My Star Trek Confession: I Don’t Hate Wesley Crusher

I have a dark Star Trek secret… I don’t hate Wesley Crusher.

ICYMI: Sadly CBS shuttering another fan film might mean this is the end of the Star Trek fan film era.
There’s something in every sci-fi fanbase that they love to hate. The collective group hate of a this evil and terrible movie/episode/character becomes something the fanbase can rally around and bond over.  The most famous example is of course Jar Jar Binks and Star Wars fans. (Before you even ask, yes I do hate Jar Jar.)

For years one of Star Trek fans favorite things to hate has been Wesley Crusher. The Wesley Crusher hate might have peaked recently due to Wil Wheaton’s appearances on The Big Bang Theory, something else many Trekkies don’t like.

Yesterday I even came across a datascopeanalytics.com article that showed how Wesley affected the rantings of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I have no numbers to back up my opinoin, I just don’t hate Wesley Crusher.

THAT SWEATER GAME.

I’m not saying I like Wesley Crusher, I don’t have a rainbow sweater collection or anything, I just don’t hate him. Many Trek fans put Wesley at the top of their hated character list, which I can’t even imagine. I will just never be able to Neelix and chill you guys.
Much of the Wesley hate seems to come from him being a Mary Sue and wonderkid in season’s one and two of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Let’s be honest here, season one and two of TNG are just not the best with or without Wesley Crusher.  Wesley was just used to help the audience, including those who never watched the original show, get to know this new Trek universe.

Maybe I missed the Wesley hate train because I was young when TNG first aired, but I’ve watched it countless times since then. Wesley wasn’t perfect, but he wasn’t the worst either. It feels good to have this great secret out in the open now, I’m a new boy genius man.