Bexxa said: JMS did, I think, do a good job of storytelling, of setting up the good guys to battle valiantly against multiple bad guys, and stacking the deck so that victory was not inevitable, nor without consequences. But as a storyteller, he manipulated the story elements so that they supported the story he chose to tell.
Yes. Which means, I think, that a "real citizen" in the B5 universe would have a rather different view of things than the viewer.
Selenak said: I have the rather nasty suspicion that if the rumours Dubya watched B5 are true, he thinks he's Sheridan.
Very possibly, I think. But this is a cheat, actually, imo.
We *all* think we're the hero of the story. None of us are actually ever ignoring the dangers, chosing comfort over truth, apologizing for the acts of evil men or refusing to take a stand because it would mess with our carefully constructed world view.
Instead, we're fighting the forces of darkness, uncovering conspiracies, standing up for what's right, even when everyone around us - including those in power - want to go along with the flow.
We're all heroes, here. But, we're all Brood, here, too.
In real life, no matter what choices are made, there are costs associated with those choices. In the US election today, both parties, both sides, would like the voter to think any costs choosen with their candidate would be negliable, if existing at all. And they try to drum up the costs inherent in chosing the *other* side so as to seem as great as possible.
The problem with tv shows - and the reason why they're so easy to watch - it because they cut out the messy, half-way, grey bits that make up real life. The better shows, imo, keep those in as long as they can. There's also the habit - discussed elsewhere by suelac and serenada - of US (and other?) movies and TV shows of taking the easy out of not showing the cost of ill-timed mercy, of the hero scarificing the many for the one and losing everything.
I can't speak for B5, but FS and FF did a dang good job of showing different perspectives. FF would have, I think, gone on to do much more.
So, to keep it short not very long, what I see on TV ('cause haven't gotten into B5) is a TV show, where I don't have to think very hard about who's right and who's trustworthy and who is lying through their teeth and telling me exactly what I want to hear.
And that's what I see when I watch the news, read the paper or blogs, listen to speeches from the candidates and from politicians in other countries. Something, in other words, completely not like a TV show.
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What does it look like?
Date: 2004-09-26 06:52 am (UTC)Yes. Which means, I think, that a "real citizen" in the B5 universe would have a rather different view of things than the viewer.
Selenak said: I have the rather nasty suspicion that if the rumours Dubya watched B5 are true, he thinks he's Sheridan.
Very possibly, I think. But this is a cheat, actually, imo.
We *all* think we're the hero of the story. None of us are actually ever ignoring the dangers, chosing comfort over truth, apologizing for the acts of evil men or refusing to take a stand because it would mess with our carefully constructed world view.
Instead, we're fighting the forces of darkness, uncovering conspiracies, standing up for what's right, even when everyone around us - including those in power - want to go along with the flow.
We're all heroes, here. But, we're all Brood, here, too.
In real life, no matter what choices are made, there are costs associated with those choices. In the US election today, both parties, both sides, would like the voter to think any costs choosen with their candidate would be negliable, if existing at all. And they try to drum up the costs inherent in chosing the *other* side so as to seem as great as possible.
The problem with tv shows - and the reason why they're so easy to watch - it because they cut out the messy, half-way, grey bits that make up real life. The better shows, imo, keep those in as long as they can. There's also the habit - discussed elsewhere by
I can't speak for B5, but FS and FF did a dang good job of showing different perspectives. FF would have, I think, gone on to do much more.
So, to keep it
shortnot very long, what I see on TV ('cause haven't gotten into B5) is a TV show, where I don't have to think very hard about who's right and who's trustworthy and who is lying through their teeth and telling me exactly what I want to hear.And that's what I see when I watch the news, read the paper or blogs, listen to speeches from the candidates and from politicians in other countries. Something, in other words, completely not like a TV show.
Thanks for asking, though.
- hg