I just finished watching it. Not sure how I feel about it... still processing.
I did like it, though it's hard to articulate why. I feel faintly... annoyed in some ways. Sort of like when you have a friend that keeps doing some stupid self-destructive behavior, and it's painful to see. But at the same time, it is who they are, and you choose to accept it (even if you don't like it, even if you try to change it) because you're their friend, and it's part of who they are. They are a package deal.
I don't understand why so many of the characters abandoned each other, either. I don't understand why Kara left/disappeared. I guess she served her purpose, and that's what kept her going? It feels satisfying in a way because it seems deeply consistent with who she was; she was all about finding and fulfilling that purpose. And I can kind of relate to that. But also a little empty, like... man, isn't that kind of the easy way out? Isn't the hard part finding a new purpose in life
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Alas... I however do feel beaten over the head with it. I can't remember if I said this to y'all at the time or just to Loyal, but several years ago when we would watch the show at GB's place I remember being annoyed at all the heavy-handed religious stuff, and Loyal talked me out of ditching the show because we didn't know if they were laying it on thick or if it was just the perspective of certain characters within the show. Well, hey. Turns out they were laying it on thick, and I just wasted n hours of my life (where n is defined as the number of hours of show since that point). Argh
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Well, I kind of think of it like fantasy novels... I enjoy fantasy worlds where there is magic and gods and stuff. I just accept as a precondition of the story that this is how this particular fictional world works, and it's different than mine. Of course BSG is sort of based on the premise that it takes place in -our- universe so I guess that's kinda different.
I didn't feel like it was strong religion disguised as dramatic entertainment... I felt like it was strong religion -and- dramatic entertainment... didn't really feel like they were deceptive about it. They were just showing enough of the atheistic perspective early on where it was hard to tell where the show creators really lay. But I don't think that makes it deceptive, just, well, less my cup of tea.
And the last straw was the whole "Baltar Angel and Six Angel in present-day NYC" thing just to insinuate that global warming, overpopulation, and constant war are indeed also all part of God's plan. Thanks, guys.Hahah. Yeah, that's pretty awesome
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I really didn't like how so many of the characters just withdrew to be alone and die, basically (adama sr., galen, starbuck)..... seems like the frightened, easy way out. after they'd shown so much courage and perseverence previously. That was my least favorite part.Yeah, that was weird on many levels. One that struck me as interesting was that being on the fleet all those years (aside from the New Caprica business, which was also a form of captivity) would have given them all a sort of prison mentality, which would make it very difficult psychologically to go off alone or in small groups vs sticking together. It's also incredibly unlikely that most of them (notably Galen) could even survive alone in that environment. In the pre-industrial society, that was a big reason why families had so many kids: you needed a bunch of people to help you run the farm so you could eat. Hunting is one thing, if you have the technology and skills; but cultivating land is bloody hard work. So yeah, like you said, it's a form of suicide basically --
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I also tend to be pretty sensitive to preachiness and am immediately repulsed by it, but BSG didn't trigger that for me. I don't mind religious characters or even religious themes, as long as I don't feel like there's proselytism behind it. Religion can be an effective element of a story, just like the Force or the One Ring, Istari, etc.
Like James mentioned, if it's clearly in a fantasy world (and despite the ending, that's how I think of BSG), it's unlikely to bother me, but that's not a requirement. For example, Dogma and A Life Less Ordinary (first ones I could think of) are both about divine intervention in our current world, and they don't bother me at all.
I think it's something about the attitude of the storyteller. Do they have respect for the audience? Are they trying to shove anything down my throat? It's a very subjective thing, though. I didn't get that preachy vibe from BSG, but if you did, I can totally understand how it would ruin the show for you. It's a shame, because it's a great show when it doesn't feel
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I did like it, though it's hard to articulate why. I feel faintly... annoyed in some ways. Sort of like when you have a friend that keeps doing some stupid self-destructive behavior, and it's painful to see. But at the same time, it is who they are, and you choose to accept it (even if you don't like it, even if you try to change it) because you're their friend, and it's part of who they are. They are a package deal.
I don't understand why so many of the characters abandoned each other, either. I don't understand why Kara left/disappeared. I guess she served her purpose, and that's what kept her going? It feels satisfying in a way because it seems deeply consistent with who she was; she was all about finding and fulfilling that purpose. And I can kind of relate to that. But also a little empty, like... man, isn't that kind of the easy way out? Isn't the hard part finding a new purpose in life ( ... )
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I didn't feel like it was strong religion disguised as dramatic entertainment... I felt like it was strong religion -and- dramatic entertainment... didn't really feel like they were deceptive about it. They were just showing enough of the atheistic perspective early on where it was hard to tell where the show creators really lay. But I don't think that makes it deceptive, just, well, less my cup of tea.
And the last straw was the whole "Baltar Angel and Six Angel in present-day NYC" thing just to insinuate that global warming, overpopulation, and constant war are indeed also all part of God's plan. Thanks, guys.Hahah. Yeah, that's pretty awesome ( ... )
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Like James mentioned, if it's clearly in a fantasy world (and despite the ending, that's how I think of BSG), it's unlikely to bother me, but that's not a requirement. For example, Dogma and A Life Less Ordinary (first ones I could think of) are both about divine intervention in our current world, and they don't bother me at all.
I think it's something about the attitude of the storyteller. Do they have respect for the audience? Are they trying to shove anything down my throat? It's a very subjective thing, though. I didn't get that preachy vibe from BSG, but if you did, I can totally understand how it would ruin the show for you. It's a shame, because it's a great show when it doesn't feel
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