Why do people hate the stones?

[cylkoth]

^^This has already been posted, but I'm wondering if those of you questioning the ethics of body swapping has seen this recent kino short.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR1zHKhlHyU&feature=channel
We Volunteer To Do This.

And the latest edition, touches on TJ's spotting Rush with Amanda in Wray's body, with her debating whether she should tell Wray see spied him and Mandy hugging in his quarters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF3jqbJayGI

 

[Star Wolf]

^^This has already been posted, but I'm wondering if those of you questioning the ethics of body swapping has seen this recent kino short.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR1zHKhlHyU&feature=channel
We Volunteer To Do This.

And the latest edition, touches on TJ's spotting Rush with Amanda in Wray's body, with her debating whether she should tell Wray see spied him and Mandy hugging in his quarters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF3jqbJayGI

Yes and its still not consent it makes the adolescent sex fantasy of the pulp SF writing staff creepier

 

[Tom]

They (the writers) seem to like to explore the pysical what if's latley like a human swaping with the blue alien and recently swaping with someone that is paralyzed. You know they will do a male to female body switch sometime because it will be 'cool'.

 

[The Grim Ghost]

^^This has already been posted, but I'm wondering if those of you questioning the ethics of body swapping has seen this recent kino short.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR1zHKhlHyU&feature=channel
We Volunteer To Do This.

And the latest edition, touches on TJ's spotting Rush with Amanda in Wray's body, with her debating whether she should tell Wray see spied him and Mandy hugging in his quarters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF3jqbJayGI

Cool, thanks! I'd watched some of those, but had missed the 1st one.

Well, I think that answers the question. They volunteer and sign a form that allows for stuff like sex, etc.

I guess we'll just have to disagree on this one Starwolf. I get why you think it's creepy, but to me these people go into this knowing what could happen, and the woman interviewed using Chloe's body has zero problems with it. They are volunteers, so nobody is forcing them to do anything.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

^^This has already been posted, but I'm wondering if those of you questioning the ethics of body swapping has seen this recent kino short.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR1zHKhlHyU&feature=channel
We Volunteer To Do This.

And the latest edition, touches on TJ's spotting Rush with Amanda in Wray's body, with her debating whether she should tell Wray see spied him and Mandy hugging in his quarters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF3jqbJayGI

Yes and its still not consent it makes the adolescent sex fantasy of the pulp SF writing staff creepier

Given that no one is being forced to take part in body-swapping I really don't see what you find so offensive about it. They all know the risks and potential consequences, and they all volunteer for it.

 

[The Wormhole]

They (the writers) seem to like to explore the pysical what if's latley like a human swaping with the blue alien and recently swaping with someone that is paralyzed. You know they will do a male to female body switch sometime because it will be 'cool'.

I'm surprised it hasn't been done already. We know it's possible to swap genders with the stones, Vala once swapped with Daniel on SG-1. So why SGU hasn't shows this yet is the show's only genuine surprise.

 

[Starbreaker]

I thought that the stones were very boring in the first 10 episodes. I didn't know enough about these characters to give a crap about them going home. However, what they've been doing lately is pretty cool.

 

[Caliburn24]

I'll say it. I hate the stones.

The concept is fine, the execution has been horrific.

Most of the arguments about why the stones are bad have already been made here, but one aspect of it has not been touched as far as I can tell.

People complain the show is slow, well it is slow, in large part because about half the episodes focus on stone story lines which just drag the show to a near crawl.

The writers have used the stones as a crutch to create the worst kind of filler episodes. Seriously, if the stones had not been in the show from the beginning would the show be better or worse?

 

[bullethead]

The writers have used the stones as a crutch to create the worst kind of filler episodes. Seriously, if the stones had not been in the show from the beginning would the show be better or worse?

I'd say it would've made the show a bit better by cutting out all the bullshit melodrama on Earth and forcing the crew to work together more. That said, the whole alien reveal in Space would be out the window, which is sad considering how good it was.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

The writers have used the stones as a crutch to create the worst kind of filler episodes. Seriously, if the stones had not been in the show from the beginning would the show be better or worse?

I'd say it would've made the show a bit better by cutting out all the bullshit melodrama on Earth and forcing the crew to work together more. That said, the whole alien reveal in Space would be out the window, which is sad considering how good it was.

They could've kept the stones and just had them not work all the way to Earth. We know they work over vast distances, but not exactly how vast. Billions of light years is a pretty big gap to cover, so they could've limited the range of the stones and maybe used them as communication devices for instances where the crew got split up. Then, the alien storyline still would've worked.

The show would benefit from giving them a little more control over the ship. Even if they got it pointed back to the Milky Way, it would take eons to get there, so I don't see that being a show-killer.

 

[Romulan_spy]

If I am not mistaken, the people still see the original body during the body swap. So, essentially you would see some stranger walk up to you with a fanciful story about how they are really your loved one in another body. Why would anyone accept that so easily, especially to the point we've seen in the show where they are having sex with this stranger believing them to be someone else?

 

[The Wormhole]

If I am not mistaken, the people still see the original body during the body swap. So, essentially you would see some stranger walk up to you with a fanciful story about how they are really your loved one in another body. Why would anyone accept that so easily, especially to the point we've seen in the show where they are having sex with this stranger believing them to be someone else?

That's been one of the main problems a lot of fans have had when it comes to the stones.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Well, presumably these people are cleared to know about the Stargate Program. If you're already aware of the existence of spaceships, aliens, and galaxy-crossing wormholes, body-swapping technology doesn't seem that far-fetched.

 

[Agent Richard07]

If people don't like the execution, then calling for better stories should be in order instead of wanting the stones gone altogether.

As for how they've been used, I actually like that they're throwing in stories about personal use like sex, nights out and whatnot. That sort of thing is a lot more interesting than the "all business all the time" approach where they'd only be used to bring experts onboard. People say the show isn't much fun, well, doing stories about experts onboard isn't much fun. Sure it's necessary, but you have to mix it up a bit with other stuff. I also like that clip above with the woman in Chloe's body explaining things a bit. Why don't they put that sort of thing in the show? Too much "boring" exposition? Anyhow, it just confirms what I've thought myself. People are up for it, they're informed and they sign some sort of release. It's plausible too. I'm pretty sure some people out there would go for it. I started a thread in Miscellaneous a while back asking people if they'd be okay with others having sex with their holodeck representations, and surprisingly, quite a number of people were alright with it. We've also seen how people are willing to humiliate themselves on talk shows and reality shows, so anything is possible.

Do they cover the issue of body use as well as they should? Honestly, I don't think too much about it. I'm just enjoying the ride. Besides, if I can accept O'Neill wanting Teal'c to join his team and the SGC letting him, I can accept that the stones can be used for recreation without much fuss.

 

[The Grim Ghost]

Well, presumably these people are cleared to know about the Stargate Program. If you're already aware of the existence of spaceships, aliens, and galaxy-crossing wormholes, body-swapping technology doesn't seem that far-fetched.

Right, remember they mention people's loved ones being cleared or not cleared a few times..

Also some guy in the air force shows up as an escort..with someone who knows EVERYTHING your loved one knew. Why wouldn't you believe it was them?

And I'm sure not all of them do have sex. Some are probably weirded out by it. Some probably just use it as a chance to visit people, not for physical stuff. Remember Eli and Chloe visiting their parents?

As for the whole stones as filler thing..I disagree with that. The space tick episode was filler. Most of the stuff with the stones has been used to tell us more about the characters and their backgrounds/family. That isn't filler, that is character development. Now you might not like this, or consider it dull (I don't), but it isn't filler when it serves a purpose.

 

[Star Wolf]

Well, presumably these people are cleared to know about the Stargate Program. If you're already aware of the existence of spaceships, aliens, and galaxy-crossing wormholes, body-swapping technology doesn't seem that far-fetched.

Right, remember they mention people's loved ones being cleared or not cleared a few times..

Also some guy in the air force shows up as an escort..with someone who knows EVERYTHING your loved one knew. Why wouldn't you believe it was them?

And I'm sure not all of them do have sex. Some are probably weirded out by it. Some probably just use it as a chance to visit people, not for physical stuff. Remember Eli and Chloe visiting their parents?

As for the whole stones as filler thing..I disagree with that. The space tick episode was filler. Most of the stuff with the stones has been used to tell us more about the characters and their backgrounds/family. That isn't filler, that is character development. Now you might not like this, or consider it dull (I don't), but it isn't filler when it serves a purpose.

Actually the only person we have seen actually have sex is Young/Telford and when they had the FTL transition glitch Colonel Telford looked surprised and not in the oh I signed a waiver for this kind of way.

Then he had to deal with ambushes by Colonel Young in unknown bodies coming after him

 

[Robert Maxwell]

As for the whole stones as filler thing..I disagree with that. The space tick episode was filler. Most of the stuff with the stones has been used to tell us more about the characters and their backgrounds/family. That isn't filler, that is character development. Now you might not like this, or consider it dull (I don't), but it isn't filler when it serves a purpose.

Definitely. The space tick thing could've been interesting had they given us any new insights into the characters, but they didn't.

Rush was traumatized by the Blue Meanies. We already knew that.

Scott misses his son. We already knew that.

Chloe wants to live up to her father's expectations. We already knew that.

Greer is trigger-happy and always suspicious of the civilians. We already knew that.

James is jealous that Scott dumped her for Chloe. Yeah, great, we already knew that.

There were simply no new insights into the characters, and the overall story wasn't moved forward in any way. Textbook filler.

Filler can be entertaining, and in that case I could forgive it, but it sure wasn't in this case.

 

[ngc7293]

The thing that bothered me about the show is that it was composed of so-so characters. I guess we are used to two other shows where Carter or McKay are there to cover all the technology bases. Here, Rush needs half a dozen people just to get the job done. You've got a Medic where a Nurse could do better. At an earlier time I think the Stones should have been used to send TJ back for classes and Eli back to School

The problem with sending the 'kids' back to school is that it takes away the drama. Now, if you just use the stones for Sex, torcher and fighting, then everything is ok.

 

[Checkmate]

TJ should definitely be getting some tutoring when more pressing matters aren't at hand. But you also have to realize that everyone is fully expecting them to find a way back. Few (other than those that decided to stay behind on the God planet, if any did at all) firmly believe that they're going to be stuck there forever. So they're simply trying to make do. So I guess I get it from that point of view.

Still dislike it, though.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I never cared for them because they really scream "magic" to me. They also seem to me to cheapen the whole notion of being lost and stranded. I think having the actors continue to portray themselves after the swap is a cop-out to how weird the situation actually is.

I see how they open up some new storytelling avenues but I'm not entirely convinced that makes the series stronger than it would be without them. Then again, I guess historically the Stargate franchise has never been big on stark and grit.