GWC Podcast #86

Podcasts Galactic Watercooler
#81

oh yeah, I agree. Plus, it’s fun to hear stories from the early days of Trek. I read both parts of Shatner’s memoirs plus the Picard memoirs and they were hella interesting. I agree with frakkintalos about everything he said about Trek and scifi in general, and especiall with Trek it’s always been this way: the best Trek stories were those in which the scifi element just provided the background for a story about what it means to be human. or an alien.

I really like the way BSG did the same-sex relationship.

hm. I’m not argue about that. What I think was weird and should really be discussed is that Caine kissed Six in front of her officers. That’s not … is that allowed? What about military protocol and/or etiquette? Can you imagine Picard kissing someone while Data is explaining nanotechnology in a meeting?

It’s ‘Cain is human and capable of a relationship!’

well, we don’t know what kind of a relationship that was, maybe Cain was just in for the sex. and honestly, I don’t care. I don’t watch BSG or any scifi for romantic relationships, I want space opera and not soap opera, and I’m fine with hot chicks, but it’s actually ships and space action that get my juices flowing and why am I writing in italics…

But truly great scifi or any literature is when it makes you think while entertain.

totally.

wouldn’t it be fun to see a movie that has an Alien-like story, just that the roles are reversed, the human is the hunter and the alien is the good guy defending itself and you see the whole story from the alien’s perspective?

#82

I am with Audra:

1: There was something about Bowie’s look in Labyrinth. 80’s Bowie was cool and slick. Maybe that is why he was the “Thin White Duke”. I don’t like a lot of Bowie’s stuff, but I own almost all his albums. I enjoy following the journey he has taken through the years and seeing where he takes his art. I like nothing of his new work, but I admire his tenacity and sense of direction. I definately haven’t thought of him as sexy for a long time and he is not on my “shag” list.

2: Legolas: Wow, hot. Orlando: Not so much.

I certainly can not define it.

k

#83

Wow so many great comments, I don’t even know where to start. Everyone has said things so well regarding gender and sci fi, I don’t know much more I can add, but I’m going to try!
One thing to add to the Star Wars topic…I think Leia was really a better character ultimately than Padme/Amidala. In Ep III basically all Padme did was cry and wait around for Anakin. I think they really did her character a disservice in that last episode specifically.
Scifi is lacking in a lot of good roles for women, but I think it is starting to pick up the pace more and more. And its better than most other genres of tv in that respect. I’d like to add two other shows to consider, but these are shows that I think have done good things for gender and sexual orientation.

Farscape - All of the male and female characters are portrayed as strong and weak, as regular people who have mulitple aspects. Yes, the female characters might need saving from time to time, but the main male character often screws up and needs saving by his crewmates. Although they did show off the female characters quite a bit, there is something to be said for John Crichton wearing leather pants a majority of the series.

Torchwood - Not necessarily the best show when it comes to plot or continuity (but just fun to watch!). However it is doing some good things with the women’s roles in it. The main character is a woman, an ex cop, who gets drafted into working for Torchwood, to help them catch aliens, and is often shown being more proficient at things than the male characters. Another thing about Torchwood is that it does feature gay relationships more than most other series. This is probably partly because it is made in the UK (and the series creator is gay himself). It is refreshing to see them not making a big deal out of the fact that someone is gay or bisexual (most of the main characters have had some sort of same sex relationship).

#84

Check out Babel 17 for a story featuring a strong female lead who is witty, sensitive, a linguist&poet and saves the universe. Probably the only time in literary history that an English major rescued the galaxy. Plus, the protagonist, Rydra, reminds me a lot of Audra.

I opened a threadfor this book in the book selection forum and you can still vote for it in the March book of the month poll!

#85

The trouble is for me is that its not that there are poor women characters…or any alternative archtype…its that when they are done they done so with an agenda behind it.

I don’t mind the occassional social message being portrayed…all good literature has that but its when that message IS the point of the story. The story then looses cohesion and becomes far far too surreal.

Elizabeth Moon has written some veyr good characters. So has Ann MCAffery in Dragon Riders of Pern (Sean…Sci Fi or Fantasy?). There is also Robert Jordan’s whole series…yes yes yes not sci fi yet still. The mold is there. I think that we want to see women (in particular) in unnatuiral roles. No I don’t mean in the kitchen or at hime…but I just don’t see women taking on the infantry/hardcore roles in Sci Fi. I would very much like to see a story somewhat based off of Queen Elizabeth. Now that was a powerful woman. Anyone disagree? For some reason some want to see women in roles men held. Why? There are so many other things to be explored.

Now granted as I have matured so has my reading tastes. Perhaps when I was a teen I wouldn’t have wanted to read about that sort of thing…but now…oooooh. …I would. Something else…I think there is a lot of sci fi junk food out there and not enough meat. Not enough good hardcore stories. Fantasy had this problem for a while. Its now in a kick where if you can’t get a trilogoy out of a story and possibly a 5 book series…you won’t get a deal.

sigh…sadly literature is giving in to the “industry” just like music did.

#86

I don’t know if he’s read any of them, so I’ll jump in and say “Sci-Fi.”

But then, you knew that.

#87

Originally Posted by thenewguy
So has Ann MCAffery in Dragon Riders of Pern (Sean…Sci Fi or Fantasy?).
I don’t know if he’s read any of them, so I’ll jump in and say “Sci-Fi.”

Pern!!! One of my favorite Dragon series. Hmmm, Well there is both magic and SciFi here. I’m gonna have to chew on that a bit. You know, consult the all seeing eye, throw some chicken bones that sort of thing… the whole bit.

#88

I’ve found that pigeon works better for some reason. Perhaps they have better directional sense or something.

#89

Dragon Riders of Pern…defo Sci-Fi.

Really great thread comments on sexuality in movies/TV and all my brain keeps going back to is visioning Sean as Tank Boy!

#90

Dragonriders of Pern = Excellent. I really enjoyed that series way back when.

#91

Its real difficult to to respond to EVERYTHING on the forums…wow…so much going on.

Wow…while I don’t disagree. I also don’t see people in terms of this. Yet I do have a degree in Ancient History which is why I agree. Just not sure how to take this…dangit!

Well, I guess it’s as the saying goes, you will only find out about a person’s true character when they’re either rich or famous or powerful. I wouldn’t condemn all people in the industry at large, they’re just people like you and me and like you and me, some of them are flawed and screwed up and it just shows, or shows on a bigger scale because they’re important or the media make them look important.

GalaxyRanger, This is what I meant by being a bum. Its been my personal observation that most Americans have forgotten where they came from. By and large we used to cheer the underdog, live by our roots. Heck all the founding fathers died penniless. Yet here we are toting our wealth and fame.

And you hit it on the head. They are no different. A bum. Like me.

I wonder to what extent such a statement could be regarded as wishful thinking. I would bet that all of us here on the forum were immensely influenced by hollywood as kids and a huge part of socialization in today’s world works via TV. We should do an experiment and raise a couple thousand kids without any TV or video game influence whatsoever and see what they turn out to be like. Would they have better grades? Would they be more athletic?
I would say that we’ve all been more influenced by Hollywood than are consciously aware of.

Galaxy when I said Hollywood doesn’t reflect me…I almost literally meant it. Sure we are influenced by everything. This forum influenced me and my perceptions of BSG. For one I at first started not giving one gorram about the mysteries going on…now I kind of do. And here’s something that is probably going to shock EVERYONE…

I don’t have cable, Satellite TV…heck I don’t even have TiVo. I get 4 channels off my rabbit ears. I HAVEN"T EVEN WATCHED 3rd Season yet. I literately don’t have time to watch TV so I buy the DVDs of shows I want to see.

#92

oh yeah. but not having played Mass Effect, I’m missing out on half the discussion anyway :wink:

I also don’t see people in terms of this.

the way I see it, I would love to see people differently and maybe less pessimisticly, but mankind hasn’t really changed since we climbed down from the trees. As Adama said in the miniseries: we still commit murder and other evil crimes. we’re not perfect and in all likelihood will never be. but on the other hand, maybe that’s a necessity. maybe we would vanish in a thousand years if everybody was nice and sweet and excellent to each other. maybe we need a certain drive to make progress, to go forward as a culture. and maybe that drive is fueled by the the metaphorical magma erupting from the faultline between good and evil people.

GalaxyRanger, This is what I meant by being a bum. Its been my personal observation that most Americans have forgotten where they came from. By and large we used to cheer the underdog, live by our roots. Heck all the founding fathers died penniless. Yet here we are toting our wealth and fame.

hm. I can see where you’re coming from. This could be true for all of western civilization. But I’d rather be a degenerate European or North American than sit in a straw hut in a third world country.

I don’t have cable, Satellite TV…heck I don’t even have TiVo. I get 4 channels off my rabbit ears. I HAVEN’T EVEN WATCHED 3rd Season yet. I literately don’t have time to watch TV so I buy the DVDs of shows I want to see.

I don’t have a TV either, but probably for different reasons. I hate German TV and I refuse to watch all my favorite shows dubbed. So I just get the dvds, too. Plus, I read way more than I watch shows.

#93

Bowie - he’s just so damn interesting…Legolas, oh yeah…I agree totally. The only thing I’ve liked him in since is Kingdom of Heaven. He was so SINCERE…if that makes any kind of sense, but remember, I DO have the hots for Sean…and Tigh.

Regarding gender roles and scifi. When it comes right down to it, almost everything ever presented commercially is just plain safe, even when it’s not. I mean, even the first inter-racial kiss, when you think about it. Here we are being presented with a humanity that is exploring the stars, found and kept peace, living in a non-monetary based economy, solved all of the worlds issues, and yet, the biggest thing about it is the kiss issue, and one that is reflective of a past era, when every single other thing about that past era has been transcended/resolved?! I mean, come on. If gender/sex/orientation took the quantum leap that every other category of existence did, then there wouldn’t even be these same old stale issues - there could be new genders, new relationship models, maybe whole new cans of worms (no puns intended) etc.

Great podcast!

#94

Truly there is a lot going on here.

Definitely, there is a need for balanced gay/lesbian portrayals. I don’t see, “hey, at least they had the ‘token’ gay”, as entirely acceptable. All of us, as viewers, deserve better. Gaeta would be awesome. He’s adorable, a good man, humane- except when it comes to Baltar, and adorable. So many wonderful qualities, and adorable, too.

Helo gets the shaft a lot. Chuck made a nice comparison with himself- my hubby gets a lot of work dumped on him, too. That’s what happens when you are good at your job, plus a wide variety of other stuff.

Legolas smolders.

Sean rocks. Don’t need a list to itemize him. He just rocks.

Oh, and here in San Diego, a while back, we had Tankman. Dude broke into the Nat’l Guard armory (in my neighborhood) and stole a tank. Former military guy who went off the deep end. He went on a heck of a rampage, trashed some cars on the street, and made it onto the 163 hwy, where he crashed across the divider, stalling on the debris. He probably would have made it out alive if he wasn’t heading for oncoming traffic. Sad.

Sean, I like the way you roll, just please don’t do it in a tank down my street! :smiley:

Mal naked = funny! Lee w/towel = sexy. Crichton in anything = sexy! Yes, even the fishnet stockings! Both funny and sexy! Depends on the context and shooting style. There is much more cheesecake in scifi than beefcake, but things are improving.

Pern is fantasy rooted in scifi. They got there by spaceship, origins in scifi- they lived with dragons, harpers, etc. in an agrarian society. Awesome series. Also love the Temeraire series- dragon lovers must read it, if they haven’t already!

Bring on the Mass Effect. Don’t own it, probably never wil, I seldom get the time to play the games I do have. Still amused by the discussion and references. I don’t have to get all the jokes to enjoy the 'cast. GWC is that good.

And finally, at the risk of losing my cherished geek card, what is the significance of alpacas? I have searched, and I can’t find out why. Also, I can’t find Darth Weef’s translation of the binary on the geek card. And are Chuck and Audra a couple? Roommates? I don’t wish to be nosy, but I am curious. I’m a shipper, after all. Just love happy humans. And who is the 5th cylon?

What a wonderful community!

love, me! b!

#95

Maybe they’re like Han and Chewie and Sean could be Lando …

#96

You just had to do it didn’t you galaxy ranger. That is the best analogy ever so now I might as well not even try.

Taoism forum

#97

Sorry. But you get to choose who is Chewie and who is Han :slight_smile:

#98

Sorry I don’t understand why a character’s sexual orientation is even important to the story. That is unless you want a soap opera or are reading erotica. Whenever a silly love scene comes on I have to close my eyes, plug my ears and say “LALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU LALALALALA…” It just detracts from the story.

I want more vipers, more fights, more struggle, political intrigue…less kissing, stripping, and all around cavorting.

I just don’t understand. There were plenty of good sci fi before all this social, political, and environmental commentary. Is it too much to ask to be allowed to read and put the world away for just a few hours?

I guess thats why my reading has reverted back to the greats…well some of the greats, and well…as much sa it might irk our European mates. I read A LOT of Black Library stuff

#99

Thank gawd. I had bad bad images of Chuck and Sean having to clean up all the hair after Audra left.

But I have to admit…she has a hot voice.

#100

Well sci fi writers have to pander to everyone’s tastes, I mean I’m sure there are people out there who watch BSG just for its drama merits and say “man, what’s with all the viper crap, I wanna see more of Lee’s relationship problems.”

Ebony Webcams