What I wish I had time to write
Mar. 23rd, 2009 09:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
So it turns out I *do* still want/need to talk about Battlestar Galactica. I'm actually desperately itching to write a serious meta post on the big-picture problems with the finale. I'm reading a lot of response posts and seeing so many good points being made and I'd really like to collate them together. I've also read a few responses from people that liked it and they are fascinating in a headtilt-y, huh! kind of way. I know my response was very personal: it could be summarised as disgust at the way RDM's Catholicism (lapsed or no, it clearly invades his subconscious) bled all over the series and brought everything back to the most simplistic literalism. That came on top of my already queasy feelings about the gender politics and racism (which the finale did nothing to appease). Then they ADDED colonialism to the list of objectionable politics! Was that necessary?! Really?! What happened to good old-fashioned scifi that respected each culture's right to evolve in its own way? Oh I suppose we're meant to handwave that because they became us. *eyeroll* I also found the ending incredibly reductive. OK, I got an answer about Head!Six but it turned out to be the most uninteresting answer of all... I would have been way happier with a clever ambiguous ending that allowed for different interpretations. :( And not just reductive but implausible. Are we REALLY supposed to believe that they will survive? And what was with the sudden universal technology hate? And does RDM know ANYthing about geology/evolution/history? o.O
And now I'm writing the post I don't have time to write... Sigh.
I also want to write a post to my fellow Kara/Lee shippers and Lee fans. I ran guys. I could see the writing on the wall and I fled to protect my heart. I braced myself emotionally for the finale and I watched the Kara/Lee scenes through fingers covering my eyes, and pressed 'play' on Sarah Connor Chronicles as fast as I could after it to block it out. But it still haunts me. Lee's face! *thud*
And yeah, WHY did they have that horrible cheating on Zak retcon and the WORST most heavy-handed metaphor of all time?
I am reading reaction posts that express so much of what I've felt re. the ship over this whole season. I feel so bad for all of you that walked into the pain of the finale because you kept hope alive for so long.
I've seen several people mentioning it feeling like a break-up. Well I agree. It does feel like that and I think it feels like that for good reason: we gave our hearts to this ship and that's a form of love. It creates the same euphoric feelings and it hurts bad when it all falls apart in our hands. I've always found romantic love a very destructive emotion and I guess I fooled myself into thinking fictional love was less so. Well... maybe it is a bit, but not enough to stop the pain from being real and horrible and enough to make you want to eat icecream, stay in your pjs, drink your pain away... whatever you do after break ups. Even the rage we feel at RDM and the shared anger is part of a similar sort of processing people do after break ups: what went wrong? how could this happen to us? what did we do to deserve it? etc.
And don't let people tell you you're stupid for feeling this way. It's human. Even if it IS 'just TV'. It is and it isn't... what you saw in these characters and this ship (or ANY ship or character you love this much) is something very personal and for a lot of us it/they had personal resonances within our own internal landscape. So to dismiss that pain is a mistake, I think. Though of course it in no way means we should be mean to those who liked the finale or got what they wanted from the show. :) Lucky sods! :p
I'd also like to write:
- my reaction post to TSCC 2.19 (eeeeee!!! So much to say! So much to process...)
- a post of unpopular vidding fandom opinions (which has been percolating for a long time)
- a squee post about Skins (which I recently mainlined and LOVE)
- a post about the problematic Dollhouse (1.6 didn't really do it for me, kids, though I saw how it was meant to)
- a post on how Kings is not really doing it for me either
and any number of other posts...
And that's not to mention the VIDDING I want to be doing.
You know what all this means? It means I have no time for such activities. I have two days or so in which to respond to comments and then I will be away from the 'net for the next couple of weeks. So all my love in the meantime and I kind of hope you will still be interested in some/any of those proposed posts when I get back. :)
See you on the other side! :p
And now I'm writing the post I don't have time to write... Sigh.
I also want to write a post to my fellow Kara/Lee shippers and Lee fans. I ran guys. I could see the writing on the wall and I fled to protect my heart. I braced myself emotionally for the finale and I watched the Kara/Lee scenes through fingers covering my eyes, and pressed 'play' on Sarah Connor Chronicles as fast as I could after it to block it out. But it still haunts me. Lee's face! *thud*
And yeah, WHY did they have that horrible cheating on Zak retcon and the WORST most heavy-handed metaphor of all time?
I am reading reaction posts that express so much of what I've felt re. the ship over this whole season. I feel so bad for all of you that walked into the pain of the finale because you kept hope alive for so long.
I've seen several people mentioning it feeling like a break-up. Well I agree. It does feel like that and I think it feels like that for good reason: we gave our hearts to this ship and that's a form of love. It creates the same euphoric feelings and it hurts bad when it all falls apart in our hands. I've always found romantic love a very destructive emotion and I guess I fooled myself into thinking fictional love was less so. Well... maybe it is a bit, but not enough to stop the pain from being real and horrible and enough to make you want to eat icecream, stay in your pjs, drink your pain away... whatever you do after break ups. Even the rage we feel at RDM and the shared anger is part of a similar sort of processing people do after break ups: what went wrong? how could this happen to us? what did we do to deserve it? etc.
And don't let people tell you you're stupid for feeling this way. It's human. Even if it IS 'just TV'. It is and it isn't... what you saw in these characters and this ship (or ANY ship or character you love this much) is something very personal and for a lot of us it/they had personal resonances within our own internal landscape. So to dismiss that pain is a mistake, I think. Though of course it in no way means we should be mean to those who liked the finale or got what they wanted from the show. :) Lucky sods! :p
I'd also like to write:
- my reaction post to TSCC 2.19 (eeeeee!!! So much to say! So much to process...)
- a post of unpopular vidding fandom opinions (which has been percolating for a long time)
- a squee post about Skins (which I recently mainlined and LOVE)
- a post about the problematic Dollhouse (1.6 didn't really do it for me, kids, though I saw how it was meant to)
- a post on how Kings is not really doing it for me either
and any number of other posts...
And that's not to mention the VIDDING I want to be doing.
You know what all this means? It means I have no time for such activities. I have two days or so in which to respond to comments and then I will be away from the 'net for the next couple of weeks. So all my love in the meantime and I kind of hope you will still be interested in some/any of those proposed posts when I get back. :)
See you on the other side! :p
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Date: 2009-03-23 11:53 am (UTC)Can't wait to read your unpopular vidding fandom opinions. I myself have a staggering amount of never shared rants when it comes to the vidding fandom. :(
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Date: 2009-03-24 01:18 am (UTC)TOTALLY! I read your post and just nodded excessively all the way through. I could have added more but part of me thinks if I start listing my issues, I don't think I would ever stop!
It's actually comforting to hear other people have vidding fandom rants (unwritten)! :) I have censored myself a LOT in the past for various reasons, but I think at some point it will come out... I don't know if that's good or bad.
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Date: 2009-03-23 12:36 pm (UTC)I haven't read your previous post comparing BSG to T:SCC because we have BSG lined up to go...I think I'm going to want to mainline that series till it gets done so at least we have all the eps up now.
Re Dollhouse? So far Joss has disappointed me with this one. Mind you we've only watched three or four I think. The only one I liked was the one with the Middleman guy in it. It's not that the stories are necessarily poor it's more the fact that Joss seems to find the need to have Eliza stripping off as much as possible in every episode. Are we watching a TV Series or a thinly veiled Eliza Dushku Worship Hour? I would suppose that if you *liked* Eliza that way then this show would be pretty much your tv version of a very addictive narcotic...but even my other half (who has expressed on occasion that Eliza is definitely on his 'hottie' list) has commented several times on how blatant and obvious Joss's hard on for Eliza is and how he kind of finds that a little disturbing.
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Date: 2009-03-24 01:23 am (UTC)John Connor! *heartthud* He blew me away in 2.19! Wow. I love Derek too and Jesse/Derek is my ship for this show so 2.19 was one of the most amazing hours of TV ever for me. *squees*
Mainlining BSG will be infinitely better than watching it week by week I expect. ;)
As for Dollhouse I can say that I have a MASSIVE girlcrash on Eliza and I STILL don't like it. For me it's the squicky interpersonal/gender politics--which include but are not limited to Eliza stripping off every episode. Yes, I know the politics of abuse and slavery are acknowledged on the show but not nearly enough to overcome my ICK feeling from watching that much rape--emotional, physical, psychological, you name it--on a weekly basis.
It's very sad because I love Tahmoh too.
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Date: 2009-03-23 01:02 pm (UTC)Really. Consider. Kara returns from the dead - and we spent essentially ten episodes in pointless side stories where the only set up is the cylon mutiny.....and they find cinder!earth. Those are the most important events. We already knew who the final four were....
Then? Next most important revolation? Ellen. Then getting Ellen on the ship. Then arranging for Boomer to steal Hera....Then we have the magic song and Kara find Earth. Then everyone decides to become hippies. Kara is never explained. The head people are explained in a facile manner (I was never fond of head!Baltar) and not explained in a way that makes any of Head!Six's earlier actions make sense.
Ron ran out of story and or got bored.
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Date: 2009-03-24 01:26 am (UTC)AWESOME! \o/ I look forward to reading that when I get back.
Then we have the magic song and Kara find Earth
And at this point (both in your comment and as I watched the show) I burst into hysterical laughter. OMG SO TRUE.
Kara is never explained. The head people are explained in a facile manner (I was never fond of head!Baltar) and not explained in a way that makes any of Head!Six's earlier actions make sense.
ABSOLUTELY TRUE. And yeah, Head!Baltar? NEVER A GOOD IDEA. Why did Angel!Kara have to find her own corpse and go to light her own funeral pyre? Was that necessary show?
I think Ron did, indeed, get bored. In a 'Bored now, but I'm so great I can do WHATEVERTHEFUCKIWANT' way.
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Date: 2009-03-24 01:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2009-03-23 02:03 pm (UTC)And yes, T:SCC is sooo good.
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Date: 2009-03-24 02:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2009-03-23 02:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-24 02:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-23 03:40 pm (UTC)Take care, and we'll see you when you can get back!
(And wow, you're the first person I've seen on LJ who didn't like Dollhouse, either!)
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Date: 2009-03-24 01:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-23 05:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-24 02:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-23 06:26 pm (UTC)Vidding opinions always interest me, so I really look forward to seeing your unpopular opinions. Meanwhile, take care!
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Date: 2009-03-24 01:54 am (UTC)*nods* Same, same! Basically I hold a very strong personal view on the concept of the Dollhouse itself (I think it's slavery and rape and a crime against humanity) so I'm personally uncomfortable with it being even slightly condoned within the show... which probably means this show is going to be a no-go for me. If the dolls weren't 'people', if they were clones or robots for instance, I'd probably LOVE it because the question could be over whether they had access to regular human rights. But alas... ICK.
Enjoy SCC! It gets better and better... :)
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Date: 2009-03-23 06:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-24 01:30 am (UTC)You and
Season 3 ends soon, yes? I may have to catch the finale when I get back.
I don't even have any Skins icons yet. This must be remedied!
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Date: 2009-03-23 07:07 pm (UTC)Unpopular vidding fandom opinions? I'm curious...
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Date: 2009-03-24 01:50 am (UTC)I agree with the badfic (with bonus Angels ex Machina! got a plot hole? Stick an angel in it!) but yeah, I am totally conflicted on whether to bother outlining why it sucks or not. Part of my REALLY wants to to get closure on the whole thing, the other part thinks I've already spent too much time on this show.
Unpopular vidding fandom opinions? I'm curious...
You know some of them already but my capacity for unpopular opinions is boundless. :D
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Date: 2009-03-23 07:15 pm (UTC)However, the preachy nature of the episode was insulting to the audience’s intelligence, and I’m finding it hard to accept this whole back to the roots, technology, science and cities are evil thing from people who live in L.A. and constantly fly across the country, thereby polluting the planet. I want to know, if RDM takes the bike to get to work… And those seminars that he assumes will be held about BSG, I wonder what will be said about this implication that the fleet (with their decidedly American, Western European superiority) brought culture(and religion) to the primitive world. Not to mention not one female human name character survived and Kara’ending was a complete cop-out (why did she die in the first place?).
I understand what you’re saying about it being like the painful, disappointing end of a relationship, where nothing became of the promise of the beginning. Although for me it’s also a bit like I’m slowly overcoming an addiction, that wasn’t doing anything good for me for a long time, so I guess it’s good to leave that behind (but I will never fully recover from my Lee obsession!)
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Date: 2009-03-24 02:15 am (UTC)I'm shocked too. But evidently he DOES think that. I'm shocked because I feel like that was the most reductive reading of the relationship possible. And I don't think it was that to begin with (or didn't need to be) and he actually had to retcon it to make it even more like that. And yet for 3 seasons it was a central narrative thread, ok sometimes hideously handled, but it definitely seemed like the writers were going somewhere with it... somewhere other than 'all this was not meant to be'. Did he just get fed up of them? It feels a bit like he did. Katee and Jamie had such chemistry in these roles, it seems a TRAGEDY to waste that on making that a cheap, nasty, they-alway-jump-each-other-at-inappropriate-times relationship and nothing more. Sigh.
s a Lee fan it’s still hard to get over the fact that his love was never fully reciprocated
Honestly? I don't think I'll ever get over it. I love Lee so deeply from inside his viewpoint that to have him not have the person he loves most in the world love him back is devastating. I know I'm not rational about it, but I've never had a character I feel this connected to in a TV show before and I can't not feel that pain. Also, it's not just Kara. It's EVERYONE. He got left with NOONE. In the vid I made of him, at the end, everyone turns away from him and he embraces his future anyway... and that's exactly what happened on the show AND IT BREAKS MY GODDAMN HEART.
Oops. Sorry! Got a little ranty... can you tell my emotions are still running high on this one?
they should have stayed consistent with the muted way they treated K/L in the finale
I know right?! The finale wasn't even INTERNALLY consistent! If you're going to go muted on Kara/Lee, then DO SO FULLY AND PROPERLY and don't dig up some old angst! It really did not add anything and sat really awkwardly in a way that makes me wonder if they'd had this footage ages just hadn't found a spot for it before and flung it in before the end because they had some time to kill. *bitter*
the preachy nature of the episode was insulting to the audience’s intelligence
I've found BSG insulting to my intelligence for a good season and a bit, but this took even that to a new level of awful.
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Date: 2009-03-23 07:53 pm (UTC)I almost feel like the finale was just a bad dream I had Friday night :P And that if I don’t rewatch it, I’ll forget all about it and I can still enjoy my Lee fix now and then.
(Also, I’m planning to watch T:SCC tonight and I can’t wait! I’ve heard so much good about this episode. But do you know what the actual title is, because I’ve seen two different versions?)
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Date: 2009-03-23 08:51 pm (UTC)YES YES YES YES YES YES, I am BEGGING YOU!!!!!! *squees anticipatorially*
TSCC 2.19 is Last Voyage of the Jimmy Carter.
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Date: 2009-03-23 10:36 pm (UTC)BSG definitely broke hearts on Friday, mine included, so thanks for posting about it. You were so, so right to get out when you did. I'll always love the characters, though, and K/L especially, so I'm still trying to make some sort of peace with it. I want go back to loving them without the thought looming of how their journeys, together and apart, came to naught. Sobbing my way through all their scenes throughout the series would not be fun!
I only watched the pilot of Kings and it really didn't work for me at all. Which is too bad, as I think it's a neat idea.
And Dollhouse...idk. It's okay. I enjoy watching it, but don't feel attached at all.
Have a great time away! :)
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Date: 2009-03-24 02:18 am (UTC)Heh. Well... I think I managed to swerve at the last minute but I still felt the impact, if that makes any sense? I need to make my own peace with the show and I think that could take a long time. I think many of us need to reclaim the characters and journey that we loved, regardless of the ending. I know I'll be looking to do that somehow when I get back...
Yes, I feel the same way about Kings and Dollhouse.
See you when I get back! :)
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Date: 2009-03-23 11:02 pm (UTC)And how come Helo and Sharon never made any more kids??? They were still horny as teenagers for each other, and yet we're left to believe that not one of Helo's miracle sperm ever made it past the goal line again??? THAT is the biggest plothole of the entire show!!! LOL!!!
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Date: 2009-03-24 02:22 am (UTC)Ron totally wussed out of giving ANY answer, the only answer being that BSG was a TRUE polytheist SciFi verse
Yeah, and that's a wank. If it really was then fine, signal that from the beginning, instead of emphasising the realism, don't just use it to write yourself out of plotholes!
At least Lucas wasn't afraid to make rules for a made up religion..
And you NEED rules, damn it! All writers need to set themselves rules in their universe creation. Rules that can't be broken. Because otherwise you will lose your readers' trust. That's Writing 101, but I fear Mr Moore skipped that class...
while the "living" Humans scrounge around in the grass and get eaten by Giant Sloths...lol
This is true. I kind of want to see them get eaten. Is that wrong? ;)
I too achieved some zen through having seen much of this coming, but the finale still managed to be worse than I had anticipated which believe me was QUITE A FEAT. Actually it was about on par with what I thought would be the final overall resolution, but just worse when it came to Lee... I did expect him to end up alone but I didn't think they'd do it so meanly or heavy-handedly. (That pigeon! YE GODS.)
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Date: 2009-03-24 03:57 am (UTC)Thanks, hon. I chose to stay optimistic till the very end, and was repaid with ashes. I feel like Lee in TSAR. Feeling exhausted all the time. Went to the grocery and bought lots of comfort food. Truly, I know this grief is such small potatoes compared to the big things everyone is dealing with in these troubled times, but... I am still sad.
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Date: 2009-03-24 05:38 am (UTC)I think if I didn't have a whole lot of real life things which I totally *have* to be 'ok' for (quitting work, etc) then I would be in danger of slumping into depression because of this and I know that's terrible but it's true. :(
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Date: 2009-03-24 10:36 am (UTC)*nods vigorously*
There are reasons we get so emotionally invested in the first place and it is important to respect that, all of it, the whole range of emotions that goes along with it. And that includes taking time to deal with the heart breaks too.
I'd love to read what you have to say... whenever you feel it's the right time for you to say it.
Enjoy you holiday, hon *hugs*
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Date: 2009-03-25 07:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-25 12:10 am (UTC)*wants like bread*
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Date: 2009-03-25 07:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-25 02:34 am (UTC)Quickly...that fact that RDM thought we would buy these characters reproducing with out paleolithic ancestors is ridiculous. I mean seriously...do want to have sex with them? Didn't think so. I don't care how romantic their cave paintings are.
And re: Kara/Lee...you are absolutely correct. It is totally like a breakup. I was totally fine with getting an ambiguous or not much of an ending but what we got was so insulting and backstabbing and just...unforgivable. I will never forgive Ron for this (and really the last season as a whole). I think it would have been easier if they hadn't given us the flashbacks to remind us of their relationship, their love and everything that's come before. It just felt like Ron was taunting us and stabbing us in the back b/c why the hell not?
And don't even get me started on Kara herself because really, WTF?!
This was not the ending these characters, the show and the fans deserved and as far as I'm concerned the show ended with S3 and that final shot of Kara and Lee flying side by side and Earth in the future. (The real Earth not the random planet they decide to name Earth b/c why the hell not.) Ok, not so quick. :)
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Date: 2009-03-25 07:14 am (UTC)It's ludicrous, yes.
I think it would have been easier if they hadn't given us the flashbacks to remind us of their relationship, their love and everything that's come before. It just felt like Ron was taunting us and stabbing us in the back b/c why the hell not?
Right. Once upon a time I actually defended Ron in some instances, but I have learnt over the years that the man has no respect, not just for his audience('s intelligence) but also for the characters he created. Which is really sad. I think he is a sadistic sod and rather enjoys torturing people.
as far as I'm concerned the show ended with S3 and that final shot of Kara and Lee flying side by side and Earth in the future
Yes. I agree. That shot was glorious! And my heart soared with joy for the characters. It was such a beautiful (potential) ending.
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Date: 2009-03-27 01:38 am (UTC)...and, oh, the last we ever see of Lee is two years before the series starts, hungover on a sofa and looking at a pigeon?
Still, it was cute that he wanted to go exploring (and he will have beautiful cavekids with the locals)
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Date: 2009-04-20 09:09 am (UTC)Yeah don't get me started. That pigeon haunts my nightmares! Apparently Ron allocated him to Lee COMPLETELY RANDOMLY.
Kara couldn't be arsed to say goodbye. That really sums it up.
The pigeon is so ludicrous it should make me rotfl and I'm really cheesed it instead made me angry and sad and seriously disappointed.
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Date: 2009-03-27 02:17 am (UTC)Last good shot of Lee (if you ignore the hair):
Last chronological shot of Lee:
The very last ever frame of Lee:
(His last words were "Goodbye Kara, you won't be forgotten", which I suppose is better than "Is that sodding pigeon still here?")
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Date: 2009-04-20 09:10 am (UTC)Explorer!Lee is an adorable concept. I will cling to that I guess.
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