Comments | fanfic_bookclub: First Fic! Let's get reading and discussing

asugar in fanfic_bookclub

First Fic! Let's get reading and discussing

Jan 06, 2011 16:19

Hi there! Hope y'all had a great holiday and are having some success with those new year's resolutions. We've picked the first story we'll be reading in the bookclub:

Freedom's Just Another Word For Nothing Left To Lose by synecdochicWe thought this would be appropriate for our first discussion given the time of year. This 2006 SGA story is gen and told from ( Read more... )

discussion, author:synecdochic, fic:freedom's just another word, ficpick

Comments 12

Beginning Discussion Points asugar January 7 2011, 00:24:53 UTC

1) What did you think were the main themes of the story?

2) Any thoughts on how the female characters are portrayed, particularly the two women in positions of authority, Elizabeth and Samantha Carter?

3) What did you think of how the author showed Rodney's attitudes and any change in them about John, Atlantis, his former colleagues and what he did? Did you find it convincing?

4) Do you agree with Rodney or with Elizabeth about what happened to the Wraith and/or Atlantis?

5) Did you enjoy the references in the story or did they pull you out of it and detract from your enjoyment?

6) What do you think Zelenka thought of Rodney and what he did? Was Rodney correct about what Zelenka thought?

7) What did you think of the absence of Teyla?

8) Was Ronon used effectively?

Re: Beginning Discussion Points gelbes_gilatier January 16 2011, 20:41:17 UTC

Oy, those questions me feel a lot like university again :D Let's see if and how I can answer them.

1) What did you think were the main themes of the story?

I think it was about loss and about how to cope with it. What I loved most was that Rodney thought he wasn't coping with anything and rather openly refusing to cope but still did.

2) Any thoughts on how the female characters are portrayed, particularly the two women in positions of authority, Elizabeth and Samantha Carter?Well. I get that this story was about Rodney - and in a greater sense also about John - but yes, I missed female characters, Sam and Elizabeth the most. The few references and appearances scattered throughout the story were very appropriate and in-character, of course but... maybe I'm biased or something but it did feel like my major pet peeve with slash stories returned: the negligence and marginalization of female characters. Which is why I liked Rodney's successor as the lowest lecturer on the totem pole a lot and the way Rodney interacted with her. In the ( ... )

Re: Beginning Discussion Points asugar January 16 2011, 23:42:02 UTC

Re: the use of the female characters or lack thereof, it's definitely something I noticed on subsequent rereadings. I commented to beth_soprano once that there seems to be a dismissive or negative perspective as to the female characters in positions of authority, Sam and Elizabeth. Particularly Elizabeth. She's something of a handwringer and depicted as without much of a proper conscience. Or rather less of one than Rodney. Sam as the SGC collaborator seems to be similarly without moral authority. This has always bothered me as coming from a female author but I've gradually come to decide that this rather misogynist perspective on the effectiveness and willingness to do the right thing of women in power is Rodney's and not the author's. And that fits with what we see of Rodney in early seasons at least. I think Rodney's assessment of Sam is unfair but I'm not so sure about his opinion of Elizabeth. To me, it seems fit with some of the choices she made in canon ( ... )

Re: Beginning Discussion Points gelbes_gilatier January 16 2011, 23:49:51 UTC

This has always bothered me as coming from a female author but I've gradually come to decide that this rather misogynist perspective on the effectiveness and willingness to do the right thing of women in power is Rodney's and not the author's.

I agree. Rodney's not quite open (but still not hidden) misogyny always bothered me but here it's important to keep him in character and it wouldn't be fair to blame the author for something TPTB screwed up (note on the side: what I hated about this was that no one ever called Rodney on it and that this made it seem like it was totally okay to be like that, most of all for someone who's leading an entire department).

If the story was written after the full run, would Teyla have appeared more?

Mh, mh, good question. Not sure about it, but then again Rodney did deliver Torren and I think it would be significant enough for him that it could have also changed his view of Teyla (if it hadn't been changed before, that is).

Thread 12