The last entry is a natural segue to this one. Charisma may seem a trivial characteristic, but when you consider how well it has served Kirks command style and decision-making process, its clearly a deadly weapon in his arsenal that Picard hasnt matched. Kirks charisma endears him to his enemies. In Day of the Dove, he manages to convince Kang that he is being manipulated and even manages to elicit good feelings in the Klingon commander to drive out the mysterious and malevolent alien entity. Its the closest Kirk will ever get to a beer fest with Klingons, but its his charismatic appeal that acts upon Kang and forces him to see the truth. Picard, in comparison, is stiff and while he can be a charming man, his own personal charisma is restricted to those private moments of intimate appreciation, as with the empathic metamorph, Kamala from the TNG episode The Perfect Mate. He is rigidly disciplined enough to resist the empaths attraction but this is a measure of his own moral stature, not of his charm. That is what the empathy finds so attractive in him. Picards charismatic abilities dont register in crises. He is a private, reserved man whose charisma is something to be appreciated by one person. However, it is Kirks charisma that sometimes enables him to win the day.
John Kirk is a Teacher-Librarian and currently a History/English Teacher with the Toronto District School Board.
But mostly, John teaches Geek.
Comics, Sci-Fi (Notably Star Trek), Fantasy and Role-Playing and table-top games all make up part of John’s repertoire, There is a whole generation of nerds-in-embryo who rely on him to make sense of it all, to teach that with great power comes great responsibility, that the force will be with us always and that a towel IS the most useful thing to have in one’s possession.
When John isn’t in the classroom, he can be found in his basement writing comic reviews for www.popmythology.com and features for Roddenberry Entertainment's www.1701news.com.
