Not signed in (Sign In)
Categories
- Main Junction
- CROSSED
- London Zoo
- Freakangels
- Music
- Printheads
- Culturegasm
- Web Nuggets
- WorldWeird
- Blogs
Welcome, Guest
Vanilla is a product of Lussumo:
Documentation and Support.
Culturegasm: [Closed] Battlestar Galactica: Frak Earth
Bottom of Page-
Not been reading this thread because I haven't seen the new episodes yet, so apologies if this is a re-post, but check this out:
Battlestar Galactica at the United NationsUN Public Information Department, Sci Fi Channel to co-host a panel with Battlestar Galactica creators to raise profile of humanitarian concern. The discussion will explore some of the themes that are of importance to both the United Nations and the critically acclaimed television show: human rights; terrorism; children and armed conflict; and reconciliation and dialogue among civilizations and faiths. The panel will be moderated by Academy Award-winning actress and producer Whoopi Goldberg. Oscar-nominated actress Mary McDonnell, Emmy Award-winning and Oscar-nominated actor Edward James Olmos, and Battlestar Galactica creators and executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick will participate in the panel.
-
Yeah, I read about it in io9. Apparently, Olmos at one point got this passionate speech going about race and how there is only "the human race." At the end, he practically bellowed "So say we all!" and almost everyone in the audience said it back.
That, in case you can't figure it out, is fucking awesome. -
-
CommentAuthorWilliam Joseph Dunn
- CommentTimeMar 18th 2009
I missed last week's episode and it's not on Hulu or SciFi channel's website yet. AAAAARGH!! Hopefull I won't be lost for the finale. -
-
- CommentAuthorTechnocratJT
- CommentTimeMar 18th 2009
That, in case you can't figure it out, is fucking awesome.
That really is.
I have rambled about the "one" vs "the other" dichotomy and how pleased I am that BSG is countermanding it at the end. But it is rooted in reality (it does come from sociology after all), and one of the major issues of SF is watching it reinforce the idea over and over. BSG, as good as it was to start, was a real culprit in that. Very much "us and them" as a base line. I am happy to see it get away from that as a show, but it is even cooler if that can be used as a fund raising excuse for humanitarian causes. Then again any excuse for those causes at the bottom line, and anything to raise awareness along the quoted lines of reconciliation. If it happens to be a geeky TV show, well, that works for me even if I was not a fan. -
I missed last week's episode and it's not on Hulu or SciFi channel's website yet. AAAAARGH!! Hopefull I won't be lost for the finale.
They're rebroadcasting part 1 one of the finale Friday right before the rest of it. I'm planning to record all three hours to watch at once. -
I am very pleased with how the end is shaping up. I think most of the loose threads will be tied up, and I have no idea how, in anything other than the vaguest form.
Re: Baltar - I think his moment may come in the aftermath of whatever happens. Someone upthread mentioned what an abandonment of the fleet this suicide mission will be. Who is left to look after the fleet? Baltar and his armaments-issued girl cult. Something will come of that, I suspect.
Re: Lee chasing the bird - I thought that was probably post Zack's death too - the lingering shot on the viper, the weird pain in Lee... I think looking at the suit may be reading too much into it.
I am a little worried about the possibility of some of these dead characters coming back to life - but in my opinion the writers of this show have never yet disappointed me on any major plot point, so I'm willing to trust at this point if they go that way, it will be in a unique manner and will not suck.
Nobody not in a flashback cried this time. Has anyone suggested a BSG Crying Drinking Game yet? It might be as dangerous to your liver as the one where you drink every time Kevin Costner gets hit on the head in Dances With Wolves. Which co-starred who? See? It's all one big circle!
I am really excited about the finale. -
Yeah, I'm starting to think Baltar's a goner. Even going on the mission, at this point, isn't remotely enough of a redemption moment to get him where he needs to be. He basically has to sacrifice himself to save humanity at this point - unless they actually go the other direction and he's disgraced somehow.
-
Nobody not in a flashback cried this time.
The fountain was probably hiding Roselin's tears.
And I've only seen a quarter of the third season and started from the "final" episodes, but yeah, a crying drinking game would probably give one alcohol poisoning. But hey--last of the human race, trying to find a home to live in, robots hounding your asses constantly to kill the rest of you, can't really blame some tears and some snapping.
@JTraub
True, but I would say that is one of the best things sci-fi and just about any genre fiction can do--it can take what's going on today, put it in a completely foreign to make it more palptable for your audience to think about. -
- CommentAuthorJames Puckett
- CommentTimeMar 18th 2009
Even going on the mission, at this point, isn't remotely enough of a redemption moment to get him where he needs to be.
I just don’t see any reason for Baltar to ever be redeemed. BSG isn’t a fairy tale bound by the usual tropes. I think he could just go out like a douche and be an analogy for corruption, failure, weakness and cowardice. George Bush never stopped being George Bush—why should Gaius Baltar stop being Gaius Balter? -
George Bush never stopped being George Bush—why should Gaius Baltar stop being Gaius Balter?
I find it odd that you say this. I was thinking the same thing. The first couple seasons of BSG were almost mirror images of what was happening in the real world.
In the first episode of season 1, (episode titled 33) Adama orders that a civilian space craft be shot out down. Another episode dealt with torture, and the continuing story of how much does a President tell the people about their enemy and military operations.
This is what drew me into the show, but slowly started to move to more sci-fiish story lines. I still watch, but it's not the same. -
-
CommentAuthorWilliam Joseph Dunn
- CommentTimeMar 19th 2009
They're rebroadcasting part 1 one of the finale Friday right before the rest of it. I'm planning to record all three hours to watch at once.
awesome! thanks. -
-
-
CommentAuthorwarrenellis
- CommentTimeMar 19th 2009
At the end, he practically bellowed "So say we all!" and almost everyone in the audience said it back.
That, in case you can't figure it out, is fucking awesome.
That's fucking embarrassing. Is this show over yet? -
-
- CommentAuthorTechnocratJT
- CommentTimeMar 19th 2009
That's fucking embarrassing. Is this show over yet?
48 hours or so, depending where you are. Then the second made for TV movie...and um the other series.
So no, no its not. -
@ Warren Ellis
The show ends in not quite 30 hours or so. Then just give us a few days to talk out the finale and you can close the thread and ignore the show from that point forward. Try not to close it too quickly or you'll risk getting NerdSAD all over Whitechapel instead of keeping it contained here in this one cesspit of a thread. -
- CommentAuthorTechnocratJT
- CommentTimeMar 19th 2009 edited
Or we can talk about it in blogs, which I suspect I won't be able to stop myself from doing, becuase I will miss this damn show.
-
See, if it'd been Roslin-Tigh, I'd've voted GOP this year.
-
Then just give us a few days to talk out the finale and you can close the thread and ignore the show from that point forward.
Like fuck - The Plan! Caprica in 2010! >=) -
-
CommentAuthorLactamaeon
- CommentTimeMar 20th 2009 edited
Speaking of "Battlestar Galactica at the United Nations" thing that was mentioned earlier, here is some more info about it , but from the "inside"....
Adama, Roslin, and .... Guinan?
DPI and SciFi Network to present "Battlestar Galactica: A Retrospective"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: Friday, 13 March 2009, New York | DPI/Outreach Division
"Through its newly established Creative Community Outreach Initiative (CCOI), the Department of Public Information (DPI) aims to partner with the international film and television industries to raise the profile of critical global issues.
The CCOI is the first point of entry in the UN for the international creative community. It acts as a liaison between the UN and producers, directors, writers, and new media professionals seeking a working relationship with the UN.
In a second event organized by the CCOI this month, DPI and the Sci Fi Network will co-host a panel discussion in connection with final episode of the Battlestar Galactica (BSG) television series, on Tuesday, 17 March at 7 pm in the ECOSOC Chamber.
The discussion will explore some of the themes that are of importance to both the United Nations and the critically acclaimed television show: human rights, terrorism, children and armed conflict, and reconciliation and dialogue among civilizations and faiths.
The panel will be moderated by Academy Award-winning actress and producer Whoopi Goldberg. Oscar-nominated actress Mary McDonnell, Emmy Award-winning and Oscar-nominated actor Edward James Olmos, BSG creator and executive producer Ronald D. Moore, and BSG creator David Eick will participate in the panel.
Also participating are Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict; Craig Mokhiber, Deputy Director, New York Office, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; and Robert Orr, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Planning, Executive Office of the Secretary-General.
A limited number of tickets will be available to UN staff only on a first-come, first-served basis, upon presentation of a valid grounds pass, on Monday, 16 March between 3 and 4 pm" . -
-
-
CommentAuthorLactamaeon
- CommentTimeMar 20th 2009 edited
Here's some more...
So say we all!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: Wednesday, 18 March 2009, New York | DPI/Outreach Division
" Representatives from Aquarion, Canceron, Libran, Sagitarron and the other twelve colonies of Battlestar Galactica (BSG) attended a Panel discussion organized by the Department of Public Information (DPI) with the stars, creators and producers of the television series. "
"In his opening remarks, DPI USG Kiyo Akasaka noted that the Creative Community Outreach Initiative has been established in his Department to forge meaningful and productive relationships with the international film and television industries, as part of the UN efforts to find innovative ways to raise awareness about global issues.
With youth identified as a priority target audience for the UN, 100 New York City school students had been invited to participate in the event.
Dave Howe, President of the SCI FI Channel remarked on the importance of the Panel discussion, the timing of which coincides with the last episode of the show to be broadcast on Friday. He introduced the Panel moderator: Academy Award-winning actress and producer Whoopi Goldberg.
"The UN is more than a building with fantastic curtains," commented Ms. Goldberg as an introduction. She went on to remark that the universal themes that the UN promotes - human rights, children rights and national reconciliation - are also issues that BSG communicates, in what can be summarized as "what is right and what is wrong?"
Battlestar Galactica was represented by Oscar-nominated actress Mary McDonnell, Emmy Award-winning and Oscar-nominated actor Edward James Olmos, BSG creator and executive producer Ronald D. Moore, and BSG creator David Eick.
Excerpts of the TV series were shown, illustrating the four themes to be discussed by the Panel: human rights, children and armed conflicts, terrorism, and reconciliation and dialogue among civilizations and faiths.
Speaking on behalf of the UN on human rights, Craig Mokhiber, Deputy Director of the New York Office, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, reminded the audience that the UN is an idealistic organization that fights to ensure that rules are applied "in all places and in all circumstances." He noted that the work of the UN addresses two of the Four Freedoms: freedom from fear and freedom from want, and that security is about human security. Commenting on the show, he asked the question: "If society were wiped out, what kind of society would we want to replace it with?"
Responding to a student’s question "can our tech addiction lead to a nightmare like a Cylon?" Edward James Olmos responded: "You are what you eat, you are what you think, you are what you do. If you are using [technology] in a constructive way, you will be constructive, if you are using it as a game, you will become a game."
Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, commented that BSG is "a deeply moral series…" which is "not the easy morality of black and white". The Special Representative gave examples of children she has met, victims of sexual violence, girls attacked because they go to school, or the young child soldier who asked her "all I know is how to fight, what shall I do?" Asked what the UN does concretely on the issue of child soldiers, she described the UN response on the one hand as punishing the perpetrator - to ensure deterrence and justice - and on the other hand, the programmes conducted on the ground by the UN system.
The actors provided their insights on each of these issues, and discussed such serious questions as torture, racism - which gave the opportunity to Edward James Olmos to repeat Commander Adama’s signature phrase "so say we all!" - capital punishment, the fragility of the rule of law in wartime, and the thin line between right and wrong when survival is at stake.
The show creators, David Eick and Ronald D. Moore commented at length on the creative process, explaining their choices as to why their President was not the first woman President, how gender barriers had disappeared, and how the show featured monotheist robots and polytheist humans, with the intention to incite viewers to reconsider their beliefs. They also explained the role played by blogs, and how viewers responses and comments had influenced creative choices. "
( Not Whoopi Goldberg... )
Here is a Youtube of the Event , for those interested....
-
-
- CommentAuthorlooneynerd
- CommentTimeMar 20th 2009
Edward James Olmos gave a lecture at my university about latin-american's rights. It was all stuff I've heard before, but he's a wonderful public speaker!