TheDopp writes "The United Nations hosted the cast and crew of Battlestar Galactica Tuesday evening in New York. Clips of the show were shown as discussion points during the event, touching on the morality of Suicide Bombers in war, Abortion and the use of torture on enemies of the state. At one point during the event an attendee mentions 'the "Old Man" launched into a passionate speech about casting off the idea of race as a cultural determinant, and said we were one race, the human race. His voice echoed throughout the chamber growing louder until — I kid you not — he was yelling, "So Say We All," and the crowd answered right back. Hell, even I yelled it, I was in the fraking United Nations with Adama, the gods themselves could not have stopped this moment.' The full video of the event is located on the UN website."
It was recently announced that sci-fi remake series Battlestar Galactica is getting a whole new spinoff prequel series called "Caprica." Signed on for twenty hours worth of finished product, including a two-hour pilot, the new series is to be set 50 years prior to Battlestar Galactica, and will focus on two rival families, the Graystones and the Adamas. "Enmeshed in the burgeoning technology of artificial intelligence and robotics that will eventually lead to the creation of the Cylons, the two houses go toe-to-toe blending action with corporate conspiracy and sexual politics. 'Caprica' will deliver all of the passion, intrigue, political backbiting and family conflict in television's first science fiction family saga."
bowman9991 writes "If your country was invaded and occupied by a foreign power, would you blow yourself up to fight back? If someone pointed a gun at your head and threatened to pull the trigger if you refused to sign a document you knew would lead to a hundred deaths (and you signed!), would that make you ultimately responsible? Does superior technology give you the moral right to impose your will on a technologically inferior culture? You wouldn't expect a mainstream television show to tackle such philosophically loaded questions, certainly not a show based on cheesy science fiction from the '70s, but if you've watched Battlestar Galactica since it was re-imagined in 2003, there has been no escape. The final fourth season is nearly over, and when the final episode airs, television will never be the same again. SFFMedia illustrates how Battlestar Galactica exposes the moral dilemmas, outrages, and questionable believes of the present as effectively (but more entertainingly) than any documentary or news program. It's not hard to see parallels in the CIA and US military's use of interrogation techniques in Bush's War on Terror, the effects of labeling one race as 'the enemy,' the crackdown on free speech, or the use of suicide bombers in Iraq."
"You'll see things here that look odd, even antiquated, to modern eyes, like phones with cords, awkward manual valves, media codecs that, well, barely deserve the name..."
It's a stupid playlist. Try opening the file as text, copying the first line, and playing it with mplayer: mplayer rtsp://157.150.195.57:554/ondemand/specialevents/2009/se090317pm.rm?cloakport=80,554,7070
The quality is substantially inferior to YouTube though.
That the whole story is essentially one 4 season long dissertation on the "wages of sin" and even "generational sin?" The recurring sins of sloth and bigotry finally keep coming back to haunt the human race. Sloth lead to two of the colonies being treated horribly until the Cylons could be created as a worker class. The Cylons eventually realized that they were slaves and revolted, and that pattern has repeated itself at least once already.
In a dark, twisted way, the series is more religious and conservative than the original one. A lot of fans of the original hate that because it's more like a Hobbesian/Calvinist take on human nature, sin, God's judgment, etc. with the human race not being portrayed as noble, but having its own sins come back to haunt it. As a Christian, I find it a very refreshing show in that it has a brutally realistic take on human nature, sin and other factors that are usually ignored by people looking to create a simplistic "good guys in white, bad guys in black" kind of moral dichotomy.
No offense, but I found the moralizing tiresome and contrived. Too many dumb moral lessons like "racism == bad" or "there are no good guys in the world". A lot of random garbage apparently intended to confuse the audience and/or inject a simulation of moral ambiguity, eg, the five hidden cylons.
A common subplot is the cardboard character that has a surprising revelation and turns into a different cardboard character.
My take is that while the new series does have a little more moral depth to it than th
You should have watched The Last Frakkin' Special on Monday night. Ronald Moore made it clear that no one was totally good or bad. Everyone in the series had their good points along with their bad. It's the way I've been watching the show since the first season when I saw that Gaius Baltar was neither good or bad.
I don't actually see much moralizing in the show. To me it's just a bunch of people trying to make do with a very difficult situation. And then out of nowhere people die for no good reason!
Seriously. Why do actors and actresses who pretend to be politicans and soldiers for tv and movies get more influence over "real world" politics like the UN than I do? Does the US constitution even have a sovereignty clause that forbids allowing foreign sovereignty (for instance, by the UN), or is that just an interpretation? I can't find one, but I'm at work (and posting on/., yeah I know)
Seriously. Why do actors and actresses who pretend to be politicans and soldiers for tv and movies get more influence over "real world" politics like the UN than I do?
Um, because Slashdot wouldn't have a story on its front page if you were to visit the UN?
Seriously. Why do actors and actresses who pretend to be politicans and soldiers for tv and movies get more influence over "real world" politics like the UN than I do?
Um, because Slashdot wouldn't have a story on its front page if you were to visit the UN?
Oh I guarantee I would make the news if I visted the UN....which is why they won't invite me.
I'm unsure that politicians and soldiers are more qualified. People did not applaud an actor. They applauded a beautiful idea told by a great orator. That is no acting, that is what politics is since the word exists.
Indeed. Whether a political philosophy or better understanding about our living society comes from someone who was voted into bureaucratical power or someone who "merely" has cultural influence bestowed by science fiction, that philosophy and that understanding is significant on its own. They were not applauding "Adama" nor were they applauding Olmos. They applauded a proper philosophy about the being of man in the halls of a building that has been trying to make such strong assertions for decades-- if ever so impotently.
The people that made this entire event happen understood that, beyond all things, old people want to stay in power but they do not change. Society changes. And the only way society changes is by the growth and further education of the youth that will replace our now-ignorant elders. They understood that we as adults have been so very flawed and that our kids need to know our mistakes and errors lest they be doomed to repeat them.
Seriously. Why do actors and actresses who pretend to be politicans and soldiers for tv and movies get more influence over "real world" politics like the UN than I do?
Because they have an audience larger than the population of many UN member states. Seriously.
The fact that the constitution is the supreme law of the land. This means that no treaty has the power to modify it.
Theoretically. The document itself has become more and more symbolic over time and it's been less held as "law of the land." It's been used more for political maneuvering among all three branches. That is inevitably what happens when you have a "Living Constitution" interpretation and not a strict "constructionist" one where any changes must be ratified, because you can just claim that yo
The idea that the Rule of Law had to prevail over the Rule of Men was probably the highest achievement of the Western system of thought. None of the rest is possible to keep without it. It is one of the central ideas encoded in the Arthur legends it goes back so far and is embedded so deep in our culture. It required generations of control over government schools to produce a population clueless enough to renounce that inheritance.
by Anonymous Coward
on Thursday March 19 2009, @02:26PM (#27260237)
Jason Nesmith: Mathesar, there's no such person as Captain Taggart. My name is Jason Nesmith. I'm an actor. We're all actors. Sarris: He doesn't understand. Explain as you would a child. Jason Nesmith: We, uh, we pretended. [On Malthesar's blank look] Jason Nesmith: We lied. Jason Nesmith: I'm not a commander. There's no "National Space Exploration Administration." We don't have a ship. Mathesar: [looking at TV screen] But there it is... Jason Nesmith: [gesturing with his fingers] The ship is that big. Mathesar: But inside, I see many rooms. Jason Nesmith: You've seen plywood sets that look like the inside. Our beryllium sphere is... is wire with plaster around it. And our digital conveyor is... it's Christmas tree lights. It's a decoration. It's all fake. Just like me. Mathesar: But why...? Jason Nesmith: It's difficult to explain. On our planet, we, uh... we pretend to... to entertain. Mathesar, I am so sorry. God, I am so sorry.
Battlestar Galactica is a television show. It's a fine enough show I guess, but it is not worthy of wasting the time of a body that meets ostensibly to diplomatically resolve real world conflicts, forge various international agreements, and - at times - deploy troops for peacekeeping. That television show is fantasy. What's going on at Darfur is the real thing.
Only the UN security council really does anything that involves military interventions. And this wasn't the general assembly let alone the security council.
And actually the main job of the UN is to dick around and make it look like international law and treaties aren't made in shady backroom deals.
If I understand him, the word "race" can't be used as a "cultural determinant" UNLESS you are blaming something on "the caucasian race", like he does at 1:42 in the video on youtube.
Well, it wasn't quite that. Watch the video. It's 100 students and a few members of the UN listening to a couple members of the BSG cast.
They were simply using the building, which added the illusion of authority to the event. If it had happened in any other venue, it wouldn't have been news.
It does give the impression that they were addressing the UN General Assembly, which simply wasn't true.
People are too quick to cast off the idea that race doesn't mean anything biologically through ideological lens. It's true that people all deserve the same political treatment, but people are so scared of racial bigotry and eugenics and social darwinism that they sometimes can't see straight. For example, the authors of The Bell Curve were blasted for supposedly being racial bigots, however wrong or right they were, and E. O. Wilson of Sociobiology fame had water thrown on him because the the nuturist bia
Not true. Look at the problems caused by taking Valerri's daughter away from her, as one example. Hell, look at how both Cylon and Humans were planning on backstabbing each other when trying to find out the Final Five because they didn't trust one another. You must have also forgotten the fact that humans apparently were trying to provoke the Cylons into going to war with them. Neither Cylon nor Humans are necessarily the good guys, though some clearly are bad guys, or at least misguided.
Simple. I don't watch commercial TV. I watch things on my own time. I'm watching BSG on DVD, just like I do with most other shows I want to watch because I can't stand commercials. And frankly, I was trying to have this mad rush to try and watch everything before the final episode, but whatever...
More to the point is that your post had nothing to do with the topic about BSG being at the UN. Hey, I have my beefs with the show too, but if there's a spoiler involved, I'll at least try to give someone a
Video (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Video (Score:5, Insightful)
Real Media if FRACKED up.
So say we all?
Re:Video (Score:5, Funny)
SO SAY WE ALL!
Re:Video (Score:5, Funny)
SO SAY ...buffering... WE ...buffering... ALL!
Re:Video (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Video (Score:4, Funny)
YOUTUBE version (Score:5, Informative)
Re:YOUTUBE version (Score:5, Insightful)
You know that RealMedia is deeply hated when people are thankful for the posting of a flash version.
Re:Video (Score:5, Funny)
'RealMedia? People still use RealMedia?'
"You'll see things here that look odd, even antiquated, to modern eyes, like phones with cords, awkward manual valves, media codecs that, well, barely deserve the name..."
Re:Video (Score:5, Informative)
It's a stupid playlist. Try opening the file as text, copying the first line, and playing it with mplayer:
mplayer rtsp://157.150.195.57:554/ondemand/specialevents/2009/se090317pm.rm?cloakport=80,554,7070
The quality is substantially inferior to YouTube though.
Quick....! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Quick....! (Score:5, Insightful)
This is the UN. They'd just put the Cylons in charge of a commission on human rights in the 12 colonies.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Who was that UN official with the really attractive blond in the red dress?
Re:Quick....! (Score:4, Funny)
For the UN, that would be a step up.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Did they mention (Score:5, Insightful)
That the whole story is essentially one 4 season long dissertation on the "wages of sin" and even "generational sin?" The recurring sins of sloth and bigotry finally keep coming back to haunt the human race. Sloth lead to two of the colonies being treated horribly until the Cylons could be created as a worker class. The Cylons eventually realized that they were slaves and revolted, and that pattern has repeated itself at least once already.
In a dark, twisted way, the series is more religious and conservative than the original one. A lot of fans of the original hate that because it's more like a Hobbesian/Calvinist take on human nature, sin, God's judgment, etc. with the human race not being portrayed as noble, but having its own sins come back to haunt it. As a Christian, I find it a very refreshing show in that it has a brutally realistic take on human nature, sin and other factors that are usually ignored by people looking to create a simplistic "good guys in white, bad guys in black" kind of moral dichotomy.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
A common subplot is the cardboard character that has a surprising revelation and turns into a different cardboard character.
My take is that while the new series does have a little more moral depth to it than th
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't actually see much moralizing in the show. To me it's just a bunch of people trying to make do with a very difficult situation. And then out of nowhere people die for no good reason!
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
"Good guys in tan jackets"
No one with hair like that could have been called in any way "good."
I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV (Score:5, Insightful)
Um, because Slashdot wouldn't have a story on its front page if you were to visit the UN?
Re:I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV (Score:4, Funny)
Um, because Slashdot wouldn't have a story on its front page if you were to visit the UN?
Oh I guarantee I would make the news if I visted the UN....which is why they won't invite me.
Re:I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV (Score:5, Funny)
Because if you shouted "So say we all," it would sound silly.
When EJO shouts it, people want--no, need--to obey.
Re:I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV (Score:4, Insightful)
Indeed. Whether a political philosophy or better understanding about our living society comes from someone who was voted into bureaucratical power or someone who "merely" has cultural influence bestowed by science fiction, that philosophy and that understanding is significant on its own. They were not applauding "Adama" nor were they applauding Olmos. They applauded a proper philosophy about the being of man in the halls of a building that has been trying to make such strong assertions for decades-- if ever so impotently.
The people that made this entire event happen understood that, beyond all things, old people want to stay in power but they do not change. Society changes. And the only way society changes is by the growth and further education of the youth that will replace our now-ignorant elders. They understood that we as adults have been so very flawed and that our kids need to know our mistakes and errors lest they be doomed to repeat them.
Re:I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously. Why do actors and actresses who pretend to be politicans and soldiers for tv and movies get more influence over "real world" politics like the UN than I do?
Because they have an audience larger than the population of many UN member states. Seriously.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Theoretically. The document itself has become more and more symbolic over time and it's been less held as "law of the land." It's been used more for political maneuvering among all three branches. That is inevitably what happens when you have a "Living Constitution" interpretation and not a strict "constructionist" one where any changes must be ratified, because you can just claim that yo
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
> Is that more a good thing or a bad thing?
If you have to ask.....
The idea that the Rule of Law had to prevail over the Rule of Men was probably the highest achievement of the Western system of thought. None of the rest is possible to keep without it. It is one of the central ideas encoded in the Arthur legends it goes back so far and is embedded so deep in our culture. It required generations of control over government schools to produce a population clueless enough to renounce that inheritance.
Galaxy Quest anyone? (Score:5, Insightful)
Jason Nesmith: Mathesar, there's no such person as Captain Taggart. My name is Jason Nesmith. I'm an actor. We're all actors.
Sarris: He doesn't understand. Explain as you would a child.
Jason Nesmith: We, uh, we pretended.
[On Malthesar's blank look]
Jason Nesmith: We lied.
Jason Nesmith: I'm not a commander. There's no "National Space Exploration Administration." We don't have a ship.
Mathesar: [looking at TV screen] But there it is...
Jason Nesmith: [gesturing with his fingers] The ship is that big.
Mathesar: But inside, I see many rooms.
Jason Nesmith: You've seen plywood sets that look like the inside. Our beryllium sphere is... is wire with plaster around it. And our digital conveyor is... it's Christmas tree lights. It's a decoration. It's all fake. Just like me.
Mathesar: But why...?
Jason Nesmith: It's difficult to explain. On our planet, we, uh... we pretend to... to entertain. Mathesar, I am so sorry. God, I am so sorry.
Now if only the UN... (Score:5, Funny)
LIES! Damned dirty LIES!!! (Score:4, Funny)
Think now, there is something very, ah, right (Score:5, Insightful)
It's TV show, it is not how the real world works... oh, wait
It's the UN, it is not how the real world works.
This is disturbing (Score:3, Insightful)
Battlestar Galactica is a television show. It's a fine enough show I guess, but it is not worthy of wasting the time of a body that meets ostensibly to diplomatically resolve real world conflicts, forge various international agreements, and - at times - deploy troops for peacekeeping. That television show is fantasy. What's going on at Darfur is the real thing.
WTF?
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Only the UN security council really does anything that involves military interventions. And this wasn't the general assembly let alone the security council.
And actually the main job of the UN is to dick around and make it look like international law and treaties aren't made in shady backroom deals.
Hippocrite? (Score:4, Insightful)
If I understand him, the word "race" can't be used as a "cultural determinant" UNLESS you are blaming something on "the caucasian race", like he does at 1:42 in the video on youtube.
and this is yet another reason (Score:3, Insightful)
why the UN is never taken seriously by anyone, anywhere, at anytime about anything.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah, they took some time out of their busy schedule of meetings with Bono to host BSG. At least it's a step up.
Re:/me shakes head (Score:5, Informative)
Well, it wasn't quite that. Watch the video. It's 100 students and a few members of the UN listening to a couple members of the BSG cast.
They were simply using the building, which added the illusion of authority to the event. If it had happened in any other venue, it wouldn't have been news.
It does give the impression that they were addressing the UN General Assembly, which simply wasn't true.
The event was more of a photo op.
Re:amatures (Score:5, Funny)
Wow, I didn't know Christian Bale visited Slashdot. Can I have your autograph?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
*spoiler alert*
Not true. Look at the problems caused by taking Valerri's daughter away from her, as one example. Hell, look at how both Cylon and Humans were planning on backstabbing each other when trying to find out the Final Five because they didn't trust one another. You must have also forgotten the fact that humans apparently were trying to provoke the Cylons into going to war with them. Neither Cylon nor Humans are necessarily the good guys, though some clearly are bad guys, or at least misguided.
Re:Bastards made piece with the Cylons (Score:5, Funny)
As someone who is about 3/4 of the way though the 3rd season, all I can say is:
Fuck you, asshole
Re:Bastards made piece with the Cylons (Score:5, Funny)
Now, you've got about 30 hours to watch 23 episodes + Razor + webisodes before the finale tomorrow night.
Better go get some energy drinks.
Re:More news... (Score:4, Informative)
huh, good thing that first kiss didn't turn out to be a blow job. THAT would have been awkward later on.
iF ONLY I HAD MOD POINTS.. (Score:3, Funny)
huh, good thing that first kiss didn't turn out to be a blow job. THAT would have been awkward later
I just fell out of my chair laughing my ass off. That's the funniest damned thing I've read in weeks...
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
That goes for the mod who bumped up your post to "interesting" as well. Frakking idiots.
Re:Bastards made piece with the Cylons (Score:5, Insightful)
Couldn't have at least had a spoiler warning on your title?
If you're that far behind, why are you *reading* anything bsg related this close to the finale? You're bound to hit spoilers.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
More to the point is that your post had nothing to do with the topic about BSG being at the UN. Hey, I have my beefs with the show too, but if there's a spoiler involved, I'll at least try to give someone a
Re:Sci-Fi Channel Better Have Footed the Whole Bil (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
It's only 8 minutes long in any other player.