Thursday DPP: The Incomparables

[pennyante.livejournal.com]

We like to think of the pilots as unique. And of course they are; our gutsy but screwy Kara and noble but flawed Lee, simmering away in their tortuous stew of baggage and war and Hero Problems and temperamental differences—they’re in a class of their own.

But do we see other duos in pop culture who have something in common with their dynamic? Mulder and Scully’s way of perfectly complementing each other, professionally? Dharma and Greg’s exaggeratedly mismatched approaches to law and social conventions? From Casablanca, Rick and Ilsa’s situation of being separated by side effects of a culture of war?

Do we know other individual characters who are like either one of them? (Is it just me, or does Dawson Leary tell us something about a young Lee Adama? Tell me if you hate that idea, I can handle it.) Some of the characters who remind me most of Kara are strong female characters on nighttime soaps, like Sandra Oh’s Christina on Grey’s Anatomy and Blair Waldorf on Gossip Girl. ‘Cause ladies who are both powerful and  flawed ain’t the easiest to come by.

Though I haven’t read it yet, I know there’s an impressively scaled Hunger Games/BSG crossover fic out there. I wonder if Katniss, Peeta, and Gale tell us anything about Kara and Lee (and Sam).

So—to whom should we compare the pilots?

Who do we see in shades of Starbuck and Apollo? In what ways? Too many of my examples above are from American TV (sorry), but let's allow our brains to roam through whatever we want. TV, movies, books, graphic novels—nothing’s off the table. This would also be a great time to rec crossovers that tap into an AU dynamic.

Comments

[eridani8.livejournal.com]

Downton Abbey owns my life at the moment. I know I'm posting in a BSG comm, and I should wash my mouth out with soap, but there you have it.

In DA I've never really had any genuine doubt as to whether Matthew and Mary would get together- they were definitely set up with a OTPish dynamic- whereas I think part of the genius of K/L is the fact that RDM et al managed (for me atleast) to generate some real tension in the plot by asking not just how L&K would figure their shiz out, but whether they ever could.

But I'm absolutely with you on the similarities of Michelle Dockery & Katee Sackhoff having similarly brilliant and subtle female characters. They are both carrying around past baggage that interferes with their relationships in a big way and both have developed a very tough outer shell as a means of protecting themselves (where Kara is brash and feisty; Mary is aloof and blase).

[winegums.livejournal.com]

lol bb, our love is enough for ALL THE SHOWS and we love our other fandoms so never apologise for that :). DA is an easier love than BSG to be honest, I can see why it would take over one's life. And as for Mary/Matthew....obviously no couple we find in pop culture is going to be exactly like pilots, the most we can do is find peeps who have shades of them - and it's funny that Mary and Matthew share this much by way of similarities with K/L when their setting and circumstances are so drastically different.

Also, you have it absolutely spot-on about Mary and Kara. I think that's why I warmed to Mary so quickly, after my initial reaction - she reminded me of Kara (and the whole 'tough outer shell' thing is such a trope, but with them it was executed so perfectly that it didn't feel hackneyed, and what was revealed when their walls began coming down felt like it was real and important, not just oh-look-at-me Important. All props to Katee and Michelle for that!).