![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieWhat do these topics have in common? Nothing, as far as I can see.
I was thinking about how much I love the character of Admiral Cain on Battlestar. Not because she is someone I'd want to be in the 100 mile radius of, but because I think it's wonderful that RM & crew created someone who is not a Twirly McMustache villain, but someone all of whose actions, looked at in a certain light are justifiable.
1. Shooting her XO for disobeying a direct order? It's mutiny in time of war, and it is definitely punishable by death. Cain is within her rights.
2. Reassigning Apollo, Starbuck etc from under Adama's command? According to the logs they are troublemakers, and Adama IS too closely tied to them. Good military discipline.
3. Ignorning Roslin and the civilians?If any cituation would justify martial law, this would be it. So Cain exists in a de facto situation of this, and just ignores the civilians. She (unlike Adama) doesn't seem to need them for supplies, after all, so no need to be nice.
4. Ordering battles that seem to be very high risk? What else has she to do: she doesn't know about Earth or have civilians to protect. Plus, they are obviously not suicidal since a large chunk of Pegasus is still just fine.
5. Rape and torture of Gina? To Cain, Gina is not a person, she is a robot, a toaster. Can you rape a toaster? Nope. All she knows of Cylon humanoids is that they are robots, they destroyed home, and took out crewmen of her ship. They aren't human so why not use any means necessary to get info? An also, she seems to push her crew really hard, and they need to relax hard, so why not relax in a "harmless" fashion? Pegasus doesn't seem to have very many women (though it does have), and the guys must be frustrated.
6. Helo and Tyrol courtmartialled and sentenced to death? The did kill an officer during the execution of his duties to protect an enemy.
Now, of course, none of the above is "Cain for President" material. After all there are plenty of counterarguments:
1. XO disobeyed a high-risk, suicidal order because he didn't want crew to get killed. At the very worst, one could order him to step down.
2. She did promise Adama to stay out of his hair. Adama obviously functioned OK with all these crew members. And there should be stuff in the logs about all the great stuff Apollo, Starbuck etc did.
3. Now that they found civilians, and hope, shouldn't they revert to civilian form of government? Otherwise, as Apollo pointed out in Bastille Day, there is no authority for Cain's authority either.
4. Suicidal strikes? How about trying to preserve life of your crewmen?
5. Enemy or not, human or not, Gina is clearly sentient, and after a time, torture clearly stopped being for info (she is catatonic) and became for fun. That is sick and wrong.
6. Said officer was torturing and raping someone who was already clearly cooperating and being a complete sadist for the heck of it.
By the point of the above is I love that there are justifications for her behavior, it's not cut and dried.
In other news, I am slowly rewatching VM and got to "Return of the Kane"
Just rewatched "Return of the Kane" as part of my rewatching of the Season 1.
It's such an excellent episode, but I find it almost unwatchable because the abuse part of the storyline freaks me out so much, especially now that I know it, and now that I know more of Logan and love his character. It's really significant that Logan who is always really forward and in your face is so utterly at a loss and scared utterly with his father, and only with his father. It's almost an instinctual thing, he can't control it. Freaks me out. Especially when in this ep you really do see the wonderful relationship Veronica has with her Dad, and how much Duncan's father loves him (and after finishing the season, you realize just how true that is).
In completely unrelated news, I am rewatching Lady Jane, a doomed period romance with very young Helena Bonham Carter and Cary Elwes. They are very young, and very beautiful, and very in love, and very "head on the chopping block." HBC is of course the young doomed 9-day queen and the Dread Pirate Roberts is her husband Gilford Dudley. I am an utter sap, but this movie always makes me sniffle and feel so bad for Lady Jane.
I was thinking about how much I love the character of Admiral Cain on Battlestar. Not because she is someone I'd want to be in the 100 mile radius of, but because I think it's wonderful that RM & crew created someone who is not a Twirly McMustache villain, but someone all of whose actions, looked at in a certain light are justifiable.
1. Shooting her XO for disobeying a direct order? It's mutiny in time of war, and it is definitely punishable by death. Cain is within her rights.
2. Reassigning Apollo, Starbuck etc from under Adama's command? According to the logs they are troublemakers, and Adama IS too closely tied to them. Good military discipline.
3. Ignorning Roslin and the civilians?If any cituation would justify martial law, this would be it. So Cain exists in a de facto situation of this, and just ignores the civilians. She (unlike Adama) doesn't seem to need them for supplies, after all, so no need to be nice.
4. Ordering battles that seem to be very high risk? What else has she to do: she doesn't know about Earth or have civilians to protect. Plus, they are obviously not suicidal since a large chunk of Pegasus is still just fine.
5. Rape and torture of Gina? To Cain, Gina is not a person, she is a robot, a toaster. Can you rape a toaster? Nope. All she knows of Cylon humanoids is that they are robots, they destroyed home, and took out crewmen of her ship. They aren't human so why not use any means necessary to get info? An also, she seems to push her crew really hard, and they need to relax hard, so why not relax in a "harmless" fashion? Pegasus doesn't seem to have very many women (though it does have), and the guys must be frustrated.
6. Helo and Tyrol courtmartialled and sentenced to death? The did kill an officer during the execution of his duties to protect an enemy.
Now, of course, none of the above is "Cain for President" material. After all there are plenty of counterarguments:
1. XO disobeyed a high-risk, suicidal order because he didn't want crew to get killed. At the very worst, one could order him to step down.
2. She did promise Adama to stay out of his hair. Adama obviously functioned OK with all these crew members. And there should be stuff in the logs about all the great stuff Apollo, Starbuck etc did.
3. Now that they found civilians, and hope, shouldn't they revert to civilian form of government? Otherwise, as Apollo pointed out in Bastille Day, there is no authority for Cain's authority either.
4. Suicidal strikes? How about trying to preserve life of your crewmen?
5. Enemy or not, human or not, Gina is clearly sentient, and after a time, torture clearly stopped being for info (she is catatonic) and became for fun. That is sick and wrong.
6. Said officer was torturing and raping someone who was already clearly cooperating and being a complete sadist for the heck of it.
By the point of the above is I love that there are justifications for her behavior, it's not cut and dried.
In other news, I am slowly rewatching VM and got to "Return of the Kane"
Just rewatched "Return of the Kane" as part of my rewatching of the Season 1.
It's such an excellent episode, but I find it almost unwatchable because the abuse part of the storyline freaks me out so much, especially now that I know it, and now that I know more of Logan and love his character. It's really significant that Logan who is always really forward and in your face is so utterly at a loss and scared utterly with his father, and only with his father. It's almost an instinctual thing, he can't control it. Freaks me out. Especially when in this ep you really do see the wonderful relationship Veronica has with her Dad, and how much Duncan's father loves him (and after finishing the season, you realize just how true that is).
In completely unrelated news, I am rewatching Lady Jane, a doomed period romance with very young Helena Bonham Carter and Cary Elwes. They are very young, and very beautiful, and very in love, and very "head on the chopping block." HBC is of course the young doomed 9-day queen and the Dread Pirate Roberts is her husband Gilford Dudley. I am an utter sap, but this movie always makes me sniffle and feel so bad for Lady Jane.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-10-17 12:49 am (UTC)But then there's the compenstaion of Patrick Stewart in white velevet, yes?
no subject
Date: 2005-10-17 02:47 am (UTC)