I've been on LJ on a post with no name

[rose_griffes]

This would appear to be a TV post. It jumps all over the place, though.

ABC may not air the final episodes of Pushing Daisies?!?!
::mentally throws rotten fruit at ABC::

So I was watching more of Flight of the Conchords the other night.
1.07 'Drive By' has the fruit seller with prejudice against New Zealanders. It was reasonably amusing--I particularly liked the knife stuck into the door with the piece of kiwi fruit attached. The song "Albi the Racist Dragon" was just... weirdly funny, and I liked "Leggy Blonde." "Mutha Uckas"--annoying.

1.08 'Girlfriends.' Flipping racism to be against the two white guys in the previous episode worked for me as a source for comedy. Having the woman be the sexual predator rather than the man in this episode just made me uncomfortable. Apparently the sympathy button (for the character being taken advantage of) works rather too well for me, whether it's a woman or man. Though the song "Foux da Fa Fa" almost makes up for all of it because it's gloriously wonderful. "A Kiss Is Not a Contract" is pretty cool, too.

BSG stuff: I was commenting in prolix_allie's LJ about Leoben. Here's some of that (slightly modified to make sense)--and I'd love to read anyone else's thoughts about it.

I kind of resented the show for making it canon that all of the Twos are obsessed with Kara, because to me that takes away another piece of individuality*. At the same time, though, maybe they all learn from their collective experiences and that helped push them toward siding with the other 'rebel' cylons.

Referencing Kara's captivity with a Two on New Caprica, Alllie mentioned the idea that she couldn't imagine Leoben putting her into a breeding Farm--not because of it being immoral, but because "he seems attracted to her force of will even while he wishes it weren't quite so forceful."

What I wrote back: if Kara is Destiny Girl, then anything he does against her will runs the risk of changing that. Or maybe he really did evolve--he was presumably a willing participant in the 'love all the humans (to death)' experiment. I'm really glad the show didn't go there, though--the Farm was quite enough for me, thanks.

So what do you think? Does the fact that all the Twos are obsessed with Kara make them 'less' in some way than the cylons who have become more individualized? Do we need to redefine what it means to be a person (I'm deliberately not using the word human)? Where does free will fit in, if they all feel the same way? If they can't download, can they still share experiences like before, or will they now have to develop individually?

* also, it totally ruins this crackfic idea I had...

Hopefully some of that made sense. I don't think that made any sense. Too bad! I was cutting/pasting/typing as fast as my little fingers could work. And now: back to grading papers. I'm desperately behind.

Comments

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

Remember I once had started an essay on science fiction's fascination with an alien/human hybrid?

Of course I remember! :-) Oh, you still have your icon, too--the other one with the blonde girl labeled 'allie keys.' (And this one, Seven.)

I just don't like to think that all aliens' natural end point is to become human because that's normal or good or right. I believe in each species' intrinsic right to simply be whoever they are without being judged by our standards.

Not judging the other species by our standards would be hard to do if we're both sentient species... especially if we look the same/very similar. We do it all the time even with other humans--judge them by differences in skin, race, culture, economic status, etc. We go to war over stupid stuff. Sometimes those conflicts never get fully resolved.

I don't know if the Cylons are human or not. I honestly think they are still evolving. Humans are still evolving. Who knows where it might end? I also think that whenever two closely related human species tried to exist on Earth, one eventually died out. I'm talking about prehistoric humanoids. Even though they could probably interbreed, I don't know, we sorta always ended up with one species at a time, I think.

Part of what fascinates me about the cylons is their apparent desire to be human. They (three models, at least) willingly gave up the downloading capacity--one of the things that has made them inherently different from us. It does seem like there's a desire to fit in with the dominant (human) culture... and yet that's the culture they tried to destroy in the mini-series.

I have lots of other thoughts that may well develop into a post about sci-fi books I like that have the theme of humanity. It's not just you being inspired during our conversations!
go work on those fics, you!

[daybreak777.livejournal.com]

I know Allie Keys, don't remind me. *headdesk* But rewatching Taken is like a 20-hour event! Rewatching everything became too much! I'd love it but life she was a-callin' me. :-)

Sometimes the Cylons (especially those three) remind me of children who left home in a huff and now want to come back home, all forgiven. Um, no? :-)

It's funny, you like the theme about humanity. I'm more interested in the aliens and what makes them tick. Hmm. I might get back to my girl, Seven, though. :-)

Ahem. Someone said there would be, um, Lycans? Racetrack?

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

*giggles* I was going to excuse myself from writing Lycans by saying that it's not a full moon. But ironically enough, it IS a full moon!