BatGal 2.0 (Bull)

[wombat1138]

I still haven't seen the new Battlestar Galactica. I don't think I've read any of Emma Bull's books, either. However, I'm pretty sure I know quite a few people who like either or both, and for that reason among various others, I feel compelled to link to Emma Bull's dislike of the new BG.

Comments

[carneggy.livejournal.com]

Many, many, many worthwhile TV series have less-than-stellar pilots/intro episodes.

She has some good points about BG's intro miniseries; the quality of the writing has gotten notably better since that point. Worth taking a look at, IMO.

I read "Freedom and Necessity"

[bellatrys.livejournal.com]

and found it strangely but deeply disatisfying, (although it did inspire me to want to read more about the mid-1800s, so not a total failure.)

I met her once casually and briefly at a con, and I doubt she'd know me from Eve, where she seemed nice enough, but i haven't read any of her other books, and i don't know her online opinions well enough to say how much of it is her projecting.

Because, although I *gather* there has been some derailment (in a variety of ways, chara and plot) in the latest three episodes - the second half of the 2nd season in that weird hiatus thing they're doing now - I haven't seen them and so am going on reviews and discussion, and in the first and first half of 2nd season, no... altho' there was *lots* of fanprojecting going on that said more about the viewrs' assumptions than what was there in the eps I saw.

[angrybee.livejournal.com]

That person is an idiot. For instance:

If she's all that guy-ish, then she must be sexually active and horny, right? Because that's part of the guy-stereotype package she's a parody of. Um, no. For all her aggressive behavior, sexually she's the Good Victorian Woman, true to the memory of her dead boyfriend and unable to act on her attraction to his brother.

That's completely wrong. Starbuck sleeps with whomever she wants. And she's not a complete tomboy. She wears a dress in one episode, and writes poetry.

A lot of the stuff she wrote about was just the original character exposition from the miniseries. For instance, the President -was- way down in line to become president... But her struggle to change from Secretary of Education to a leader was -enthralling-. The issue for her was -never- about being a -female- leader, but about being a normal person thrust into a position of leadership, and doing so while battling cancer.

The Fembot Cylon in question, Number Six, is indeed a sexpot. But she -does- later appear in MANY different forms, from a geeky secretary type, to the rather plain-looking leader of an underground movement. She's not evil because she's sexy. She's evil because she manipulates people, just like the male Cylons who ALSO show up later in the series.

Anyway, that person is a fool, and just looking for something to be irate about, in my opinion.

[qadgop.livejournal.com]

Well, gosh: Bull's negative reaction to the show seems to be an equal-but-opposite one to my non-genre-person Dad's (for him, the clincher was Starbuck being "such a [lesbian, but less politely put]," which is about accurate an assessment as Bull's Victorian Woman one).

[eeedge.livejournal.com]

This line of essays has dragged me far into it. I was off in the Noles line of links for a couple of hours.

I like Emma Bull's books. I don't particularly like the new BG, but I've only seen the mini-series and the first 38 minutes of the interminable first episode.

Thanks for the link!

And thank you for gaming. There were so many people talking about being the only female gamer out there. I remember Jenny C's brother GMing for us at her birthday party in, what, 1978 or 1979? You and Kate gamed with me extensively in high school (meaning that the women often outnumbered the guys then), and close to half the group were women in almost all of my college games. I've *never* known the "boobies?" problem in gaming.