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Is Battlestar Galactica Getting Too Political?

October 8th, 2006

It’s a question that should be asked, because over on the SciFi TV forums, some are saying that the parallels to America’s current involvement in Iraq during the season premiere were too close to home and the show has crossed the line. Some feel that a sci fi show shouldn’t have “political debate” and that distasteful ideas are being aired. One forum poster even calls it “propaganda”.

Let’s take a step back and remember that the first two seasons had a fair amount of material taken from current events. The initial nuclear destruction of Caprica and its galvanizing effect on the survivors could be seen as similar to 9/11. When the fleet was infiltrated by Cylons that looked exactly like humans, the situation was similar to terrorist sleeper cells. Then near the end of season 2, we had the presidential election between Baltar and Roslin, which was nearly stolen (as some think the 2004 election between Bush and Gore was). Baltar had a strategy that could be seen as “cut and run” and look what has happened. So mining current events and politics is not new territory.

But now we have the season premiere of season 3 where everything has been turned upside down. I think the uncomfortable feeling comes from two places. First off, some people are inherently apolitical, apathetic, or pacifist and don’t want to be reminded of the situation this country is currently in overseas. Well, then this season premiere wasn’t for you and maybe this season will prove to be too dark. This isn’t Love Boat in Space nor is it Star Trek where every episode is a self-contained unit where all the problems are wrapped up with time travel or positrons. Remember, this is a show about war and the human race fighting for survival.

The second stream of complaints seem to be from those that root for the humans when they behave like Americans, or if the analogy is set up this way: Humans = Americans and Cylons = Terrorists. To these people who don’t like seeing the humans behave like terrorists, just think about this: It’s not the tactics that make the humans right and the Cylons wrong. It’s who has the upper hand, and what is the cause being fought for.

Right now the Cylons have absolute control over a population of humans and with no army or space ships to fight with, the humans have to resort to “terrorist” style tactics. Since the Cylons are in control and trying to supress an insurgency, they resort to prisons, a secret police, and torture.

Today, Americans are being blown up by terrorists. But what about France under the Nazi occupation? How would we fight a war in America if we were taken over by the Nazis and our armies and planes taken away? Would people still see suicide bombings as immoral if we were the oppressed population? I hope people can remember the cause first (survival of the human race) and the tactics as secondary. I don’t think the cause is in doubt here, just the tactics, and it’s cause that differentiates the humans from the Cylons and makes them enemies. That hasn’t changed. And the survival of the human race justifies just about anything.

So is the show too political? I guess the question should be, how political are you? Can you handle looking yourself in the mirror and wondering what you would do if your comfortable life was taken away by an invading army? If the survival of your country were in doubt, would you fight or collaborate with the enemy to save yourself?

According to this Seattle Pi.com article, co-executive producer David Eick said earlier this week: “It’s that old adage: One person’s freedom fighter is another person’s terrorist. It all depends on what your frame of reference is… The nature of how we interpret the actions of our characters is, for sure, informed by what’s going on in Iraq. … But I think we also relate to these actions in a different way because, ironically, yes, that’s the way this country was born too. So what does it really mean to be an insurgent?”

I’m thinking many Americans (including myself) have never really had to ask these questions, and therefore a television show that tries to raise such questions might be going too far for some. But asking questions is not propaganda and political debate is something that should be embraced, not feared.

Personally, I was really impressed by the first two episodes. I think any show that pushes the envelope and makes people ask questions about the real world and current events deserves our attention. I do think the “message” in these episodes was more a general one, about what war does to people, and what levels people will stoop to to survive. I’m on board for season 3.

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  • Lol, what kind of comment is that? That's like a whole article!

    I've always loved the political commentary in BSG. What they're currently doing is what I've always loved about the best written sci-fi as well: Sci Fi is best when it essentially uses the future to present a mirror onto present human nature. They're doing a great job of it. And the fact that they're getting people to think about terrorism from the other side of the coin is spot on. I agree with you that if you lost power, how the hell would you fight the oppressor? You'd use some crazy tactics man! In addition to the French resistance example from WW2, remember that U.S. Revolutionary War movie we saw back in school? (was it Johnny Tremaine?). I remember how they'd show the British army marching in fancy formations with bright red uniforms. Meanwhile the "uncivilized" Americans would be running like madmen through the woods out of formation taking crazy pot shots at the Brits. Guerrilla warfare anyone? Heck, what about Vietnam and some of the strategies of the Viet Cong? Melt back into the civilian population by day? This stuff is about the current situation in Iraq, but there are ample historical parallels too.

    In any event, great post.
  • I snipped down the first comment. Some crazy trackback action I guess...

    Yeah there are a lot of parallels to other conflicts other than just the Iraq War. War is pretty much a universal theme and it seems people will always have different ideas about ways to wage war. The political conflict between what Roslin (and Baltar) want to do and Adama's military viewpoint is interesting to me also.
  • chris
    I've always been amused by the basic assumptions of science-fiction movies such as Star Wars and the like. Inevitably, we are asked to sympathize with the underdogs, the rag-tag band of "rebels" fighting the seemingly invicible Empire. In reality, on this Earth, it is America that is the Empire, with its Death Stars and other sophisticated technology. We need a dose of realism here. Unless it's all just supposed to be "fantasy", of course.
  • Chris that is a good observation. Now that I think about it, a lot of American sci fi movies do fit that mold. I\'m guessing it was because of the cold war and WWII and the audience saw the enemy as fascism and communism.

    I think your idea that in truth, today America is the \"empire\" (while I sort of agree) is probably a bit too radical for sci-fi and American audiences. I wonder, however, if BSG will go in that direction?
  • tdr
    Nice comment. Very thoughtful. And thanks for pointing us to the Seattle PI interview and review.
  • tdr, I just checked out your blog and post on the BSG premire; interesting take on your end as well. I'll be sure to check out your thoughts as the season progresses.
  • Don't be an idiot, fan boy
    Look, if the show wants to get all Bush-era parallel with its subject matter thats fine with me, but the lack of explanation in the last two episodes is killing me. Helo is a grossly inadequate as a human, let alone an executive officer (ridiculous). The humans don't have too many more opportunities to make a substantial stab at the Cylons and they are obviously in a "kill or be killed" situation. One week the cylons want to obliterate them, the next they want to coexist with them with ample amounts of torture and mind-rape (starbuck situation on caprica). But anyway, Roslyn and Adama solidly decided to go ahead with Apollo's plan to infect the Cylon race (understandable). Helo committed treason and killed the infected cylons before they could be downloaded to the resurrection ship to stop what he considered genocide (also, understandable). But it was totally cheesy and unrealistic that the whole issue was dropped by Roslyn and Adama when they clearly knew who was responsible for botching Apollo's plan. I was going to let it go, but the fact that it was utterly dropped in the following episode and we had to sit there and watch Helo be the new Executive Officer of the Galactica like nothing happened is frankly retarded to say the least. Adama has been a rugged Military persona from day one and now he just lets something like this go unanswered? He's a new guy each week. At this point, they're going to have to say he's shizophrenic to make the show believable again. This show has turned into a joke because of inconsistencies like this. I'm supposed to believe that "Sowing dissention in the ranks by being a drunken malcontent" spurs Adama to slap a gun and an ultimatum on the table in front of Tigh and Starbuck, but endangering the entire crew in a time of war and single-handedly throwing away the humans decisive win in the war against the cylons makes Helo the bright new shiny Executive Officer of the Galactica (Adama's top new dog, there to go against every command that he issues). It's just bad writing and shows no foresight or even rudementary common sense whatsoever. They are making it up as they go at this point and it shows. Look, it was a good show for two seasons, even part of a third, but at this point it is hopelessly stupid and inconsistent. Don't be an idiot, fan boy, give it up while you have some dignity left. But I'm sure some brainless fans will defend the show because afterall things don't have to make sense when you let people tell you what to like.
  • "Don't be an idiot, fan boy..." if you check the date on this post I wrote it just after the season premiere. All the stuff you talk about was in episodes that came after this post.

    I hardly think I'm a mindless fan boy... I'll call "foul" on any show that starts meandering when I think it does. You have some good points about the mid-season episodes not being all that great. I haven't been all that enthused about some of the episodes either. But they're still better than most other shows on TV as far as I'm concerned.

    Anyhow, thanks for reading, even if you didn't like what you read. And just to prove how appreciative I am of other points of view, even ones that call me stupid, I won't delete your comment.
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