From: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org (chakram-refugees-digest) To: chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Subject: chakram-refugees-digest V6 #62 Reply-To: chakram-refugees@smoe.org Sender: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk chakram-refugees-digest Tuesday, March 14 2006 Volume 06 : Number 062 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: [chakram-refugees] Downloaded Commerical Break Part 3 [Stephanie Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] Downloaded Commerical Break Part 3 On 3/9/06, KTL wrote: > a > l > o > v > e > l > y > s > p > r > i > n > g > v > i > s > i > o > n > > > > Okay-while we wait for the commercials to be over, let's discuss what we've > seen so far. > > The cylon's world is a very bland, stark and dreary place. Their city is > leached of colors. Everything is beige, grey, black or glass. The sky is > endlessly grey with no blue in it. The buildings are unornamented boxes of > stone, relieved only by bare metal rectangles of windows and balconies. They > have that bureaucratic look about them-fortress-like, absolutely parallel > sides, no break in the strict orderly regimentation, certainly no artistic > curves. There are no straight lines in nature but there are in architecture. > Bauhaus to the max! LOL. They're actually occupying Caprica City, which is a city probably about the size of L.A., and used to belong to the Colonials before they nuked them out of it. I noticed in the miniseries, way back when, how angular the place was. There is a scene where Mary McDonnell is visiting her physician and receiving some grave news. The moment is accented by the hard, angular lines of the architecture around her, and the warm sunlight filtering down almost too brightly, as cars go zooming by in the sky. Then when you get on Galactica, more angular. Of course, Galactica is the last ship in the fleet left over from the old days, and the only ship in the fleet not retrofitted with all the spankin' new wireless networking technology. Clunky and aged, and helmed by tough old bird Commander Adama, it was the one best suited to survive the initial attacks that wiped everyone else out. The old Vipers carry that angular-ness, too. It accents a lot about the show, because in present day we're concerned with smooth, curvy, low lines and aerodynamics but in the 70s, square was in, and this show definitely throws back to the 70s. And the 1940s, for that matter. But that's another topic for another time... > This dreariness creates a feeling of chilling sterility. There's no warmth, > almost no living material in their surroundings-no painted or even natural warm > brown wooden doors or windows sashes. There sure isn't much beauty in their > lives. But one would assume that robots "want" functionality, not necessarily > beauty. The one exception to this is Sharon Valerii. She calls herself "Sharon" as opposed to her designation "Eight", and refuses to leave her apartment which she lived in when she thought she was human. She decorates with photos of family that never existed, and statues bought in memories that aren't real, and tries very hard to *be* Sharon, and not a cylon. But even her apartment has that feeling you describe above. There's a lot of sparseness or "efficient" use of negative space in this show. When you see a set such as Adama's quarters, where the place looks like it was furnished by Pier 1 Imports and the local library, all the coldness falls away. The heart of the ship is Adama, and his quarters are fittingly warm and cozy. > And I don't think this can be completely explained by the fact that they are at > war. The look of this city reminded me so much of cities I'd seen in Siberia > and the Russian Far East twenty years ago. All concrete and function. Big > Brother's London of 1984 looks like this I bet. That's exactly what comes to mind for me, too. And I don't know if you've seen the finale, and I *won't* spoil it (I hate being spoiled!), but it gets even more "Soviet"-feeling, even down to the imagery of the last scene. > Even their clothes are not colorful, not fun, not flamboyant or exotic. Nope, > their clothes are like their buildings. Just serviceable, functional. Certainly > not beautiful in cut nor luxurious in feel. Nobody seems to be wearing anything > to make them stand out-except perhaps for D'Anna's scarf. It flows, it's not > pinned down, and it's not pure function-it's a bit of fashion! Perhaps a kind > of sporty and independent flag of defiance--Big Brother would be noting that > scarf. (And I would like to note that I'm not good at fashion but D'Anna's > outfit seemed very late 70's, early 80's to me.) LOL A lot of this show harkens back to the "style" (not just fashion) of the time, and you'll even find it harkening on back further to the 40s and earlier. It's neat for a show that you have no idea in what time period it takes place - future? past? present? Who knows? > And sure, they inherited this world from the humans (I think), but still-this > setting really looks like the home of robots. I bet that in the human days, the > plaza pulsed with life, with people in clothes of many colors bustling along, > with stands of street vendors, food carts, musicians, artists drawing > caricatures, lots of noisy chatting, kids running around underfoot, music shops > blaring the latest hot hit, newspaper stands filled with colorful magazine > covers, even godsdamn mimes. LOL again - yes, it was a busy place. You see a short snip of what Caprica City used to look like, in the opening credits - the ultra-futuristic, oh-so-slightly-Blade-Runner, Hong-Kong-times-10-looking city. We never get to see the city buzzing with life on a Friday night, though. Unfortunately the closest we get are a few scenes in "Epiphanies" I think it was, where Mary McD's character is having a flashback to a memory of something she saw in the busy river walk area one day. > It's nowhere near like that under the cylons. They just don't show the urge > towards senseless beauty and fun that humans have. I wonder, do they listen to > music? (Other than Sharon.) Do they read stories? We know that they have read all the religious scripture/history/myth of the Colonials. > Do they learn from their > history or the much longer human history? Both. > (What I don't' know is if it's > only the hybrids who have belief in a god.) I think it is. Well... scratch that. We found out something totally new in the finale last Friday. > Will the hybrids eventually lead > the other cylons to these intrinsically human needs? Probably not. The metal centurions are apparently just created to be worker drones and soldiers. > Naw, D'Anna's scarf is probably as > daring as they get. Heh. You haven't seen the wonderful things Six has worn. ;) S. (now at a new email addy) > > Whoops-commercials are over-back to the show. > > KT == http://www.hikeforthecure.com Pacific Crest Trail 2007 Hike for Breast Cancer Please help me raise money for the Komen Foundation! ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 23:00:58 -0500 From: "Cheryl Ande" Subject: [chakram-refugees] RE:Downloaded 5-Finale KT Wrote: Back to Galatica ... <(I wish she had more scenes-she's a very good actor. I really enjoyed the scenes she had with Lucy in Final Cut. I'd like to see more of them together.)> Mary MacDonald has many, many scenes - you must get hold of the various BSG DVDs - rent them - you'll like the show even more once you catch up. .... Of course it's inhuman - D'Anna isn't human - among the Cylon's it is logical to simply die and then be reborn. Why suffer when relief is just around the corner and dying is just another learning experience. It is Six who is acting oddly not D'Anna. Six shakes her head no to D'Anna's pragmatic offer and says in great pain in her hampered breathing style, "I'm not gonna give up on life again." ...Six gives a sharp gasp of pain followed by a few pants. D'Anna, still totally disengaged from Six's pain and suffering just ignores her and asks Sharon, "Where the heck are we anyway?" It is a great contrast to how D'Anna has been acting up to this moment. She has been all girl-friend chatty or maternally concerned but she is all business - she has become the machine ready to get to work and dig herself out of the rubble. ... It does make it really easy to know friend from foe. ... I love that line - it shows how in any war the enemy that kills "us" is cruel while "our" side kills only out necessitity (also with mercy and compassion for "our" unfortunate enemy). ... I loved how cherry Lucy was in this scene. It's like this human who was such a annoyance has now been transformed into an expected Christmas present. You can just imagine D'Anna anticipatory glee at the prospect of torturing the human. It's a cool scene. Lucy acts like a tightly controlled psycho who's enjoying herself in it. Both actors do a great job. Commercial. They are Helo, the baby's father, and the Chief who was Sharon's lover (the Sharon who is in the parking garage and not the Sharon who has given birth). < And I can't make out one word she says. It does scare the snot out of Gaius though.> I do believe she says something to the effect that the human race is going to pay dearly for killing the baby. Now my friend has pointed out that the adopted mother may also be a Cylon. That would be an interesting turn of events - a a half Cylon baby being hidden from Cylons only to be raised unbeknownest by another Cylon. .... <(Good gods-I, who hardly ever notices some things, notice that D'Anna has a ring on the ring finger of her left hand. Is she married? Engaged? It's just not something that would slip by the production crew-it has to be deliberate. I don't think I've seen anyone else wearing a ring on the show. But of course, I haven't been looking for that. And of course, I've only seen two eps.)> Hum we know absolutely nothing about Cylon society. I wonder if they do get married or form attachments of somekind with one another. Sharon when she became pregnant did say they had been trying to "breed" but were unable to until they decided that love was missing and so we have to assume Sharon was programed to fall in love. .... The acting here is superb. Lucy is perfect as the disappointed mentor who just has to practice a little tough love to remind her wayward charge just who she is - a murderous machine and not an enlighten human being. Grace Park is also wonderfu as D'Anna quietly bursts Sharons dellusion that she is a kind and compassionate human and not a machined programed to kill. ... I have a feeling D'Anna's going to think twice before sending any more undercover agent out among the humans. Humanity appears to be catching. .... I love the fact D'Anna hops behind the rubble so she doesn't get killed. It seems she isn't so blase about death when she might be the one doing it. It would appear that the Cylons are becoming just a little too humam - they are infected with religious fanaticism and the bloody mindedness that comes with it. Interesting point and one I never thought. I think Six has a touch of missionary in her as we will see, I believe next season. .... Sharon asks, "Long enough for what?" "To change things for the better." ... Sharon shifts uneasily. "What are you talking about?" .. And a way to live in Gods' love. She turns to Sharon with tears in her eyes. "Without hate. Without all the lies." Sharon stares back, also with tears in her eyes. "All they need is for someone to show them the way. (Whisper whisper whisper.) (MADDENING, eh?)... Six reaches her hand out to Sharon. Sharon looks at it. Hesitates. She looks down, thinking it over. Then she says determinedly, "I'm with you" and she reaches out and grasps Six's forearm. Six slowly breaks into a smile. Sharon kinds of grimaces through her tears. Just a tiny spoiler - the alliance of Six and Eight bears fruit very quickly in very surprising way. The End Excellent, excellent show. Extraordinary writing. Marvelous acting. And, most important of all for my delight, great job by Lucy. It is one of the best shows on TV right now. I can't wait for next season. the season finale really has put an unexpected twist to the series. CherylA ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ End of chakram-refugees-digest V6 #62 *************************************