Battlestar Galactica non-spoilery reaction

[amanuensis1]

1) When BSG does indulge in cliché, it does it with style.

2) Watching the finale makes me want to run back and watch the whole series again from the beginning, and that does not always happen with a beloved series. I've turned my back on entire adored series in the past after finales that left me sulking.

3) Thanks for giving me conclusions I wanted, conclusions I liked better than those I thought I wanted, hurting me a little in good ways, and for keeping the ribbons and bows down to a tasteful, albeit sparkly, few.

What a fantastic series.


Spoilers will be indulged in the comments.

Comments

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I'd be glad to read your thoughts!

[ellid.livejournal.com]

The idea that once again, Africa isn't *really* the origin of humanity because a bunch of primarily light skinned space aliens with higher technology came along and "intermarried" (read: absorbed/dominated because, hey, even if they've given up high technology they still know how to smelt metals and make wheels) with the dark skinned natives. And that the Mother of Us All was a little girl with light skin, even though recent genetic and artistic evidence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_skin_color#Genetics_of_skin_color_variation) suggests that humans were primarily dark skinned as recently as 13,000 years ago regardless of where they lived.

Add in that the significant religious and mythical names (that mysteriously were passed down pretty much intact for 150,000 years) were *all* taken from Greeks, with the exception of Adama/Adam, and once again, despite the fact that it's 2009, despite BSG being so deep and political and thoughtful, the cultural matrix is still Eurocentric and (with a handful of exceptions who seem to be mainly Asian) white.

It bothers me. It bothers me a lot. It bothers me even more than the profound fatalism of the ending ("this has happened before and will happen again" - whatever happened to free will, Mr. Moore? Or are you secretly a Presbyterian or a Muslim or a member of some other religion that believes in predestination?).

Sorry to ramble and spam your journal, but this has been bothering me ever since last night....

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm glad you did bring it up! I admit it didn't even occur to me to think about this. Only now do I see where that might have offended.

[persephone-blue.livejournal.com]

The cultural matrix is still Eurocentric and (with a handful of exceptions who seem to be mainly Asian) white.

BSG had a few black characters, but besides Dee and the black Cylon model, they weren't featured prominently.

The race/color question is a little bothersome, I admit. I thought about it during the Eve epilogue, but dismissed it at the realization that it's impossible for the show to be politically correct about everything. That sounds sort of mean, doesn't it? I apologize.

"this has happened before and will happen again" - whatever happened to free will, Mr. Moore?

Angel!Six and Angel!Baltar talk about that very fact. It's suggested that a complex organism can eventually arrive at new decisions, though, and it's inferred this may not have to happen again if us humans are careful not to enslave our mechanical brethren. Also, throughout the entire series, free will shapes the content and details of the destiny that the characters share if not fact that destiny exists. I think when looking at the question of free will in BSG, it's about the entire series, not just the finale.

[(Anonymous)]

The race/color question is a little bothersome, I admit. I thought about it during the Eve epilogue, but dismissed it at the realization that it's impossible for the show to be politically correct about everything.

Political correctness be damned. Of the main characters, exactly *one*, Boomer/Athena, was visibly non-European. ONE. That's worse than the percentage in Star Trek, which was produced over 40 years ago. There is ZERO excuse for this in the 21st century.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

That was me, not an anonymous poster. *rolls eyes*

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's okay, anonymous posters are welcome too! :D (See response.)

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

The Cylons had better percentages than the humans did! Sigh.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

True, and that just makes it worse. Once again The Enemy is conflated with darkness/otherness. What the hell were they thinking?

[dbassassin.livejournal.com]

Add in that the significant religious and mythical names (that mysteriously were passed down pretty much intact for 150,000 years) were *all* taken from Greeks

Yes, this. I don't know why the producers didn't know that this was going to be the monumental spoiler of spoilers re: the ending.

And considering the insignificance of ancient Greece in the broader perspective of human history (in terms of numbers, length of time of their civilization, etc), why was this picked? This has irked me from the beginning. One of the most egregiously stupid aspects of the show.

As to the ethnic mix of the cast, I'd say it has to do with fanboy culture. They appear to have thought they "had" to have a few token hot non-white chicks for the fanboys to drool over. But how many of the reasonably prominent/regularly seen male characters were portrayed by non-white actors? Two. One ended up being a rebel and the other a Cylon. Geez, way to be subtle guys.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Make that three. Edward James Olmos is Hispanic.


Amusing fact: Olmos and Jamie Bamber are well aware that they don't look much alike despite playing father and son. To try to make it less obvious that they aren't related, Olmos wore blue contact lenses to match Bamber's eyes, and Bamber dyed his hair a darker shade of brown.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Er, but, Hispanic has its roots in Spain, which is European! I think you should stick with your original count. ^_^

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Point :)

[dbassassin.livejournal.com]

Er, yeah. I know a lot of Hispanic people don't consider themselves white, per se.

But anyway, the cast has always been a bone of contention for me.

*g* Jamie Bamber is about as English looking as you can get.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

His full name is "Jamie St John Bamber Griffith." It doesn't get more British than that!

[dbassassin.livejournal.com]

*snicker*

The name St. John always makes me think of that scene in Four Weddings and a Funeral with Rowan Atkinson.

[orchidchaos.livejournal.com]

Delaney!

[dbassassin.livejournal.com]

BWAH!

[persephone-blue.livejournal.com]

And considering the insignificance of ancient Greece in the broader perspective of human history (in terms of numbers, length of time of their civilization, etc), why was this picked? This has irked me from the beginning. One of the most egregiously stupid aspects of the show.

I loved the Greek-but-not-Greek culture references, actually. This was an aspect from the original series, I believe.

[dbassassin.livejournal.com]

Yes, I know it was in the original series (I'm ageing myself here, I know :D), but it's not as if they were particularly faithful to the original in other things. This was an aspect I could have done without.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Even weirder: the original series was rumored to be at least partially based on the Book of Mormon. That means that "Apollo" et al. may have been substitutes for "Nephi" and "Moroni" so the network would approve the thing in the first place.

And yes, I liked the Greek references. But why *only* Greek? Why not Cybele or Mithras? Oshun? Gautama? Vishnu? Cernunnos? Epona? Amaterasu? Attis? Isis?

[dbassassin.livejournal.com]

Yes, why not? Mithridatean religious practices were much more interesting. Bloodier, mind you, with all that ritual animal sacrifice...

But yeah, I guess they were going for "recognisably old earthian" but not too "weird". *eyeroll*