He still falls into the stereotyped black character which is usually
you can't be good and balanced. "There must be a major character
flaw somewhere..." How many times we have watched a show with a
bright black character and a season or two in they have some sort of
mental breakdown or need rehab?
(Another favorite is the couple of lines an episode syndrome. A good
example is the police chief on Law and Order.)
From: B. Smith <daikaij...@yahoo.com>
Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future,
why is it so white?
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, June 8, 2009, 9:43 AM
*pulling up my B5 bootstraps*
Sorry Mr. Worf, if you thought Franklin wasn't a fleshed out
character you must not have watched much Babylon 5. Richard Biggs
(R.I.P.) did an incredible job with the role and he was in a lot of
ways the heart of the show.
Dr. Franklin had a great character arc. Just a few things off the
top of my head:
-His character was defined early. He was one of the best and
brightest but his career was nearly derailed because he refused to
turn over his data on Minbari biology to Earthforce's bioweapons
program.
-The relationship with his father was explored during the show. Both
were strong willed and the friction between them was palpable.
Franklin loved his father and you could see it in his face when he
saw that General Franklin survived a ill planned invasion.
-He ran an Underground Railroad for the telepaths that escaped from
Psi-Corps.
-He was liasion to the Mars Resistance and had a relationshp with
their leader Number One.
-Had more than one real romantic relationship during the course of
the show.
-His perfectionism and workaholic attitude during a time of war lead
to his dependence on stims. The fallout from it lead to his walkabout.
Franklin was a fully fleshed out and very important character.
--- In scifino...@yahoogro ups.com, "Mr. Worf" <HelloMahogany@ ...>
wrote:
>
> The reason why we forgot about Dr. Franklin is because he was a
forgettable
> character. Most of the black characters on tv are rarely fleshed
out. There
> are a few exceptions (Worf, Sisco, Jordy) but for the most part
the black
> characters are usually delegated to the role of "mysterious
servants." We
> have no life or culture outside of the whiteman's world. Or worse,
black
> characters are saddled with addiction.
>
>
> On Fri, Jun 5, 2009 at 1:37 PM, Augustus Augustus
> <jazzynupe_007@ ...>wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > B.
> > you are totally correct. B5 was one of my favorite shows. i
totally
> > enjoyed Dr. Franklins character. thinking about, from
Enterprise, ST:OS,
> > ST:TNG, and Voyager all had one Black character in the ensemble.
and if u
> > do not count Tuvok from Voyager (since he was supposedly Vulcan)
then they
> > had no Blacks. the future must be a very bland place.
> > --- On *Fri, 6/5/09, B. Smith <daikaiju66@ ...>* wrote:
> >
> >
> > From: B. Smith <daikaiju66@ ...>
> > Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the
future, why is
> > it so white?
> > To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com
> > Date: Friday, June 5, 2009, 1:34 PM
> >
> > This artical forgot another major black scifi tv character: Dr.
Franklin
> > from B5. He didn't fall into the usual tropes that the aricle
railed about.
> >
> > --- In scifino...@yahoogro ups.com<http://mc/compose? to=scifinoir2% 40yahoogroups. com
>,
> > Augustus Augustus <jazzynupe_007@ ...> wrote:
> > >
> > > Martin,
> > >
> > > it was Captain Tryla Scott, commander of the USS
Renegade. episode 25
> > from season 1. she did not die. her parasite simply
died after they
> > killed the mother parasite that had infected Commander Remmick.Ã
‚ loved that
> > episode. picard said "tryla scott, said u made captain
faster than anyone
> > in starfleet history. present company included. are you
really that
> > good?"Â she looks him straight in the eyes and said "yes i
am."Â prefect!
> > >
> > > Fate.
> > >
> > > --- On Thu, 6/4/09, Martin Baxter <truthseeker013@ ...> wrote:
> > >
> > > From: Martin Baxter <truthseeker013@ ...>
> > > Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the
future, why
> > is it so white?
> > > To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com<http://mc/compose? to=scifinoir2% 40yahoogroups. com
>
> >
> > > Date: Thursday, June 4, 2009, 7:48 AM
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Keith, if memory serves, she was 27 when she made captain. She
met Picard
> > in the ep in which Picard was called out to some waaaaaaaaaaaaaay
> > out-of-the-way planet by an old friend and fellow Starfleet
captain, along
> > with another captain, to enlist Picard's aid in fighting the
threat posed by
> > a bunch of slug-like aliens who were taking over Starfleet
officers. One had
> > already taken over the Commanding Admiral and his aide, the guy
who
> > conducted the interviews with all of the Enterprise's officers
to determine
> > if they were infected. Give me more time to think. It's early...
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ---------[ Received Mail Content ]----------
> > >
> > > Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the
future, why
> > is it so white?
> > >
> > > Date : Thu, 4 Jun 2009 02:13:00 +0000 (UTC)
> > >
> > > From : Keith Johnson <KeithBJohnson@ comcast.net>
> > >
> > > To : scifino...@yahoogro ups.com
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Captain Scott was killed? Wha' happened? And how old was she
when she
> > made captain?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > >
> > > From: "George Arterberry"
> > >
> > > To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com
> > >
> > > Sent: Tuesday, June 2, 2009 12:30:42 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada
Eastern
> > >
> > > Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the
future, why
> > is it so white?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Very good points.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > The USA is about to enter a stagnant period in space travel
with NASa
> > retiring the shuttle,and China along with India with manned
missions to the
> > Moon and Mars in near term.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > My fear is that space may become militarized fairly quickly and
> > economically for now America is focused elsewhere.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > As for the article I've seen many ST episodes with Blacks as
adimirals
> > but little to say after inspecting the Enterpise or something to
that
> > affect.Even had a charater who was a sister and the fastest
person ever to
> > reach the rank of captain in Starfleet history.No backstory on
her in the
> > show.Too bad she was killed off in novel form.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --- On Tue, 6/2/09, Liggins Bill wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > From: Liggins Bill
> > >
> > > Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the
future, why
> > is it so white?
> > >
> > > To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com
> > >
> > > Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2009, 7:30 AM
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > What about true life? When was a black astronaut part of the
resident
> > crew of the International Space Station? How about never. Black
astronauts
> > were among the crews that chauffeured them to the ISS. They
stayed a few
> > days then had to leave. But when comes to those resident crews,
the ISS is
> > still restricted housing when it comes to blacks. Because of
that, black
> > astronauts are not getting the endurance training needed for a
mission to
> > Mars. So when it comes time to chose a crew for that Mars
mission, black
> > astronauts may be at the bottom of the list. Hopefully this will
be reviewed
> > by the new NASA director and changed before NASA loses its
leadership in the
> > international space race.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Bill Liggins
> > >
> > > Author of "WARNING," a Sci-Fi Novel
> > >
> > > http://www.authorsd en.com/visit/ author.asp? authorid= 4905
> > >
> > > bill_liggins@ yahoo.com
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --- On Mon, 6/1/09, Curtis, Jr. wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > From: Curtis, Jr.
> > >
> > > Subject: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the
future, why is it
> > so white?
> > >
> > > To: scifino...@yahoogro ups.com
> > >
> > > Date: Monday, June 1, 2009, 11:58 PM
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Blacks in Space
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > If sci-fi is the future, why is it so white?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Danielle C. Belton | May 29, 2009
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Star Trek's Lt. Uhura was a science-fiction pioneer in the
1970s -- a
> > black woman answering the phone, I mean computer, in space.
Uhura, played by
> > actress Nichelle Nichols, was the communications officer, a role
that would
> > go on to be a popular one for futuristic minorities. While she was
> > groundbreaking in that she was a black woman who survived quite
well in
> > space, her story lines were few, her adventures were stunted,
and her
> > romances were nonexistent. The philandering Capt. Kirk had to be
forced to
> > kiss the comely Uhura -- apparently in the future, interracial
lip-lock is
> > just as controversial as it was in the 1970s.
> > >
> > > Nichols paved the way for Kandyse McClure's character Petty
Officer
> > Dualla, a black woman who also starts out answering the phone,
on the
> > critically acclaimed Battlestar Galactica series remake that
wrapped this
> > year. Dualla fares better than Uhura in that she gets her own
story line,
> > experiences a real romance, and has some adventures. But she
commits suicide
> > in the final season of the series.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > And these are the two primary options for blac
