Race, racism, and... UFO!
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UFO was a British TV series first screened in 1970, but set in the 1980s. A secret organisation, with one base hidden under a film studio and another on the moon, protects Earth from aliens who hatch all sorts of improbable schemes in their quest to harvest human organs. Jon, who ( Read more... )
UFO was a British TV series first screened in 1970, but set in the 1980s. A secret organisation, with one base hidden under a film studio and another on the moon, protects Earth from aliens who hatch all sorts of improbable schemes in their quest to harvest human organs. Jon, who ( Read more... )
When you start dealing with the show itself, I think your criticism's become a lot more valid, though you're still judging a 1970's show by 21st Century standards. Compared to similar contemporary shows, the degree of ethnic diversity in UFO is staggering, and the fact that they had plots and decent characterisation was almost unheard of at the time.
It's at this point I should mention that Gerry Anderson is a friend of the family. I've actually discussed racial diversity in his shows with him, and he used to get quite angry about the subtle pressure he'd get to have an all-white cast.
You make some interesting points about "Survival". I find it interesting that the first racism we see in the show actually comes from Bradley; he assumes that Straker is just making a show of offering him the job and is not at all sincere, while Straker is actually genuine. Would the scene have been done the same way if Straker were black or asian? Of course not. The whole "earnest white guy is poorly judged by the angry black guy" becomes a bit of a genre TV trope after this unfortunately, and gets used as a short-hand way of showing how wonderful our lily-white heroes are.
I think your comments on "The Computer Affair" are way off though. The characters aren't in a relationship and are, for a large part of the story, actively in denial about the attraction they feel to each other, so your criticisms about the way their "lerve" is portrayed come off as cheap shots. Both characters are highly trained professionals who've worked hard to reach coveted positions, working in an environment where relationships are strongly discouraged, under observation by their superiors, in war-time. They don't want to be in love, and indeed aren't even aware of it until the computer points it out to them. It'd be stupid and out of character for them to be leaping into bed or skipping around holding hands.
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Gerry Anderson is a friend of the family
Blimey!
The Press Book was helpful because it gives some info about the backgrounds of the actors, but it's also hilarious and excruciating. I couldn't resist quoting. :-) But perhaps I should've pointed out that its sleazy attitude is not generally reflected in the show. (In fact, it's almost bait-and-switch - the opening credits, and the first episode, have lots of T&A - including that ghastly opening shot of Ayshea's furry pink arse - but for the most part it's decorous and proto-feminist. :-)
I did actually put UFO into its 1970 context, and pointed out that it included better roles for actors of colour than most contemporary British shows. (For those who may be interested, I took a bunch of notes about race in UK TV a while back and stuck them in seeingred.)
Computer Affair makes far more sense in light of your remarks and the online version of the script. But even when Ellis and Bradley do finally recognise their feelings for each other, they still don't kiss, hold hands, or even get to say the word "love". I'd like to find out at what stage the lines about "falling in love" were lost (and why).
Great point about the "earnest white guy". I poked around in TV Tropes (if you go there, take food and water!) and found numerous variations and examples, albeit mostly for comedy purposes.
Cheers!
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Tell me about it :-) Mum's boyfriend of many years has known Gerry since the seventies, after he wrote the music for season 2 of SPACE:1999 and the Anderson one-shot INTO INFINITY. It took me quite a while to be able to talk to Gerry without making a complete fool of myself!
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How many *%(&% coolness points is that worth?!!!
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About the coolest thing he's done recently is arrange and conduct the music for "Batman: Dark Tomorrow" on the GameCube (where he gets credited as "Drek Wadsworth").
Heh, I've just checked his IMDB page and it says here he did the music for a 70's softcore flick called "Swedish Fly Girls". There may have to be some teasing :-)
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Alas, I also remember learning about the concept of "music editing" for TV shows by noticing how crudely it was done on that show! Tracks just used to get cut dead on scene changes, or jump into the middle of a different track entirely. BSG (the original version) was just as bad. =:o{
So, please pass on my sympathies to Derek for how his work was hacked about. =:o}
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