Normally on this blog, you see me taking a lot of companies to task for doing some of the most ignorant and stupid things that either only hurt them or make it harder on us as consumers. And I had a whole post ready with research done about taking Sony to the woodshed for deciding to pile on with their asinine decisions, which have mounted since the last time I wrote about them here. But yesterday as I write this, I (along with the rest of the world) read about the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart. And I decided that I wanted to focus on him instead, and share my great admiration and respect for this man. I’ll get back to Sony in my next post.
Like so many I saw on social media, my first introduction to Patrick Stewart was through his role as Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation. I watched this growing up, because it was a show my mother loved and something she wanted to share with me. At the time, I only watched sports and movies based on comic books. But she loved it, it was an appointment viewing for her and I was just extremely curious. And from the moment I saw this man walk on the screen, I was interested and later became hooked to the show.
Not only because it was something that I could share with my mom because there wasn’t much in the way of mutual interests, but because he commanded attention. He brought more life to a Star Trek character than just about anyone I have watched since then. Maybe it was the distinguished accent. It could have been impeccable acting. It was most likely all of the above, but he accomplished it. After a few episodes, I was picking up his catchphrases a bit, which amused my mother. When she would ask if I wanted this or that from the refrigerator when she got up, the response was two fingers forward followed by “Make it so.”
If that wasn’t enough, he would later invade other fandoms I was already enjoying. As an avid comic reader at the time, the X-Men were a regular part of my pull list at my local comic shops. And where did he turn up? Of course, it was Professor X. He stood out more there for me because I wasn’t a fan of the Brett Ratner movies, but I was a fan of Mr. Stewart. He made the character I had read for years in the comics come to life in every possible way, and I watched all those movies just to see him continue his portrayal. He shined far above anyone else on that cast for me.
I made it a point to keep tabs on whatever he was doing that I could watch. Whether it was his Shakespearean work in the theater or his role in A Christmas Carol, Patrick Stewart was someone I always followed and ultimately couldn’t respect more. In the years that followed, I read his autobiography: Making It So. It tells the story of a young man who grew up with next to nothing, saw some acts he wished he didn’t, and still showed he was fallible in his adult life. But above all, he learned from every experience and tried to ensure they never repeated. He accomplished that. If you haven’t read it, I can’t encourage you enough to do so or get the audiobook if reading isn’t your forte.
Finding out about his passing yesterday brought a great sadness. He was and will continue to be one of my favorite actors of all time. It brought me back to those days watching the show with my mother, who has also passed. And I began hearing that monologue in the opening of the show with his distinct voice. I've been planning a marathon to watch some of those episodes since I bought the box set on Apple TV a while back.
Now he has gone to a strange new world, so to speak. I have to tell you I’m not a religious person by any stretch of the imagination. But if there is a life after this, I hope I get to meet him there. People like him make me hope I’m wrong about what follows this life.
Thank you for an amazing career and life, Mr. Stewart. I’m a better person for what I’ve learned from and about you.
Thank you for making it so.
