tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post3164045903122886548..comments2024-03-27T08:49:38.786-03:00Comments on Siskoid's Blog of Geekery: Babylon 5 #89: The Deconstruction of Falling StarsSiskoidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-32053744596451207412014-10-09T15:13:44.932-03:002014-10-09T15:13:44.932-03:00Sorry, just thought of something else that annoys ...Sorry, just thought of something else that annoys me about this episode: The second sequence with the "intellectuals" is supposed to make us think that their argument - that the indiviual isn't important, history would have caused these things to happen anyway - is wrong, and that Sheridan and Delenn were important, were unique. It's a hilarious argument to make about Sheridan, a character LITERALLY CREATED to replace another character. Surely Sheridan, Lyta/Talia/Lyta, and maybe even Lochley all show that it's the guiding force of history that makes people do these things?LiamKavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01996095233681105682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-18162415420320259692014-10-08T18:54:53.345-03:002014-10-08T18:54:53.345-03:00I have no idea why Londo is confused by the celebr...I have no idea why Londo is confused by the celebrations at the beginning of this episode, with his "who died?" comments. He's just been to the (apparently human/North American) wedding ceremony and apparently enjoyed it, so I dunno why he'd be all gloomy about the after party.<br /><br />I'm also slightly uncomfortable with the whole "faith manages" concept. Take JMS's comments on the episode: <i><br /><br />"It is a statement of hope to anyone else out there who has a dream, to follow it no matter who speaks against you, no matter the odds, no matter what they say to or about you, no matter what roadblocks they throw in your way. What matters is that you remain true to your vision."</i><br /><br />Now, if your dream is to make a 5 year long sci-fi series, then fair enough. If it's to be an actor, good for you. A doctor, brilliant. If it's to devote your life to helping others, amazing. However, if it's feverent desire to make sure that gay people are to be treated as criminals, or that other people should be made poor so that you can be made rich, or if it's to conquer Belgium, then that's less good.<br /><br />Basically, "faith manages" by itself it neither good or bad. It's what your faith is telling you to do. So standing behind such a comment doens't make you look good, when it can be used for evil just as easily.<br /><br />Why does this episode start in 2262? It's still season 4. The opening credits say "the year is 2261". Why not make it December 30th 2261?<br /><br />Finally, poor Delenn. She finally gets to kiss John whenever she wants, and he has a beard. Unless Minbari women are immune to stubble rash, or something.LiamKavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01996095233681105682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-56392821437413086672014-10-05T12:55:59.274-03:002014-10-05T12:55:59.274-03:00Yes, that's my big problem with B5 as a whole,...Yes, that's my big problem with B5 as a whole, as you may have worked out from previous comments. At some point, the whole thing starts being designed primarily to glorify John and Delenn, and it comes across that while JMS likes to write speeches about the glory of democracy, the show's idea of democracy is "everybody voluntarily decides to do what the Great Leader tells them, without any repression being necessary".<br /><br />It really becomes clear with the revelation that Garibaldi only opposed Sheridan because he was under the control of Bester's anti-Shadow wing of PsiCorps. Although I think if there's a single turning point it's the flash-forward in "War Without End", where it first becomes obvious that David Sheridan will definitely become a huge figure in galactic history just because of who his parents are.<br /><br />You can also see it as something that started off as SF being completely overcome by pseudo-Medieval fantasy conventions.LondonKdShttp://londonkds.dreamwidth.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-68035680357382054722014-10-04T16:27:41.743-03:002014-10-04T16:27:41.743-03:00Which is...confusing. At first it seems that the m...Which is...confusing. At first it seems that the message of Babylon 5 is that the individual isn't important, it's what the group does. And then in season 4 it changes to the "great man" idea.LiamKavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01996095233681105682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-28694658882959593152014-10-04T16:20:47.631-03:002014-10-04T16:20:47.631-03:00JMS's endcard is less unsympathetic than his D...JMS's endcard is less unsympathetic than his DVD commentary for this episode, in which we discover that he does actually believe that the role of historians should be to tell inspiring stories about Great People, and that historians who try to suggest that social/economic/geopolitical forces would have caused broadly the same thing anyway are "shameful" jealous little people trying to tarnish their betters.LondonKdShttp://londonkds.dreamwidth.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-15139930410513523312014-10-04T15:29:30.399-03:002014-10-04T15:29:30.399-03:00"I have no idea why yanks - who, let us remem..."I have no idea why yanks - who, let us remember won the bloody thing - bring it up every single chance they get."<br /><br />One thing about the US, I believe, is that we've never been the victims of a foreign onslaught, so it's real easy for us to feel all puffed up about how we're the toughest guys around.<br /><br />I use the term "foreign onslaught" advisedly. If you're from the American South, you possibly have bitter feelings about General Sherman marching his army through Georgia, but this was the Civil War so it was still American vs. American. And as for the British sending the US packing in the War of 1812, the British still regarded the Americans as kin enough to not brutalize the population the way they would that of, say, Kenya or Burma, so there are no scars from 1812. (General Sherman was on the humane end of things as well, for that matter.)<br /><br />This also has something to do with why the US went nuts after 9/11. To be sure it was a horrific attack, but more than that it was an attack on a people who had no cultural reference point for savagery. We had no Hastings, no Coventry, no Magdeburg to compare to. 9/11 was the worst thing conceivable because we had very limited ability to conceive of worse.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-2631104980806561122014-10-04T14:14:17.392-03:002014-10-04T14:14:17.392-03:00JMS isn't alone in the seige mentality thing. ...JMS isn't alone in the seige mentality thing. It's basically how Jose Morinho manages football teams. You make your team/staff think that other teams, the press, the other fans are all out to get you. You make them think that they are unfairly picked on. And then you tell them to go out and show those bastards who's boss!<br /><br />I think the problem JMS had is that at some point he forgot the game he was playing and started to believe it. He is certainly allowed his excentricities after writing 95% of a TV show I really enjoy singlehandidly, but it doesn't mean that some stuff like this doesn't come across as crass. It stinks of "small team" syndrome. If you're better, you don't have to keep shouting it out. (I have similar thoughts regarding the US/British war of independence. I have no idea why yanks - who, let us remember won the bloody thing - bring it up every single chance they get. I was watching one of the commentaries, and Jerry Doyle brings it up when Jason Briggs appears on the title card. Seriously, Jerry, we don't care. At all. In any way.)<br /><br />And on the whole Trek vs B5 thing... we've heard JMS talk about B5 plenty of times. Did Moore or Behr or anyone ever mention B5, either recently or during the making of both shows?LiamKavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01996095233681105682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-20929937658837526422014-10-04T13:31:46.903-03:002014-10-04T13:31:46.903-03:00About the Trekkies shitting on the Beefsters (or w...About the Trekkies shitting on the Beefsters (or whatever they call themselves), I'd have to say there was a lot more shit directed at Trek than the other way around. Most Trekkies are happy whenever science fiction can make it to the screen at all, but it was the B5 crowd that accused Trek of stealing their concept, of Trek being the show for babies, and so on.<br /><br />Eagerly awaiting the episode where the two maintenance workers are used as mouthpieces so JMS can tell his fans off. "Some people say that Commander Lochley isn't as good as Ivanova, but I say they should give her a chance. Also, Ivanova should have given that one guy a chance when he sent her space-roses and picked her up in a space-limousine."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-27725020416884975962014-10-04T11:59:42.382-03:002014-10-04T11:59:42.382-03:00Nope, still don't buy into it.
I dislike it w...Nope, still don't buy into it.<br /><br />I dislike it when TV writers get indulgent (see a lot of my comments on Russell T Davies' run on Doctor Who), as it takes away from the integrity and immersive qualities of universe they've built. Suddenly, The show breaks character when I can hear the writer's shrill voice talking about things that aren't part of the universe, and here is rather graceless. You can win without being a shit about it.Siskoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-6413450402739941482014-10-04T11:49:52.095-03:002014-10-04T11:49:52.095-03:00The process of getting a fifth season is detailed ...The process of getting a fifth season is detailed step by horrific step in the script volumes, and it's a long tedious process that makes my head hurt so I won't spell it out here, and just note that it started with a meeting with TNT executives for rerun rights to the series, at which Doug Netter offhandedly mentioned "It's just too bad you won't be getting the full five seasons," as the WB guys had of course neglected to inform TNT. JMS calls this "the tutsi fruitsy," after the routine from the Marx Brothers film A Day at the Races.<br /><br />Of course, getting that season came with a bunch of its own problems, the most immediate of which was that he had to write a whole new finale for season 4 in very little time. Luckily, everyone at the network was now entirely focused on season 5, leaving him free to do whatever he wanted, so he took the opportunity to go a bit experimental. There were a lot of articles at the time about B5's place in television and SF history, so he figured it would be neat to examine that same thing in-universe.<br /><br />Bruce Boxleitner really relished the chance to play the evil Sheridan as he hardly ever gets to play villains (the closest role that comes to mind is Captain Awesome's overbearing father on Chuck). Richard Biggs, on the other hand, was quite uncomfortable with it, and the resulting differences in their performances are palpable.<br /><br />The future Ranger is played by Roy Brocksmith, probably best known as the phony Rekall employee from the original Total Recall, though I'll always remember him as the landlord from Seinfeld who called Kramer's mother a "drunken stumblebum." This sequence also got a few fans angry for "betraying the show's principles," because the Alliance didn't stop all war forever and ever. Of course, JMS replied that this never happens, and each generation is entrusted anew with safeguarding the legacy of the last. Sometimes they fail, but with luck the things their forebears built will still be around to pick up the pieces afterwards.<br /><br />I have absolutely no problem with the final title card. After four years of critics and Trekkies gleefully shitting on him, absolutely sure he wouldn't get the five seasons he wanted, and finally pulling it off against all odds despite even the death of the whole damn network, I sure know I would be sorely tempted to do the same thing. Even better is what he had to say afterwards:<br /><br />"And yeah, that little closing card is going to remain on the show for its life...which will be long, long after its detractors (and admittedly myself) have gone to dust. On the one hand, it is a statement of hope to anyone else out there who has a dream, to follow it no matter who speaks against you, no matter the odds, no matter what they say to or about you, no matter what roadblocks they throw in your way. What matters is that you remain true to your vision. On the other hand, for the reviewers and the pundits and the critics and the net-stalkers who have done nothing but rag on this show for five years straight, it is also a giant middle finger composed of red neon fifty stories tall, that will burn forever in the night. In billiards, we call that a bank-shot."Ryan Lohnernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-79246896728258601592014-10-04T07:54:07.405-03:002014-10-04T07:54:07.405-03:00One more example of "Fun with the DVD title s...One more example of "Fun with the DVD title sequences"... as this is technically a season 5 episode, CC had to be taken out of the opening credits. Her bit was replaced with a shot of the Agamemnon flying through the explosion of the orbital platforms from Endgame. Obviously, the DVD doesn't do that because lol DVDs.LiamKavhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01996095233681105682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-84069982883805117282014-10-04T06:31:11.282-03:002014-10-04T06:31:11.282-03:00"Hey everybody, Delenn is ripping us a new on..."Hey everybody, Delenn is ripping us a new one; let's sit here and let her do it."<br /><br />As much as I dislike that part, my fondness for the two undercover Rangers on earth more than compensates.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com