Is there anything you don’t want to know about Kate Mulgrew? Might be. But without that, she wouldn’t be the Kate Mulgrew you love: passionate, desperate, tender, a person beautiful beyond her looks, with so much to use and convey to us. That’s kind of obvious, surely, but I was very much aware of the fact while listening to this book of hers.
Before Voyager, I’ve had favourite characters in every Star Trek show, but never a favourite captain. Janeway made it for them all. I could have guessed that Kate is Irish! Moreover, even when playing Isolt – Mulgrew’s first movie role – didn’t she try to reach across almost 20 centuries?
“I have such a great desire to travel… But it’s not so easy, being a woman. One cannot take a sword and a servitor and ride bravely off over the hill!”
Mulgrew admitted herself that even if the character of a 24th century starship captain was something totally unlooked-for, she felt “an instant and natural affinity with this woman”, and she “liked her style”. So, was Janeway ever humble? No. Elusive? No. Prudish? Absolutely not. Well then, was the captain headstrong, free-spoken, and standing her ground? Yes, yes, and yes.
Consider this: if you release an autobiography, it will be there for anyone to read. I mean, ANYONE. And anyone will be free to offer their expert judgment. It takes a lot of bravery to expose yourself like this, although for a reader who cares, the demand is mutual (are you brave enough to hear the story?). The author does not really owe you anything, but as for honesty of what WAS said, I do not believe that someone who played a Starfleet captain for seven years can forget that the first duty of every officer is to the truth.
“Born with Teeth” is not an autobiography, anyway. It is a memoir, and all memories are in some way exaggerated and transformed. The only flaw to the book is that it's a bit incoherent, especially in the beginning, when it was difficult to notice how many years had passed, but to the end it became nothing but enthralling. The actor’s job is to infect you with emotions, and even if Kate Mulgrew leaves off-scene what might seem a considerable part, what she does share is fairly to be relived with her. I listened to the final chapters on the road, looking at the morning sky covered with spectacular ever-changing clouds (needless to say, looking for the Voyager to emerge!) and I thought, it’s so important to write down, to try and catch it all with words, to make it wonderful and sparkling and larger-than-life.
I wish I could hug you, Ms Mulgrew. Live long and prosper. Thank you for being there, and thank you for your own voice reading this – the paper book, in the present case, would be only half a book.
