DPP: Comparisons

[rdave1.livejournal.com]

In the past DPPs we’ve discussed movies, in which pilots could replace the actors, characters from literature that embody the spirit of Kara and Lee. 

A co-worker and I were discussing yesterday (her ship and my pilots) when the couple faces so many obstacles in their life/relationship, the “happy ending” makes the pain worth it. In our case, pilots faced so many demons and were becoming the people they needed to be to have a relationship and that was taken away without reason. In short, their trials and tribulations came to no fruitations.

So today’s question is have Kara and Lee become the bar where all other couples/ships get rated because of the ending we got? In most shows, in the end the couple gets together so does it make their obstacles a little less validating? Do you compare your current ships, previous ships, movie ships to Kara/Lee’s level of epic love? Does the thought “OMG! K/L had it so much worst, stop complaining and just get it together” cross your mind?

Also, I’m curious to see everyone’s top 5 epic couples/ships of all time. They can have a happy ending. Just explain why the order.

Comments

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Very well put. I would really love it if writers were daring enough to write "happy middles," as you say, and then *keep going.* Judging by most TV and literature, one would think that romantic relationships froze in time and/or ended as soon as the couples in question committed to each other. Silliness. If you've been rooting for two characters to get together, it's because you can think that they would be good, fun, interesting, and complicated together. There's plenty of drama still to be played, good and bad...Sometimes, in order to be true to characters, you just have to let them choose to be together. Because, at a certain point, that is what they would realistically choose, and trying to stop it from happening requires twisting the story, the characters, or both.

Regarding Kara and Lee, I have gotten the impression that they were never the endgame for the creators and writers of the show. I think they were meant to be dysfunctional and eternally frustrated, pretty much from the start, in order to give the audience something 'unconventional' and 'challenging,' to defy expectations. I think Moore and company always wanted the young, attractive leads to have an unhappy ending romantically. It was their way of rejecting the happily ever after cliche in favor of something supposedly more 'real,' and I understand that impulse; I even think that making their friendship more central than their romance did have some beautiful pay-offs at various points in the story. But the problem was that they had to resort to unrealistic scenarios in order to keep the characters appropriately messed up and separated. None of that was entertaining to watch. The characters' emotional through-lines didn't come out tragic so much as confused, which - despite the creators' best intentions - was not good drama, and frustrated their audience.

They did much better with the Adama/Roslin romance, in my opinion; the unhappy ending was built in (she had cancer from day one), and the middle-aged leads already made the story 'unconventional,' so they could really commit to slowly developing the emotion and allowing the hardships of life, work, and death to bring out the painful beauty of that growing love story. I have a lot of problems with Adama and Roslin as characters (meaning I don't like them as people half as much as I like Kara and Lee), but in terms of dramatic structure and characterization, their storyline won. I wish they could have handled Kara and Lee - either happily or unhappily - with similar competence.

[rdave1.livejournal.com]

That's impression I got from RDM's podcast that he never really like the Lee and Kara characters as much. Even though I think that majority of the shows fan base came the drama that between those two. I think that the point of any show would be to give us characters that broken like pilots but give them growth throught out the process of the show and leave the end where they are a point where the audience knows that they will continue to grow with each other but the struggles will always be there like in any relationship.

[damao2010.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, in order to be true to characters, you just have to let them choose to be together. Because, at a certain point, that is what they would realistically choose, and trying to stop it from happening requires twisting the story, the characters, or both.

That's exactly what I mean. And if the writers allowed them to do so, they wouldn't lose sight of what the show is all about , the relationship would still be a part of it, but it wouldn't become bigger than the story itself. And , if done rigtht, it would still be fun, interesting , challenging and it could provide lots of opportunities for drama without becoming a cliche.

Regarding Kara and Lee, I have gotten the impression that they were never the endgame for the creators and writers of the show.

It might be true, but I get the feeling that writers (TV writers) don't usually have a clear idea where they are going with their stories. Sure, they have the backbone of the story in their heads but they pretty much seem to make things up as they go along. Sometimes they seem to run out of ideas, sometimes they decide to go in certain directions in order to maintain ratings up, sometimes characters seem to come alive and lead them in directions they had not envisioned. And lots of times, in order to keep shows running longer than what is necessary to tell the story, they come up with convoluted plots that just don't make any sense at all.

they were meant to be dysfunctional and eternally frustrated, pretty much from the start, in order to give the audience something 'unconventional' and 'challenging,' to defy expectations

That I believe. I just don't agree that it is really unconventional when it doesn't ring as true as allowing them to get together would have been.

They did much better with the Adama/Roslin romance

Excellent comparison. I couldn't agree more.