‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Retro Recap – ‘Loud as a Whisper’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

There are a great many things in this world that make mankind incredibly unique, and one of them is our ability to communicate with one another. Because we are the only species on this world that is able to outright explain how we feel and what we think, and being able to do all of that, has helped us to come together in an incredible manner and perform incredible actions during our short time on this world. But while it seems as though our great cities and great accomplishments as a collective society should reflect how we use communication to its maximum potential; we aren’t quite there just yet. For people who struggle with communication are often viewed in a different light by our modern society. 

Which is unfortunate, because those who have issues communicating in the exact same manner as we do, can in fact express everything they need to, just in a different way. But sadly, they tend to be left to their own devices and paths whilst the world rolls along. Something that serves as a fine reminder that we still have some room for improvement when it comes to celebrating flawless communication between one another, and it just so happens that the next episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation took the time to explore this issue in an inspiring manner in its next episode. Since ‘Loud as a Whisper’ examines in great detail, how those who communicate differently, have important and eloquent things to say, provided we take the time to listen to them.

A feat that was accomplished by introducing the audience and the crew of the Enterprise to a man named Riva. Who boasts quite the resume as a negotiator, since he helped to foster some of the treaties between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. But what truly makes him of note, is the sheer fact that he also happens to be deaf. Which means that in order to properly communicate with delegates and representatives, he makes use of empathic surrogates, who express his thoughts and feelings in relative harmony. A twist that makes it seem as though there isn't going to be any commentary or examination on unity and finding new ways to communicate flawlessly as a people. But the death of his translators during high risk negotiations, brought about that particular storytelling opportunity.

For Riva found himself devastated by this loss and was suddenly unwilling to take part in these negotiations and that’s when the crew rallied around him in an inspiring manner. Because rather than let him fall or see him slip into frustration over not being able to speak and communicate in a manner concurrent with the rest of the universe, Deanna and Data took the time to really attend to his thoughts and find new ways to communicate with him. And by being attentive to his frustrations and concerns, they were able to point out the fact that he could use sign language and patience to communicate with the warring species he wished to bring peace to. Which gave Riva hope at last that he could accomplish something special in these delicate talks, and that motivated him to stay on the planet and teach these aliens how to sign so that they could find common ground and a lasting peace after decades of conflict and that really was quite the beautiful way to end this tale. 

Because in many ways, it made a differently abled individual the hero of the story, something that was quite unheard-of back in the 80s and is still unheard of now. And making him a hero is about as Star Trek as it gets since this franchise was always about showcasing the human condition and our ability to rise up over any obstacle and Riva does just that. But what matters more, is that this particular tale points out the fact that differently abled individuals have value and shouldn’t be seen as different in the slightest. Instead, we should be taking the time to learn how to better communicate with unique individuals in our society, so that our communication does in fact become seamless and inclusive and that really is quite the wonderful lesson in inject into this particular tale, and really, this is just TNG at its finest right here. And you simply cannot go wrong with a story that asks us to be better to our fellow man, regardless of their circumstances. Until next time.

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