Double Standards and BSG Characters
Spoilery for BSG Episode 2.16 "Sacrifice"
People? Do you realize how absurd it is to praise Kara Thrace to the high heavens for being a great, developed character who has such a wonderful storyline where she thinks of one guy while fraking another and can't make up her mind between two guys only to savage Anastacia Dualla for what's pretty damned close to the same thing?
Really. I mean, it gets my feminist heart all rage-filled when I read people terming Dee as a slut, whore or ho (I feel the same way when Kara comes in for the same treatment in yet other people's journals -- I think we really ought to get past the point of projecting too much into TV show's female characters' sexuality). You know, can't we get beyond this schoolyard trashing and taking sides? They're fictional characters. They don't need us to fight their imaginary battles for them. (But they'd probably enjoy some fanfic!)
Plus, that comes perilously close to being wank-worthy -- I mean, what's the difference here between getting all shit-talking about a character in BSG and in HP? (Sorry, many years experience with seeing people slag one of my favourite secondary HP characters, Ginny Weasley.) I'll give you a hint. The only difference is that there are more people in HP fandom to read and participate in the wank.
Kara and Lee? Much as I love them, they are not together. They have not been together (even though I did go down that path in my prequel story and I loved it). They are not going to be together anytime soon. In "Scar" we saw Kara Thrace accepting, for some reason, her complete and total emotional investment in Sam Anders back on Caprica. Fine, whatever. I still don't think we've had nearly enough to build up his character as interesting -- so, he's a jock, passably cute and leads some part of the resistance back on Caprica? -- but he's now Kara Thrace's focus. So, fine -- that means that she's hardly likely to run down the halls planning to shag Lee, at least until she gets some closure on the entire Anders thing. (And does anyone really think that's going to end in a good way? I mean, happily ever afters in dark, angst-filled TV series are not very common.)
Billy and Dee? I loved them as a couple, but, honestly, an established, stable, uncomplicated couple was not too exciting for the writers to incorporate into the series. And there were some interesting breaks looming in season two -- Dee as the core of the anti-Tigh resistance helping Roslin and Lee escape; Billy deciding to stay. And it seems as if Paul Campbell has some opportunities which, bless his soul, might allow him to break into bigger roles. I think he's a wonderful young actor with both great comic timing and some real emotional depth. I would love to see him in more TV roles or get a call up to Stratford so I could, like, see him in person! So, given a choice between roles that would continue a marginal second-banana position in this show or going out with a bang (who is going to forget Billy's death anytime soon?), I think that this was a good, dramatic decision that I hope will also help build his career.
Lee and Dualla? I'm intrigued because it has the promise to be heartbreaking and messy and complicated, even now, especially now, that Billy's no longer there. He's not just a boyfriend put aside, he's a former boyfriend who sacrificed himself and who can't be ignored or forgotten. And then there's the whole Kara issue that looms big in Lee's psyche (I love how Kara and Dee switched places as confidante/comforter and eavesdropper/outsider) and cannot be ignored forever. For Lee? He is fooling himself on so many levels that he is ready to move on from everything before and after the apocalypse. But they are pretty, and they are both broken (Dualla's reference to her father and family in "Final Cut" gives a hint of where she might have deep resevoirs of angst). And I can't imagine anyone on the writing team or in fandom thinking this is going to be happily ever after for the two of them. But, again, that makes it interesting.
In the end, what keeps drawing me back to this show is the complexity, the ambiguity, the human level of hurt, misunderstanding, desperation and longing. The people of this universe screw up. So do people in real life. So, in that vein, I give you a beautiful and messy song: Sinéad O'Connor's cover of Elton John's Sacrifice (right click, save as).
People? Do you realize how absurd it is to praise Kara Thrace to the high heavens for being a great, developed character who has such a wonderful storyline where she thinks of one guy while fraking another and can't make up her mind between two guys only to savage Anastacia Dualla for what's pretty damned close to the same thing?
Really. I mean, it gets my feminist heart all rage-filled when I read people terming Dee as a slut, whore or ho (I feel the same way when Kara comes in for the same treatment in yet other people's journals -- I think we really ought to get past the point of projecting too much into TV show's female characters' sexuality). You know, can't we get beyond this schoolyard trashing and taking sides? They're fictional characters. They don't need us to fight their imaginary battles for them. (But they'd probably enjoy some fanfic!)
Plus, that comes perilously close to being wank-worthy -- I mean, what's the difference here between getting all shit-talking about a character in BSG and in HP? (Sorry, many years experience with seeing people slag one of my favourite secondary HP characters, Ginny Weasley.) I'll give you a hint. The only difference is that there are more people in HP fandom to read and participate in the wank.
Kara and Lee? Much as I love them, they are not together. They have not been together (even though I did go down that path in my prequel story and I loved it). They are not going to be together anytime soon. In "Scar" we saw Kara Thrace accepting, for some reason, her complete and total emotional investment in Sam Anders back on Caprica. Fine, whatever. I still don't think we've had nearly enough to build up his character as interesting -- so, he's a jock, passably cute and leads some part of the resistance back on Caprica? -- but he's now Kara Thrace's focus. So, fine -- that means that she's hardly likely to run down the halls planning to shag Lee, at least until she gets some closure on the entire Anders thing. (And does anyone really think that's going to end in a good way? I mean, happily ever afters in dark, angst-filled TV series are not very common.)
Billy and Dee? I loved them as a couple, but, honestly, an established, stable, uncomplicated couple was not too exciting for the writers to incorporate into the series. And there were some interesting breaks looming in season two -- Dee as the core of the anti-Tigh resistance helping Roslin and Lee escape; Billy deciding to stay. And it seems as if Paul Campbell has some opportunities which, bless his soul, might allow him to break into bigger roles. I think he's a wonderful young actor with both great comic timing and some real emotional depth. I would love to see him in more TV roles or get a call up to Stratford so I could, like, see him in person! So, given a choice between roles that would continue a marginal second-banana position in this show or going out with a bang (who is going to forget Billy's death anytime soon?), I think that this was a good, dramatic decision that I hope will also help build his career.
Lee and Dualla? I'm intrigued because it has the promise to be heartbreaking and messy and complicated, even now, especially now, that Billy's no longer there. He's not just a boyfriend put aside, he's a former boyfriend who sacrificed himself and who can't be ignored or forgotten. And then there's the whole Kara issue that looms big in Lee's psyche (I love how Kara and Dee switched places as confidante/comforter and eavesdropper/outsider) and cannot be ignored forever. For Lee? He is fooling himself on so many levels that he is ready to move on from everything before and after the apocalypse. But they are pretty, and they are both broken (Dualla's reference to her father and family in "Final Cut" gives a hint of where she might have deep resevoirs of angst). And I can't imagine anyone on the writing team or in fandom thinking this is going to be happily ever after for the two of them. But, again, that makes it interesting.
In the end, what keeps drawing me back to this show is the complexity, the ambiguity, the human level of hurt, misunderstanding, desperation and longing. The people of this universe screw up. So do people in real life. So, in that vein, I give you a beautiful and messy song: Sinéad O'Connor's cover of Elton John's Sacrifice (right click, save as).