And so it begins... SGU offends people through casting call

[firehawk12]

So, light spoilers for the series and whatnot.

http://www.afterellen.com/blwe/08-14-09
http://www.afterellen.com/blog/sarahwarn/stargate-universe-responds-to-controversy

To sum up though, they are basically doing yet another gimmick episode:

Spoiler: spoiler

It's a bodyswap episode involving the Ming Na character and a wheelchair bound guest character. The problem being that the episode seems to suggest that every handicapped person can't live a real life unless they become "normal" (can't have sex in a wheelchair after all) and that a lesbian is being "forced" to have sex with a man.

And in effect, they manage to offend both groups involved.

I'm sure some people will chalk it up to thin skinned people being easily offended... but I mean, what the hell is the point of having a lesbian character if you are going to do episodes like this?

Of course, I suppose the other thing that offends me personally is the fact that they're already doing the same old science fiction gimmicks again. I guess they need to fill 24 episodes or whatever, but geez... why did SyFy cancel Atlantis if they are basically buying the exact same show again?

 

[PG15]

I don't know; I think it's pretty "scifi". It seems to really tackle the question of what you are capable of when you are posessing another's body, which was brushed aside in all the past uses of that device.

Let's face it; while some people might keep their eyes up front and not do anything to their borrowed body, more than a few will "take a peek", and some terrible individuals will go even further.

Spoiler: spoiler

Why have the lesbian's character's body be violated by heterosexual sex? That's easy - because it makes it even more twisted and disturbing, i.e. good drama fodder.

 

[Brent]

Ok, so they have a gay character, does it have to be flaunted so much with so much special attention? Can't a gay character just be a gay character?

 

[Kpnuts]

Ok, so they have a gay character, does it have to be flaunted so much with so much special attention? Can't a gay character just be a gay character?

And of course the straight characters we've had all these years don't flaunt their heterosexuality all the time? Kissing others of the opposite sex, flirting etc...

Using your flawed argument... do those straight characters have to flaunt it so much!?

 

[firehawk12]

Not when she's not allowed to be gay, I suppose.

And I appreciate that you can do good ideas with the gimmick. The final TOS episode where the woman takes over Kirk's body because the Federation is inherently sexist and won't allow women to command a Starship? That's a decent, albeit now old fashioned, take on the cliche. Is she wrong to take Kirk's body if she's been victimized her entire life? It's just one of those things.

But Stargate has done it several times. The most recent one I remember is some woman of the week possessing Rodney and flirting with Beckett or Shepard. It's just not that interesting anymore - especially when it's going to be resolved in 45 minutes and everyone goes back to being hunky dory.

Spoiler: Point about episode (we really should have blacked out spoiler codes!)

Now if they said that Ming Na's character will be "trapped" in the body of the other character for several episodes and that it would have an actual lasting impact on the morality of the two characters involved, then I'd be very interested.

But I can't imagine the Stargate writers doing something so edgy as to permanently mess up one of their characters. This is something you do on The Shield, where you kill off a main character in the very first episode and build the whole premise of the show around that event.

Here, it's just something where men think they're trying to do something edgy by involving two specific minorities without actually considering the views or feelings of people in either situation.

 

[Brent]

Ok, so they have a gay character, does it have to be flaunted so much with so much special attention? Can't a gay character just be a gay character?

And of course the straight characters we've had all these years don't flaunt their heterosexuality all the time? Kissing others of the opposite sex, flirting etc...

Using your flawed argument... do those straight characters have to flaunt it so much!?

I don't consider any of that flaunting it, and I wouldn't in this show either for gay characters. I just see so many articles and so much press about there being a lesbian character. None of that is necessary.

 

[PG15]

Wait and see.

SGU is supposed to be "different" in this respect. Who knows. One way or another, I think it's too early to say "they will do this, this and this and totally ignore this" etc. etc.

 

[firehawk12]

Honestly, the very fact that they're doing this episode has already made me lose faith in the "soft" reboot of the franchise. I genuinely believed that they were doing a different kind of science fiction, but it looks like they're borrowing from the Star Trek script archive once again.

I mean, I hope that I'll be proven wrong and SGU will become my favourite show ever... but stuff like this doesn't give me much hope.

 

[Hermiod]

^Actually, the idea that they're taking such a standard science fiction idea and doing something a little bit more interesting with it is a good sign for me.

 

[bigdaddy]

Honestly, the very fact that they're doing this episode has already made me lose faith in the "soft" reboot of the franchise. I genuinely believed that they were doing a different kind of science fiction, but it looks like they're borrowing from the Star Trek script archive once again.

I mean, I hope that I'll be proven wrong and SGU will become my favourite show ever... but stuff like this doesn't give me much hope.

Exactly. They were doing a reboot without a full reboot, getting rid of the silly aliens of the week. Now it's all so they can do a lame Earth base episode?

Can we have a new Star Trek series already?

 

[firehawk12]

Honestly, the very fact that they're doing this episode has already made me lose faith in the "soft" reboot of the franchise. I genuinely believed that they were doing a different kind of science fiction, but it looks like they're borrowing from the Star Trek script archive once again.

I mean, I hope that I'll be proven wrong and SGU will become my favourite show ever... but stuff like this doesn't give me much hope.

Exactly. They were doing a reboot without a full reboot, getting rid of the silly aliens of the week. Now it's all so they can do a lame Earth base episode?

Can we have a new Star Trek series already?

Strangely, if this was an Enterprise episode, I would be much more indifferent because it's such a standard Star Trek episode.

^Actually, the idea that they're taking such a standard science fiction idea and doing something a little bit more interesting with it is a good sign for me.

See, to me an interesting take would have no consequences whatsoever. Like, if identical twins switched bodies or something. But I guess that's probably too high concept for most people.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

but I mean, what the hell is the point of having a lesbian character if you are going to do episodes like this?

Uh, episodes like that are the reason to have a lesbian character! You didn't think they seriously care about her as a lesbian vs the titillation factor for straight guys?

For another series, I might be concerned but have no faith at all that SG:U will be good, so at the very least I'm hoping for not-boring, and stupidly offensive episodes are at least that.

 

[PG15]

What titillation factor?

 

[kipron]

I'm gay, I'm not offended.

Scifi often skips over the realities of the human condition, and skips right to the fantastic, and the stupid.

Besides. In this case, they're treating the lesbian character with as little respect as they're treating the straight character. Equality ftw.

I guess they need to fill 24 episodes or whatever, but geez... why did SyFy cancel Atlantis if they are basically buying the exact same show again?

Because it's cheaper? When is the answer anything else..

 

[stj]

The only positive aspect is that they seem to planning some stand alone episodes. The stand alone episodes are the usually the best parts of these space operas. The sad experience is that the serial plot really advances only during season opener, midseason cliffhanger if it's divided into two part, and season finale. All of which are often two parters.

Universe may be imitating early Lost and relying on flashbacks for character exposition.

Hello? The pyramids are landing platforms for space aliens? SG1 sneaked a few serious dramas in along the way on a limited basis (was the last one Collateral Damage?) But if Universe wants to be all dark and gritty all the time, at some level it has to take all that Daenikenite crap seriously. Atlantis immediately undermined its supposed isolation from Earth by having everyone speak English. When aliens on Universe speak English without explanation, is when the writers are admitting they were beat, and couldn't make the SG universe work (pun intended of course, I'm just that kind of person.)

 

[DWF]

I guess they need to fill 24 episodes or whatever, but geez... why did SyFy cancel Atlantis if they are basically buying the exact same show again?

Because it's cheaper? When is the answer anything else..

SGU costs million more per ep. than Atlantis so it's not cheaper. And personally I don't see what the big deal is.

 

[DWF]

The only positive aspect is that they seem to Hello? The pyramids are landing platforms for space aliens? SG1 sneaked a few serious dramas in along the way on a limited basis (was the last one Collateral Damage?) But if Universe wants to be all dark and gritty all the time, at some level it has to take all that Daenikenite crap seriously. Atlantis immediately undermined its supposed isolation from Earth by having everyone speak English. When aliens on Universe speak English without explanation, is when the writers are admitting they were beat, and couldn't make the SG universe work (pun intended of course, I'm just that kind of person.)

They don't want either humanoid looking aliens nor English speaking aliens on the show for at least the first year they said.

 

[stj]

^^^Well, at least they have a clue. Along with Scalzi as consultant, that's the most promising thing I've heard about Universe.

 

[cultcross]

Question - is this actually a body-swap episode in the old Holiday SG-1 sense? Or is this an instance of using the ancient communication pedestal, which essentially works as a body-swap machine over long distances? Because if it's the latter, that's a key part of the premise, and their main way of communicating with Earth, rather than just a one-episode gimmick.

I guess I'm asking - are these 'temporary powers which let her walk again' just using the ancient comms device to inhabit Ming-Na?

ETA: The response by the writers seems to suggest that this is the case, in which case I'm tempted to say this is a good idea - we've got this conceit of the body-swap comm device set up, it's either going to be a crutch or a source of intrigue and drama, and this storyline looks like they're considering interesting things to do with the concept.

 

[firehawk12]

Yeah, but at that point, it might as well be a black person swapping places with a white person and oogabooga, allegory happens.

The devices never really had any preconditions - so when Daniel and Vala warped over to the Ori galaxy, they conveniently ended up in white male and female bodies.

I don't know... this is supposed to be "edgy" I guess? Instead of messing with gender or race, they're messing with disabilities and sexuality? In that case, god forbid the woman who "discovers sex" swaps into a male character and goes around having sex with other men?

Oh well.