Very interesting. Particularly good points on the place of the group in writing and the overuse of past trauma to clothe ones self as a victim. Where did you find them?
Did you find the Londo/G'Kar relationship as fascinating as I did? The hatred, guilt and shared awful moments seemed to forge a much stronger bond between them than some of the other characters.
I was searching on google for the origins of the phrase "The balloon's going up," which I had noticed was used at least twice on B5. I was wondering if it was in some way related to 99 Red Balloons, but it turns out to be related to WWI, instead of WWIII.
Anyway, this is his stuff from rec.arts., or some such usenet group. I may put up a mirror--I should check the info on the website that compiled it, but it's the sort of thing I wouldn't like to see escape the net.
And yeah--it was a good relationship, dramatically speaking. Those friendships and relationships, though they're all at least a little different, are the cornerstones of almost any good series. In this particular case, it's a particularly powerful dynamic because of the way that the characters evolve over time, because of the hatred and anger and forgiveness, because of their childish truths, because of their revelations and their great sadness and
I like the way that he lets people have their moments of childishness - let's face it, even the biggest heroes are human. Similarly with Joss Whedon's Angel, although I think he overly exploits it for comic value.
The part of their character arc where G'Kar is tortured by the Emperor, and Londo's guilt sets in stands out for me.
Personally, I believe that "fate" is determined by people's relationships, which in turn is largely dependent on their character and the character of those in their lives. It's too easy for people to create a web which they cannot escape from. I think the important factor is choice. Most people make precious few of them. Living by default is no life unless it is the life that you would choose for yourself.
Comments 5
Reply
Reply
Did you find the Londo/G'Kar relationship as fascinating as I did? The hatred, guilt and shared awful moments seemed to forge a much stronger bond between them than some of the other characters.
Reply
I was searching on google for the origins of the phrase "The balloon's going up," which I had noticed was used at least twice on B5. I was wondering if it was in some way related to 99 Red Balloons, but it turns out to be related to WWI, instead of WWIII.
Anyway, this is his stuff from rec.arts., or some such usenet group. I may put up a mirror--I should check the info on the website that compiled it, but it's the sort of thing I wouldn't like to see escape the net.
And yeah--it was a good relationship, dramatically speaking. Those friendships and relationships, though they're all at least a little different, are the cornerstones of almost any good series. In this particular case, it's a particularly powerful dynamic because of the way that the characters evolve over time, because of the hatred and anger and forgiveness, because of their childish truths, because of their revelations and their great sadness and
Reply
The part of their character arc where G'Kar is tortured by the Emperor, and Londo's guilt sets in stands out for me.
Personally, I believe that "fate" is determined by people's relationships, which in turn is largely dependent on their character and the character of those in their lives. It's too easy for people to create a web which they cannot escape from. I think the important factor is choice. Most people make precious few of them. Living by default is no life unless it is the life that you would choose for yourself.
Reply
Leave a comment