Starbuck's final fate - one theory, and similarities to other media SF?
A link on Latteaddict's great post regarding the Lee/Kara relationship on BSG has made me come to a new conclusion regarding the character of Starbuck. This is spoilery speculation with MAJOR spoilers for Babylon 5, Star Trek: Deep Space 9 and Galactica 1980.
First of all, in Galactica 1980, Starbuck is affected by a mysterious woman (no, not one of his regular girlfriends), and it's hinted he might end up joining the people of the Ship of Light. He does not return to Galactica or the colonists.
All the negative spec about Apollo/Starbuck has actually made me think more about the character of Starbuck. There's no question which character I like more and more fervently want to see have a happy ending.
But now I'm starting to consider whether Starbuck will even remain human by the end of the show.
Perhaps Starbuck becomes one with Aurora - not necessarily dying, but going off to another plane of existence, and *that's* why she doesn't get to end up with Lee, or you know, have a happy normal life as a pilot.
When I think of two other shows that have beat the drum about a protagonist with a final "destiny" I come up with Star Trek: DS9 and Babylon 5. RDM wrote for DS9, of course, and Babylon 5 is heavily influenced by Lord of the Rings, which has influenced - well - lots of folks.
SPOILERS (B5 and DS9) START HERE ....
In B5 - there are three main protagonists, Sheridan, Delenn, and Sinclair, who are linked together. Sinclair basically becomes Moses to an alien race (something I could see for Caprica 6), Delenn becomes a hybrid and destroys, then rebuilds the government of her people; and Sheridan - like Starbuck - dies and returns from the dead, only to be taken "bodily" into space. Like Christ.
With DS9 something similar happens to the character of Benjamin Sisko, who is also told he has a "destiny". He becomes a "prophet" to the people of Bajor, joining the alien/God like things living in a wormhole, controlling events. Again, like Christ, it's implied he will resurrect.
In both cases, Sheridan and Sisko leave behind lovers who they do not want to be parted from, but we're supposed to intuit that they will be together again, though, in the case of Sheridan, in "the place where no shadows fall".
...SPOILERS END HERE...
It would be interesting to see this kind of exciting destiny befall a female character for a change - I tend to think women characters get short shrift in the world/universe saving department - but on the other hand... I have me some issues with this.
First, the Lee/Kara relationship added so much of the sexual spark to BSG.
But - even more importantly to me as a woman, a TV viewer, and a writer - such an ending proves to me that TV writers STILL have trouble working with "transgressive" female characters - ones who are aggressive, who don't play nice all the time, who are sexually active, who have "issues". Often these characters get killed off. Or they get married to some he-man, with the implication that they're now "tame" (enraging all of us married gals watching). Or they become hands-off, powerful but on some level, untouchable and alone. That happens plenty of times to strong women in many media shows, especially Trek. That was the impression I got from Cordelia's fate in Angel, and at the end of Buffy, that her destiny was so big she could never really be with anyone or have a normal life again. (Why does this remind me of Ralph Nader, in 2004, talking about the reason he never got married?)
I'm fairly sure Laura Roslin, the other lead female character, will not survive the end of the series; if Kara Thrace doesn't stick around either -- what kind of message does that send? You can be powerful and important, if you don't drop dead, but you'll become so lofty that you'll no longer interact with mere mortals? How is this that much better than killing off important female characters, by making them so powerful that they have to be lopped out of the storyline?
First of all, in Galactica 1980, Starbuck is affected by a mysterious woman (no, not one of his regular girlfriends), and it's hinted he might end up joining the people of the Ship of Light. He does not return to Galactica or the colonists.
All the negative spec about Apollo/Starbuck has actually made me think more about the character of Starbuck. There's no question which character I like more and more fervently want to see have a happy ending.
But now I'm starting to consider whether Starbuck will even remain human by the end of the show.
Perhaps Starbuck becomes one with Aurora - not necessarily dying, but going off to another plane of existence, and *that's* why she doesn't get to end up with Lee, or you know, have a happy normal life as a pilot.
When I think of two other shows that have beat the drum about a protagonist with a final "destiny" I come up with Star Trek: DS9 and Babylon 5. RDM wrote for DS9, of course, and Babylon 5 is heavily influenced by Lord of the Rings, which has influenced - well - lots of folks.
SPOILERS (B5 and DS9) START HERE ....
In B5 - there are three main protagonists, Sheridan, Delenn, and Sinclair, who are linked together. Sinclair basically becomes Moses to an alien race (something I could see for Caprica 6), Delenn becomes a hybrid and destroys, then rebuilds the government of her people; and Sheridan - like Starbuck - dies and returns from the dead, only to be taken "bodily" into space. Like Christ.
With DS9 something similar happens to the character of Benjamin Sisko, who is also told he has a "destiny". He becomes a "prophet" to the people of Bajor, joining the alien/God like things living in a wormhole, controlling events. Again, like Christ, it's implied he will resurrect.
In both cases, Sheridan and Sisko leave behind lovers who they do not want to be parted from, but we're supposed to intuit that they will be together again, though, in the case of Sheridan, in "the place where no shadows fall".
...SPOILERS END HERE...
It would be interesting to see this kind of exciting destiny befall a female character for a change - I tend to think women characters get short shrift in the world/universe saving department - but on the other hand... I have me some issues with this.
First, the Lee/Kara relationship added so much of the sexual spark to BSG.
But - even more importantly to me as a woman, a TV viewer, and a writer - such an ending proves to me that TV writers STILL have trouble working with "transgressive" female characters - ones who are aggressive, who don't play nice all the time, who are sexually active, who have "issues". Often these characters get killed off. Or they get married to some he-man, with the implication that they're now "tame" (enraging all of us married gals watching). Or they become hands-off, powerful but on some level, untouchable and alone. That happens plenty of times to strong women in many media shows, especially Trek. That was the impression I got from Cordelia's fate in Angel, and at the end of Buffy, that her destiny was so big she could never really be with anyone or have a normal life again. (Why does this remind me of Ralph Nader, in 2004, talking about the reason he never got married?)
I'm fairly sure Laura Roslin, the other lead female character, will not survive the end of the series; if Kara Thrace doesn't stick around either -- what kind of message does that send? You can be powerful and important, if you don't drop dead, but you'll become so lofty that you'll no longer interact with mere mortals? How is this that much better than killing off important female characters, by making them so powerful that they have to be lopped out of the storyline?