maybe I'm bringing the Earth Logic here but...

[tielan]

Okay, so you have this rehashed brand new spinoff series that you're developing where the main characters are stuck on a ship travelling through space with only themselves to depend upon against the ravages of the universe...

Wouldn't you get the cast set up and arranged before you announce the character archetypes? So you can, you know, fit the characters to the actors that will be playing them? And, uh, try to even out the male and female characters so, you know, you avoid the "one woman (the party girl, natch, because everyone knows that Asians/geeks aren't attractive and don't have sex because they're so academically focused) is fucking everyone on the ship, because hey, these are human twenty-something males whose brains still haven't cleared from the hormone bath that was their adolescence and are horny as hell"?

Incidentally, whoever writes these character blurbs needs a bit of an education in "how not to advertise the characters" because...uh...the character blurbs are pretty awful.

So, we have the grizzled vet, the Asian girl tryhard, the party girl, Rodney McKay Mark II, John Sheppard Mark II, and Ronon Dex Mark II (oh, come on: military background, hard shell but softy inside, lacks control of his temper - it's totally Ronon)...

Yeah, so, they're going for an all-new idea, sure. That's only been done twice before in the same franchise.

*facepalms*

Plus, I now have this mental image of Track Palin's Best Gay Boyfriend rocking up to auditions and demanding to be cast as a scientist. Because he and Rodney are, like, soul brothers or something.

o_O

Comments

[magneticwave.livejournal.com]

You'd think they would at least try to mix it up a little. If they're going to be basically recreating the show (plus O'Neil - I love how they don't even try to shy away from the similarities), why not just - *gasp* - have another season.

I know, I know. Revolutionary talk.

[tielan]

Your Earth Logic Is Not Welcome At Bridge Studios.

Technically, these are just 'character outlines' that might change. However the fact that they're thinking along these lines at all is worrying.

Although the mockage potential has just gone through the roof.

[renisanz.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I read this earlier today while at work. This part in particular stuck out to me:

His past is a mystery but it's clear something dark formed the hard shell around him. Yet, there must also be some moral center because otherwise he'd kill everyone around him. Think Eric Bana's character "Hoot" in Blackhawk Down.

I nearly fell out of my desk chair trying to suppress the urge to burst out laughing. Are they serious?! The descriptions are pretty awful. I'm surprised they released this info.

And did you notice that there were two references to characters made immortal on film by Matt Damon?

". . . like Matt Damon's character from Good Will Hunting. . ." AND "Like Jason Bourne, he is skilled and well-trained . . ."

*sigh*

[tielan]

Yeah, I noticed the double-ref to Matt Damon. *facepalms*

Notice that the male characters are better developed in their "haves"? The female characters are defined by not only their "haves" but their "have nots" too: so the doc is capable and intelligent...but she can't cope with the pressure, and the party girl has a steep learning curve to get on board.

...the fact that she's already billed as just "a party girl" is problematic, too. Is she anything other than a Senator's daughter? Can she make good decisions? Is she there for anything other than the romancing of the young military guy?

And is there any possibility - any at all - that she wouldn't be white? I mean, this is the 21st century: blacks and asians and hispanics are senators, too.

Women and non-white characters, beware!

Sadly, if they do manage to cast an Asian female actress as a series regular, I'm terrified that the same thing will happen to her as happened to Teyla: a strong start with a slow descent into obscurity because "she can't take the heat".

[therisingmoon.livejournal.com]

FAILBOAT, PTB. MAJOR FAILBOAT.


track palin's best gay boyfriend (in his mind) still scares me. D:

[tielan]

track palin's best gay boyfriend (in his mind) still scares me

You and me, both!

[rodlox.livejournal.com]

you might like the discussion in this post, then: http://fryadvocate.livejournal.com/165359.html because it's pretty much what you just said. (and then some more)

my question: why is a Senator's Ivy League daughter on a spaceship for no reason? (i mean even the goa'uld try to have reasons!)

>spinoff series that you're developing where the main characters are stuck on a ship travelling through space with only themselves to depend upon against the ravages of the universe..
yeah, I wonder how this new Stargate Atlantis show will turn out.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the descriptions suck, but then I remember the SGA descriptions sucked too.

Wouldn't you get the cast set up and arranged before you announce the character archetypes?

Well, no, because there has to be something to put out on the casting sheets. If they decide to change something later on, that's ok, it's fluid, but an actor has to go in with some idea of the type of character they're reading for.

The names made me chuckle a bit, though. Tamara Jon?

[tielan]

Let's just say that their descriptions predispose anyone who already knows the characters from the Stargate series to automatic 'pigeonholing'.

Surely the level of detail they're giving at this point should be partly dependant on the actors themselves?

The names made me chuckle a bit, though. Tamara Jon?

I'm struggling to think of Asian characters in sci-fi that have had Asian surnames.

I was wondering how soon we'd have people writing Virtual Seasons for Stargate Universe...

[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't you get the cast set up and arranged before you announce the character archetypes?

Well...no, actually. They have to have something out there so that potential actors will know what they're looking for. That said, I love the way that they only mention ethnicity when it's the Nerdy Asian Girl or "can be any ethnicity". The default is still--surprise!--white.

If I were a betting person, I'd totally put down money that the big scary guy nicknamed "Psycho" is going to be The Default Black Guy.

Yeah, so, they're going for an all-new idea, sure. That's only been done twice before in the same franchise.

But it's totally new! And different! They're all supposed to be under-25, not all old and gross like Joe and Rachel and David and Jason!

[tielan]

If I were a betting person, I'd totally put down money that the big scary guy nicknamed "Psycho" is going to be The Default Black Guy.

If I were a bookkeeper, I wouldn't be opening a book on that. Too bloody obvious. And, hey, these are the people for whom the last set of non-white peoples in the series were: a) slaves trying to free themselves, b) from a technologically primitive society, c) not primitive but treated as a noble savage all the same.

But it's totally new! And different!

My response to that: AHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

*does not, in fact, wear underpants on her head*

The really terrible part? They haven't made even a token attempt to hide the rampant stereotyping.

[pandora-576.livejournal.com]

Wow, 10 years of SG-1 and 5 years of SGA have totally and completely sucked out any and all creativity, not that there was much to begin with.

Looks like the descriptions were written by "fan boys R us"

[greenconverses.livejournal.com]

I think my icon says it all.

[tielan]

It's a very eloquent icon!

[ladyjax.livejournal.com]

I don't think there's anything I can say other than: YAWN.

[tielan]

For me, it's not the character definitions that are YAWN, it's the fact that it's these character defs in the hands of these writers.

Maybe they can't do anything else - maybe their limits are defined by Stargate Atlantis; maybe they're deliberately using the same character types in this.

But it would take really strong actors to lift these characters out of their tropes and counter the inevitable "male, scientific, white" bias that's going to take over the show's direction. And how many 20-25 year old actors are there in the sci-fi genre who are capable of standing up to a bunch of 40-50 year old men who are telling them "this is the way things are going to be"?

[saeva.livejournal.com]

You know, I was one of the people going "This could be interesting!" but, nope. I should know better than to have optimism in these people. Even I'm not tuning in for this show.

[tielan]

My problem is that it could be interesting.

Just not when it's the "same old, same old" tropes in the hands of the Stargate writers.

They either need new character tropes or new writers: they have neither. Ergo, Universe is doomed to the same cycle of storylines and stupidities that marks Atlantis.

[kepp0xy.livejournal.com]

... rather flat descriptions aside, I don't think it bodes well for the individuality of your characters either if you're constantly saying "think so&so from such&such popular and successful franchise".

................................ *facepalm*

[mswndrfl.livejournal.com]

The character blurbs made me laugh more than anything. The descriptions were pretty generic/awful!

I had hope for SU too...call it wishful thinking?

The only reason I'll probably be tuning in now (despite my mild curiosity on how it'll actually turn out) is the eye-candy. TPTB have a wonderful habit of casting some good looking guys. ;P Hope they don't dissappoint.

[magneticwave.livejournal.com]

You'd think they would at least try to mix it up a little. If they're going to be basically recreating the show (plus O'Neil - I love how they don't even try to shy away from the similarities), why not just - *gasp* - have another season.

I know, I know. Revolutionary talk.

[tielan]

Your Earth Logic Is Not Welcome At Bridge Studios.

Technically, these are just 'character outlines' that might change. However the fact that they're thinking along these lines at all is worrying.

Although the mockage potential has just gone through the roof.

[renisanz.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I read this earlier today while at work. This part in particular stuck out to me:

His past is a mystery but it's clear something dark formed the hard shell around him. Yet, there must also be some moral center because otherwise he'd kill everyone around him. Think Eric Bana's character "Hoot" in Blackhawk Down.

I nearly fell out of my desk chair trying to suppress the urge to burst out laughing. Are they serious?! The descriptions are pretty awful. I'm surprised they released this info.

And did you notice that there were two references to characters made immortal on film by Matt Damon?

". . . like Matt Damon's character from Good Will Hunting. . ." AND "Like Jason Bourne, he is skilled and well-trained . . ."

*sigh*

[tielan]

Yeah, I noticed the double-ref to Matt Damon. *facepalms*

Notice that the male characters are better developed in their "haves"? The female characters are defined by not only their "haves" but their "have nots" too: so the doc is capable and intelligent...but she can't cope with the pressure, and the party girl has a steep learning curve to get on board.

...the fact that she's already billed as just "a party girl" is problematic, too. Is she anything other than a Senator's daughter? Can she make good decisions? Is she there for anything other than the romancing of the young military guy?

And is there any possibility - any at all - that she wouldn't be white? I mean, this is the 21st century: blacks and asians and hispanics are senators, too.

Women and non-white characters, beware!

Sadly, if they do manage to cast an Asian female actress as a series regular, I'm terrified that the same thing will happen to her as happened to Teyla: a strong start with a slow descent into obscurity because "she can't take the heat".

[therisingmoon.livejournal.com]

FAILBOAT, PTB. MAJOR FAILBOAT.


track palin's best gay boyfriend (in his mind) still scares me. D:

[tielan]

track palin's best gay boyfriend (in his mind) still scares me

You and me, both!

[rodlox.livejournal.com]

you might like the discussion in this post, then: http://fryadvocate.livejournal.com/165359.html because it's pretty much what you just said. (and then some more)

my question: why is a Senator's Ivy League daughter on a spaceship for no reason? (i mean even the goa'uld try to have reasons!)

>spinoff series that you're developing where the main characters are stuck on a ship travelling through space with only themselves to depend upon against the ravages of the universe..
yeah, I wonder how this new Stargate Atlantis show will turn out.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the descriptions suck, but then I remember the SGA descriptions sucked too.

Wouldn't you get the cast set up and arranged before you announce the character archetypes?

Well, no, because there has to be something to put out on the casting sheets. If they decide to change something later on, that's ok, it's fluid, but an actor has to go in with some idea of the type of character they're reading for.

The names made me chuckle a bit, though. Tamara Jon?

[tielan]

Let's just say that their descriptions predispose anyone who already knows the characters from the Stargate series to automatic 'pigeonholing'.

Surely the level of detail they're giving at this point should be partly dependant on the actors themselves?

The names made me chuckle a bit, though. Tamara Jon?

I'm struggling to think of Asian characters in sci-fi that have had Asian surnames.

I was wondering how soon we'd have people writing Virtual Seasons for Stargate Universe...

[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't you get the cast set up and arranged before you announce the character archetypes?

Well...no, actually. They have to have something out there so that potential actors will know what they're looking for. That said, I love the way that they only mention ethnicity when it's the Nerdy Asian Girl or "can be any ethnicity". The default is still--surprise!--white.

If I were a betting person, I'd totally put down money that the big scary guy nicknamed "Psycho" is going to be The Default Black Guy.

Yeah, so, they're going for an all-new idea, sure. That's only been done twice before in the same franchise.

But it's totally new! And different! They're all supposed to be under-25, not all old and gross like Joe and Rachel and David and Jason!

[tielan]

If I were a betting person, I'd totally put down money that the big scary guy nicknamed "Psycho" is going to be The Default Black Guy.

If I were a bookkeeper, I wouldn't be opening a book on that. Too bloody obvious. And, hey, these are the people for whom the last set of non-white peoples in the series were: a) slaves trying to free themselves, b) from a technologically primitive society, c) not primitive but treated as a noble savage all the same.

But it's totally new! And different!

My response to that: AHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

*does not, in fact, wear underpants on her head*

The really terrible part? They haven't made even a token attempt to hide the rampant stereotyping.

[pandora-576.livejournal.com]

Wow, 10 years of SG-1 and 5 years of SGA have totally and completely sucked out any and all creativity, not that there was much to begin with.

Looks like the descriptions were written by "fan boys R us"

[greenconverses.livejournal.com]

I think my icon says it all.

[tielan]

It's a very eloquent icon!

[ladyjax.livejournal.com]

I don't think there's anything I can say other than: YAWN.

[tielan]

For me, it's not the character definitions that are YAWN, it's the fact that it's these character defs in the hands of these writers.

Maybe they can't do anything else - maybe their limits are defined by Stargate Atlantis; maybe they're deliberately using the same character types in this.

But it would take really strong actors to lift these characters out of their tropes and counter the inevitable "male, scientific, white" bias that's going to take over the show's direction. And how many 20-25 year old actors are there in the sci-fi genre who are capable of standing up to a bunch of 40-50 year old men who are telling them "this is the way things are going to be"?

[saeva.livejournal.com]

You know, I was one of the people going "This could be interesting!" but, nope. I should know better than to have optimism in these people. Even I'm not tuning in for this show.

[tielan]

My problem is that it could be interesting.

Just not when it's the "same old, same old" tropes in the hands of the Stargate writers.

They either need new character tropes or new writers: they have neither. Ergo, Universe is doomed to the same cycle of storylines and stupidities that marks Atlantis.

[kepp0xy.livejournal.com]

... rather flat descriptions aside, I don't think it bodes well for the individuality of your characters either if you're constantly saying "think so&so from such&such popular and successful franchise".

................................ *facepalm*

[mswndrfl.livejournal.com]

The character blurbs made me laugh more than anything. The descriptions were pretty generic/awful!

I had hope for SU too...call it wishful thinking?

The only reason I'll probably be tuning in now (despite my mild curiosity on how it'll actually turn out) is the eye-candy. TPTB have a wonderful habit of casting some good looking guys. ;P Hope they don't dissappoint.