Rewatching: Battlestar Galactica reboot

[Brian G Turner]

We never did watch the second-half.

A big problem for our family was the opening scene, where a young female cylon clone walks up to the middle-aged man and kisses his passionately for no reason. For those men in the audience who thought it was cool, what would you have thought if it was a young male cylon who walked up to the middle-aged man and kissed him? Yeah, pointless and unnecessary.

That scene was just a mindless straight male sex fantasy, one that announces that the women you are about to see in this series are nothing more than objects of pleasure for the male characters. Which is a dumb statement to make because there are some really good female characters in this, but unfortunately they are undermined by the casual sexism running through the show, cf. most any Baltar scene. And it was enough to put the kids off wanting more.

It would be nice to try watching the series now that the kids are older, but that opening scene sets a really bad precedent, and they are not as forgiving as us grown-ups.

 

[paranoid marvin]

From memory the Cylons had different traits. The female model you mention in the opening scene was one that showed and needed love and affection. Yes, I agree that it was probably a conscious choice to try to appeal to certain sections of the audience (and her image seemed to be used in quite a lot of the publicity surrounding the show) but at least there was a rationale behind what she did.

As you mentioned there are a number of strong women in the series (not all necessarily role models!) and my interpretation of Baltar is that whilst he is a complex character, and undoubtedly a womaniser, it is the women who are manipulating him rather than the other way around.

It has been a number of years since I last watched the show, and perhaps I would now view it with different interpretations to how I did back then. But the impression I was left with was that there were very few really 'good' characters amongst the factions, and most were ultimately working for their own benefit than the common good. Which is to some extent what made it an interesting show to watch.

 

[Phyrebrat]

We never did watch the second-half.

A big problem for our family was the opening scene, where a young female cylon clone walks up to the middle-aged man and kisses his passionately for no reason. For those men in the audience who thought it was cool, what would you have thought if it was a young male cylon who walked up to the middle-aged man and kissed him? Yeah, pointless and unnecessary.

That scene was just a mindless straight male sex fantasy, one that announces that the women you are about to see in this series are nothing more than objects of pleasure for the male characters. Which is a dumb statement to make because there are some really good female characters in this, but unfortunately they are undermined by the casual sexism running through the show, cf. most any Baltar scene. And it was enough to put the kids off wanting more.

It would be nice to try watching the series now that the kids are older, but that opening scene sets a really bad precedent, and they are not as forgiving as us grown-ups.

I disagree that this is casual sexism. It might take awhile for them to realise but the women are definitely in charge, and that kiss has narrative integrity.

I can’t say much more without spoiling but cylons kissing men of any age is quite important. And usually followed by the phrase. ‘Are you alive?’

 

[paranoid marvin]

I disagree that this is casual sexism. It might take awhile for them to realise but the women are definitely in charge, and that kiss has narrative integrity.

I can’t say much more without spoiling but cylons kissing men of any age is quite important. And usually followed by the phrase. ‘Are you alive?’

I also think that it's a much more 'adult' show than it initially appears to be; far moreso than the original series on which it is based.

 

[Phyrebrat]

I also think that it's a much more 'adult' show than it initially appears to be; far moreso than the original series on which it is based.

Definitely. I was surprised also on my rewatch of Blake’s 7 (just started season 3) since I was 8 years old and how adult and sophisticated it is. The fact that Blake’s incarcerated because he was accused of abusing kids really shocked me for a 1978 show.

BSG spoilt Scifi tv shows by being so good. And the ending is the most wonderful conclusion to any the show I’ve seen. Genius, beautiful and heartbreaking all the same time.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Been a while since I saw BSG (the remake) so I could be wrong, but I thought the lady/ladies and Baltar[sp] was essentially a man with a great mind but who was being led around by his todger.

 

[otaylor]

I remember loving this series beginning to end catching up with this debate makes me think about rewatching it as well. I agree about the eye-candy/male fantasy opening though, I remember trying to encourage a partner into watching it and feeling a bit cringey at the beginning.

 

[paranoid marvin]

From memory, the religious aspect helped enhance the BSG storyline. They tried to incorporate similar religious themes into DS9, and it just didn't work as well there, ending in a very disappointing final episode. BSG BSG seemed to deal with religion in a much better way.

 

[Rodders]

I adored the mini series and series 1, but for some reason never really got back into it. I have the series in its entirety at home, so maybe i should break them out and watch them all.

I liked the updated ship designs and the acting was superb. Pretty good soundtrack, if i remember correctly.

Personally, I had no objection really to the gender swapped characters, but my dad refuses to watch them. Starbuck will only ever be Dirk Benedict in his opinion. I've tried to persuade him, but old people have some funny notions.