People said that? I'm surprised because that never occurred to me and it was pretty clearly stated that people beat each other up under the watchful eye of a ref and with rules, so that things wouldn't fester. Gender issues never occurred to me.
I have noticed a lot of Kara hate over on TWoP, but what did people expect? She never once acted out of character.
Off in a moment to do a post on Lee, since he seems to be getting a lot less press, so to speak.
I didn't have that reaction at all, and it really hit me. Why didn't I have that reaction at all?
I wondered about that for myself too. I've decided it's because K/L beating each other up is not, IMHO, being held up as the way to resolve your differences in a romantic relationship, just as suicide bombing is not being held up as the way to win a war. Rather, the show holds up these incidents as a way of asking the big questions: What is love? What does it mean to be human? What price survival
( ... )
I've decided it's because K/L beating each other up is not, IMHO, being held up as the way to resolve your differences in a romantic relationship, just as suicide bombing is not being held up as the way to win a war.
Right. They don't completely romanticize it, although to be fair, a lot of people who love Kara/Lee love how volatile they are (myself included). But from a purely textual read, I think viewers are supposed to get that the violence is part of what is unhealthy and obsessive in them.
Very good point about the extremity of violence in Galactica society, where people are fighting constantly to stay alive.
(Yeah, realistically Lee could crush her into the floor with those biceps, but at the same time Kara's pretty tough, and she seems to often have the upper hand emotionally.)
Oh, and how much did I love that he seemed very reluctant to hit her when they first get into the ring? Let me answer- very much. And it wasn't because he was afraid to hurt her, but because he was afraid to get involved with her.
Oh, I totally squeed over the ep in my journal as well and tried to cover some of the Lee/Kara dynamics, but never quite got around to discussing the gender aspects. I'm glad you brought it up
( ... )
But in BSG it has nothing to do with supernatural abilities.
This is exactly why I love the women of BSG so freaking much. Buffy is a great heroine, but she was granted supernatural abilities which set her apart from every other woman in the world. The women of BSG are not granted respect or equality. They just expect it as their right. And they get it. The only woman who has to fight for equality is Sharon, and that has more to do with being a Cylon than it does with being female.
It's one of the unique aspects of BSG. I think BtVS handled it well too though, at least in terms of Buffy's character and I definitely flashback to the Sanctuary fight with Angel.
See, to me, the Sanctuary fight with Angel was *so* embedded in gender , which makes sense since even though it is an "alternate" universe, it's still this society. Buffy hits Angel, and then gives him that wounded reaction when he dares to hit her back. The writers have to put his excuse in the dialogue, "you hit me first, you're stronger" to combat the image of big Angel hitting tiny blonde Buffy. Not to mention that everything sexual in that show was fairly gender stereotyped, and then you add in Caleb the misogynist preacher and I could go on and on. So yeah, BSG does a much better job with gender in a much less obvious way. Not that Buffy wasn't better than the usual fare, it certainly was.
As for the Kara hate-- I get it, I just think it's sad. And I don't want to subject myself to too much of it *g*
I just watched this, and I thought it was quite brilliant. I thought Kara and Lee's fight was a fight between two battle trained soldiers who happened to have some pretty fucked up personal issues, and had no other way to deal with the anger and hurt they both felt. The fight scenes were a little gruesome (I hate boxing), but never did I think OMG Lee's beating up a woman!!! They were pretty evenly matched, and Kara was the one who on occasion fought dirty
( ... )
Laura Roslin owns all. Really, I love her character- she's smart and calculating and sexy and she's middle-aged. How often do we see that on television.
I agree about Kara's motivation, and why she can be with Sam and not Lee. I do think she loves Sam but so far she hasn't let him in. You can tell that he doesn't really know her, even after a year of living together on NC, and he won't unless something in Kara changes. Poor guy.
Dee's face was heartbreaking. Kandyse portrayed that betrayal gorgeously.
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I have noticed a lot of Kara hate over on TWoP, but what did people expect? She never once acted out of character.
Off in a moment to do a post on Lee, since he seems to be getting a lot less press, so to speak.
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Yeah, I've avoided TWoP and other places for that reason-- there's no reason to willfully go looking for someone to mitigate my squee :)
I look forward to your Lee post.
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But yeah, I definitely agree about the violence issue between men and women and how the genders are more equal.
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Hahahahahahaha!
It totally was. But I secretly love shippy fanvids on YouTube so I dug it. As long as the song is decent, which is a HUGE qualifier.
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I wondered about that for myself too. I've decided it's because K/L beating each other up is not, IMHO, being held up as the way to resolve your differences in a romantic relationship, just as suicide bombing is not being held up as the way to win a war. Rather, the show holds up these incidents as a way of asking the big questions: What is love? What does it mean to be human? What price survival ( ... )
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Right. They don't completely romanticize it, although to be fair, a lot of people who love Kara/Lee love how volatile they are (myself included). But from a purely textual read, I think viewers are supposed to get that the violence is part of what is unhealthy and obsessive in them.
Very good point about the extremity of violence in Galactica society, where people are fighting constantly to stay alive.
(Yeah, realistically Lee could crush her into the floor with those biceps, but at the same time Kara's pretty tough, and she seems to often have the upper hand emotionally.)
Oh, and how much did I love that he seemed very reluctant to hit her when they first get into the ring? Let me answer- very much. And it wasn't because he was afraid to hurt her, but because he was afraid to get involved with her.
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This is exactly why I love the women of BSG so freaking much. Buffy is a great heroine, but she was granted supernatural abilities which set her apart from every other woman in the world. The women of BSG are not granted respect or equality. They just expect it as their right. And they get it. The only woman who has to fight for equality is Sharon, and that has more to do with being a Cylon than it does with being female.
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See, to me, the Sanctuary fight with Angel was *so* embedded in gender , which makes sense since even though it is an "alternate" universe, it's still this society. Buffy hits Angel, and then gives him that wounded reaction when he dares to hit her back. The writers have to put his excuse in the dialogue, "you hit me first, you're stronger" to combat the image of big Angel hitting tiny blonde Buffy. Not to mention that everything sexual in that show was fairly gender stereotyped, and then you add in Caleb the misogynist preacher and I could go on and on. So yeah, BSG does a much better job with gender in a much less obvious way. Not that Buffy wasn't better than the usual fare, it certainly was.
As for the Kara hate-- I get it, I just think it's sad. And I don't want to subject myself to too much of it *g*
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I agree about Kara's motivation, and why she can be with Sam and not Lee. I do think she loves Sam but so far she hasn't let him in. You can tell that he doesn't really know her, even after a year of living together on NC, and he won't unless something in Kara changes. Poor guy.
Dee's face was heartbreaking. Kandyse portrayed that betrayal gorgeously.
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