BSG (and FNL) Watch: Manning Up
Sci Fi
Belated thoughts on Friday's Battlestar Galactica (and, sort of, Friday Night Lights) coming up after the jump:
First, a housekeeping note. Now that I'm not getting episodes of BSG in advance, it's not likely I'm going to get around to blogging them over the weekend, let alone Friday night, owing to a combination of personal laziness, family obligation and life in general. By Monday, I figure that the BSG-fixated have gotten their discussion fix elsewhere; on the other hand, I don't want to ignore the series' last episodes. So from this point out I'll try to post at least briefly on the show on Mondays.
Since I'm coming to "The Oath" late, I'll skip over the overview of this harrowing episode and the mutiny. Instead, the one scene that stuck with me: Adama and Tigh sending off Roslin on the Raptor, then turning to face the mutineers who had them cornered.
I don't often enough give props to Edward James Olmos, so let me say it here: the man is amazing. The way he carries himself in this last scene says more about Adama's core and sense of honor than any scene of screaming and high drama. He kisses Roslin in front of his crew, sends her off to escape, then picks up his gun and gets ready for a last stand. And sits down. That, for me, was the beauty moment. Olmos is playing "the old man" as an old man. He's strong, he's resolute, he's angry. But he's also tired. He's come this far, this is his gods-damned ship, and he is not going anywhere. (It reminded me of another great Olmos scene, when he sat alone in space in his Raptor, reading and waiting for Roslin's return with the baseship.) He hunkers down with Tigh like a cranky old coot getting out his shotgun on his front porch.
NBC
The way Olmos conveys his determination, his honor and his weariness at the same time—I have no words. And it made me think: between BSG and Friday Night Lights airing at 9, we have back-to-back two rare, classical examples of a kind of manhood that Hollywood rarely manages to pull off anymore. Coach Taylor and Adama are different men in different situations, of course. But they are both examples of old-fashioned manly virtues—honor, loyalty, integrity—portrayed in a way that's neither sentimentalized nor cynical.
They're flawed; they can be deeply wrong and authoritarian. They can be stubborn and selfish and blind to their faults. But they are actual heroes, not antiheroes. Their dedication to these old values is not treated as something to be made fun of or subverted. They demand a great deal of those around them, but they will also give anything for their teams and their crews.
TV has done great things with antiheroes like Tony Soprano, who whined about the death of the strong, silent "Gary Cooper type" without realizing that he was himself part of the problem. But it's even more rare, and difficult in this day and age, to portray actual Gary Cooper types in a way that seems neither phony nor snarky. Eric Taylor and Bill Adama are a rare breed. We should appreciate them while they're still around.
-
1
What's also amazing is, unlike The Shield which was primarily about Vic Mackey, both of these shows have also taken major steps forward with other characters: for example, both Starbuck and Mrs. Taylor are portrayals of women that we haven't seen on TV before.
-
2
You bring up an important point. There really is a dearth of "honorable" male characters on television. I'm not sure if it was in this magazine or in your archnemesis, "Newsweek", but there was a very interesting article on the overabundance of anti-heroes on TV. I suppose eventually we'll all get tired of characters who are so morally ambiguous and writers will bring back the Heathcliff Huxtables. Or is that era over for good?
-
3
@toba0821: Good question. I don't know that I want to see more Dr. Huxtables, or even Jed Bartlets. What I like about Coach Taylor and Adama is that they're not idealized; they're also flawed and are capable of being very wrong. (As Adama is in some ways right now with how he handled the Cylon alliance, and his sometimes antidemocratic tendencies.) But they do represent a set of values that a lot of TV shows--many of the best TV shows--treat almost reflexively with suspicion.
-
4
So, Mr. Shara Says and I have been marathoning Friday Night Lights since the weekend, and are totally caught up. Now I see what all the fuss is about! This show rocks.
-
5
Thanks for keeping up with BSG James, however belated. You may be too lazy to write this up on the weekend, but I'm even more lazy in regards to finding another blog/MB to discuss TV shows.
I agree that Adama definitely carries over some of the masculine virtues of days gone by, but IMO his flaws set him apart from the Gary Cooper types (can't comment on Taylor- never seen FNL).
Don't know if you ever paid attention to it, but the folks who actually like the ca. 1970s BSG better than the current show actually complain about Adama's complexities and feel that he has been emasculated (disclaimer- I think these people have a very tenuous grasp on reality). The Lorne Greene Adama was strongly anti-democratic, but that was portrayed as an unmitigated good (the civilian government in the original series was incapable of making decisions). In a similarly nutty vein, Dirk Benedict (the original Starbuck) published a screed on how the new show lacked the manly, family-friendly values of the original (link here- not for the weak-stomached). It's hard to argue that Male archetypes haven't changed at all over the last 50+ years, so what explains the BSG's throwback? My guess is it has something to do with the zeitgeist after 9/11, which went a long way in getting people to accept a remake of the original. I think it also goes a long way in explaining the public appetite for a masculine hero who's not afraid to subvert democracy in the name of civic safety. I'm sure the Romans had a similar theatrical appetite during the fall of the Republic. -
6
"So, Mr. Shara Says and I have been marathoning Friday Night Lights since the weekend, and are totally caught up. Now I see what all the fuss is about! This show rocks."
My husband (age 49) had his 2 high school buddies over to watch the Super Bowl. Instead of the pre-game (they didn't really care about the game...just the numbers
I convinced them to watch the FNL pilot.
They are now drinking the FNL koolaid. If people would just give this show a chance... -
7
@ll6747: I know, right? Its a fantastic show, with excellent writing and acting and interesting stories, and I am saying this as a person who HATES football! I've been trying to spread the good word, and explaining to folks that it isn't exactly A Show About Football, but its more of A Show About Interesting People Who Live in a Football Town. And the football footage that they use is excellent, even a non-footballer like myself can easily tell whats going on. I don't see how somebody could give this show a chance and not be totally hooked.
.
BTW I just saw something that Julie (well, the actress - Aimee Teegarden or something) was going to have a guest arc on 90210. I don't watch 90210, but am glad to see that excellent young actress getting some attention.
- poniewozik Lisa De M: WH crashers on Today tomorrow. NBC: no $ for intvu. (of course, a show on NBCU's Bravo has no $ value!) http://bit.ly/7hustM - 8 hours ago
- poniewozik NBC's Trauma: highest good-soundtrack-to-bad-plot ratio on TV? Now playing: Dead Kennedys' Holiday in Cambodia. - 9 hours ago
- poniewozik Charlie Rose becomes BusWk columnist http://bit.ly/7kqxvM (via @jamesrgaines)--Rose's show has Bloomberg TV conection - 9 hours ago
Most Popular »
- Jay Leno a Failure; Also, Jay Leno a Success
- Piling On Desirée Rogers--Is The Social Secretary To Blame For Two Ticketless Boobs At The White House?
- Looking for Reasons to Care About Tiger Woods
- Health Bill: What Would It Cost Me?
- The League of Ambivalent Columnists
- Stephen King's Shining Sequel: Paging Dr. Danny
- State Dinner, Uh, Fashion
- Is Walking Away from Your Mortgage the Smartest Thing You Can Do?
- All Blogs Must Pass
- Netbooks Are Really Dumb, Or Maybe You Already Knew That
- Want to Boost Your Memory? Try Sleeping on It
- Dubai's Woes a Blow to Ambitious Ruler Sheik Mohammed
- The End of the 2000s: Goodbye to a Decade from Hell
- Helicopter Parents: The Backlash Against Overparenting
- Amanda Knox Murder Trial: Verdict by Friday?
- The Muppets Perform 'Bohemian Rhapsody'
- The Women of Islam
- Dubai Debt: Global Economic Recovery Still in Danger
- What's Wrong with Notre Dame Football?
- Colleges Battle Gossip Websites like ACB, JuicyCampus
Quotes of the Day »
RSS