DPP: Free For All Friday

[ninjamonkey73.livejournal.com]

Greetings and salutations, 'shipper nation! This is Amy, known on your internets as ninjamonkey73, and I'm driving the DPP bus this week. Sit back and enjoy the ride...





What's on your mind, 'shipper nation? Have a gripe about an episode? Are you such a Lee fangirl you want to shout his praises from the nearest mountaintop? Want to try your hand at a comment!fic and need a prompt (go ahead and ask, we'll enable)? Have a neat picspam you want to stare at for a few minutes? Or that gif. You know the one I'm talking about. From EoJ. Yeah, that one. Mmmm...

The world's your proverbial oyster, people! Chat it up!

Comments

Re: Fat!Lee is an abomination

[damao2010.livejournal.com]

"I didn't like the Fat!Lee storyline either, largely because it turned out not to be a storyline at all."
Absolutely. As usual, we, the fans, devoted much more thought to the whole storyline (or lack thereof) than the writers ever did. It is another example of a really, really poorly executed idea. To be honest, I think it falls into the "lets shock the viewers to try to get their attention" category more than anything else.

I think the idea itself was very questionable to begin with. Of course, it is very possible to make a case for Lee eating his way into depression, as you have so beautifully made. He did have reasons to be feeling down and adrift both personally and professionally. Canon has provided us with at least one instance where he showed signs of a depression that almost ended tragically (the near suicide in Resurrection Ship - though I have to say it also caught me by surprise then).

I understand that he had taken over a more burocratic position in a time when the active fight seemed to have ended and lots of people were leaving the service to settle down on the planet. This could possibly make him feel unmotivated to keep up with his regular exercising routine and could have caused him to let go to a certain point. I guess it would be similar to what happens with professional athletes after they retire. Many of them find it difficult to keep the same routine and gain weight. If you add his frustration and disappointment over the fall out with Kara in the mix, things could have even got out of hand.

However, he didn't just gain weight. He became really obese in a relatively short time - I'd say one year tops. It would take much more than indulging into “passive behavior” for that to happen. And that is what I think made the whole plot feel contrived to me. First because, as a rule, when angry, hurt or frustrated, Lee’s first instinct is to lash out, to fight (with words or fists) – he acts like a mean SOB. I could see him working out till exhaustion and pushing his remaining crew to the limit (almost like Cain, except for the moral issues) much more easily than I could imagine him eating into oblivion. Secondly, because we could imagine that with so many people settling on the planet, the ones who remained onboard would have to be overworked rather than the opposite. In fact, I always thought the idea that the military with have nothing to do and would let standards fall so low very unrealistic. Thirdly, because although we ‘ve seen him go through more introspective, sulking moments , as any good overthinker would, the “pushing too hard” part of his personality always prevails, especially when there is something to be do, when duty calls. And when the fleet jumped away and it took them a couple of months to prepare the rescue mission, he had a cause to fight for and to get ready for. But apparently he only worried about getting back in fighting shape after the mission. And then, he was able to be his old self in no time whatsoever. No, from beginning to end the whole thing was simply preposterous.