I just recently started watching this show… I should mention that I never watched Star Trek, Babylon.. or any other shows of this type. Kind of was looking for something new to watch and thought I should give BSG a try…

Finished “mini series” and kind of had a bit of a bad after-taste regarding the mentioning of Gods and all this kind of stuff… The only guy who was into reason is the guy who is responsible for the whole shabang…

“OK” I’m think let’s see how we go with the 1st Season

4th Episode, 21m 34s — A chain smoking doctor (totally possible, BUT during the examination of the president????) says “Consider Prayer”

Pause! Pause! Pause! Pause!

Google -> “battlestar galactica skeptics”

Yeah, this was my story of how I found this blog entry.

Anyways.

I agree with Joel’s rant… I also like what Fuller said in regards to suspending disbelief.

At the moment I’m thinking should I continue on… or should I just stop (the sad face of a doctor is still on my screen)

btw… regarding suspending disbelief in the show… I manage pretty well in doing for “LOST”. It is one of my favorite show. We are half way through season five and faith seems to winning the battle here over science… But the show is still awesome… Do you guys watch it? What are your opinions?

Cheerz

http://baliset.blogspot.com/2004/08/battlestar-galactica-2003-and-why-it.html

My take complained at the post-modernist flavour of the program, and yes, the clumsy “Americanisation” of the colonists.

Happy to hear that BSG improves in later seasons — thanks for the spoiler! (Just kidding!) ;)

=)

I think you missed the point of Dave The Happy Singers post :P. Re-read it :). I believe (and I might be wrong) that he is being humorous.

I actually never got the impression (from the the episodes I saw) that there were any atheist characters whatsoever. I remember being turned off several times by the magical-thinking and general lack of rationality of Admiral Adama and President Roslin, although thankfully, the memories are beginning to fade now. Not sure about Chief Tyrrol, but there is certainly no-one piping up or even giving a telling, exasperated eye-rolling at the overt religiousness infused in the lives of the human survivors. All the characters are present and listening devoutly to the priest in the scenes when she starts babbling from the pulpit.

It certainly sounds like a bit of balance is introduced in the later series, which is promising. Interesting that they would allow the writing of the first series to seem so nonsensical to the point where believability is destroyed, making it hard for some viewers to persist long enough to see the later twists and back-flips.

Thanks Andreas, for the different perspective. Maybe I’ll try to push on with the show (I bought the DVDs, after all). I still think the writing is a bit lazy with regard to the constant deus ex machina/divine intervention plot devices, stereotypes, bad science, etc, and I guess being constantly hit over the head with the overtly religious themes is just not my cup of tea (maybe Americans are more desensitised to this?), but it sounds like the show may not be a complete write-off after the first season. Cheers.

Take for instance the different faiths of the characters. The colonials believe in a pantheon of gods based on ancient greek and roman mythologies. Yet many humans are atheist. Admiral Adama remains a steadfast sceptic throughout the show, and he’s continuously portrayed as one of the most level headed characters. The same goes for Chief Tyrrol, Lee Adama and in the beginning, President Roslin. Roslin’s conversion comes when she starts having visions, brought on either by the drug she’s taking to combat her non-treatable cancer or through supernatural means. The show never tells us which, and while event during the first couple of seasons seem to indicate that her visions are real, life altering revelations in season four has shattered Roslin’s belief, and she’s even burned her religious texts.

And Gaius Baltar, the scientist, doesn’t become a religious leader because he or the show somehow rejects reason or science. No, he embraces religion (and cylon religion at that) because he can’t live with the knowledge that he facilitated the destruction of human society. By buying into the idea, fed to him by Head Six, that the cylon god chose him to be an instrument, he absolves himself from any responsibility. Being that he’s Gaius Baltar, this rationalization becomes a conviction as he embraces his own sense of importance. Later events in the show will take him into the role of cult leader, but just as for Roslin, his faith will be brutally taken from him in season 4.

And even among the cylons there’s division over belief in their religion. One of the most influential cylons, Brother Cavil, is a staunch atheist, and this is one the things that will lead to divisions among the cylons themselves.

I think that ultimately, BSG is about what it means to be human. Yes, the supernatural does have real place in the show, but ultimately it’s about characters. And you’ll have to search hard to find any show with as complex, fracked up and human characters as BSG.