Declaring a vent order
Just read an article yubbie posted elsewhere on the impending return of Battlestar Galactica… it’s a somewhat annoying article, full of smug talk like “we’re taking the opera out of space opera”, and “our spaceships won’t go woosh”, and “we’ll never do a time-travel story”, and “no bumpy-headed aliens”.
It makes me want to grab them by the throat and say, “Look – you morons!” Since the days when our hide-clad ancestors squatted around a fire and told stories of the gods to avoid thinking about how cold and hungry they were, storytelling has only needed two elements: engaging characters, and a stong plot (in fact, if you’ve done one of those elements extremely well, you can often skimp on the other).
If you’ve got those elements, you can do anything else you want. Technobabble? Fine, the fen will compose dictionaries for their own amusement. Bumpy-headed aliens? Makes it easier to tell ’em apart. Time travel? I’ll just point out that time travel is at the core of much of the favorite science-fiction and fantasy of the last 40 years.
Stop telling us what you won’t do, and show us some damn good writing. Do that, and all else will be forgiven.
While I’m in the mood to rant… yesterday, I was once again informed by a younger fan how lame classic Star Trek was, which is something I’m so sick of hearing. Kid, maybe the show isn’t to your taste, which is your right as a language-using primate. But I challenge you to find me a better science-fiction show with a continuing set of characters on late 1960’s American network television. Can’t think of one? Fine, then don’t blame a Ford Model T because it couldn’t break 100 miles per hour and didn’t have a CD player.
Aaaaahhhhh… that felt good.
Tags: galactica, id10t, philosophy, star trek, tv
*walks in, listens, nods in agreement, smiles, hugs you, and leaves quietly*
See, I don’t like classic trek too much because well, the same reason I have trouble with some classic films. I can see how dang good they were in the day, but man I can’t understand a thing that’s going on or what people or saying. But really, there’s a difference between being highly entertained and impressed by something as an entity (as in, Two Towers blows me out of my seat as both my Movie-Going-Fun-Person brain and my Film-Major-Analyzing brain).
But it’s another to realize how dang IMPORTANT things are, and how much they’re different and innovative FOR THEIR TIME. Citizen Kane is not the most fun movie on the planet to watch, but what it accomplished, almost no other movie has done that much since.
It’s like saying George Lucas sucks, when people are disregarding that he INVENTED the way Space Battles are filmed.
Bah. People are too picky and narrowminded and make me want to slap them silly with a stick. A big one. Like when LotR doesn’t get more Oscars this year. When they deserve THEM ALL.
Bah. Just a fantasy film. BAH! *rattles her cane* Youngsters these days!!!