But our youths are supposed to be in training to be functional non-youths. So much YA BS just revels in and normalizes silly immature nonsense because it creates drama. There’s no reason these characters can’t be strong role models that make less ridiculous decisions.
Like the weird drama between the complete stranger boy & girl who just met and spent the afternoon together. Being all ‘OMG you lied to me by not immediately telling me you had a long history of hardship and trauma that your still trying to resolve, which naturally influences your choices’.
That whole bit was just drama for the sake of drama, and horribly unrealistic and dysfunctional. She’s not just an empath, she’s a super empath! Who is apparently also extremely immature and horrifically unfamiliar with basic emotion or behavior or relationships or…
But then her dad is also a bit of a short-sighted dick.
Then there’s the fighting between ‘schools’…
Most of the time they act like a bunch of 5 year olds.
Then they also have moments where they seem so deep and emotionally mature.
There’s very little consistency to their characters.
And they are in Star Fleet Academy. It’s a college for the members of a galaxy spanning humanitarian program, not an elementary school. And it has understandably very militant rules about decorum and conduct, as it’s members are working to master skills needed to successfully explore space and navigate complex interactions with a wide variety of very different species.
I know, sure, young people tend to make more mistakes, but some of the random stuff they just drop in out of nowhere to create drama when it’s not needed, probably just to meet a formula regarding content type per minute of showtime, it’s just disappointing.
It doesn’t add to the story, and it’s even often discarded by the characters by the next scene and never referenced again.
The kinda TV that stuck with me, even as a kid, was more mature and more meaningful. Episode after episode they taught morals, gave examples of strong healthy character traits, showed cooperation and problem solving and leadership, gave viewers heros to look up to, even if they were just kids still themselves.
There wasn’t drama unless it added to the story, created opportunities to expand on, or build from, to enhance the intellectual experience, not just give viewers a cheap and fleeting emotional rollercoaster ride.
I mean, do we want our kids getting caught in unhealthy relationship cycles with others, or their own emotions?
Of course, personally, if I wasn’t watching Trek as a kid I was watching PBS Specials, Discover (before it became trash), old Sherlock Homes DVDs borrowed from the library, or reading non-fiction books and magazines, or actually building or crafting things in the real world. So, I dunno, maybe I just never was the target audience for these show runners.
I prefer to refer to it as V’Ger, but you do you.