I know I'm years behind the times, but I'm finally watching Battlestar Galactica and completely in love with it. (Only about three quarters through the third season! Don't spoil it for me
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Apart from papers on: Starbuck spoiler spoiler, cyborg feminism/portrayals of maternity and the show, pornographic aspects of the show&the pattern of mortality therein, postfeminism and BSG and postcolonial reading of BSG, I've also co-written (in Polish) with my now-gf, then best friend a novel-length crack/romance fanfiction in which almost all the couples are non-straight. It's mostly Gaius/Gaeta, Caprica Six/Kara Thrace, Roslin/D'Anna and Lee/Sam, with some Helo/Sharon thrown in for contrast. That was so much fun I now have problems distinguishing the canon from my obviously superior fanon ;D But obviously I'm terribly (if mostly critically by now) involved in the show. And Michelle Forbes/Helena Cain is the person with my favourite cheekbones, but Baltar's are second best ;D
(Oh dear, if my gf wasn't my girlfriend when we were writing that puts the fic at three years ago, written after 4.0 season... I can't believe it's been so long since I started watching BSG XD)
Oh, I love Adama. Which says a lot about what the show has done with him, because I'm incredibly resistant to liking all things military. I really appreciate how they have given him a brand of leadership that takes a necessarily hard line, but isn't entirely devoid of compassion, and I like how they've shown the toll his military career has taken on his life and his ability to relate to others. (On a side note, Helena Cain basically personifies everything I hate about the military, I spent her entire existence waiting for someone to kill her off, and I'm thrilled that they gave that role to a woman, because I love how they reversed the gender-typified leadership styles in her and Adama.) Beyond enjoying the adorably awkward middle-aged flirtations between Adama and Roslin, I also enjoy their working dynamic...
One of the strengths of the show is that it shows characters making the kinds of decisions that would normally make me loathe them, with the result of endearing them to me more. Which is why Helo is so fucking boring; he's never, ever wrong. One of the only things about Tighe that I like is his totally irrational and awesome loathing for Helo. (On a side and highly satisfying note, a friend of mine was active in the Vancouver acting community when BSG was airing and went to a couple of cast parties-apparently the actor who plays Helo is the world's biggest jerk.)
Lee had his moments, but they were early in the series and have been steadily tapering off until the only thing left that makes me at all care about him is his dynamic with Starbuck. I'm still waiting to see what they do with her, but so far she's still awesome.
It's fascinating to see how completely differently we can read the same thing ;)
I disagree with you about Cain versus Adama - I think there was nothing good or essentially subversive about the gender reversal, because it basically played into the paternalistic notions of a good military commander US is in love with, whose role is basically that of a father to all (whereas his morally questionable behaviour is completely out of line, he is arbitrary, sanctimonious and nepotistic, and the show consistently tries to spin it as though he were awesome). Besides, I hate how his love for Tigh is so important when there is no friendship between any women on the show. Bromances. Ugh.
Cain, on the other hand, served to show how women who achieve success in traditionally male environments cannot stay humane, especially if they are transgressive in other ways. That's not unusual, that's actually a stereotype, especially considering the show's ongoing critique of Roslin's moral fibre and its insistence that she needs to be more human and feminine. This is also why I hate Adama/Roslin - it is constantly used to show that Roslin, to be normal/human, has to play the heterosexual game.
Lee is the white, blue-eyed, upper class hero whose Childhood Trauma gives him carte blanche to be a jerk all his life, and who the viewer is supposed to identify with. I think both Kara and Dee are too good for him ;)
Disclaimer: I hate the racism, misogyny, heterosexism and blue-eyed Lee the Hero, Helo the Good Man, Adama the Tyrant.
I couldn't give a rat's ass about Starbuck, by now :(
That said: ♥ BALTAR! ♥ Roslin! ♥ Caprica! ♥ Gaeta! ♥ Gaius/Gaeta! ♥ Gaius/Caprica! ♥
Apart from papers on: Starbuck spoiler spoiler, cyborg feminism/portrayals of maternity and the show, pornographic aspects of the show&the pattern of mortality therein, postfeminism and BSG and postcolonial reading of BSG, I've also co-written (in Polish) with my now-gf, then best friend a novel-length crack/romance fanfiction in which almost all the couples are non-straight. It's mostly Gaius/Gaeta, Caprica Six/Kara Thrace, Roslin/D'Anna and Lee/Sam, with some Helo/Sharon thrown in for contrast. That was so much fun I now have problems distinguishing the canon from my obviously superior fanon ;D But obviously I'm terribly (if mostly critically by now) involved in the show. And Michelle Forbes/Helena Cain is the person with my favourite cheekbones, but Baltar's are second best ;D
(Oh dear, if my gf wasn't my girlfriend when we were writing that puts the fic at three years ago, written after 4.0 season... I can't believe it's been so long since I started watching BSG XD)
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One of the strengths of the show is that it shows characters making the kinds of decisions that would normally make me loathe them, with the result of endearing them to me more. Which is why Helo is so fucking boring; he's never, ever wrong. One of the only things about Tighe that I like is his totally irrational and awesome loathing for Helo. (On a side and highly satisfying note, a friend of mine was active in the Vancouver acting community when BSG was airing and went to a couple of cast parties-apparently the actor who plays Helo is the world's biggest jerk.)
Lee had his moments, but they were early in the series and have been steadily tapering off until the only thing left that makes me at all care about him is his dynamic with Starbuck. I'm still waiting to see what they do with her, but so far she's still awesome.
Reply
I disagree with you about Cain versus Adama - I think there was nothing good or essentially subversive about the gender reversal, because it basically played into the paternalistic notions of a good military commander US is in love with, whose role is basically that of a father to all (whereas his morally questionable behaviour is completely out of line, he is arbitrary, sanctimonious and nepotistic, and the show consistently tries to spin it as though he were awesome). Besides, I hate how his love for Tigh is so important when there is no friendship between any women on the show. Bromances. Ugh.
Cain, on the other hand, served to show how women who achieve success in traditionally male environments cannot stay humane, especially if they are transgressive in other ways. That's not unusual, that's actually a stereotype, especially considering the show's ongoing critique of Roslin's moral fibre and its insistence that she needs to be more human and feminine. This is also why I hate Adama/Roslin - it is constantly used to show that Roslin, to be normal/human, has to play the heterosexual game.
Lee is the white, blue-eyed, upper class hero whose Childhood Trauma gives him carte blanche to be a jerk all his life, and who the viewer is supposed to identify with. I think both Kara and Dee are too good for him ;)
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