Letters to the Editor
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In the original series
The Cylons were Ramses' Egyptians and the humans were the Hebrews fleeing in Exodus. Of course that would cause all the liberal heads to explode today so we've been reduced to the DailyKOS and Indymedia I hate de White Mon level. Apparently there are no more universal stories, only political morality tales that reflect your own bigotries.
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Is the Military Man Right
So when Colonel Tigh, a blood 'n' guts military man if there ever was one, insists that suicide bombing is the only way to end the occupation, the show leaves the question of whether he's right up to us. Is it worth it?
For at least the first 2 seasons Tigh's function on the show has been to be persistently wrong on all fronts. He misinterprets data-- ordering the executions of innocents, stripping the media of their rights, assuming an unidentified colonial signature is a Cylon trick, generally being a drunk buffoon.
If you want a good afternoon, re-watch those early episodes. What is right is almost always the opposite of what Tigh says or does. That's why he is such a wonderful foil for the old man.
I'm being cute, but to be honest I don't know if my theory holds up in the amoral murkiness of the first few hours of season 3. Even the chief, who is among the most honorable of the crew, resorts to insurgent behavior, which convolutes the matter so much more. It seems like even the Cylons no longer have the moral clarity that guided them in the beginning.
I'm just grateful that cable news talking heads don't watch this show. I feel like we'd never hear the end of it. Smerconish would have an aneurysm.
Maybe that would be a good thing.
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Read closer
Hey Buffalonian, she was calling people who don't watch Battlestar Galactica idiots. Which is undoubtedly true. I was one of those people who didn't watch simply because it was on the Sci-Fi Channel, home of Snakehead Terror. And she was calling the characters in Grey's Anatomy simpering narcissists. Whether you like the show or not, you can't disagree that those pretty doctors' defining characteristic is their narcissism.
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GA v BSG
There is also the fact that Grey's Anatomy is the exact opposite of Battlestar Galactica in that it doesn't make you think at all... in the words of my fiance last night, GA is "brain jello" good for a watch before bedtime.
Any time I want to tease her about watching GA, I whip out the "code black, a bomb in the body" moment. Can TV get much worse than that?
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Galactica Wanking
I'm really, really starting to get sick of this crap. You know what I mean: sanctimonious TV critics suddenly "discovering" for all of us plebes that there's a science fiction show out there that talks about "the real world" as opposed to just being guys in rubber masks shooting ray guys at each other.
Well grab a frakkin' clue will ya? ALL science-fiction is, in some way or other, to some degree or other, about human beings. Even the strangest alien adversary only exists to highlight the human reaction to it, be it wonder at discovery or rabid xenophobia.
Farscape was bombastic, but it was far more realistic in representing human relationships and emotional involvements than Battlestar will ever be (Did you seriously buy that Tigh could just kill his wife? Has he ever struck you as a sociopath before? I don't personally know any human being that could cold-bloodedly murder a loved one, for really any reason. Or at least I hope I don't). Babylon 5 had just as much to say about political repression and paranoia, as well as dealing with deep religious themes. Star Trek is famous for social commentary. These barely scratch the surface of what science fiction has to offer (not to mention the breadth of the genre outside of television).
In addition, each of the shows mentioned above has nuance and tone that shift and change. Battlestar has ONE note: relentlessly depressing. That also isn't greatly representative of human existence, BTW, though it is a valid artistic choice. Look, Battlestar is a pretty good, if uneven, show. But it's also not subtle, it's social commentary is the literary equivalent of a brick upside the head. If you don't stop patting yourself on the back for "getting" it, you might dislocate your shoulder.
Do all of us science-fiction fans a favor: take your newfound knowledge that science-fiction might be more than just guys with rayguns and escapism and go search out other, better shows. Then write about THEM.
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But it's Dark and BORING
I've tried really hard to watch this show, and figure out the bizarre nature of the relationship between Balthazar and that blonde woman, but I just can't get into it enough to care. Maybe I need a brighter TV, but the whole thing is so dimly lit and slow moving that it's hard to stay engaged. Miller's description of the show makes it sound like things are always happening, when literally 75% of the "action" consists of any two characters practically whispering to each other. In the dark. I don't expect or want "Star Trek", but jeez, let's develop the story line a little more with each episode.
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Here's a debate to heat up the net!
Is BG (Battlestar Galactica) then New Star Trek?
Is BG the hopeful political future of nerds everywhere as Star Trek arguably was and is?
Will people ever stop calling BG BSG when Battlestar is clearly one word like Battleship?
It's always fascinating how people project cultural opinions onto science fiction. It is even more fascinating when writers actually think they are making deep social commentary as opposed to cheesy sci-fi fantasy.
I wonder how much longer till we meet the cylon with one half of his body black and the other white, and what deep moral lessons will we learn from this story?
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Re: dark and boring
“Miller's description of the show makes it sound like things are always happening, when literally 75% of the "action" consists of any two characters practically whispering to each other. In the dark. I don't expect or want "Star Trek", but jeez, let's develop the story line a little more with each episode.”
Crazy – because this is the thing I like best about BSG. I love Star Trek (especially TNG) because it’s such a shiny, hopeful picture of the future. It’s the show that got me into Sci-Fi. But it is hokey that the captain and all his officers are always so good and that the lines between right and wrong seem to be so pronounced and that every room on this ship is covered in spacious windows. Space is so neat, clean, posh and (when you’re with Jean-Luc) safe.
BSG is just a different animal: it’s a character driven serial/soap. If you watch the show from a production stand-point it’s probably hysterical. The budget is pretty clearly all spent on writers and actors. There are practically no sets and no costumes and the camera work has a wobbly, documentary type feel to it. You’ve pretty much got to get your hands on the BSG mini-series (I think this comes as a bonus with the first season DVD) and get to know all the characters and their motivation – once you get the urgency a dark room and a heated whisper can be pretty fracking compelling.
I’m not going to give too much away – but there is a scene in BSG where one of the main characters (a character who is almost too good to be true) is confronted with a very nasty person doing some very nasty things. I forget the exact quote but the human villain says something to the effect of, ‘what did you expect; some utopian society to spring from this holocaust?’ For me this (and Apollo’s response) was the shows anti-Star Trek moment. If this were Star Trek it would be a utopian society – but on BSG it’s never going to be that simple. Shocking, ugly things happen on this show and it’s all so familiar and so human. Maybe that’s why I, like Miller, am pretty convinced this all happened a long time ago – I just want to believe we get better over time.