Worth noting, Quark has several redeeming qualities. He loves his family. He's a convivial host and a good listener. He treats his customers relatively well. He's also the least violent character in the entire cast, barring maybe Jake. And he's a snappy dresser!

Quark is funny. Viewers will often forgive the sins of funny characters more readily than humorless ones.

Quark's worse transgressions often backfire on him, making him suffer at least as much as anyone else. This is common with comedic characters and an old trick to keeping them likable.

Quark is, on the balance, more helpful than harmful to the rest of the characters. During the Occupation, Quark helped the Resistance, and while he got paid, he still took tremendous risks on their behalf. In the pilot, Sisko identifies Quark as a key member of the station community, to the point of forcing him to stay. Sisko sees his value and hopefully that helps the audience see it too.

So the creative team spent a good deal of thought and effort on keeping Quark likable despite his misdeeds. I think we succeeded for most viewers, though there are probably many who never warmed to his character.

Still, keeping Quark likable was an effort. It was definitely harder than doing the same for Garak, largely because Garak was recurring and never really a hero. Garak's moral ambiguity is part of his charm. Quark was a regular and viewers, especially back then, expected series regulars to be "good guys." That said, we didn't want Quark to be a pure hero, but we still wanted viewrs to like him. It was definitely, as you say, a balancing act.

it's kind of weird that settled empires hate me just because I don't have a home planet. why would there be prejudice against people just because they move around-

[looks at camera]

1. be quite large

2. use your barbels to find prey among the gravel along the bottom of the river

3. extend your siphon-like mouth to eat small fish, shellfish, and crustaceans

4. launch yourself out of the water and make a big splash just for fun

5. show off them scutes!

Though the one instance where he could reasonably get promoted would be in the event that 1) Mustang has some sort of opening in his sector and 2) Mustang feels like being a dick.

“Hey Fullmetal, long time no see.” “Yeah yeah Al and I are in a rush. We wanted to leave Central an hour ago so hurry up and spit it out what’d you call me here for?” “Oh don’t worry it’s good news. Wonderful news. You’re really making your way in the world. See Lieutenant Colonel Davis transferred recently to Southern Command–” “Oh no.” “–Which means there’s a spot for Lieutenant Colonel open here.” “No no no you didn’t.” “Longer hours, more responsibilities, sure. But better pay, and you’d get in good with some high-ranking people, assuming you know how to brown-nose.” “I will literally kick your ass, Mustang.” “For what? Brightening you future?” “No really I will kick your ass if you’re being real here–” “Is that a challenge, Lieuuuutenant Colonel Elric?” “I swear to God Mustang if you a c t u a l l y  d i d…”

This frustrates Mustang for some time, at least until Mustang discovers he actually is in possession of a real threat against Ed: Promotion.

This confuses a lot of people, who overhear fights between Ed and Mustang that end with Mustang menacingly discussing the better healthcare benefits of Lieutenant Colonels. Or the nicer pay. Or the guaranteed apartment housing in Central. 

Most soldiers start theorizing this is some kind of back-hand threat. Something like “You know Elric, you’re under consideration for Lt. Colonel and would get all these nice things. But if you’re going to be difficult, maybe we’ll give these to someone else? Think of what you’d be missing out on.” 

This theory loses all of its credibility one afternoon when Mustang’s soldiers overhear a loud, heated argument between the two of them from inside Mustang’s office. It ends with the sound of Mustang slamming both his hands down on his desk, kicking his chair back, and shouting, “I SWEAR TO GOD FULLMETAL IF YOU DON’T SHUT UP I WILL PROMOTE YOU!”