BSG Spoiler vs Wolfe

James Wynn · 24 Mar 2009, 14:10 · from 2009-March.txt.gz

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From: crushtv at gmail.com (James Wynn)
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:10:01 -0500
Subject: (urth) BSG Spoiler vs Wolfe
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>Enamel: In BSG people have (and don't have) sex for
>all sorts of human reasons, and have all sorts of
>human reactions. In Wolfe people apparently have
>sex to show what bad people they are, and suffer for it later.

>Wynn: That's ridiculous. Do you really intend to compare the
>writing of BSG to Wolfe in favor of BSG?

>Enamel: Yup.  In the case of male-female sexual relationships,
>BSG beats the pants off of Wolfe.  The motivations of the
>people involved and the effects the relationships have on
>them in BSG are more interesting and realistic than what
>Wolfe has shown.

Wolfe doesn't typically set his scenes in "naturalistic" settings so I think 
you are comparing things that don't map. For example, while the sexual 
relationship between the characters in "Counting Cats In Zanzibar" is 
realistic, the setting is bizarrely unconventional.

But your original statement that "In Wolfe people apparently have sex to 
show what bad people they are, and suffer for it later" is simply not based 
on...well, anything that I can see.. You are essentially ascribing to Wolfe 
the stated opinions of Incus. That's just nonsense. I started to list all 
the instances of Wolfe characters who are having sex with each other but it 
started to get silly. Some people in Wolfe stories have sex and it ends 
badly, but not because of the sex unless it was rape (and not always then). 
Certainly, no one's sexual relationship in BSG ended well except for Baltar 
and Six's.

If I were to ascribe a moral to sex in BSG it would be "sex invariability 
causes people to act treacherously or cruelly."

We like what we like. I wouldn't spend 2 minutes watching "Grey's Anatomy" 
or similar dramas regardless of how interesting (to some) or realistic the 
relationships are. Not my cup 'o tea. That's what the flashbacks in the 
finale reminded me of. They certainly didn't move forward or explain 
anything in the current narrative.

>[regarding the sexual scenes in BSG finale]
>This reply is already too long, but don't forget Baltar.

Did Baltar even have sex in the final episode? If not (and I'm thinking not) 
it a first.  Certainly, Baltar and Six's relationship was hardly less 
realistic than Wolfe's and, in general, its purpose was titilation.

J.

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