Battlestar Galactica, season 1

[osaraba]

Saw five more episodes of BSG last night. Good ones, though episode 5 ("You Can't Go Home Again") asked me to suspend disbelief past the point at which I was able to do so, for the situation as we know it. Which was unfortunate because I really enjoyed the episode, and I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE Starbuck. I'm withholding judgement a little, to see whether they'll circle back and tie up some loose ends here. If they don't, I shall be very disappointed.

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Started the paragraph above last week, but then I finished the first season this weekend. All the religious stuff makes me really uncomfortable, truthfully. Let me start by saying I'm not normally put off by stories about religious struggle. Whatever my personal beliefs, and whatever your personal beliefs, I have utmost respect for freedom of religion as long as it harms none.

I know the real point of discomfort for me is that it's such a big deal to the characters on a personal level, and that it's so tied up with perceptions of good and evil, right and wrong. Yeah, so, like -- very realistic in many ways. I want it to be completely live-and-let-live and for the issue of religion to be of no consequence one way or the other, and I'm really torn about the levels of fanaticism depicted. Still, this conflict is clearly part of what drives the plot of the show, and it's very engaging on intellectual, ethical, and literary levels.

I'm making a real effort to tamp down my real discomfort on this issue, and continue to look at it as a plot device -- which includes questioning where the writers will go with it, how the characters will change and respond to the new situations and the new information as it trickles in...

So I actually don't think I can watch this show with anyone.

For anyone who has seen BSG, did any of this bother you, or is this just a sensitive spot for me? Any other thoughts/feelings/squee on season 1? Please remember to keep any potentially spoilery-responses limited to season 1!

UPDATE: THIS MEANS THAT IF YOU'RE NOT SURE WHICH EPS ARE IN THE FIRST SEASON, DO NOT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE PLOT OR CHARACTERS. (I screened the spoilery comment.)

Comments

[idreamedmusic.livejournal.com]

Ah, this is the post I was looking for.

Re religion in BSG - I guess I should preface this by saying that I am an atheist, but I find religion and how it's presented in various media really interesting. So that is something I found really interesting about BSG.

That said, what I liked about the show was how it contrasted monotheistic and polytheistic religions... but it's really tough to discuss it in regards to the show since you haven't seen all of it, yet. It continues to be a theme and becomes really interesting in S4 in regards to the Cylon god. And the good vs evil implications tied to the religions becomes even more fuzzy as the show goes on.
And I find the one Cylon god super fascinating as well - on the outside it's kind of the "Christian" religion on BSG, yet at the same time, and especially when it comes to Leoben, it has a lot of Buddhism in it as well (like the idea that suffering leads to truth.)

So, ya, really tough to talk about it since you've only seen S1, but I can't say it bothered me, I just found it fascinating (especially since it kinda dares to not be openly pro Christian.)

That said, I'll wait until you've seen the finale before getting what really bothers me about the show...

[osaraba]

I'm an atheist as well, and generally on the anti-religion side. So far I think I'm a little uncomfortable because with what little information we have here, it could easily fall into the Christian god mold (I did notice that the "other side" was the greco/roman-esque polytheism), and I feared what the show's message might be. In general sf/fantasy doesn't "take sides" on the religion issue, but you never know. And I guess I'm just paranoid enough to believe that the US could fall in love with a good show both because of AND in spite of its strong pro-religion stance.

So this is one reason for my discomfort, another being the fanaticism depicted by um... what's her name, the blonde female cylon. It's truly scary to me, that kind of fanaticism.

But since it is sf/f, I'm pushing ahead with it, and hoping that the developments will be ones that I can support...

I will definitely be posting more about the show as I watch, and HAHA, I'm sure we'll get into further exciting discussions! =D

[idreamedmusic.livejournal.com]

I am... how shall I put it. I'm not anti-religion, but I am anti-organized religion, if that makes sense. Like, I got nothing against the Catholic faith, but I have HUGE issues with the Catholic church as an institution. And for BSG, that's interesting, as they start to play with religion vs. organized religion at some point.

As for the Christian god mold - do wait until S4, they do some interesting stuff with that. Which pissed off a lot of Christians on various forums, etc, I've seen, so they definitely went against (American) conventions.
It's just so fascinating - as an American show, I feel like I am outside of some of the stuff they're doing, as I'm not American. And some of the things did tick me off (oh, the finale!) But at the same time, they managed to piss off a lot of American Christians, so they definitely did do something right by questioning the predominant faith of the culture within which the show was produced.

As for the fanaticism - care to point out some specific things? I have only seen all the eps once and, as far as I recall, the most fanatic characters were the Cylons at first. So would love to hear some examples from you ;)
Like, Leoben in F&B is super religious, but he never came across as fanatical to me.
The real fanaticism of the show I have issues with comes with the militaristic stuff later on.

Looking fwd to your posts as you watch the show ;)

[osaraba]

Oh, I hope I was clear enough in the post - I'm also anti-organized religion rather than anti-religion on an individual basis.

But what you're saying about the show is very encouraging! YAY! Sounds like what I was hoping for rather than what I feared.

As for the fanaticism, it IS only the Cylons that I was referring to (at least, at this point) -- and even then, not most of the Cylons, just the blond woman. Mostly, I think it's because she's so insistent about it with Baltar. Oh, it's the way she manipulates him, gets him to "admit" to some sort of belief or faith and then something happens to "prove" her faith true. I guess that's not fanaticism, per se, but it's what drives her.

What I'm really looking forward to seeing, more than anything else, is how these characters change. Because my impression is that they change quite a lot over the course of the show.