Someone posted that question in another forum about Battlestar Galactica (TNS)and I've been thinking about it for a while. I'm pretty sure its been hashed out here before, but I don't know how to search for a particular subject in Yahoo Groups.
Has there EVER been a civilization of Black folks that were the equals or more advanced than the main characters of the show? Star Trek: I think Paul Mooney said it best: " Who's writing these shows for Black people? On Star Trek, one nigger's blind, the other one looked like his mother fucked a turtle " Stargate: Big Black Guy, a "Ga-ol"(sp?) basically a brute. They might have expanded his character over the course of the show (I saw him smile near the end of an episode I happened to catch), I dunno cuz I don't watch it. After all, the Black Egyptians couldn't possibly have invented culture and art and physics all by themselves, it MUST have been some benevolent Aryan, er, um *alien* race that took pity on them and gave em all of that. (From a purely sci-fi perspective, a neat idea, and I was able to check my brain and my militancy enough to enjoy the movie, but not enough to watch the series.) Farscape: The one time Crichton encounters Black people they are a backwards civilization living like Amazon tribespeople (granted, they gave a good in-episode explanation as to why that culture had not advanced, but sheesh!) and, of course, the cheif's daughter wants to bone the White boy. Don't all Black people have Vanilla fantasies? Battlestar Galactica: (New Series) Well, there's a COMMUNICATIONS officer. . . . Apparently all of the other Black people, with the exception of the religious leader, were killed in the bombing of Caprica. Same with Buck Rogers - I don't recall ever seeing a dark face on there, with the exception of the singers with three mouths - guess all the Black folks were killed off in the cataclysm while Buck was traveling through time. I think its that sci-fi in general doesn't have very many Black folks in it at all levels - writers, producers, directors, etc. I think that when none of the people who create something look like Wesley Snipes, chances are they will have issues, or at least some difficulty, seeing a Black face in that role - especially when that role has real power and possibilities for sexual attraction. In the new BSG, there's NO real reason why Adama couldn't have been Black, for example, unless the racial politics on Caprica also echo our civilization. In fact, the very concept of the series should lead to more color-blind casting as the Roman Empire, which this civilization is based on (or which perhaps was influenced by *this* civilization?) didn't do ethnic-based slavery. A good example of what the lack of Black folks behind the scenes does is the movie Pleasantville. This was an entire movie about people who lived in a Black and White world. The movie makes the point that the people there weren't alive until COLOR was introduced - yet there were NO Black people in the movie and only a few people of color in the beginning high school sequence in "our" world. To me, being Black and all, it seems obvious that the most shocking and obvious thing in this movie would have been the introduction of a Black person, or a whole *bunch* of Black people. Imagine finding out about the concept of color and then finding out that not only things can be different colors but PEOPLE as well! But I digress. . . . One of the things the original show *did* do well, IMHO, was show diversity - not just in the casting (having Asian and Black major characters) but the extras as well. Unlike Friends and other TV shows which seem to exist in some mythically White world (no Black or Hispanics in friggin NEW YORK!?!), there were people of color there - yes they were in the background, but there were THERE. Anyway, I've always said we'd be much better off if, instead of begging Whitey for inclusion, we would form companies and produce our own media. If we really want to see Sci-Fi and other media outlets change their views, or lack therof, of Black folk, we need to get up off our collective duff and make them or, if lacking the knowledge and ability to make them, make it a point to support those who are. If films like Sankofa and Rosewood got the support we give films like Scarface and Willie Wonka (I *think* I saw 1 Black person in the film not counting the Oompa Loompa guy), I don't think this would be an issue. Thoughts? ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> <font face=arial size=-1><a href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12hsg355l/M=362335.6886444.7839734.2575449/D=groups/S=1705034827:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1123098069/A=2894362/R=0/SIG=138c78jl6/*http://www.networkforgood.org/topics/arts_culture/?source=YAHOO&cmpgn=GRP&RTP=http://groups.yahoo.com/";>What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater?Donate or volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good</a>.</font> --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
