Poll Disco v Lost in Space v Orville FIGHT

[rhllot]

You raise an interesting point. At the same time, I think it's clear they were trying to add diversity to the show. There are only seven main characters, and they went from an all-white family to a mixed family, made Don Latino and sex-swapped Dr. Smith. Not that that discounts your criticism, but I do think we should temper our assessment of their motivations by looking at the broader context.

I was initially cool to Don, thinking him a poor man's Han Solo, but the character grew on me as he became more rounded. He's a smuggler, yes, but he's also a fundamentally good guy who brings an outsider perspective to the flight of the privileged from Earth. Other than Don, only Smith could provide that perspective, and Smith is the villain.

Don's relationship with Debbie the chicken ended up being one of my favorite parts of the show. It's such a small detail, but it shows that he's both heroic and compassionate. I certainly didn't end up thinking of him in a negative way.

I understand that by changing the roles of some characters the role of the soldier fell into dad robinson (
although Latinos represent the third most important ethnic group in the armed forces)
I do not think it's wrong for Don to be Latino, nor would it seem bad for me to be the maintenance worker of the ship, it's an honest job.
and I liked how they presented it at the beginning of the series, someone who has a job as a mechanic and cares about helping other people.
my problem with the character is that they did it a trafficker
and I think that was a mistake, it was totally unnecessary

 

[rhllot]

This reminds me of how people claimed Culber on DIS was Latino, because he was played by a Puerto Rican actor. Despite having a Scottish last name and no signs of Latino background whatsoever.

Actors can play an ethnicity aside from their own - particularly if they are somewhat "ambiguous" looking. John Tuturro is Italian, but has often played Jewish or even Latino characters, for example.

I thought Puerto Rico was part of the United States

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Yes, it's a territory of the US and Puerto Ricans are US citizens. They are also Latino.

 

[SpocksOddSocks]

Personally, I think the word trafficker has stronger connotations than smuggler, which is the term I'd use. And based on his situation, I don't judge his character badly for that. I know the word trafficker is still used for drugs , but when I hear it, my first thought is usually of people being forced into sex slavery.

I just thought I'd add those thoughts in case anyone who hasn't seen it gets different ideas about it from earlier posts .

 

[Lord Garth]

I didn't get through all of Lost In Space yet. It's pretty good so far.

I'm going on vacation and taking a bit of a break. This is the only opening here I really see to say so. I'll be posting less this summer. Probably much less. See everyone -- meaning everyone -- in Season 2.

 

[Refuge]

I didn't get through all of Lost In Space yet. It's pretty good so far.

I'm going on vacation and taking a bit of a break. This is the only opening here I really see to say so. I'll be posting less this summer. Probably much less. See everyone -- meaning everyone -- in Season 2.

Have fun

 

[Dar70]

Lost in Space and Orville. Discovery is awful.

 

[Jadeb]

I didn't get through all of Lost In Space yet. It's pretty good so far.

I'm going on vacation and taking a bit of a break. This is the only opening here I really see to say so. I'll be posting less this summer. Probably much less. See everyone -- meaning everyone -- in Season 2.

Have a nice vacation. Hope you enjoy the rest of LiS. (And for some reason I like that you chose a LiS thread to post your goodbye -- maybe because I have such positive feelings about the show.)

 

[catshadowsi8]

I enjoyed Lost in Space. Adding Don as a rogue with a heart was a nice touch and then giving him the inside knowledge about the ship and what 'she' could handle was a nod to the original Don. The only parts I found distracting were the flashbacks to the Robinson's marital problems (frankly I didn't care), and Judy being so young. 18? I think not!

 

[rhllot]

Personally, I think the word trafficker has stronger connotations than smuggler, which is the term I'd use. And based on his situation, I don't judge his character badly for that. I know the word trafficker is still used for drugs , but when I hear it, my first thought is usually of people being forced into sex slavery.

I just thought I'd add those thoughts in case anyone who hasn't seen it gets different ideas about it from earlier posts .

Many people consider alcohol a drug and actually alcohol kills more people than many drugs

 

[Rahul]

It did not bother me that Don was a mechanic and a member of the working class, many Latinos who are in their vast majority are honest, hardworking people and many work as mechanics.
It bothered me that a trafficker did it,
Why could not they be an Asian to a trafficker? or a white? do not! They thought he had to be a Latino and they chose an actor born in South America to play this role.
the word racism came to my mind almost immediately

I have to disagree here. Strongly.
I can see why you see it this way: There is only one smuggler on this show, and he's a latino.

But you're missing the most important point: He's the smuggler with a heart. He's the loner. The lovely rogue. He is sexy. He is the love interest for the one 'serious' will-they/won't-they relationship of main characters that isn't the parents nor some childrens classmate first love situation. He's the adventurer.

He's basically the writer's attempt at a Han Solo-type of character in their universe. And I'm damn happy they didn't make their only other adult main male character white. Could he have been asian? Sure. But to be quite honest (and a bit superficial), in Hollywood casting, for a male "Latino" reads as more 'sexy' than "asian". And that was what they were primarily going for.

 

[SpocksOddSocks]

Many people consider alcohol a drug and actually alcohol kills more people than many drugs

I wasn't stating otherwise, or even disagreeing with your point (which completely understand... I'm half Kashmiri, so get annoyed at regular portrayals of actors that look like me cast as terrorists in everything). I was just adding my take on the terminology for clarification. I hear trafficking, I think sex slavery, not drug smuggling.

 

[Jadeb]

Even progressive Discovery turns the brown guy into the hidden terrorist, literally putting a monster inside him.

 

[eschaton]

I enjoyed Lost in Space. Adding Don as a rogue with a heart was a nice touch and then giving him the inside knowledge about the ship and what 'she' could handle was a nod to the original Don. The only parts I found distracting were the flashbacks to the Robinson's marital problems (frankly I didn't care), and Judy being so young. 18? I think not!

Yeah, it didn't make much sense to have Judy be 18, because she's supposed to be a doctor. I believe the show said she received accelerated training, but that's some Dougie Howser M.D. right there.

Regardless, the actress playing her is actually 23. Aging her up a bit would make the potential relationship the show hinted about between her and Don West (who is twice her age, judging by the actor) way, way less creepy. I can't see any reason why she had to be 18 honestly. I suppose there might have been some rule that colonists could only bring along minor children, but 18 is just as much an adult legally as 22.

 

[Jadeb]

Maxwell Jenkins just turned 13, so they may not be planning to pick up right where they left off. If so, Judy would age up as well.

 

[rhllot]

Even progressive Discovery turns the brown guy into the hidden terrorist, literally putting a monster inside him.

In fact he is a white klingon

 

[rhllot]

I have to disagree here. Strongly.
I can see why you see it this way: There is only one smuggler on this show, and he's a latino.

But you're missing the most important point: He's the smuggler with a heart. He's the loner. The lovely rogue. He is sexy. He is the love interest for the one 'serious' will-they/won't-they relationship of main characters that isn't the parents nor some childrens classmate first love situation. He's the adventurer.

He's basically the writer's attempt at a Han Solo-type of character in their universe. And I'm damn happy they didn't make their only other adult main male character white. Could he have been asian? Sure. But to be quite honest (and a bit superficial), in Hollywood casting, for a male "Latino" reads as more 'sexy' than "asian". And that was what they were primarily going for.

I can understand what you say but for me it was a mistake, it was not necessary that he was a trafficker. could be a common maintenance employee.
I think that for me it was worse for the entire racist campaign of trump against Latinos

 

[catshadowsi8]

It doesn't bother me Don being Latino because a) I never noticed and b) frankly the original Don was far from perfect. He and John often clashed in the original series. Don was a hot head, with a heart of gold.

Imo if they had not written Don West to be a bit of a bad boy the show would have been very bland and not captured the essence of the character from the original series. Don is, and always has been, a grey character. I think you need that or you end up with only evil Smith as a foil for the super heroic characters. That's boring imo.

 

[BillJ]

In fact he is a white klingon

His father is Pakistani. So he is half-brown and played an ISIS fighter at one point in his career. So, no, he isn't white.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shazad_Latif

 

[eschaton]

His father is Pakistani. So he is half-brown and played an ISIS fighter at one point in his career. So, no, he isn't white.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shazad_Latif

He's referring to Voq, not Latif.