Cost of Living is such a uncomfortable episode

Posted by ResponsibleDiamond76@reddit | TNG | View on Reddit | 20 comments

Hey everyone. So, TNG is one of my favorite shows, I watched it over and over while I was growing up and watched it again now for the first time as an adult. I just watched Cost of Living, (S5 EP 20), and my god this episode did not age well. The relationship between Alexander and Lwaxana feels so inappropriate, it basically feels like she's grooming him by driving a wedge between him and Worf. She constantly encourages him to ignore his father and says that "life's true gift is the ability to enjoy enjoyment", an actual quote from the episode that she says while touching his face, chest, arms, and hands. Then she takes him into the holodeck without his father's permission, and they proceed to have a naked group mud-bath. Then on top of all that they have a near naked woman dance for "entertainment".

I don't even know how this was legal to film considering Alexander is played by an actual 9 year old, and they have him shirtless in a mud bath with a handful of naked adults, plus a near naked woman dancing in front of him.

I'm not one to feel uncomfortable too easily, but this episode made my skin crawl to the point I couldn't even finish it.

To be clear, I am not accusing the actress that played Lwaxana of doing anything inappropriate with the actor who played Alexander.

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nebelmorineko@reddit

The adults filming this would not have been actually naked, it's just shot to look that way.

In-Universe, Betazoid culture thinks nudity isn't sexual, at Betazoid weddings everyone is naked, so I think Lwaxana's attitude is meant to be seen through that lens. She doesn't think she is being inappropriate. In the real world, there are also different attitudes. In Japan for example, there are different cultural expectations about nudity when it comes to things like bathing/hot springs.

I once saw an episode of a travel/tourism show that I think the government produces? Called 'Journeys in Japan'. The episode showed a male visitor touring around, he seems in his early 20s or so and he goes to a place that's like an Air BNB out in some rural area. They have a traditional bathing area. The host has a young son, who seems to take a shine to the guest, and wants to play with him. The guest speaks some Japanese so they can communicate. All fine. At some point, the guest gets into the bathing tub, which is outdoors. He is naked (they don't show his nudity, but you can tell). At this point, the young son just wanders in, sees what is happening, takes his clothes off and hops in the tub with the guest?? And it is a VERY SMALL tub. The kid is basically in the guy's lap. I remember thinking that in America multiple people might go to jail over that...but in Japan they film it and use it to promote their culture. I honestly don't think they were trying to encourage pedos or anything, that's just how they do things there and they were showing that.

I think the episode was meant to show that Lwaxana violates other people's boundaries because she doesn't feel like their point of view is right, but I don't think they were trying to show her doing something she thought was inappropriate. She just comes from a very different culture than Worf, and it's actually realistic that if there were a world full of humanoid aliens, they would have culture clashes and some people would look down on other people's cultures. She thinks Worf is wrong for how he is parenting, so she does what she thinks is correct.

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x-lavender@reddit

I feel like Lwaxana is intelligent enough to know that other cultures don't view nudity the same way they do on Betazed. She would wear far less clothes, or far more revealing outfits, if she was that socially unaware.

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nebelmorineko@reddit

I think she knows, she just thinks others are wrong for thinking that.

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Budorpunk@reddit

If a culture trait is specifically written to push a plot about the taboo, they failed. No shit they wouldn't have actually been naked with a minor actor; that's against the Actor Guild. So those of us who can truly see the societal harm portrayed against a 9 year old character, while aguing "bUt tHe pLoT iS to point out cultural differences, need to awaken their critical thinking skils. A story can be written in 1,000 less impactful harmful ways...and this writer chose THAT as some hugely pivotal scene was just downright crass and off the mark for the rest of the series. As a writer myself, I know that claiming it's "for the plot," is a lazy excuse. There's likely a reason they didn't need this particular writer to participate in more contributions. That says enough for me. Writer didn't have a lot to offer, pushed into a different series due to a lack of options of writers within their work culture. I hear your points, but I'm asking you to step away from the "ego" argument and infer to how media is constantly affecting society and that any reason to justify children being groomed is a surface-level and shallow crutch of an excuse. It was off the mark, art-wise. You can't change my mind, I know better than to "write off," this problematic scene and see it for what it is. And it's a writer being creepy with his kinky preferences of hotmom and gets off on watching his own version of softcore porn involving a child boy.

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NiixxJr@reddit

Damn, I think you're projecting

howardscurlywig@reddit

Lwaxana Troi was a character development written by a man with obvious severe mommy issues that used his creative position to push a weird-ass adgenda about "mommy knows best," then do a complete 180 his next episode that he wrote, insinuating like she was this inspiring boundary-pushing rebel against her own planet's culture, then pushing those views onto others.

I hate the two episode in TNG written by this peter allen fields guy, it feels like he gets off on using a character to project his own feelings of women onto the audience. Both of his episodes, I found deeply offending, and will always skip them with every series rewatch. Such a bad taste in my mouth. Thank you for agreeing on the aspect that tantalizing and preying upon a minor character into sexually-themed roleplay as an excuse to like, open up his mind or something. And the "cute little wink," to Alexander when the fiance leaves her at the alter suggests way too much. "Hey look at me, all that predatory shit I did to you was worth it because I'm standing up for my planet's beliefs this time.

Ugh such a senseless plot for a character with performative moral substance. Thanks for agreeing rhat it's an uncomfortable episode, because I've felt the same way for like, decades and I get a lot of pushback of people trying to argue that since it's Worf's son, it can fly. Ew ew ew. Just goes to show how utterly effed up the early 90's were, so much so that my elders believe it's normal behavior to think a 9 year old child of any race or creed benefits from a pushy hot mommy.

I agree with everything you've said here. I'd also like to add the Lwaxana in this feels very different to the Lwaxana we see in DS9. AND it doesn't feel like the behaviour from a woman who is so deeply heartbroken over the loss of her young child.

sausage_eggwich@reddit

I don’t even know how this was legal to film

Are you serious?

Able_Resident_1291@reddit

I don't even know how this was legal to film

Do you seriously think the adults in that scene were actually naked?

Meh, I still think it's a silly fun episode.

I think you just need to remember: the higher, the fewer.

I can almost certainly assure nobody was actually naked in that episode. 2. If you think pinching and poking a child is grooming, apparently everyone's cheek-pinching aunt was a groomer.