Meme: 5 reasons I love the things I do

[sunnyskywalker]

baleanoptera did this, and I wanted to try it.

Five reasons I love the things I do (in no particular order):

Star Wars

1. The score It gives me happy tinglies when I watch the movies. Grand and epic at times, light and understated at other times but still always there, and so memorable. It makes me feel like I'm in a movie theater watching something special and huge even when I'm at home on the couch.

2. The intertwining of epic and personal The huge, galaxy-shaking events depend on things like a son's desire to be like and then to save his father, and a teacher's pain over his student's fall, and friendship. A lot of movies and books try to do this, but SW succeeds really well for me.

3. The messy universe Both that the universe is used (dirty, broken, worn) and that it's huge, with all sorts of unexplained bits around the edges. Just in the first half-hour or so of ANH, you can wonder about how the farmers, Jawas, and Sandpeople coexist normally, what Ben's been up to for the last twenty years, the relationship between Ben and the Larses for the last twenty years, what this Academy Luke wants to go to is like, what adventures R2 and 3PO have had while working for Captain Antilles, what happened on Leia's "mercy missions," what sort of interactions Leia has had with Vader and Tarkin in the past (she obviously knows them both) and why Leia expects Tarkin to be "holding Vader's leash," what happened in Mos Eisley to convince Ben it's the most wretched hive of scum and villainy in the universe, what Ben and Chewie talk about in the cantina when they're alone... Oftentimes Lucas leaves things underdeveloped (like, say, Leia's entire character arc), but sometimes we don't need more and it's so much fun to have these little hints at bigger stories to speculate about.

4. The shiny Lightsabers, spaceships, matte paintings of spectacular planets, Padme's wardrobe - how can you resist?

5. The living past Luke gets caught up in the whole Jedi thing because of his father's example, Obi-Wan's attempts to fix his past mistakes, etc. Obi-Wan doesn't tell Luke the whole truth because of his fears of losing another apprentice. Vader can't escape remembering his old self because of Obi-Wan and especially Luke. And so on. This element isn't nearly as strong in SW as in B5, but it's still great.

Babylon 5

1. The living past SO AWESOME. The characters are all aware of an influenced by their histories, both recent and ancient, and they all show that influence while still reacting in individual ways. For instance, Londo doesn't feel quite the same way about the Centauri Empire's history and policies, or about the Narn/Centauri conflict, as the old emperor or the crazy new one or Lord Refa or Vir do, but these are huge forces in all of their lives. And once you add in the time-travel... well, don't want to give too much away.

2. The messy universe The station is always falling behind schedule or running out of money, and they can't magically solve the poverty of Downbelow. Cultures aren't (totally) monolithic: the Narn follow at least a couple of different religious figures, the Minbari have I think three different languages and vary greatly depending on caste, and there are all sorts of political factions within every organization. So many things that happen during the series have consequences - messy, unpredictable, realistic ones that often don't kick in for a year or more - that you start to wonder why things in other shows seem to be erased after an episode is over. (How awesome is it that we have the Great Big Universe-Altering Confrontation and then the show doesn't end? Because oh yeah, we have to deal with the fallout!) And each character is the center of their own story (we even have multiple Christ figures!). I just loved when recurring-villain Baxter Bester pointed out that he isn't actually there just to make trouble for them; he has his own life that doesn't include them.

3. Allusions You don't have to get them to understand the show, but it's so much more fun when you do. MiniPax? Hello, 1984! "Peace in our time"? Aha, I remember reading that line. And Marcus is a great font of tidbits like this - off the top of my head, I've heard Dickens, Shakespeare, and Gilbert and Sullivan from him.

4. Characters I love Ivanova, Lennier, G'Kar, Dr. Franklin, and most of the good (and bad) people of Psi Corps, for instance. And all their complex and wonderful relationships. The characters make the show. It would take too long to tell why I love them all.

5. Strong continuity with a heaping side of mystery Not only is the show one giant, complicated story in which everything that happens matters (whether for plot, character development, revealing part of the worldbuilding, etc.), but it's full of mysteries to solve, too! Who is behind the Suspicious Event, and who is behind that shadowy organization? Why is Character X acting funny? Why is an entire level of Gray Sector missing? And how is it all connected? (And what is Psi Corps up to now?)

Battlestar Galactica

1. It starts with the good guys losing And then what? I love the trope of the last survivors of Disaster X trying to stay alive and figure out what to do with their lives.

2. Women! Existing! And talking to each other and everything! I think this aspect went downhill in S3, but still. There are far more than just the token few women; they're everywhere! And there are all kinds of different women: sexy blonde Six, middle-aged President Roslin, hotshot pilot Starbuck, everygirl who's a little psycho Cally, religious fanatic Three... They talk to each other about things other than men (Roslin and Starbuck on interrogation and the Arrow, Starbuck and Cain on getting what you want, Kat and Starbuck on pilot-y stuff and personality conflicts, Six and Boomer on Cylon policy). They do huge, plot-altering things. So much awesome.

3. Messy universe Grungy ship. Supply shortages. Tons of hinted-at backstory. Enormous ensemble cast with constantly-shifting relationships. Increasing number of too-messy plotholes and things that don't appear to make sense (eg the Cylons don't and then do want to kill Hera from one episode to the next in S2 for no apparent reason), but I'll let it slide for now.

4. Cylons Who are they? What do they want? XD What is human? Can they be not human but still sentient? How do the ones who side with the humans know they don't have hidden programming, and how should that uncertainty affect their decisions? Now we know who most of them are, but the speculation was fun while it lasted too.

5. History, prophecies, and the road to Earth I want to know who the Lords of Kobol really were, what really happened back then to cause the exodus, why the 13th tribe went way far away to an unknown (or was it?) planet, what the extra sources Sharon mentioned say and where the Cylons got them, what Earth is like, and whether it's a coincidence that we have 12 gods, 12 colonies, and 12 Cylon models. And how literal "all this has happened before, and all of it will happen again" is for this show.

Firefly/Serenity

1. It starts with the good guys losing And then they just have to figure out how to go on. I love that - figuring out what happens after the Big Battle or the Life-Changing Event.

2. Swearing in Chinese It's problematic that they don't have actual Chinese characters with speaking parts, but at least it's a start toward showing a future that isn't all Anglo-American on TV.

3. No sound in space Finally! And it's so cool that way.

4. Genre soup Western, space opera, screwball comedy, drama, noir, action, sitcom, even a Jane Austen dance scene. The characters start out in different genres (take Mal, Inara, and River, for example) and have to live together and work in each other's worlds, too, united only by their history together, their situation, and their clever dialog. Shiny!

5. Messy universe The Serenity is always breaking and the little nothing towns are grungy. We don't know Book's past, or why Inara left the cushy central worlds, or much about the Blue Hands Men. Sometimes there are a few too many things we don't know or that don't add up, especially when you examine the whole Reavers situation too closely, but often, it's just a big 'verse.

A lot of recurring elements there, especially Messy Universe and The Living Past. I'd list more shows/movies/books (like Harry Potter and Rome, but this is pretty long already.

Comments

[sunnyskywalker]

I think these two things are extremely important when creating a fantasy/sci-fi scenario.

Good point! If it's a more-or-less real contemporary or historical setting, you can assume a lot of the worldbuilding and history even if you don't see them. In sf & f, you often can't, so artificially tiny, neat universes with no history stick out horribly.

The only problem with these shows' awesomeness is that they get my expectations up, so it hurts more when they do mess up. fictualities and kameni and I were making a list of female characters who had been killed off in S3 of BSG, and it was shocking - not just because of the number, but because of how many died gratuitously or to further a male character's storyline. It was a veritable Women in Refrigerators list. (I'm starting to think there's a similar list for female Psi Corps members in B5, too. One season to go on that.) In an ordinary show, I'd just write it off as normal dumbness and feel mild irritation, but when it happens in BSG, I feel betrayed. But that there is so much awesome in the shows gives me hope that other people will have raised expectations too, and eventually we'll get even better shows.

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

In sf & f, you often can't, so artificially tiny, neat universes with no history stick out horribly.

Absolutely - and I sometimes think that is why there are so many bad fantasy and sci-fi novels. The world building isn't good enough or consistent enough.

In RL there are such things as coincidences, but in fiction saying things happen because of coincidence is considered sloppy world building - and in fantasy/sci-fi this is doubly so. In novels set in the real world you can, as you say, fall back on the readers pre-existent knowledge. In fantasy/sci-fi you can't and so things like coincidences or "these things sometimes happen" stick out even more.

I think that is one of the reasons the death of Sirius Black really disapointed me. Not because he died as such (but yes, a little because of that. ;) ) but because it felt sloppy. There was no real build up, no real introduction to the portal and so the readers were left with a sense of anti-climax. Rowling later said that Sirius died because "these things sometimes happen" - and while that is true in real life, there are other rules when it comes to fiction. Aka showing the gun in act one, means using the gun by act four. Not showing a gun, and then whipping one out in act four makes the audience feel cheated.

a list of female characters who had been killed off in S3 of BSG

yes, I've had huge problems with S3 of BSG - in fact I haven't watch much beyond the first half of the season, but I've spoiled myself for what happens.
A problem of mine is probably that I keep measuring BSG with B5 - and the latter keeps coming out on top in terms of plot and characters.
On the other hand BSG looks and sounds so much better - sadly it has in many ways gone the way of character assassination. Suddenly all the females were either caught up in love triangles or dead. I find that disconcerting. I'll watch all of S3 and then S4 before I put down the verdict though - but I keep having the feeling that Kara is being explained by the writers in a "She is only a tough, female pilot because she came from an abusive home. She is only hard drinking and smoking beause she came from an abusive home" - and that rings a little hollow and undermining. Also - why is she the only one who gets the backstory? What about Gaius? What is his backstory? Why is he the dirtbag he is? Or is that unnecessary to explain because he is male?

Lastly I agree - i think all of this will lead to better shows. I've seen a tendency the last few years where tv has in many ways been better than the movies. What movies do, and still do well, is special effects and the wow-factor. But tv outshines them when it comes to plot and character development. perhaps naturally since they have better time, but since those are the things I really love Iæm not complaining! ;)

[sunnyskywalker]

That's what bothered me about Sirius's death too. Surprise Veil of Death! Who would have guessed? Now, if she'd set up the HP universe to include frequent, seemingly random deaths from Book 1, it would have fit right in, and we'd all be surprised when it turned out to have greater significance (er, assuming DH does show that). In that case, we would have had a constant fear from the end of PoA onward that Sirius would die, and every time he was almost caught while Flooing Harry or started getting reckless, our fear would ratchet up. Then his death would have come at the end of that buildup and been awful. Or as you say, she could have just introduced the Veil earlier somehow. As it is, we start getting a build-up that Sirius is reckless and might get himself in trouble, but then he dies because he falls through a mystical portal. Huh? I mean, his recklessness contributed a little, since he wasn't quite taking Bellatrix seriously enough, but she could have gotten off a lucky shot anyway, so it isn't a strong enough link.

The best movie ever for Chekov's Gun Rule is Shaun of the Dead. When I saw that for the first time, I told my parents, "Oh, this is going to be a smart spoofy movie! Look, there's a gun on the wall at the beginning of the movie. They're going to take it down later to shoot zombies." And of course that's exactly what happens.

I'm hoping S4 of BSG will bring back the show I love. It is really disturbing the way they've set up Kara's backstory to "justify" her character, and almost started showing it as a good thing (it made her tough!). Yuck. What about Tigh, then? Why doesn't he need the same justification for his drinking? (Well, maybe he had a reason now, but who knows how they'll handle that). They sort of started giving Baltar a background (he claims he grew up a poor farmboy on Aerelon and has only been posing as a posh Caprican), but we don't know whether it's true, and they haven't used it to "explain" why he is the way he is.

I think part of the problem with BSG is that they didn't plan it out much beyond the first half of S2 or so. Once they started making more of it up as they went along, they fell back on cliches more. Like Lee apologizing to Lampkin for the co-ed bathrooms, when from everything we've seen, that's the normal state of affairs everywhere. At least it was in the Cloud Nine. Bah. Maybe since this is the last season, they'll plan it out better.