Letters to the Editor
-
Shatner's Second Coming = Troll
When you compared this show to Dr Who and Stargate SG-1 you lost any credibility you had right there. Then though you had to add this.
----
Really, go out side; date a person of the opposite or same sex.
But please please please please get a life out side of this show.
----
And then before that I noticed this.
----
For science's sake, all of you, get out of your mothers basements! It's just a T.V. Show!
----
Holy crap, are we arguing on the Internet circa 2001? Who says this stuff anymore? Go troll another forum with your idiotic stereotypes you jackass.
-
To Shatner's SC
Okay, okay, I went too far with the orgasm thing. It's far more subtle than I made it seem. You really have to see it to appreciate it, and thus it was a poor choice of something to highlight.
"Die squirrels" comment was funny. Yours wasn't. Also not funny is your feeling sorry for fans of the show. We don't need your pity. In the contest of who needs to "get a life," I'd suggest that anyone who calls themselves "Shatner's Second Coming" and puts forth an opinion about where BSG stands in the historical pantheon of science fiction on television has probably got me seriously defeated on the nerd-o-meter.
We like the show and disagree with your assessment of it. Get over it. Don't insult people just because you don't agree with them.
-
I've identified a new disorder that might require medication
However I haven't yet been able to give it a funny name. Open to suggestions.
It's the combination of frustration, anxiety, conflict, and isolation that occurs when there's a show on TV that's obviously very good, since everyone it talking about it, but the committment of time and energy required to watch the show from the beginning just seems insurmountable. Some people exhibit their symptoms by ridiculing the show and those who like it. Others exhibit just quiet desperation and wistfulness.
Currently, I suffer from this disorder due to the following shows:
Deadwood
24
The Wire
Battlestar Galactica
My medication of choice is Stoli & Soda, with a chaser of a Simpsons episode on Tivo that I've already seen 3 times.
-
Relentlessly depressing? No way.
"Battlestar has ONE note: relentlessly depressing."
I've noticed that a lot of sci-fi fans have been turned off by BSG because this is how the show seems to them. I disagree that the show is relentlessly depressing, but it is unflinchingly dark. On BSG they don't have the luxury of turning away from the horrors that surround them, and neither does the audience. But how the characters deal with their existential despair is often profoundly moving. The character Starbuck is a good example--no matter how much she loses she manages to find the strength to shore herself up against the encroaching darkness. This kind of heroicism is not easily televised, because audiences want speeches, action, justice and catharsis. There's really nothing wrong with that either, perhaps we look for that in our entertainment to relieve the frustration of our muddled, ambiguous lives. But for those of us who can stand the darkness, this show is a pure revelation.
And what's not depressing about the show is that it explores the truth about human hope, and the idea that how we choose to treat each other really does matter. Look at the relationship between Sharon and Helo, or the quiet affection between Roslin and Adama, or the reverent way in which the characters whisper "Earth", and you can see that this isn't just a story of despair. It's a story about humans (and Cylons) finding meaning in their muddled, ambiguous lives. And so much of this feeling is revealed in the visual storytelling-- during Season 2 an entire battle took place in the background, while Apollo floated idly in the foreground, his suit busted, wondering whether he would even try to live. And I don't think I've seen a moment more poignant than when Galactica was attempting to liberate the colony but was outgunned by the Cylon base stars--the camera drew back to show Galactica as a tiny dying object in space, and then right under our noses the Pegasus moved forward, like a hand reaching out through the darkness.
I think that audiences expect a televisions show to have one overall emotional effect, or at least for each scene to only ask for one emotional reaction from us. But that’s another complicated and brilliant aspect of BSG; it forces the audience to empathize with all the characters, (and in a scene like the one where the colonists are reunited with the fleet, it forces us to empathize with all the characters all at once!) and that’s something we shirk from in real life..
And just as an aside, I think the most compelling part of this show has always been the quest for Earth. Will they make it? And when they do, what will they find there?
-
BSG II...
Is moderately well written but hardly groundbreaking if you've read or watched any competent drama or sci fi. It plays about as well as Grey's Anatomy. Saying BSG is offering a compelling dialogue on terrorism is like saying Grey's is offering a compelling discussion on medical ethics.
-
Okay, I haven't seen the show or read the article...
but I read a bunch of these letters and I have a gripe which prevents me from ever watching "BSG:"
Why does Hollywood spend time re-making things? Can't talented creators come up with their own ideas?
I loved the original Battlestar Galactica with all the shiny robots, Egyptian overtones, and immersive culture of "alien diaspora" complete with funny terminology. I also loved the original Planet of the Apes... and then I made the mistake of watching Tim Burton's riduculous, overblown, pretentious re-imagining. Then there's "The Omen," "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," "Night of the Living Dead," "Psycho" for god's sake! These originals are all powerful, well-made works. And I now personally refuse to watch remakes of things I already love.
It sounds like the new BSG is well-written with believable characters, which great. But it seems like the show has pretty much zero relationship to the original, except they stole all the names (Col. Tigh and Apollo were mentioned in the letters)...
What if there was a new show on A&E called "Three's Company" with characters named Jack, Janet, and Chrissy who all worked at a law firm and solved cold case files?
Okay my rant is over. I wish the show well. (And I also wish they had named it something else, and come up with new names for the characters and planets). I know that originality is possible in the SF genre ("Firefly" for instance).
P.S.
By the way, I do realize that now and then a remake is greater than the original, like "The Blob," "Invasion of the Body Snatchers,or "The Thing." So maybe somebody can tell me why the recent crop is so weak?