Saturday, 21 March 2009 04:54 pm
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deckardcanineAs many if not most of you know, "Battlestar Galactica" ended its run yesterday. I did not know this was going to happen until yesterday morning -- after I happened to have rented the first disc of the first season and was already planning to watch it that night. Maybe I knew on some level, or maybe the Powers That Be were having fun with "coincidence" again.
Unfortunately, the DVD did not make me a fan at all. It's too depressing. I knew to expect the deaths of most of the human race, and I suppose it's better to have that up front than at the very end. But things keep getting worse, and the only human "victories" are narrow escapes, rarely without significant costs. In the 2.5 hours I made myself watch, there are at least three occasions that a few dozen to thousands of people get left for certain death because the alternative is to endanger everybody. There are brief focuses on random orphaned and/or killed children, including a baby who gets his neck snapped by a Cylon hand for no particular reason (as if we didn't already know how evil she was). Humans have enough trouble just getting along with each other, even before they know about human-shaped Cylons. And did we mention that the new, unprepared, ill-respected President is preoccupied with her newly diagnosed cancer? There is no comic relief; only passionate romance ever passes for uplifting.
I can only assume it gets better eventually, but I didn't have the patience for the last half-hour on the disc. Just goes to remind me that not everything that's highly popular will make me glad I tried it. The off-putting qualities I hate most are the ones that others take for virtues. No matter how well-made something is, if it depresses me, I won't appreciate it.
But I'm not posting just to gripe. The viewing reinforces a suspicion I've had about a seeming contradiction in my tastes: I prefer movies to TV, yet the more a TV series -- as opposed to a miniseries, like "Band of Brothers" -- resembles a movie, the less I like it. (See "Heroes" for another example.) Why is that?
I have an idea for an answer. My most TV-heavy years were in childhood, with a slight resurgence as a college freshman thanks to my roommate. The shows I watched included silly cartoons, old comedies, game shows, educational programs, and other light material. I'm not used to TV series with blood, lurid sex, or sharp profanity (and unconvincing substitutes like "fracking"). I expect positive final notes, if not satisfying resolutions, within 30 minutes -- maybe an hour if there are enough diversions to sustain my interest. The BG DVD doesn't even make it obvious how episodes were divided for TV, so it feels like one long episode. The pacing is slow like a movie as well. Only the budget, as evident in special effects, is a real improvement to me.
It's not that I'm incapable of enjoying grown-up TV shows. I love "The West Wing" now that I've discovered it, and that's even something of a saga. But the big movie imitators feel like they're, I dunno, getting too big for their britches.
Unfortunately, the DVD did not make me a fan at all. It's too depressing. I knew to expect the deaths of most of the human race, and I suppose it's better to have that up front than at the very end. But things keep getting worse, and the only human "victories" are narrow escapes, rarely without significant costs. In the 2.5 hours I made myself watch, there are at least three occasions that a few dozen to thousands of people get left for certain death because the alternative is to endanger everybody. There are brief focuses on random orphaned and/or killed children, including a baby who gets his neck snapped by a Cylon hand for no particular reason (as if we didn't already know how evil she was). Humans have enough trouble just getting along with each other, even before they know about human-shaped Cylons. And did we mention that the new, unprepared, ill-respected President is preoccupied with her newly diagnosed cancer? There is no comic relief; only passionate romance ever passes for uplifting.
I can only assume it gets better eventually, but I didn't have the patience for the last half-hour on the disc. Just goes to remind me that not everything that's highly popular will make me glad I tried it. The off-putting qualities I hate most are the ones that others take for virtues. No matter how well-made something is, if it depresses me, I won't appreciate it.
But I'm not posting just to gripe. The viewing reinforces a suspicion I've had about a seeming contradiction in my tastes: I prefer movies to TV, yet the more a TV series -- as opposed to a miniseries, like "Band of Brothers" -- resembles a movie, the less I like it. (See "Heroes" for another example.) Why is that?
I have an idea for an answer. My most TV-heavy years were in childhood, with a slight resurgence as a college freshman thanks to my roommate. The shows I watched included silly cartoons, old comedies, game shows, educational programs, and other light material. I'm not used to TV series with blood, lurid sex, or sharp profanity (and unconvincing substitutes like "fracking"). I expect positive final notes, if not satisfying resolutions, within 30 minutes -- maybe an hour if there are enough diversions to sustain my interest. The BG DVD doesn't even make it obvious how episodes were divided for TV, so it feels like one long episode. The pacing is slow like a movie as well. Only the budget, as evident in special effects, is a real improvement to me.
It's not that I'm incapable of enjoying grown-up TV shows. I love "The West Wing" now that I've discovered it, and that's even something of a saga. But the big movie imitators feel like they're, I dunno, getting too big for their britches.