Vala Mal Doran: The Second Coming or the Anti-Christ?

[annerbhp]

I know I live a rather sheltered fannish life here in my little corner of LJ. It’s probably also fairly obvious that I have no patience for character hate. What has surprised me on and off over the last few years though, is how much hate there seems to be out there for Vala. Now, I know there is a huge difference between character hate and

Comments

[annerbhp]

Sorry to mush your brain! ;)

[shutthef_up]

Wow, I guess I haven't traveled in the same circles as I really haven't seen much Vala hate. Thankfully

[annerbhp]

I rarely see this in on LJ, but have bumped up against it on mailing lists, ffnet, discussion boards and such. (That's what I get for wandering outside my menage ;) The whole Daniel/Vala thing is strange, I almost wrote another giant babble about that alone, which maybe I will get to some day. What's interesting is that I like Daniel/Vala. I like what they've done in the show. But I rarely read fic for this pairing, and have no impulse to write it. Which is weird for me, being the shipwhore that I am. I think she makes a good match for Daniel. But, like you, I tend to prefer my ship on the side. That being said, I don't really feel like they over-stepped too much with Daniel/Vala. But that could just be me (it's so nice to enjoy a pairing without having as much invested in it as my Sam/Jack obsession. I can just sit back and enjoy. lol

[surreallis]

Heh! I don't hate Vala, but she's not my favorite character. I actually preferred her when she *was* that bad-acting sort of anti-hero, rather than when she joined the main cast and tried to make a go of it. I found her much, much more interesting in her more villainous capacity. But, that's neither here nor there because she's here to stay now, and I'm pretty okay with that

[lyssie]

Cooper to bring in Vala as a fourth member of SG-1 rather than Cameron.

*looks appalled* But... but women might have actually conversed without a man present. It scares the male viewers off, you know. :/

[surreallis]

Oh yeah, I forgot that women never watch science fiction. DER!

I'm always forgetting that and accidentally watching things.

[annerbhp]

I guess I see her sexual aggression as a defensive mechanism, and an interesting one at that. I certainly wouldn't want to equate it with empowerment. It's more like a flashy smoke screen to distract from whatever she's trying to hide. I guess I find the concept of women using their sexuality as a weapon as an interesting theme to explore, the pitfalls and strengths in that. But I understand where the sticky point is, how some people might confuse the two and I cringe to think what horrid places that might go.

Re: Cam, yes, I felt the same for a long time, though now...whether I've just fallen for him or embraced him into my team, I can now justify why he is essential, what he offers that the veterans needed to survive. *squidges Cam*

Yeah, the lack of more Sam and Vala time is a bit disheartening. I'll keep deluding myself that all those scenes were in the lost 11th season. But in lieu of that..it might be time for a 'Hathor'-like fic with all the ladies of Stargate banding together to save the gents. ;)

[holdouttrout]

WORD. I think you've said everything I have wanted to say, only better.

...and here's where I ignore that and ramble on anyway. :-)

Vala, to me, is the only character that really reads as deeply flawed to me, in the sense that what has happened to her--

Wait. Nevermind. Because I just realized that I can totally see Daniel as flawed, too, especially in seasons 9 and 10. The point still stands, that Vala is canonically messed up. She hasn't had the benefit of the right solutions coming to her just in time all the time. I really get the feeling that Vala pre-SG-1 was sort of drifting, not really sure of what she was supposed to be doing with herself.

(Honestly, it makes her more interesting to me. Oh, and do I get points for being a tentative Daniel/Vala shipper, falling in love with Sam/Jack, and then working my way back into D/V?)

[annerbhp]

Yes. God knows we both love the flawed characters. And that is a great observation about the difference between Vala and the rest of SG-1. They have worked their asses off, but more often than not, they are used to having everything work out. Their own moral compasses would be a bit rusty if they had to deal with half the crap Vala did. (hmmm...is this where my darkfic obsession comes from, perhaps? ;)

You can have all the points you want. You are not the sort to ever judge a character based off of pairing preference. :)

[holdouttrout]

Well, except for Kerry. :-)

[annerbhp]

You know what's weird about #3 type people? I honestly think a lot of them don't think they are doing it. They have managed to justify so carefully in their minds why character X sucks, that to even suggest it might have something to do with their OTP is completely beyond them. It's kind of freaky, but understandable. We all do millions of things without realizing the real root of it.

There were quite a few eps with heavy Daniel and Vala time, but it never bugged me for some reason. I also remained convinced that season 11 would have contained a lot more branching out, or something. Lol. Blame SciFi for canceling!!! ;)

[annerbhp]

I actually prefer when people just acknowledge that they don't like a character because it interferes with their ship. At least they're being honest about it, you know?

Yeah, but that sort of self-awareness usually precludes bothering to hate on anything or anyone. ;)