for all my addictions, its still hard to write
Wow. I had no idea that it would take me so long to find the words to write about Battlestar Galactica. Here at my journal, it seems that I never stop talking about it. But when I was trying to write about the show for my column this week, it seemed that nothing I wrote was any good.
I think it stems from the fact that for my column I had to fully explain the show's premise. I had to explain it's relevance in today's world. I had to explain that it is a re-imagining of the original 1970s series. In the journalism world, you really have to write so the person who knows the least amount of information can still understand the topic.
Here's my final result. I refrained from talking about half-naked Jamie Bamber and my disgust at a bald Anders. I didn't even mentioned my obsession with Kara Thrace and her ability to kick everyone's ass. Instead I focused on the essence of the show and mentioned the upcoming U.N. discussion panel.
After a miniseries and a four season run that actually spanned six years, “Battlestar Galactica” is ending with a two-hour series finale this Friday.
In its first incarnation in the late 1970s, the show was kitschy and made for children and young adults. But this re-imagined series, created by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick in 2003, was created with an adult audience in mind. In the first moments of the miniseries, a gorgeous woman snaps the neck of a defenseless baby. Clearly this show was not intended for children.
Unfortunately though, the show’s moniker and science fiction label tended to frighten away potential viewers. They believed the show to be about time travel and alien races on distant planets and in far away galaxies. And I get it, that’s not for everyone.
But this show was not about any of those things. Instead, it followed the lives of the last 50,000 human survivors of a nuclear genocide; an attack orchestrated by the intelligent machines known as cylons that the humans had created fifty years before.
The show relied on character drama and development more than anything else, but still managed to tackle the heavy subjects of faith and science, war and politics, love and sex, and what it truly meant to be human. In simple terms, the show was about starting over when everything seemed to be lost. It was about going on after everything, literally everything you knew, was taken away.
In 2005, the show won a prestigious Peabody Award for its portrayal of a post-apocalyptic society struggling to find a new home in the wake of disaster.
Many people rightly saw the show for what it was. It was an allegory for a post-9/11 world. Television critics have been trying to explain this to the rest of the world since the series began in 2003, but many still chose to see it as a lame science fiction show akin more to “Star Trek” than as a metaphor for the terrible political landscape of our world today.
But this week the show was finally recognized for its relevance in today’s world. Sci Fi announced last week that the United Nations was to hold a “Battlestar Galactica” discussion panel March 17 in New York. The panel was to focus on how the show dealt with difficult topics like human rights, terrorism, and faith and politics; all of these relevant in today’s society.
Those people who have witnessed the brilliant writing and acting on the show are passionate fans. Those people who have still not seen the show because of its science fiction label have missed out on one of the finest and most relevant pieces of television since “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “The West Wing” went off the air.
The show’s series finale airs at 9 p.m. Friday on the Sci Fi channel. And while it is too late to play catch up, don’t worry because the complete series is expected to be released on DVD and BluRay this July. As for the discussion panel, Sci Fi announced that it would be available online in the near future.
I think it stems from the fact that for my column I had to fully explain the show's premise. I had to explain it's relevance in today's world. I had to explain that it is a re-imagining of the original 1970s series. In the journalism world, you really have to write so the person who knows the least amount of information can still understand the topic.
Here's my final result. I refrained from talking about half-naked Jamie Bamber and my disgust at a bald Anders. I didn't even mentioned my obsession with Kara Thrace and her ability to kick everyone's ass. Instead I focused on the essence of the show and mentioned the upcoming U.N. discussion panel.
After a miniseries and a four season run that actually spanned six years, “Battlestar Galactica” is ending with a two-hour series finale this Friday.
In its first incarnation in the late 1970s, the show was kitschy and made for children and young adults. But this re-imagined series, created by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick in 2003, was created with an adult audience in mind. In the first moments of the miniseries, a gorgeous woman snaps the neck of a defenseless baby. Clearly this show was not intended for children.
Unfortunately though, the show’s moniker and science fiction label tended to frighten away potential viewers. They believed the show to be about time travel and alien races on distant planets and in far away galaxies. And I get it, that’s not for everyone.
But this show was not about any of those things. Instead, it followed the lives of the last 50,000 human survivors of a nuclear genocide; an attack orchestrated by the intelligent machines known as cylons that the humans had created fifty years before.
The show relied on character drama and development more than anything else, but still managed to tackle the heavy subjects of faith and science, war and politics, love and sex, and what it truly meant to be human. In simple terms, the show was about starting over when everything seemed to be lost. It was about going on after everything, literally everything you knew, was taken away.
In 2005, the show won a prestigious Peabody Award for its portrayal of a post-apocalyptic society struggling to find a new home in the wake of disaster.
Many people rightly saw the show for what it was. It was an allegory for a post-9/11 world. Television critics have been trying to explain this to the rest of the world since the series began in 2003, but many still chose to see it as a lame science fiction show akin more to “Star Trek” than as a metaphor for the terrible political landscape of our world today.
But this week the show was finally recognized for its relevance in today’s world. Sci Fi announced last week that the United Nations was to hold a “Battlestar Galactica” discussion panel March 17 in New York. The panel was to focus on how the show dealt with difficult topics like human rights, terrorism, and faith and politics; all of these relevant in today’s society.
Those people who have witnessed the brilliant writing and acting on the show are passionate fans. Those people who have still not seen the show because of its science fiction label have missed out on one of the finest and most relevant pieces of television since “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “The West Wing” went off the air.
The show’s series finale airs at 9 p.m. Friday on the Sci Fi channel. And while it is too late to play catch up, don’t worry because the complete series is expected to be released on DVD and BluRay this July. As for the discussion panel, Sci Fi announced that it would be available online in the near future.