Session slides used in the Level 3 lecture at the University of Sunderland. Draws on Ott's work found in he book Cylons in America - an excellent book!

1. 1

2. • “All
of
this
has
happened
before
and
all
of
it
will
happen
again”
– Leoben
Conoy,
1.08
“Flesh
and
Bone”
– Laura
Roslin,
1.12
“Kobol’s
Last
Gleaming
Part
1”
– Six,
1.10
“The
Hand
of
God”
• “I
see
the
paLerns
...
It’s
all
there,
I
see
it
and
you
don’t”
– Leoben
Conoy,
1.08
“Flesh
and
Bone”
• “If
you
believe
in
the
gods,
then
you
believe
in
the
cycle
of
Ome,
that
we
are
all
playing
our
parts
in
a
story
that
is
told
again,
and
again,
and
again
throughout
eternity.”
– Laura
Roslin,
1.12
“Kobol’s
Last
Gleaming,
Part
1”
2

3. The function of sci-fi
• to
depict
“a
world
clearly
and
radically
disconOnuous
from
the
one
we
know,
yet
returns
to
confront
that
known
world
in
some
cogniOve
way”
– Scholes,
1975:
29
3

4. The function of sci-fi
• “[S]cience
ficOon
conjurs
the
invisible
forces
–
technological,
social,
economic,
affecOve,
and
poliOcal
–
that
surrounds
us.
It
makes
those
forces
visible
and
palpable,
and
brings
us
face
to
face
with
them,
however
frightening
and
untoward
they
may
be.”
– Steven
Shaviro,
2003:
xi
4

5. The function of sci-fi
• “Science
ficOon
is
not
about
the
future;
it
uses
the
future
as
a
narraOve
convenOon
to
present
significant
distor-ons
of
the
present”
– Samuel
R.
Delany,
2005:
291
5

6. • Sci-­‐fi
frequently
asks
difficult
quesOons
of
humanity
and
the
present
• Via:
– Allegory
– Metaphor
6

7. 1978
-­‐
BaLlestar
GalacOca
24
episodes
1980
-­‐
GalacOca
1980
10
episodes
7

8. 2003
-­‐
Mini
Series
– 2
feature
length
episodes
2004
-­‐
Season
1
– 13
episodes
2005
-­‐
Season
2
– 20
episodes
2006
–
The
Resistance
– 10
webisodes
2006
-­‐
Season
3
– 20
episodes
2007
–
Razor
– Feature
film
2008
-­‐
Season
4
– 20
episodes
2009
-­‐
The
Plan
– Feature
film
8

9. 2010
–
19
episodes
9

10. 2012
–
10
webisodes/1
feature
10

11. BSG’s
reimagining
allowed
for
• “comment
on
things
that
are
happening
in
today’s
society,
from
the
war
against
terror
to
the
quesOon
of
what
happens
to
people
in
the
face
of
unimaginable
catastrophe”
– BSG
producer
Ronald
D
Moore
cited
in
Bassom,
2005:
12
11

12. Call
it
‘NaturalisOc
Science
FicOon’
• “Our
goal
is
nothing
less
than
the
reinvenOon
of
the
science
ficOon
television
series.
We
take
as
a
given
the
idea
that
the
tradiOonal
space
opera,
with
its
stock
characters,
techno-­‐double-­‐talk,
bumpy-­‐headed
aliens,
thespian
histrionics,
and
empty
heroics
has
run
its
course
and
a
new
approach
is
required.
That
approach
is
to
introduce
realism
into
what
has
heretofore
been
an
aggressively
unrealisOc
genre.”
– Moore,
2006,
Ba%lestar
Galac-ca:
NaturalisOc
Science
FicOon
or
Taking
the
Opera
out
of
Space
Opera
12

13. Call
it
‘NaturalisOc
Science
FicOon’
• “This
idea,
the
presentaOon
of
a
fantasOcal
situaOon
in
naturalisOc
terms,
will
permeate
every
aspect
of
our
series”
– Moore,
2006,
Ba%lestar
Galac-ca:
NaturalisOc
Science
FicOon
or
Taking
the
Opera
out
of
Space
Opera
13

14. Miniseries
(2003)
14

15. Sci-­‐fi/fantasy
TV
post
9/11
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
BSG
Heroes
Lost
Firefly
Fringe
Terminator:
TSCC
V
Etc…
15

16. Battlestar Galactica
16

17. Ba%lestar
Galac-ca
17

18. BSG
• FluctuaOng
moral
ambiguity:
– Sympathise
with
the
enemy
(2.10
Pegasus)
– Inhumanity
of
the
enemy
(2.05
The
Farm)
18

19. Moral
ambiguity
is
• ‘symptomaOc
of
many
contemporary
American
television
programs
with
long
running
narraOves
and
extended
series
arcs.
The
character
development
and
narraOve
trajectory
of
the
vampires
Spike
and
Angel
in
Buffy
the
Vampire
Slayer
(1997-­‐2003)
and
Angel
(2000-­‐2004)
is
constantly
in
a
state
of
flux.’
– Peirse,
2008:
120
19

20. •
extended
character
depth
•
ongoing
plopng
•
episodic
variaOons
• MiLell,
2006:
23
Start
NarraOve
arc
End
20

21. Summary so far
• The
fluctuaOng
moral
code
of
the
ficOonal
universe
–
we
are
never
quite
sure
who
to
trust,
or
how
far
they
can
be
trusted
• Large
narraOve
arcs
–
useful
for
developing
complex
characters
and
their
moOvaOons
21

22. Sci-­‐fi
post
9/11
• ‘I
realized
if
you
redo
[BSG]
today,
people
are
going
to
bring
with
them
memories
are
feelings
about
9/11.
And
if
you
chose
to
embrace
it,
it
was
a
chance
to
do
an
interesOng
science-­‐ficOon
show
that
was
also
very
relevant
to
our
Ome’
– Moore
cited
in
Edwards,
2006
22

23. Parallels
• 9/11
– Mini-­‐series
• Camp
X-­‐Ray
in
Guantanamo
Bay
– 3.1
Occupa-on
• South
African
TRC
– 3.5
Collaborators
23

24. They look like we do
• In
the
original
series,
the
Cylons
were
obviously
mechanical;
they
symbolized
the
fear
of
losing
our
humanity
to
technology
(at
a
Ome
of
rapid
technological
innovaOon
no
less).
In
the
new
series,
by
contrast,
the
Cylons
“look”
human
—
a
fact
that
viewers
are
reminded
of
at
the
outset
of
every
episode
– OL,
2007
24

25. They look like we do
25

26. They look like we do
• In
the
new
series,
the
whole
of
humanity
is
threatened
by
a
few
Cylon
sleeper
agents
(read:
terrorists
and
insurgents)
who
“look”
human
(read:
but
aren’t
“really”
human).
Ba%lestar
Galac-ca,
then,
is
a
symbolic
“working
out”
of
social
fears,
namely
the
fear
that
a
network
of
not-­‐really-­‐human
agents
could
suddenly
and
without
warning
destroy
us
and
our
world.
– OL,
2007
26

27. Fringe
S2E1
“A
New
Day
In
The
Old
Town”
27

28. Terminator:
Sarah
Connor
Chronicles
S2E1
“Samson
and
Delilah”
28

29. Recurrent themes
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
PatrioOsm
NaOonalism
Terrorism
Torture
PoliOcal
corrupOon
Genocide
War
crimes
•
•
•
•
•
•
Religious
fanaOcism
Insurgencies
Suicide
bombing
Sleeper
cells
Military
occupaOon
Human
suffering
29

30. Torture and Otherness
• Dehumanise
the
enemy
• CreaOon
of
the
‘Other’
(Hall,
2001)
30

31. • 1.8
Flesh
and
Bone
-­‐
Starbuck
tortures
Leoben
• 2.10
Pegasus
-­‐
the
crew
of
the
Pegasus
torture
and
rape
Gina;
Lieut.
Thorne
does
the
same
to
Cylon
Sharon
• 3.1
Occupa-on
-­‐
Cylon
Cavil
tortured
Col.
Tigh
• 3.7
A
Measure
of
Salva-on
-­‐
Cylon
D’Anna
tortures
Gaius
• 3.13
Taking
a
Break
From
All
Your
Worries
-­‐
Cmd.
Adama
tortures
Gaius
31

32. Linguistic devices
• ‘Toasters’
• ‘Skin-­‐jobs’
• ‘It’
•
•
•
•
•
Fundamentalists
Terrorists
Extremists
Axis
of
Evil
War
on
Terror
– OL,
2008:
17
See
George
Lakoff,
2003,
on
metaphor
hLp://www.alternet.org/story/
15414/?page=1
32

33. 1.8
Flesh
and
Bone
33

34. 1.8
Flesh
and
Bone
• “Unlike
24
and
it’s
glorificaOon
of
torture,
the
psychological
effects
of
using
torture
are
apparent
upon
Starbuck,
and
Leoben
uses
those
effects
against
her
…
Further,
the
torture
is
useless:
Leoben
is
lying
about
the
existence
of
a
nuclear
warhead
and
the
enOre
sequence
appears
to
be
a
sort
of
a
test
of
moral
character,
one
that
the
Colonials
fail.
For
them
the
threat
of
danger
outweigh
the
ethics
that
suggest
democracies
do
not
torture”
– Stoy,
2010:
p8.
34

35. 2.10
Pegasus
35

36. 3.1
Occupa-on
36

37. 3.1
Occupa-on
• Cylon
occupaOon
is
‘an
unmistakeable
metaphor
for
the
US
occupaOon
of
Iraq’
– (OL,
2008:
22)
37

38. • ‘The
really
audacious
stroke
of
this
season
was
showing
us
a
story
about
a
suicide
bomber
from
the
point
of
view
of
the
bomber
and
his
comrades
...
We
sympathize
with
the
insurgents
wholeheartedly’
– Miller,
2006
38

39. CogniOve
dissonance
as
storytelling
device
• Moore
tosses
out
the
idea
of
doing
an
episode
told
from
the
point
of
view
of
two
of
the
killer
androids.
Then,
the
whole
group
tries
to
figure
out
the
Cylons'
deeper
moOvaOons
via
a
rapid-­‐
fire
series
of
metaphors.
The
Cylons
are
Nazis,
hell-­‐bent
on
solving
the
Human
QuesOon.
The
Cylons
are
Jews,
trying
to
defend
Israel.
The
Cylons
are
U.S.
troops
in
Iraq,
caught
off
guard
by
an
uprising.
– Rogers,
2006
39

40. • BaLlestar
GalacOca’s
easily
decipherable
criOcism
of
the
war
on
terror
is
thus
frequently
interrupted
by
random
bouts
of
noise
emerging
from
the
narraOve
uncertainOes
that
are
mapped
onto
various
aspects
of
the
relaOonship
between
humans,
Cylons,
history
and
technology
– Kohnen,
2008
40

41. BSG at the UN
41

42. Conclusion
• Science
ficOon
encapsulates
contemporary
anxieOes,
oyen
in
ambivalent
ways
• Metaphor
forces
reflexivity
• Post
9/11
context
of
suffering/torture
• The
moral
certainty
of
the
Bush
administraOon
constantly
brought
into
quesOon
42

43. Sources
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
David
Bassom,
2005,
Ba%lestar
Galac-ca:
The
Official
Companion,
London:
Titan
Books.
Samuel
R.
Delany,
2005,
“Some
Presumptuous
Approaches
to
Science
FicOon”
in
James
Gunn
and
MaLhew
Candelaria
(eds.),
Specula-ons
on
Specula-on:
Theories
of
Science
Fic-on,
Lanham,
MD:
Rowman
&
LiLlefield.
Gavin
Edwards,
2006,
‘IntergalacOc
Terror:
“BaLlestar
GalacOca”
Tackles
Terrorism
Like
No
Other
Show.”
Rolling
Stone,
hLp://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9183391/intergalacOc_terror
Stuart
Hall,
2001,
‘Who
Needs
“IdenOty”?’
in
Paul
du
Gay,
Jessica
Evans
&
Peter
Redman
(eds),
Iden-ty:
A
Reader,
Thousand
Oaks,
CA:
Sage.
Melanie
E.
S.
Kohnene,
2008,
‘Signal
to
Noise:
The
Paradoxes
of
History
and
Technology
in
Ba%lestar
Galac-ca’,
FlowTV,
hLp://flowtv.org/?p=1056
Laura
Miller,
2006,
‘Space
balls’,
Salon.com,
hLp://www.salon.com/ent/tv/review/2006/11/10/baLlestar/
Jason
MiLell,
2006,”NarraOve
Complexity
in
Contemporary
American
Television”,
The
Velvet
Light
Trap
58
(Fall):
29-­‐40.
Brian
OL,
2008,
‘(Re)Framing
Fear:
Equipment
for
Living
in
a
Post-­‐9/11
World’
in
Timothy
PoLer
&
C.
W.
Marshall
(eds),
Cylons
in
America:
Cri-cal
Studies
in
Ba%lestar
Galac-ca,
London:
ConOnuum.
Brian
OL,
2007,
‘Set
Your
Cathode
Rays
To
Stun(ning)’,
Flow.TV,
hLp://flowtv.org/?p=635
Alison
Peirse,
2008,
“Uncanny
Cylons:
resurrecOon
and
Bodies
of
Horror”
in
Tiffany
PoLer
and
C.
W.
Marshall
(eds),
Cylons
in
America:
Cri-cal
Studies
in
Ba%lestar
Galac-ca,
London:
ConOnuum
Adam
Rogers,
2006,
‘Captain’s
Log’,
Slate,
hLp://www.slate.com/id/2154625/
Robert
Scholes,
1975,
Structural
Fabula-on:
An
Essay
on
Fic-on
of
the
Future,
Notre
Dame,
IN:
University
of
Notre
Dame
Press.
Steven
Shaviro,
2003,
Connected,
or
What
It
Means
to
Live
in
the
Network
Society,
Minneapolis,
MN:
University
of
Minneapolis
Press.
Jennifer
Stoy,
2010,
‘Of
Great
Zeitgeist
and
Bad
Faith’
in
Jennifer
Stoy
&
Roz
Kaveney
(eds)
Ba%lestar
Galac-ca:
Inves-ga-ng
Flesh,
Spirit
and
Steel,
London:
I.B.
Tauris
43