DPP: Myths and Misconceptions

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

 

This is sort of a strange train of thought, but do you think there are a lot of misconceptions about who Kara and Lee are, generally speaking? The thought stems from two different things I saw on Twitter, one as part of the "Things Starbuck Wouldn't Say" meme that cropped up last week and the other from a fellow fan of the show. The first was that several of the tweets were things like "I'm sorry" or "I love you, Lee" ... both of which ARE ACTUALLY SAID IN THE SHOW! Heh. I mean I think there's a bit of a misconception that Kara will never apologize to people...and yet, she apologizes to Lee in KLG1 for something that she shouldn't even need to apologize for, honestly. She doesn't just say "sorry" she says "I'm really sorry". (And ironically, Lee...I don't think he ever once apologizes to Kara on the show for anything.)  Another one was that Kara wouldn't say "Let's talk about it." Also, not true. In the deleted/extended ready room scene from Taking a Break from All Your Worries, she says to Lee: "C'mon. TALK TO ME."  

Related to this, I think it's a huge misconception that Kara has trouble following orders. Yes, she gives Lee grief over shooting at the Olympic Carrier at first, but...she also fires immediately and when she gets the two worst orders ever: Adama telling her to execute Cain and Lee telling her to manually detonate bomb in Razor....she agrees to both, without hesitating.

Likewise, someone was saying on Twitter that they could never think of Lee as a killer...and yet he murdered Phelan in cold blood. Granted he had good reasons, but.... I mean he also is a soldier. He kills lots of people because it's his job. Related, the show itself insists that Lee is "too honorable to cheat" in EOJ/Rapture...and yet he cheated on Dee with Kara in UB and almost in Daybreak flashbacks, and clearly they're having hot makeouts in EOJ, which to me = cheating.

There's also, in fic often, the idea that Lee wants to talk about relationship issues and analyze things. And while sometimes in canon he does ask Kara to talk (Home, Scar), more often he refuses to talk about things, just bottles up or turns away.

Anyway, all of this just made me think about the other things that we assume about the characters and what they would/wouldn't do. About how sometimes you get ideas stuck in your head about the kind of person they must be, and you ignore later evidence that they've changed or can behave differently than you'd expect. I'm not sure what point any of this has, but....yeah...it's Sunday. It's rambly pilots meta. Have at it! 

Comments

[eridani8.livejournal.com]

Because no one else seems to have picked up on this particular thread, I'll jump right in:

Is Kara insubordinate?

Well, I'd say, at fundamental level, yes. taragel gives good examples of her following orders, but I'd say the thread that connects all those instances together is the fact that she respects the people giving the orders. Kara isn't one to tolerate fools, or 'superior assholes' as the case maybe, and I think what truly determines whether Kara is going to follow an order is whether she can respect the source of the command. If the orders are, in her view, absurd she's just as likely to ignore them as follow them. The show also shows her as someone who is quite driven by her own initiative- Lee pretty frequently seems to be accusing her of going 'over his head'. I don't think Kara really cares too much for the chain of command and authority heirachies- they just happen to fit with her world view most of the time, and when superior officers like Tigh or Commander Garner get in the way of that 'fit', Kara ---> the brig.

[themonkeytwin.livejournal.com]

Like everything else about Kara, her relationship with authority is complicated! I totally agree with the issue of following orders hinges on her respect for the order-giver; I'd add Laura to the list, because stealing the cylon raider and running off to find the arrow was a pretty crazy move, too, although it's interesting to note that Laura deliberately undermined Kara's respect for Adama in order to get Kara's obedience. After which, you could argue that Kara never gives it so unconditionally again.

However, I'd say that regardless of how she feels about heirarchies, she desperately needs them. She is not good at functioning on her own authority – she needs some kind of structure to react against, whether positively or negatively. She's lost without it, whereas Lee is better at forging ahead on his own authority. It takes her dying, finding earth and coming back to put her on a path that doesn't take it's direction from any of the authority figures in her life, and from a certain perspective even then she's operating under the authority of her Very Special Destiny.

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's what I said in the entry. That if she respects you, she'll do what you say, no question (usually). But if she doesn't...she feels no compunction to follow a bad order.

It's surprising to me how often fanon suggests that she doesn't follow Lee's orders though. I'd bet she follows his most of all. (In fact, if I can ever get done with remix and ice!pilots, that D/s club on Cloud 9 fic will give proof to that theory. ;)