DPP: Rules

[anamarya.livejournal.com]

Every once in a while, usually sooner than later we end up speaking about obeying/stretching/breaking the rules.

Usually we tend to see Lee as going by the book and Kara being the one to break all the rules.

So, today's question fro the shipper nation is: what do you think? is it true? is it false? or is it just blown out of proportion?

Comments

[deborah-judge.livejournal.com]

So I am totally fascinated by the she won't divorce/he won't cheat thing. And I know it is possible to read her not being willing to divorce as just her usual dithering about Lee, but if you read it straightforwardly that she really thinks there is a religious prohibition on divorce - even though it is apparently fine under civil law - and she would obey this prohibition even at the cost of not being with the man she loves...well, that gives me a whole different way of thinking about Kara and rules. Maybe it's less that she's a rule-breaker and more that she follows different rules than Lee does. It's possible that as a devoutly religious person she finds her religion completely fills the need for rules in her life.

I was thinking recently about what it means that she's dedicated to Aphrodite - we definitely see her connection to Artemis, her Aphrodite-worship is a little more difficult for me to see, but I can definitely imagine that Aphrodite's followers would consider infidelity to one's spouse to be not among the greatest of sins, and maybe less of a sin than divorce.

[word-vomity.livejournal.com]

I think that it has been in some ways overstated that she is the ruler break while he toes the line. Obviously he ends up breaking a good many rules over the course of the series and she, as a military officer, ends up following plenty of service rules.

I think that it's so often simplified this way because her way of breaking rules is in a brash and in-your-face way and comes off in a very Starbuck, 'break rules just because it feels good to break things' ragey kind of way. I think her willingness to break rules that don't suit her comes more from a belief that she herself is not required or adhere to an outwardly established set of rules. So while we may see her breaking their societal rules, she's doing it to stay true to her internal ones (which are probably less rigid and more gray than those of the law). Although I do think her past does also play into that attitude of 'the world has let me down so I don't answer to its rules'. However, the military, in a way, saved her. Make her someone. Gave her a family. And therefore she does believe in its rules and laws and does follow them to the best of her, somewhat unwieldy, nature.

Lee tends more to believe in systems of governance and therefore wants them to work. However, as his conscience guides him, he will break a rule that his logic and heart lead his to believe is incorrect or likely to cause an undue amount of harm to humanity at large. Which is of course why we see him move into his law and political forays later in the series where he feels like it is his duty to set these fragile system right.

So viewers see her rule-breaking as blatant disregard, where we see his as strict moral stances against tyranny or something all lofty and impressive like that. Anyways, that got rambley. I was probably going somewhere with all that, but I lost it. My bad.

[requialexa.livejournal.com]

I'm starting to think it's really more about the personas they cling to for security and identity than about their actual behavior.

Lee knows in his heart he's a rule follower so if he breaks this rule or that one, it's okay. Plus, he likes following rules because it makes him feel safe.

Kara knows she's a rebel and everyone knows this, but it really has more to do with being able not follow rules that don't make sense, than about breaking all rules arbitrarily. There are lots of rules that make her feel safe, but if she knows she'll be okay anyway or if it's a rule that only matters when it's broken, then she will not follow them!

I just think those are more like roles than descriptors, if that makes sense.