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Starborn SocietySci-fi isn't just for nerds(Battlestar Galactica Ping)
NRO ^ | January 20, 2006 | Peter Suderman

Posted on 01/20/2006 8:29:57 AM PST by isaiah55version11_0

Science fiction has long been stereotyped as a hardware-obsessed, techno-jargon laden refuge for computer nerds and outcasts. Especially on television, which lacks the geek chic afforded by big-screen Hollywood budgets, the genre's reputation for hokey dialog and cardboard-and-wire effects have saturated it with a distinct odor of disrespectability. It is somewhat ironic, then, to see the Sci-Fi Channel, a network which often seems devoted to the pulpy and lowbrow, serve up Battlestar Galactica, a show about spaceships and killer robots that is also arguably the most potent, dramatically vibrant series on television. An unflinching examination of how the military, government, family, and religion interact in the fragile ecosystem of society, it as morally and intellectually serious as it is thrilling.

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...


TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: scifi
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To: warpcorebreach

There was a hot shot female pilot in the original too (the daughter of the commander of the Pegasus, Apollo's second love interest).

In one of the commentaries Ron Moore walked through the decision to make Starbuck a woman, it was purely for reasons of pplotting practicality not PC. They wanted a female pilot for purposes of a potential future lover interest among the pilots (which they knew were going to be the primary characters) and to reflect modern times, having already moved Boomer out of the Vipers and decided not to have the 4th pilot from the original series (whose name I've forgotten) that left Starbuck or Apollo. They'd already decided Apollo should be related to Adama just like in the original series and in discussion they felt the father-son relationship had better dramatic uses than the father-daughter relationship so that meant Apollo stayed a guy. Which meant Starbuck got to be a woman, but they wanted Starbuck to maintain that pure essence of Starbuck, he was the best at everything in the original series so she gets to be the best at everything in the new one.

As for the President, dude she inherrited it. And she's learning the job. She's done some seriously dumb things so there's certainly no message of "female presidents rock" in the story.


101 posted on 01/20/2006 10:20:05 AM PST by discostu (a time when families gather together, don't talk, and watch football... good times)
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To: mnehrling
Well, maybe, except for the fact that I got the impression that Katie was trying to hold true to Benedict's characterisation - I can see a lot of the old Starbuck in her.

I wanna be the (female) Starbuck when I grow up!

102 posted on 01/20/2006 10:20:29 AM PST by Alkhin (Double polaroids?! What were you thinking of at the time?!)
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To: warpcorebreach

Wouldn't be too bad bein' led by Boedicca or Semiramis. Both of 'em were terrors!

Women ain't designed for combat - they're not expendable like men. That said, the stuff is there to make 'em real terrors.


103 posted on 01/20/2006 10:21:31 AM PST by Little Ray (I'm a reactionary, hirsute, gun-owning, knuckle dragging, Christian Neanderthal and proud of it!)
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To: GOP_Party_Animal
Okay, now you've gone too far! Dirk Benedict can't be topped!

For that vision of a Starbuck, no. But I like this vision of Starbuck better, although there are a lot similarities. Love the cigar!

104 posted on 01/20/2006 10:23:17 AM PST by antiRepublicrat
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To: Alkhin
O blessed Partagas!
Black Label (one of my top 5)? If so, check out the CAO Brazilia (my #1). If I am going to have a cigar, it must have some real flavor!
105 posted on 01/20/2006 10:23:24 AM PST by mnehring (Perry 06- It's better than a hippie in a cowboy hat or a commie with blue hair.)
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To: discostu
They wanted a female pilot for purposes of a potential future lover interest among the pilots

I guess this is a good time to thank God that Ang Lee didn't direct this..
106 posted on 01/20/2006 10:24:33 AM PST by mnehring (Perry 06- It's better than a hippie in a cowboy hat or a commie with blue hair.)
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To: sauron
I hated her from that moment on. And I dont think the fact that what she did to the civilian crew was so over the top - I think it was meant to illustrate what extremes might happen - and how truely off some people can be in times of desperation. Its not that I transfer that warped view to our RL military - but that I think Cain was meant to highlight a danger that the remnants of humanity was facing in their survival. The fact that they had her second in command confessing what happened to Tye and hesitating when on board the Galactica shows that Cain was the exception, not the rule.

*still trying to make sense...*

107 posted on 01/20/2006 10:24:37 AM PST by Alkhin (Double polaroids?! What were you thinking of at the time?!)
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To: mnehrling

Will do - am always looking for new ones to try. I always end up falling back to Partagas though because it seems to have the right balance for me. Macanudos go "rancid" on me for some reason, and there are some that give me a real head-rush. I want to feel mellow, not like Im in a fog. But that sounds real good!


108 posted on 01/20/2006 10:27:19 AM PST by Alkhin (Double polaroids?! What were you thinking of at the time?!)
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To: discostu

DOn't get me wrong, I'd love to be able to watch some good sci fi right now. I was raised on it. When the new Star Treks kept coming out-- the depp space 9 garbage, which was liek the love boat, and they just wanted to make a series where they could use the same sets week after week, and then when people revolted because they never went out to space and it was like a bus station, they brought on the Defiant.

And Enterprise, just too queeny. Scott Bakula is a neutered, effeminate "male. Gives me the willies. People have to be believeable in their roles. SO yes, their were women in the old series, but they were normal woman and believeable. In real life, a 5 foot tall woman can't lift 200 pounds over her head, or beat up COnan the Barbarian.



109 posted on 01/20/2006 10:29:47 AM PST by warpcorebreach
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To: discostu

I like that they show Starbuck isnt the best at everything though ie the episode concerning the older Adama son and how she bent the rules for him.


110 posted on 01/20/2006 10:30:37 AM PST by Alkhin (Double polaroids?! What were you thinking of at the time?!)
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To: antiRepublicrat
And did anyone see that move for strafing the ressurection ship? Get your momentum forwards, maneuver jet 90 degrees to the right, and strafe as you fly sideways. This is the only show since 2001: A Space Odyssey I've seen that tries to get flight physics in space right.

Yup. I noticed that. Now, if only they could remember that there is no sound in space...

111 posted on 01/20/2006 10:33:22 AM PST by zeugma (Warning: Self-referential object does not reference itself.)
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To: warpcorebreach
It justs eems like today, liberals have to have women everywhere, in combat, and they're always "the best"

You have to admit, Starbuck is very butch in her attitude. But it's not a new concept. Robert A. Heinlein's patriotic novel "Starship Troopers" had all pilots as women (and that novel is recommended reading at all four military academies, plus the Army and Marines).

And women are in charge. In real life, you just don't hear about a lot of women leaders, you know?

Again, true. But look how they got there in BSG. She was just a secretary of education forced into the role, and she didn't do very well in the beginning. She had to learn to grow, get some "balls" so to speak.

112 posted on 01/20/2006 10:36:55 AM PST by antiRepublicrat
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To: wingnutx; Brett66; RightWhale; EsmeraldaA; Paul_Denton; ShakeNJake; N3WBI3; Nachum; discostu; ...

113 posted on 01/20/2006 10:39:40 AM PST by KevinDavis (http://www.cafepress.com/spacefuture)
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To: Ichneumon

Not if I want to be on her good side. Being there is way more important than sharing pictures :)


114 posted on 01/20/2006 10:39:50 AM PST by doc30 (Democrats are to morals what and Etch-A-Sketch is to Art.)
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To: neodad
Battlestar Friday!!!!!!!!!

I adore BSG.

115 posted on 01/20/2006 10:40:28 AM PST by Marie (Support the Troops. Slap a hippy.)
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To: antiRepublicrat

In real life, they would have announced that she was in charge, and after the laughter had died down, they would have chosen Adama. No one in that situation, would accept a woman as President. Not when your life was on the line. Especially not her. You don't need to "get close to your feelings" in a situation like that, you need to stay alive, fight, kill, etc. Need a man.


116 posted on 01/20/2006 10:41:40 AM PST by warpcorebreach
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To: doc30

"And when you see her (Cain), you will hate her. She is smart, but dangerously ruthless."

Oooo. I liked her immediately. I also thought she was kinda hot.

You're aware of her fate though, right?


117 posted on 01/20/2006 10:41:48 AM PST by Blzbba (Sub sole nihil novi est)
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To: GOP_Party_Animal

Video of Starbuck interviewing Starbuck at Starbuck's
http://s61.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1QUB23R3W9VC01J1L2QU79NUE3

:-)


118 posted on 01/20/2006 10:42:37 AM PST by pillut48 (CJ in TX)
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To: warpcorebreach
Oh, and changing Cain from a man to a woman!! Sex changes everywhere!!!!! Just make a new character, you know?

And Tye isn't black! Uh-oh, reverse PC. Although Adama changed from white to hispanic.

119 posted on 01/20/2006 10:45:38 AM PST by antiRepublicrat
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To: Alkhin
I love that the Original Apollo gets to play a 'baddie.' I bet he's been having fun !

The character is just short of a baddie; he is more of a political radical opportunist; sort of a Jesse Jackson or Hillary Clinton, with some convictions and without the bribes and embezzement. I like that they threw that character in there, it adds depth to the ongoing political debate; I hope we see more of that character as the series progresses. I always thought the political background in Star Trek was nothing short of a glossed over socialist pipe dream.
120 posted on 01/20/2006 10:47:12 AM PST by ARCADIA (Abuse of power comes as no surprise)
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