Portrait of a Character – Polly Porter

Polly Porter, originally, had a larger role.

Origins

Long before I started writing Star Trek fanfiction, I wrote parts of a wholly original time travel series. A character who was supposed to understand psychology and therapy was named Polly Porter. Polly originally was the middle child of two sisters, Penelope and Paris. I kept Polly and her specialty but ditched her sisters, for the most part.

Portrayal

Polly is played by veteran actress Kathy Bates.

Kathy Bates as Polly Porter (image is for educational purposes only)

I like this smart, older Oscar winner.

Personality

Warm and friendly, Polly is the epitome of almost a Frasier Crane-type of character (e. g. “I’m listening.”). However, very much like Frasier, she is also a rather detached individual, not really that close to anyone.

Mirror Universe

Mirror Polly

In the Mirror Universe, I feel she’d be a much more informal advice-giver. But women are often in secondary roles there, at least in my Star Trek fanfiction. Would she still be among the living? It’s possible that she wouldn’t be, seeing as she is aging and is not a great beauty. In the Mirror Universe, where a woman’s looks (at least in my fan fiction) are often valued far more than her brains or her kindness or other skills, Polly would more than likely come up short, even in the deeper future.

Quote

“Let’s get you some keratin accelerator for your hair, and some newer clothes, okay? And as for the rest of it, heh, well, our department needs a new traveling doctor, right?”

Upshot

Polly is one of those characters – and there were a few of them in the HG Wells series – who I just ran out of room, time, and interest for.  This is a perfectly good character, but a lot of her lines, shall we say, ended up on the cutting room floor. Perhaps I’ll be able to do her justice later. I don’t know.

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