implants and had no need of his VISOR. Reception Critics and fans have responded favorably to the character. Burton himself has complained on DVD featurettes about the lack of romantic interests for his character. At least one scholar, however, states that out of seven principal black characters across the Star Trek series, only La Forge and Tuvok "really qualify as nerds, and neither of them compares with the extraordinary geekiness of the teenaged Wesley Crusher." According to Dr. Ron Eglash, the construction of the La Forge character stands up to the standards of Afrofuturism. In David Greven's book Gender and Sexuality in Star Trek (2009), he described the use of the VISOR as a means to obscure the face of the character, describing it as a "surprisingly clunky symbol of blindness". However, he felt that the bionic eyes used in the film series were an improvement but followed a pattern of African American eye modifications in fantasy and science fiction films such as Halle Berry as Storm in X-Men (2000). Greven suggested that these changes were to create the impression that the wearer was alien in nature and to highlight the difference between that character/actor and the others in the film. In 2018, TheWrap ranked Geordi as the 11th best main cast character of Star Trek shows, noting his ability to come up with technical solutions on short notice and his friendship with Data. In 2016, the character of Geordi was ranked as the 21st most important character of Starfleet within the Star Trek science fiction universe by Wired magazine. In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter ranked "Relics" as the 62nd greatest of the Star Trek franchise up to that time, noting that LeVar Burton has many great scenes with original cast veteran James Doohan reprising his famous character Scotty. In 2017, IndieWire rated Geordi as the 8th best character on Star Trek: The Next Generation. CBR ranked La Forge as the 13th best Starfleet character of Star Trek, in 2018. In 2017, Screen Rant ranked La Forge the 9th most attractive person in the Star Trek universe. In 2018, The Wrap placed La Forge as 11th out 39 in a ranking of main cast characters of the Star Trek franchise prior to Star Trek: Discovery. See also Artificial eye Human echolocation Notes References Bibliography External links Geordi La Forge at the official Star Trek website Star Trek: The Next Generation