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the warrior of traditional popular fiction has been hardened by experience; his role is to protect, to suffer, and to destroy

I came across that while doing research for a paper and it reminded me so much of how we read Malcolm in most fanfic - especially the 'to protect, to suffer' part. Now I'm just curious what other people think.

I think personally that Malcom has some kind of inner tension toward this role.

JadziaKathryn wrote:

the warrior of traditional popular fiction has been hardened by experience; his role is to protect, to suffer, and to destroy

I came across that while doing research for a paper and it reminded me so much of how we read Malcolm in most fanfic - especially the 'to protect, to suffer' part. Now I'm just curious what other people think.

Yes, I agree. That's how all of us write Malcolm.

I don't know, maybe my opinion of Malcolm is very different then a lot of people. I like Malcolm, he has many qualities that I like about the British.
- of course his accent. Come on, he is the only one on the show, except maybe T'Pol, who speaks proper English.
- his wonderful British sense of humor.

Futhermore Malcolm is dedicated to his work and part of his work is to protect people and to blow things up. He likes to shoot at things. So he loves his job. Good for him.
He also can be a good friend, I think he is more a friend to Trip then Archer.
I think he is down to earth enough not to suffer just for suffering sake. He maybe need some help when it comes to the ladies, but that's a totally different story.
So yes, to protect, no, to the suffer part.

panyasan wrote: He also can be a good friend, I think he is more a friend to Trip that Archer.

I agree totally.

I'm glad this question got asked. It occurred to me that I haven't tried to write Malcolm yet, but will be soon once he makes his first appearance in B&K. I seriously get the protection vibe, and he is very disciplined and willing to make sacrifices, but I don't know if I would call that "suffering" per se.

I'll have to ponder the question more. It's a good one!

I find Malcolm really difficult to get into because I think they wrote him as incredibly neurotic. He has this bizarre family dynamic (American stereotype of the English, perhaps?), no favorite food, those bizarre goodbye letters to all those women. I don't think he was Enterprise's most successful characterization. He was at his best as Trip's friend, which was also when they portrayed him as fairly normal, and he was also good just coping with the rough and tumble of his job. I think I liked him best in Terra Nova when he was listening to the weird music they were making and you could just watch him taking it in and coping with a difficult situation. I also liked it when he provided a (needed) counter-balance to Archer's annoying level of naivete in the early seasons. His paranoia about security made perfect sense given his job, so I liked that too. But overall -- I think it took them a long time to stop over-writing Malcolm.

Aquarius wrote:I'm glad this question got asked. It occurred to me that I haven't tried to write Malcolm yet, but will be soon once he makes his first appearance in B&K. I seriously get the protection vibe, and he is very disciplined and willing to make sacrifices, but I don't know if I would call that "suffering" per se.

Have you read ShiShi's Protector series? I haven't read it in ages, but it's a tour de force of Malcolm in this role as the traditional warrior hero.

Alelou wrote: But overall -- I think it took them a long time to stop over-writing Malcolm.

Yes, I agree. The whole thing where he had no hobbies? Yeah, right. Everyone has something. For instance, we know he liked to read. (I decided to pretty much ignore whatever he said at breakfast with Archer because he was nervous.)

^I'll definitely look into that story!

I don't see Malcolm as such a blank slate; no hobbies, no favorite food, etc...to me, I didn't perceive that as these things being nonexistent, but rather that Malcolm was just incredibly private about them. The family dynamic...at the time when I first saw that episode, I'd wondered if Malcolm's parents were the type that were relatively uninvolved, busy with their own careers and activities, so they were the kind of people who let nannies and boarding schools raise their kids for them.

Aquarius wrote: I don't see Malcolm as such a blank slate; no hobbies, no favorite food, etc...to me, I didn't perceive that as these things being nonexistent, but rather that Malcolm was just incredibly private about them.

I think you would enjoy what I'm writing in "Human Mood, part Two". Well, you will be able to know this when it will be posted, and we have to wait a little bit yet, specially if you consider that "Human Mood, part One" isn't posted already.

I really like the character of Malcolm, especially in this role as friend of Trip, but I agree with Alelou, I also find it difficult to write him.
Still have to found out his inner workings, I guess.

About his parents, for some reasons they come across as more middle class then upper class - so no nannies.
I think also that Malcolm is more fun then the writers gave him credit, you see a glimpse of this when he is interacting with Trip. (Trip natural talent is that people open up to him.)

panyasan wrote: I think also that Malcolm is more fun then the writers gave him credit, you see a glimpse of this when he is interacting with Trip. (Trip natural talent is that people open up to him.)

Don't forget the snow Vulcan!

Still, I think Malcolm is the go-to character for a lot of angst and weighty material. Not to say that fanfic writers don't put Trip through a lot, too, but all the same Malcolm, the way he was written on the show more often than not, falls naturally into that role. I think with Trip we see the nasty stuff as coming from experiences on Enterprise, but it starts earlier for Malcolm. (I myself have never liked Abuse Victim Malcolm, but he crops up periodically.) Also, because he can sometimes be brooding, I think he fuels stories with internal angst and such.

To protect, to suffer, and to destroy. More focus on the first two, but it's Malcolm all over.

Yes, he does seem written that way. And somewhat of a loner? And a man of divided loyalties between Section 31 and Enterprise. Canon certainly did not develop him as much as they did Trip.

Linda wrote:Yes, he does seem written that way. And somewhat of a loner? And a man of divided loyalties between Section 31 and Enterprise. Canon certainly did not develop him as much as they did Trip.

That's for sure, but I think he could be for Trip (and for T'pol) what Archer is not. That's a fact.

I think Archer, aside from some asinine moments, is as good a friend as he can be, given his role as their commanding officer. That has an inescapable distancing impact on their relationship.

The same thing would happen to Trip and Malcolm in the same circumstances. We even got a taste of it in the Vulcan arc.