Battlestar Galactica, Survivor Cook Islands - Polar opposites of enjoyment *UPDATED*

WARNING: Comments to his post will likely contain spoilers for BSG.  The post itself does not.  You were warned!

So Battlestar last night, huh?  Can they really be saying they killed (blank) and (blank)?  Pretty important characters to lose so early.  Edward James Olmos wasn’t kidding about this being the darkest season yet.  How awesome was that whole thing with Starbuck?  How hot is Grace Park?  How much could Ron Moore throw in references to Iraq while claiming that the show is based on the German occupation of France during WWII?

Actually I have an explanation for that.

(Rest of the post is now below the jump, it got long!)

Since the last 4 or 5 years all we’ve heard are words like “insurgency” and “suicide bombers” and “occupation,” it does make sense to update the language.  Calling the human resistance “The underground” wouldn’t ring true, it would seem like an old movie.  Calling them an insurgency (which they are from the Cylon point of view) makes it easier to identify with, easier to understand.  From the human perspective, they’re simply resistance.  Since there is only one way to occupy “liberate” a nation through military force, there will be a lot of parallels between the German occupation of France and the U.S. occupation liberation of Iraq, and it will become easier and easier to slip in references to current events.  Which of course kind of makes Ron Moore a liar, but hey, as long as the damn show is good and dramatic, I don’t care if they name the head Cylon George W. NumberFive.

By the way, don’t get me wrong, I’ve not gone moonbatty over Iraq.  I still get it.  I also still wish the action was being run by more competent warriors.

But anyway...I was pretty sickened by Tigh’s wife.  Yes, at first she was redeeming herself because she finally used her pussy to help Tigh instead of hurt him.  Then she went and gave up the location of the meeting.  Which reminds me...over at TV Squad, Keith recapped the premiere (that link contains much spoilers!) was all “Is the Sharon with the insurgents the cause of the ambush on them?” Dude, you get paid to write about TV, the least you could do would be to pay attention!  The priest forced Mrs. Whorebag Tigh to find out when the next big meeting was.  She stood in the room while Tigh, Chief and Anders planned where and when to meet BSG’s liason (Go good Cylon Sharon!).  When Tigh said “This is the most important meeting WE’RE ever going to have” or words to that effect (I know he said “we") Mrs. Slutbucket Tigh assumed that Saul was going to the meeting, so she stole the map and passed it to her boytoy Cylon lover.  Hence: ambush.

Speaking of Sharon at that meeting, how great is it that Adama is smart enough to use Cylon Sharon as a tactical asset?  I truly believe she is on the side of humanity, and further I believe that all the Sharons can be turned against the Cylons.  The empathy and sympathy needed to allow that model to fall in love is, from the Cylon point of view, the flaw in her programming.  She can fall in love with humans.  That means she can also like and respect them, which walks a line as it is when you are supposed to be warring with someone.  Throw in the fact that the Cylons are committing atrocities with which the Sharons do not agree and you have a “flaw” that humanity can exploit if they can just stop seeing her/them as toasters for a minute.  The Sharons are the key to humanity surviving this occupation and perhaps the key to humanity surviving at all.

Did I mention Grace Park being hot?  Because she is.

Contrasting that wonderfulness from last night...Survivor, Racist Island isn’t racist anymore.  It’s just frigging BORING.  I only watched it because Donna wanted to see what happens.  It’s a chore just to watch, so no, no more recaps.  It completely sucked, and those recaps are a lot of damned work.  Time better spent writing other insulting, filthy drivel, like maybe finally trying to get my ass back on track and do a podcast here and there.  *cough*

Anyway, my point is, I actually dread the idea of watching Survivor, and I’ll pretty much watch anything, as evidenced by the fact that I intentionally downloaded and watched episodes of “The New Adventures of Old Christine.” Meanwhile, I would move time and space to get the entire third season of BSG all at once and sit there like a Hutt on a platform, watching every episode until my ass grafted itself to the couch and I had to shit into the springs.

So yeah...polar opposites of enjoyment, really.

*UPDATE*

Ryley R. Hayes left this comment, and I think it deserved to be elevated to the post, as it touches on the larger issue I think many are missing about the new direction of BSG

The humans, particularly their spiritual leader, are also shocked and outraged about the suicide bombing. That’s in pretty clear contrast to terrorists in Iraq

Absolutely true.  I think that was a very important, redemptive point.  Without that, it would have been hard to have a lot of sympathy for the humans.  It goes to illustrate the many shades of grey in this show.

The Cylons are playing the part of the religious zealots who feel that any means necessary are justified to bring the truth of God to humanity.  So, like BSG has ALWAYS been...there is good in the bad and bad in the good.

Battlestar has never been a clear place of good versus evil.  Humanity continued to enslave the machines after they were self aware and disclosed a desire to be released from servitude.  The Cylons wiped out most of humanity in a fit of machine-logic-fueled zealotry.  Humans tortured and raped Cylons.  Now the Cylons are cruelly occupying what is left of humanity and the humans are terrorists.

It’s not good guys and bad guys.  It’s not even right versus wrong.  It’s bad guys and bad guys, and the roles keep shifting between the two sides.  If anything, Battlestar Galactica is an allegory for the modern American political landscape.

I saw some lefty bloggers atwitter with excitement over the “new BSG”...I also saw many righties talking about never watching the show again.  All of those people are dead wrong.  There are so many shades of grey here, so many layers of who did what to whom and why and when, that to claim it’s “anti-American propaganda” or “beautiful anti-Bush allegory” is purely ignorant.  Look deeper, people.  Use your brains and stop trying to make everything about red versus blue.

This is a grey world.  Red or blue don’t enter into it.

Posted by JimK at 12:09 PM on October 07, 2006
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