Yesterday I was reminded via facebook of the ridiculous things Christians believe about death. Someone had just passed away, and the facebook post went something like, “Praise Jesus for new bodies that work and eternity in heaven!” Its hard for me to remain sympathetic when I read something like that because the asshole center of my brain has been over-stimulated. But really, how old mentally can these people actually be? Can you truly function as an adult while believing that existence is based on a [ludicrous] fairy tale? I remember when I believed these things… I was quite young, and it sounded swell. We Christians never had to develop an intellectual understanding of death… we never had to accept it. How can you respect life when you do not believe in death?
I stopped believing the fairy tales about new bodies and heaven long before I realized it, but the truth peeked its head when a very close friend of mine passed away in an automobile crash, he was 23. Staring at his lifeless body, I was overwhelmed with the finality of it. I mean, what the fuck was this shit? Death. I couldn’t comprehend it, but inside I knew something was terribly wrong. Everyone was acting casual, though. Sad, but not devastatingly so. Why were people being so callous? Why were people rejoicing? Oh, its because they didn’t think he was really gone. They didn’t have to accept this thing that had happened, because it didn’t really happen. He was floating around with god now in some alternate dimension, playing, laughing, Earthen life being sooo last year.
The zombie-like, apathetic Christian response to death is due to a stunted growth into adulthood. The infancy of it astounds me… I had somehow forgotten that people still really think this way.
That’s right… you heard me. Don’t worry, I’m ready to defend my position. We’ll begin with the biggest reason why SGU is better than BSG: the writing. BSG is plagued with a gaping whole in its long, emotionally tiresome plot… I will give you a hint as to what that is:
*Ahem* Plan. The Cylons have a plan. That was the biggest hook throughout the entire series… and then the series ended, and that plot line faded into obscurity as if we would just forget it was ever mentioned. The movie addressed nothing, and was released FAR too late anyhow. The diagnoses: BAD WRITING. The writing is so bad that it is analogous to LOST (a similarity we will revisit shortly).
Aside from the plot blunder, the series seems to have been written for people who are constantly emotionally compromised. Sci-fi plot writing fail #2 — too much pansy, too little badass. Yes, the battle scenes were cool… but I still can’t ignore the fact that the crew was primarily running on teenage hormonal emotion the entire time. Toward the end of the series, Adama was reduced to a pathetic pile of drunken mush that would have drowned in his tear puddles had Lee or the Exo not pulled him out. He would flail his whiskey induced plastic-like limbs, knock all the shit off his desk, throw himself on a wall and bawl like the kid you want to punch at a grocery store. He belonged in a sorority, not a space ship. And how dare those writers reduce an actor as badass as E.J. Olmos to a little girl.
I could pick apart the other actors/actresses as well… such as how one-dimensional they were, save Exo and Six (sometimes). The president eventually budded into a psychotic religious zealot who had no right to be glorified, yet for some reason the show had to appeal to the kids in bible study. Yes, I could go on and on… but lets just cut to the last, real problem with BSG: it turned itself into a “fracking” fantasy. Same blunder as the anticlimactic LOST series end… the explanation behind the entire show? Starbuck was an angel and led them to the holy grail planet. They could have just made Starbuck fall through a wormhole or get lost in a time dilation bubble… but no. The kids at bible study need a stupid angel. /End show.
I’ve heard Stargate Universe referenced as BSG 90210. Not even close. At least the characters have some dignity and don’t cry when a fly falls in their food rations. At least the plot line is cohesive, and at least Stargate never tried to reduce their hero (RDA) into a sniveling piss-ant. Oh, and at least the Stargate series treats religion as it should in any good sci-fi: its plays a role in psychology, but NEVER offers an explanation to natural phenomena. If I wanted to watch fantasy writing with sci-fi jargon, I’d watch the Left Behind series, or this nonsense:
There are a few major similarities between SGU and BSG, such as the cinematography technique used and the heavy drama. It is a new twist for the Stargate series since we’re used to witty quips from Shepard, Ronan, O’Neil, Jackson, etc. The most likely explanation for the change in writing is that there are far too many people who enjoy the low caliber writing style of BSG and producers of SGUwanted to emulate the drama (and revenue).
In conclusion, BSG fans ruined it for everyone and lowered the quality of sci-fi writing all around. SGU failed faster than the other series because it didn’t stay true to Stargate fans, and didn’t lower standards enough for BSG fans to come on board ( it still lacked the Days of Our Lives component that BSG had). It was still, however, better than BSG.
Time, sort of. Time to do and try things I’ve not been able to for some years since school began. Nevermind the hours I’m working, which are more than I’ve really ever done for an extended period of time in my life, but the hours before, between and after will be mine. I have plans. Looking forward to seeing Monday come. Hope I won’t regret that thought by Tuesday.
Maybe this is clear cut to most people, but I started my career believing I wanted to be a chemical engineer until I realized two years later it wasn’t the profession for me. Here’s a very simplistic breakdown of the differences I found between the two disciplines.
Yesterday I was reminded via facebook of the ridiculous things Christians believe about death. Someone had just passed away, and the facebook post went something like, “Praise Jesus for new bodies that work and eternity in heaven!” Its hard for me to remain sympathetic when I read something like that because the asshole center of my brain has been over-stimulated. But really, how old mentally can these people actually be? Can you truly function as an adult while believing that existence is based on a [ludicrous] fairy tale? I remember when I believed these things… I was quite young, and it sounded swell. We Christians never had to develop an intellectual understanding of death… we never had to accept it. How can you respect life when you do not believe in death?
