On the issue of Lt. Rack
I'm enjoying SG:U, or Battlegate: Voyager as I've taken to calling it, but some of the critics and fans really, really, need to reevaluate their shit.
Foremost on my list of issues with the fans is this so-called "Lt. Rack" problem. Arguably, there is some merit in fans' characterizing her as "Lt. Rack" because of her erm... assets... and the way that she was introduced to the viewers (bumping uglies in a closet with one of the male leads) and the subsequent "peeping kino" issue (two neckbeard archetypes use one of the hovering spyeyes to peep on her), but really? "Lt. Rack"? Are we so mired in our desire for portrayals of "strong, capable women" that we balk at any sexualization of a woman?
Part of my objection to this stems from the fact that the series is only four episodes into it's season, a 20 plus episode season according to interviews, so there's plenty of time for Lt. Rack to evolve into a stable character. Let us not forget that within the first... five episodes of Battlestar Galactica (to which the series is compared) we had Starbuck getting some, and Sharon Valerii in a closet with chief Tyrol. Hell, BSG gave us female Cylons exploiting human sexuality all over the place, so it kind of irks me when we have one character at the center of what might be considered normal behavior.
Exempting the fact that Lt. Rack, the neckbeards, and her fellow officer are on a classified space base, and later a falling apart starship, peeping tom antics and sex in storerooms are so common that they're almost ingrained into our societal consciousness. I'm not so sure that the showrunners are trying to sexualize Lt. Rack, in as much as portray the normalcy of all the characters in this extreme situation.
Furthermore, a lot of the harsh criticism of Lt. Rack comes from the fact that "she hasn't done anything". Excuse me? Are you even watching the same show? Lt. Rack is on the outside of the "military in group" and was partially responsible for the organization of the small mob that surrounded Eli and demanded answers as they figured he was the weakest one. Additionally, she was among the first people that Lt. Whitebread tapped to help organize the people on board the Destiny.
It is worth considering that the series, thus far, has been focused on establishing the groups onboard destiny and thus the leaders of those groups are getting the focus: Robert Carlyle's character, the neckbeards, Lt. Whitebread, and the Colonel Young are all receiving a huge amount of air time, something that the stars of the show say will change as the series progresses... It seems like a lot of the negative criticism is disregarding interviews and various feeds from the actors (including their own Twitter!) which contradict the fact that Lt. Rack seems poised to remain just a pair of boobs.
So the question comes around again; are we so hypersensitised to "accurate portrayals" that when one smacks us in the face (20 something woman enjoying her body, being a woman, and *gasp* sex, while being serious about her work), that we can't even recognize it through the lens of our own political correctness?
Foremost on my list of issues with the fans is this so-called "Lt. Rack" problem. Arguably, there is some merit in fans' characterizing her as "Lt. Rack" because of her erm... assets... and the way that she was introduced to the viewers (bumping uglies in a closet with one of the male leads) and the subsequent "peeping kino" issue (two neckbeard archetypes use one of the hovering spyeyes to peep on her), but really? "Lt. Rack"? Are we so mired in our desire for portrayals of "strong, capable women" that we balk at any sexualization of a woman?
Part of my objection to this stems from the fact that the series is only four episodes into it's season, a 20 plus episode season according to interviews, so there's plenty of time for Lt. Rack to evolve into a stable character. Let us not forget that within the first... five episodes of Battlestar Galactica (to which the series is compared) we had Starbuck getting some, and Sharon Valerii in a closet with chief Tyrol. Hell, BSG gave us female Cylons exploiting human sexuality all over the place, so it kind of irks me when we have one character at the center of what might be considered normal behavior.
Exempting the fact that Lt. Rack, the neckbeards, and her fellow officer are on a classified space base, and later a falling apart starship, peeping tom antics and sex in storerooms are so common that they're almost ingrained into our societal consciousness. I'm not so sure that the showrunners are trying to sexualize Lt. Rack, in as much as portray the normalcy of all the characters in this extreme situation.
Furthermore, a lot of the harsh criticism of Lt. Rack comes from the fact that "she hasn't done anything". Excuse me? Are you even watching the same show? Lt. Rack is on the outside of the "military in group" and was partially responsible for the organization of the small mob that surrounded Eli and demanded answers as they figured he was the weakest one. Additionally, she was among the first people that Lt. Whitebread tapped to help organize the people on board the Destiny.
It is worth considering that the series, thus far, has been focused on establishing the groups onboard destiny and thus the leaders of those groups are getting the focus: Robert Carlyle's character, the neckbeards, Lt. Whitebread, and the Colonel Young are all receiving a huge amount of air time, something that the stars of the show say will change as the series progresses... It seems like a lot of the negative criticism is disregarding interviews and various feeds from the actors (including their own Twitter!) which contradict the fact that Lt. Rack seems poised to remain just a pair of boobs.
So the question comes around again; are we so hypersensitised to "accurate portrayals" that when one smacks us in the face (20 something woman enjoying her body, being a woman, and *gasp* sex, while being serious about her work), that we can't even recognize it through the lens of our own political correctness?