tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36331360.post7144494770343523544..comments2023-10-12T05:09:46.380-04:00Comments on Guilty Displeasures: BSG: On symbolism, politics, and the triumph of individualismneilshyminskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14745442660488961314noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36331360.post-84963659123688466442009-03-06T16:07:00.000-05:002009-03-06T16:07:00.000-05:00Oddly enough, I just watched an episode that had t...Oddly enough, I just watched an episode that had this exchange between Weyoun and Damar.<BR/><BR/>Weyoun: All this talk of gods strikes me as nothing more than superstitious nonsense.<BR/>Damar: You believe that the Founders are gods, don't you?<BR/>Weyoun: That's different.<BR/>Damar: In what way?<BR/>Weyoun: The Founders ARE gods.<BR/><BR/>Is the show poking fun at its own hypocrisy in how it positions Sisko? Probably a very charitable read of the line and the creators' self-awareness, but ... hey!Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13298753675007196538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36331360.post-88142111092430544952009-03-05T12:33:00.000-05:002009-03-05T12:33:00.000-05:00I added so many DS9 comments that I really should'...I added so many DS9 comments that I really should've just cut them out and added another blog entry, eh?<BR/><BR/>It seems to play, in some sense, into Sisko's gradual acceptance of the role of Emissary and his own exceptionalism. In the earlier episode, when he's still reluctant to be a religious figure, he talks about how the Federation is bigger and more important than any one man and chastizes Leyton for making the unilateral decision to save the Federation by suspending some of its core values; in the latter episode, when he's fully embraced his minor-god status, he makes the unilateral decision to save the Federation from its own unwillingness to play dirty.<BR/><BR/>I only see one difference, really, and I think we'd be quite right to point how problematic and arguable it is: Leyton was just a mistake-prone man, but Sisko is the chosen one. For those of us who follow BSG and have wondered why it is that we're supposed to applaud Adama and Roslin's more dictatorial stances but despise their enemies for behaving in the same way... well, they're the ones written about in the Pythian scrolls, aren't they?neilshyminskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14745442660488961314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36331360.post-1561854563506088912009-03-05T04:12:00.000-05:002009-03-05T04:12:00.000-05:00Man, I actually passed over this blog entry becaus...Man, I actually passed over this blog entry because it was about BSG and I have never seen that show!<BR/><BR/>And now I see that halfway down you talk about DS9, which I am currently re-watching. How cool!<BR/><BR/>I wish I had something to add ... the analysis of Sisko's change over the course of the show is interesting. I'm trying to skip to the ending in my mind to see how ultimately the "darkening" of Sisko is resolved -- did Sisko's betrayal of his principles in "Pale Moonlight" in some way condemn him to the purgatory that we are led to believe he lands in at the end of the series?Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13298753675007196538noreply@blogger.com