Piloticians wish you a very happy Fourth of July!

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone! Happy 4^th of July! I hope you’re all having a wonderful, relaxing weekend. I’m Rachel, and it’s my pleasure to be hosting the DPP this week. I'm jumping the gun a bit by posting a day early, but I didn't want the 4th to pass without a chance to honor our pilotician heroes :)  I’m planning on posting a discussion topic each day except for next Sunday, which I’d like to leave open so that people who are too busy to comment every day can still have time to read over the weekly developments and add their thoughts to earlier posts at the end of the week.  Sunday will also be an opportunity for all of you to start new conversations as the spirit moves you :) But till then, you’re stuck with me! BWA-HA-HA-HA.

Today’s post is a split-personality patriotic celebration, half silly and half serious.

 

Silly first:

                                  VS                         

 Be Smarter.  And Wronger.                                               Sometimes you gotta roll the hard six.
 VOTE APOLLO / STARBUCK                                                      VOTE ROSLIN / ADAMA
           148,000 B.C.E.                                                                         148,000 B.C.E.

Let’s imagine presidential competitions between our favorite characters. I think Apollo/Starbuck versus Roslin/Adama could be entertaining (imagine the Vice Presidential debates!), but feel free to run our pilots against each other, or alone, or in different pairs as you see fit. Give them political slogans, bumper stickers, campaign posters, party names and platforms, or write a little snippet of their speeches and debates. Have fun!

 

And if anyone is in a more contemplative mood…

On the Fourth of July it seems only natural to think about the men and women of the armed services. I would say that BSG in general provided a positive view of the military, and we’ve certainly discussed what our pilots’ individual roles and callsign personas meant to them. But I’m curious: what do you think the military itself meant to them? What did they value about the ethics and lifestyle of the service? What did they dislike about it? Were Kara and Lee’s views of the meaning of their work similar or different? To what extent was soldiery their true calling at any given time?  What aspects of their personalities, good and bad, did it develop, which might otherwise have gone unrealized? It’s interesting to me that the military seems to have been a second choice for both of them. They were each pressured to join from an early age by a domineering parent, though both apparently planned to make their own way pursuing other careers (Lee was a reservist, and Kara had dreams of professional pyramid). Looking back, what do you think they’d say about this ‘second choice,’ and how it ultimately shaped their lives and the lives of others? And, not to get into any real life controversies, but if you’d like to share, I’d be curious as to whether having Kara and Lee as your favorite characters affected the way you thought about the military at all?

 

Comments

[damao2010.livejournal.com]

On the silly side of the discussion, I can't make up my mind. My heart will always be with Kara and Lee, no matter what, though. I definetely agree with you: Vice Presidential debates would be something to see. LOL. I wouldn't miss them. However, on second thought, I think they would be more fun if Kara had to debate with Roslin instead of Adama. She respected him too much. And what about a debate between Lee and Adama? Less fun and more drama.

As for the most serious questions, I think Somethingusual made very good points and I pretty much agree with everything she (?) said. Here is what I might add.

What do you think the military itself meant to them? What did they value about the ethics and lifestyle of the service?

Well, both of them had very strong ties to the military because of their family backgrounds but I think they would view the service in different ways. I think Kara would be first attracted by the possibility to distinguish herself and maybe prove her mother wrong. Besides, she is an adventurous person, she likes danger and adrenaline and even in peace times the military get involved in dangerous missions where you have to put your courage and your skills to the test. And considering they had Twelve Colonies to deal with and that at least some of them seemed to go through some sort of social or political upheaval, they would probably have a lot to do.
On a very personal level, I think Lee would want to distinguish himself too ,to prove himself to his father in the only field his father seemed to value. I think he liked the structure and order of military life, with its clear rules. But also , as an idealist, he appreciated that the military serve the people and the country, which is a noble cause.

What did they dislike about it?

Obeying orders. *g*
I think Kara would get bored at times, like someone pointed out above, but I think the worst part was to obey orders from someone she didn't respect just because they were their superior. Also, as somewhat of a free spirit, the excessive number of rules and regulations would make her life difficult. Hence, lots of rule-breaking and hack time.
To Lee, the most difficult thing would be to obey blindly. I think he understood and respected the need for obedience and hierarchy but he is a thinker. To be out of the loop of decisions and to follow orders whithout understanding why they are needed or when he was clearly against them, this was very difficult for him.