Synopsis: The Doctor publishes a holonovel based on the adventures of Voyager’s crew.
This episode illustrates how projection allows the Logos-driven rational conscious ego to perceive bits of material from the Eros-driven irrational unconscious.
“Author, Author” begins with the news from Starfleet headquarters that thanks to Lt. Reginald Barclay’s efforts, the Voyager crew can now communicate with the Alpha Quadrant for eleven minutes every day, by bouncing a tachyon beam off a quantum singularity. One of the first transmissions is from The Doctor to a publisher about a holonovel that he has created. The Doctor tells the publisher that the draft still needs some revisions and then The Doctor asks Lt. Tom Paris to look at it, since Paris is himself an author of holodeck programs. When Paris enters the holonovel he realizes that the story is based on the adventures of a thinly disguised Voyager crew, albeit acting in a much more shadowy way than in reality. Captain Kathryn Janeway and Commander Chakotay are cruel, Paris is a lothario, and the entire crew is abusive to The Doctor. Paris tells some of the senior staff about the holonovel, and in turn Janeway. Janeway confronts The Doctor about it, but he tells her that he does not want to compromise his work. Paris then alters the holonovel for The Doctor, changing the way The Doctor is portrayed into an exaggerated version of himself. Paris tells The Doctor how to restore the holonovel, but not until after telling him that he was hurt by the way The Doctor perceived him. The Doctor then tells the crew that he will revise the holonovel, but it is too late. The publisher, feeling that as a hologram The Doctor has no rights, went ahead and distributed the holonovel, which makes its way to the attention of Starfleet Command. Janeway requests a court proceeding so that The Doctor can demand that the publisher recall the holonovels that were sold without his permission. The judge does not go as far as find that The Doctor is a person, but he does find him to be an artist and as such able to exercise his rights.
This episode is packed with psychological and cultural content, but the one scene that resonated with me is when Paris confronts The Doctor about how he is portrayed in The Doctor’s holonovel. Paris is disappointed because, as he tells The Doctor, he thought that The Doctor respected him, but now feels that The Doctor sees him the way he wrote his character into the holonovel. The sincerity of this moment also reaches The Doctor, and it becomes an opportunity for self-growth and understanding for him. That is because in this moment he saw Paris for who he was. This is exactly what happens when the conscious ego removes its projection of unconscious material that it has hoisted upon another, is able to see the other as they really are, and understands that the traits that seemed attractive or repulsive about the other, are really issues that come from within. This is one of the ways that the conscious ego acknowledges and integrates bits of unconscious material into itself to be come stronger and make the psyche more whole.
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