I think it's pretty clear that Davis is just the most extreme form of the central problem, and not exactly a guy who invented political corruption.
Yes! I liked the Davis thing a lot too. I don't even...possibly this is my own cynicism showing, but whatever...I didn't feel like he was even particularly extreme? He just has the brassest set of balls, and so he is more openly and personally involved than one would usually expect.
It's interesting that the only person on BSG who actually seems to really like politics is Zarek. Well, actually, Lee kind of seems to like it, too, and I get the impression Felix would have liked it under different circumstances.
Felix! You're right, too, he would've been a world-class policy wonk.
But yeah, the thing about Zarek and arguably Lee is interesting but also emblematic of the problem, in some ways. Like, I think Lee did like politics, but was also very conscious that he was supposed to hold himself ~~above political conflict, and I think that really warped his decision-making in ways that most viewers reacted to as being morally good because ugh politics dirty even though they were almost always a lot less effective than they could be, and were often quite ill-considered. Let's have a truce because choosing a different path starting trust somewhere! And not because we'll all die otherwise! Wait, people are going to hate implementing the truce! Blah, blah.
Zarek, though...it was okay, expected even, for Zarek to like politics, because he's a Bad Guy! and if bad guys like anything, they like politics. But, you know, someone who gets caught running around blowing things up is very likely to be too impulsive and rigid to have much skill or enjoyment for the political game. I bought it as a part of Zarek's characterization that he was this kind of odd bird, I think he worked as a character with internal logic, but in context I did find that troubling.
Roslin is amazing, but she is pretty disinterested in the political scene, and I think that this does actually come across in some failings -- like, her increasing disinterest in dealing with the press.
Yeah, I think Laura and Lee have the same problem here, to different degrees, in that they are very, very uncomfortable presenting themselves for the direct approval (or not) of others. I sympathize with that, probably too much, but it does make them very uncomfortable with the aspects of politics that make democracy the worst form of government except for all the others: in order for the people to make a decision about their leadership, the people do need to be able to evaluate their leadership, and political actors who may be very good at making decisions are not necessarily people who are good at being evaluated. That's a problem that I think was observed and replicated very well in the show, but then normativized in some kind of arbitrary ways? I think by the show, but maybe by the viewers. Roslin disliking that scrutiny meant that she hated democracy and was autocratic (lol); Lee disliking that scrutiny meant that he was ~too good~ to care about political opinion.
people, even "bad people," have a right to exist. For Don to become a real boy is not something he has to earn by good works. It would be great if he did, but that's not really the point, and in his case the things that screwed him up for life were not actually his fault, even if it probably wouldn't matter if it was
This THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS.
I think there is an attitude that we should give up on people who are "bad people," but, like, that's wrong for several reasons.
Yeah, exactly. We might not all live in glass houses, but we do all have more than enough windows.
Yes! I liked the Davis thing a lot too. I don't even...possibly this is my own cynicism showing, but whatever...I didn't feel like he was even particularly extreme? He just has the brassest set of balls, and so he is more openly and personally involved than one would usually expect.
It's interesting that the only person on BSG who actually seems to really like politics is Zarek. Well, actually, Lee kind of seems to like it, too, and I get the impression Felix would have liked it under different circumstances.
Felix! You're right, too, he would've been a world-class policy wonk.
But yeah, the thing about Zarek and arguably Lee is interesting but also emblematic of the problem, in some ways. Like, I think Lee did like politics, but was also very conscious that he was supposed to hold himself ~~above political conflict, and I think that really warped his decision-making in ways that most viewers reacted to as being morally good because ugh politics dirty even though they were almost always a lot less effective than they could be, and were often quite ill-considered. Let's have a truce because choosing a different path starting trust somewhere! And not because we'll all die otherwise! Wait, people are going to hate implementing the truce! Blah, blah.
Zarek, though...it was okay, expected even, for Zarek to like politics, because he's a Bad Guy! and if bad guys like anything, they like politics. But, you know, someone who gets caught running around blowing things up is very likely to be too impulsive and rigid to have much skill or enjoyment for the political game. I bought it as a part of Zarek's characterization that he was this kind of odd bird, I think he worked as a character with internal logic, but in context I did find that troubling.
Roslin is amazing, but she is pretty disinterested in the political scene, and I think that this does actually come across in some failings -- like, her increasing disinterest in dealing with the press.
Yeah, I think Laura and Lee have the same problem here, to different degrees, in that they are very, very uncomfortable presenting themselves for the direct approval (or not) of others. I sympathize with that, probably too much, but it does make them very uncomfortable with the aspects of politics that make democracy the worst form of government except for all the others: in order for the people to make a decision about their leadership, the people do need to be able to evaluate their leadership, and political actors who may be very good at making decisions are not necessarily people who are good at being evaluated. That's a problem that I think was observed and replicated very well in the show, but then normativized in some kind of arbitrary ways? I think by the show, but maybe by the viewers. Roslin disliking that scrutiny meant that she hated democracy and was autocratic (lol); Lee disliking that scrutiny meant that he was ~too good~ to care about political opinion.
people, even "bad people," have a right to exist. For Don to become a real boy is not something he has to earn by good works. It would be great if he did, but that's not really the point, and in his case the things that screwed him up for life were not actually his fault, even if it probably wouldn't matter if it was
This THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS.
I think there is an attitude that we should give up on people who are "bad people," but, like, that's wrong for several reasons.
Yeah, exactly. We might not all live in glass houses, but we do all have more than enough windows.
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