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Entry tags:
Rambling: movie conventions, Anders, vague spoilers.
Spoilers for season two of Galactica, etc.
Movie convention: Boy and Girl meet. There's a spark of attraction. A few days passes during which they have Adventures. And they declare their Love for each other.
Let's take the Fifth Element.
Leeloo falls into Korben's cab. Less than an hour later, he tries to steal a kiss and she points a gun at his head.
Next time they meet, he's already decided she's Something.
Then they pretend to be married, and go on vacation together. She beats people up, he shoots things, she gets injured, he gets less injured.
She has a Crisis of Faith, and he finally has to admit he loves her.
They've known each other, maybe, three days. But it's True Love that will last a lifetime.
.
Everyone accepts this, everyone loves this convention (btw, Fifth Element = one of the best crack!fics ever), it's what happens in almost every movie.
So why is it, that when applied to a television show, it's suddenly a Bad Thing?
It's suddenly not believable, and bad writing.
Btw, I am not a fan of OMGTRUELOVEFOREVER, as most Sam/Jack shippers will tell you. Do I like people saying "I love you"? Sure, I'm even kind of fond of it being a tossed-off, casual thing. But it's not something I require.
Or, wait. Have I missed something? Have the people who rant about this in regards to Kara/Anders ranted about every movie and TV show that's used the same convention? Because then, I suppose that's allowable.
Otherwise, it's a fucking double standard.
Not to mention that Billy and Dee are certainly this EXACT convention, and yet, everyone LOVES THEM.
Ok.
Resistance.
1. He's the leader of a resistance group, and he's trusted and respected by them.
2. He's had heavy losses, and it's a bad thing, but he isn't letting him weigh him down (neither is the total destruction of the colonies).
3. He's a pyramid player, with a high sense of his own worth and abilities.
4. His people listen to him.
5. He thinks Kara's full of shit, but he also thinks she's hot.
6. He's very straight-forward.
The Farm.
1. He has a sense of humor.
2. He's a bit of a bastard and manipulative, and pulls the puppy-dog face of doom.
3. He thinks Kara's mission is more important than his own life.
4. He trusts Helo's judgement.
5. He's perfectly confident letting a woman be on top.
6. He gets the bigger picture, which, frankly, I give him tons of credit for. I'd be whining about getting left behind.
7. He's snarky.
So, you're right. We don't know all that much about him. We don't know if he's OCD, or if his family was estranged from him. We don't know if he had a girlfriend, or how he keeps his uniforms clean, what his favorite color is, how he likes his tea or if he hates toast, boxers or briefs, what his religious beliefs are (probably lapsed, or casual). But we don't really know that about three-fourths of the ensemble players in Galactica, either.
For the small amount of screen-time he got, I think that we got a hell of a lot.
And maybe I'm just reading into things, based on the character type. But then, I have watched those episodes more often.
Side-rant: I love Kara/Anders. But I've noticed that even I tend to fall into this little trap: Anders is only interesting if he's with Kara.
He's a character in his own right, and shouldn't always have to be linked with her.
I'm very bad about this. As penance I should, I don't know, make a desktop or something. Sigh.
Movie convention: Boy and Girl meet. There's a spark of attraction. A few days passes during which they have Adventures. And they declare their Love for each other.
Let's take the Fifth Element.
Leeloo falls into Korben's cab. Less than an hour later, he tries to steal a kiss and she points a gun at his head.
Next time they meet, he's already decided she's Something.
Then they pretend to be married, and go on vacation together. She beats people up, he shoots things, she gets injured, he gets less injured.
She has a Crisis of Faith, and he finally has to admit he loves her.
They've known each other, maybe, three days. But it's True Love that will last a lifetime.
.
Everyone accepts this, everyone loves this convention (btw, Fifth Element = one of the best crack!fics ever), it's what happens in almost every movie.
So why is it, that when applied to a television show, it's suddenly a Bad Thing?
It's suddenly not believable, and bad writing.
Btw, I am not a fan of OMGTRUELOVEFOREVER, as most Sam/Jack shippers will tell you. Do I like people saying "I love you"? Sure, I'm even kind of fond of it being a tossed-off, casual thing. But it's not something I require.
Or, wait. Have I missed something? Have the people who rant about this in regards to Kara/Anders ranted about every movie and TV show that's used the same convention? Because then, I suppose that's allowable.
Otherwise, it's a fucking double standard.
Not to mention that Billy and Dee are certainly this EXACT convention, and yet, everyone LOVES THEM.
Ok.
Resistance.
1. He's the leader of a resistance group, and he's trusted and respected by them.
2. He's had heavy losses, and it's a bad thing, but he isn't letting him weigh him down (neither is the total destruction of the colonies).
3. He's a pyramid player, with a high sense of his own worth and abilities.
4. His people listen to him.
5. He thinks Kara's full of shit, but he also thinks she's hot.
6. He's very straight-forward.
The Farm.
1. He has a sense of humor.
2. He's a bit of a bastard and manipulative, and pulls the puppy-dog face of doom.
3. He thinks Kara's mission is more important than his own life.
4. He trusts Helo's judgement.
5. He's perfectly confident letting a woman be on top.
6. He gets the bigger picture, which, frankly, I give him tons of credit for. I'd be whining about getting left behind.
7. He's snarky.
So, you're right. We don't know all that much about him. We don't know if he's OCD, or if his family was estranged from him. We don't know if he had a girlfriend, or how he keeps his uniforms clean, what his favorite color is, how he likes his tea or if he hates toast, boxers or briefs, what his religious beliefs are (probably lapsed, or casual). But we don't really know that about three-fourths of the ensemble players in Galactica, either.
For the small amount of screen-time he got, I think that we got a hell of a lot.
And maybe I'm just reading into things, based on the character type. But then, I have watched those episodes more often.
Side-rant: I love Kara/Anders. But I've noticed that even I tend to fall into this little trap: Anders is only interesting if he's with Kara.
He's a character in his own right, and shouldn't always have to be linked with her.
I'm very bad about this. As penance I should, I don't know, make a desktop or something. Sigh.
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Er.
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Don't mind me, I'm just on crack.
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*mightily endeavors to avoid licking screen*
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BTW, I LOVED 5th Element, crack!fic or not =).
2. He's a bit of a bastard and manipulative, and pulls the puppy-dog face of doom.
Yes - we need a cap of that face. You need to make an icon!!
5. He's perfectly confident letting a woman be on top.
YAY! Very important. He respects her, personally and professionally - another quality that the other male lead seems to be missing at times.
6. He gets the bigger picture, which, frankly, I give him tons of credit for. I'd be whining about getting left behind.
No shit. He pretty much just pushes her out the door despite knowing he'd probably be killed. While the heavy raider probably can't fit everyone in the resistance, he probably could have left, but he didn't.
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*salutes* once I get over this slump of hating every icon I make, willdo.
And, while Lee may not always respect Kara -- Anders has NEVER seen her at her worst. He hasn't seen her falling-down drunk, or sleeping with anything that moves, or in the brig for a dozen infractions. I lean towards him not really changing his view on her, but then, I find Anders more Helo-like. Helo's pretty simple -- you're a friend, he's loyal unto death. And Lee is a very complex, very different man. He's less blinded than, say, Adama is.
I still say Kara should've given the arrow to Helo and stayed to make the farms go boom. *coughs*
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I agree with you about Lee, he's seen her at her worst, but I also think that all the history makes him jump to conclusions about her screwing up when it isn't her fault - not that i blame him for thinking that way. As for Anders, the Kara he knows is one that isn't as messed up as the one Lee knew. Furthermore, he seems pretty easy going, maybe not as much as Helo but I think in general that will be a good thing for Kara.
I still say Kara should've given the arrow to Helo and stayed to make the farms go boom. *coughs*
I second that. I'm always good with blowing things up =)
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Not only do we know at least as much about him as we do Helo, he's hot and he's heroic. So all those bitches calling him Blanders can just back the fuck off!!
Ahem.
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*hands over cookies*
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It's been said that a movie is like a short story and a tv series is more like a novel, pacing wise. While I do like him (both as a character in his own right, and as a tertiary character/tool to be used in the emotional advancement of a favorite primary character), I would have liked one or two more details of characterization in his intro eps (just a random throwaway line or personality quirk or two that didn't relate directly to Kara) But for what he is, I like him quite a lot.
And I also like him for Kara. And he's pretty. But then, I'm pretty easy.
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Oh, and... I think a part of my irritation at his treatment in fandom stems from the same irritation in regards to women in SF by female SF fans. They'll give the men fascinating fic, etc, but the women they ignore or call 'boring'. And it's odd to see a man lumped into this category, as they're normally not.
And I'm falling into the trap, myself. I like him because of Kara, when I should like him just for himself. And because he's kinda cute and scruffy, and his team sucked.
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2) So is the red-headed woman. (I hope she survived.)
3) Can we keep them?
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2. She better have survived, or I will be unhappy.
3.
They would make pretty babies. Yes.no subject
I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open but I'm going to tray and get the words out of my head and onto the screen. I don't absolutely agree that Billy/Dee is the same convention because they were shown over a greater period of time. And the point I was going to make about Kara/Anders and time is sorta floating away because I can't remember if it's canon that they only had a week together or fanon.
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If you take simply the mini, though, Billy/Dee did go very fast. From her mocking him, to her grabbing him in the corridor and kissing him, to the fabulous bit where Adama says they better start makin' babies. Was it true love? I have no idea. I don't think Kara/Anders is, either, though. Sadly, for Billy, he's a one-woman kinda guy. With Anders, I have no clue.
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Also? I need a BOOTS icon. Someday I will make one.
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Oooh. You do, yes.
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*nods* I'll make one. Over the weekend, maybe?
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When he proposed, Billy told Dee he knew he loved her when he first saw her, so if pp buy their love why not with K&A. I am also quite fed up with so many pp using the term Blanders. I always felt they never gave him a chance. Plus all the comments he can't act... I think at the very least he cannot be worse that Grace Park. Can't they just be happy for Kara.
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I've never found any fault with his acting, but, er, I have seen him in other things, and, no, he wasn't Anders in them. Actually, I find him a fairly decent actor. Consider the little he was given, I thought he did fabulously.
Well, no. But I will note my own hipocrisy: If the shoe were on the other foot, I wouldn't be happy if Kara was with Lee. I wouldn't, however, go around mocking Lee. I like the snarky little bastard.