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It's recently come to my notice that the manner in which 'native races' are portrayed on Stargate is, if not racist, then certainly strongly jingoistic.
This is going to focus on the broader perception of races and how they get portrayed in the show - mostly Atlantis, although SG-1 will be in there, too.
Basically, it seems that the native races of Pegasus are either technologically inept (primitive) or 'the bad guys'.
We have societies like the Athosians, who are still in the 'hunter-gatherer' stage of civilisation, who are on the side of the Atlantis expedition but primitive; and at the other end of the scale, we have societies like the Gennii, who are close to the 'information revolution' stage of civilisation, but are at best wary allies, and at worst, frank enemies.
Then there are the Satedans, who must have had a pretty technologically advanced civilisation before the Wraith took them out - Ronon's weaponry speaks to that - but who don't even get a mention on the 'we could pick over their bones and see if they developed something we haven't' scale. Hell, I don't think anyone's mentioned even asking Ronon if they can take apart his weapons to see how they tick.
Granted, Ronon's likely to look at them and say flatly, 'No,' but the man came from a world that nearly fought back against the Wraith! Just because he doesn't speak much doesn't mean he's a savage. He's probably no more of a savage than any man who comes home from his work, sits down in his lounge chair and can't be prevailed on for more than a grunt or a dozen before dinner, let alone bed.
The episode that's supposed to deal with Ronon's background will be interesting: if only because it took them about 30 episodes to even revisit Teyla's background with the Athosians, and they were relegated to a side plot, a funeral, and some very lovely singing by Rachel Luttrell that had almost no relevance to the plot.
The race issue is another thing that's slowly been coming upon me.
SG1 - Teal'c is the 'native guide' - black, primitive people.
SGA - Teyla is the 'native guide' - mixed race, primitive people.
SGA - Aiden is the 'yes, man' - black
SGA - Ronon is the 'grunt and muscle' - with a polynesian background (? I think - but even if not, the point with Teal'c, Teyla and Aiden still stands)
You know, I'm waiting for the episode where they come across an Asiatic civilisation that's either run like the Japanese samurai or full of Asian crime gangs.
It's a bit worrying, not that there are characters who are relegated to the background and they're non-white(other characters are background, too: Janet, Carson, Zelenka, etc), but that the non-white characters seem to be inevitably relegated to the background in the Stargate universe.
To some degree, I'm sure it's symptomatic of TV shows: white people want to watch white people. Still, I find it disturbing that the nominated 'leaders' of the primitive peoples - and therefore their representatives - are almost always non-white. (Plus, the leaders of the 'white people with civilisation' are evil if their cultures aren't.)
Finally, I'm curious about the fact that the 'jumper driver seat is on the left. Not all civilisations drive on the right-hand side of the road. It's like the assumption that people in the Northern Hemisphere have that birds fly south for the winter, and that things get warmer the further south you go.
Atlantis does not necessarily have to be in the northern hemisphere of its planet. I mean, it very well may be - I haven't studied the shots of the planet all that well. But, coming from the other half of the planet (where Christmas is in summer and we build our houses facing north for the best sun) I think it would be cool to have all the people from up north completely turned around by the fact that the sun's path lies northwards and not south, while the people from the southern hemisphere are all "what are you guys going on about?" While secretly snickering behind their hands.
The idea of a culture that influenced Earth (instead of American-Earth influencing it) is intriguing: but it would have been nice to see some of the standards turned upside down - perceptions changed and rearranged - to make people think.
And if you can sandwich some perception adjustment in between entertainment, I don't think that's entirely a bad thing.
This is going to focus on the broader perception of races and how they get portrayed in the show - mostly Atlantis, although SG-1 will be in there, too.
Basically, it seems that the native races of Pegasus are either technologically inept (primitive) or 'the bad guys'.
We have societies like the Athosians, who are still in the 'hunter-gatherer' stage of civilisation, who are on the side of the Atlantis expedition but primitive; and at the other end of the scale, we have societies like the Gennii, who are close to the 'information revolution' stage of civilisation, but are at best wary allies, and at worst, frank enemies.
Then there are the Satedans, who must have had a pretty technologically advanced civilisation before the Wraith took them out - Ronon's weaponry speaks to that - but who don't even get a mention on the 'we could pick over their bones and see if they developed something we haven't' scale. Hell, I don't think anyone's mentioned even asking Ronon if they can take apart his weapons to see how they tick.
Granted, Ronon's likely to look at them and say flatly, 'No,' but the man came from a world that nearly fought back against the Wraith! Just because he doesn't speak much doesn't mean he's a savage. He's probably no more of a savage than any man who comes home from his work, sits down in his lounge chair and can't be prevailed on for more than a grunt or a dozen before dinner, let alone bed.
The episode that's supposed to deal with Ronon's background will be interesting: if only because it took them about 30 episodes to even revisit Teyla's background with the Athosians, and they were relegated to a side plot, a funeral, and some very lovely singing by Rachel Luttrell that had almost no relevance to the plot.
The race issue is another thing that's slowly been coming upon me.
SG1 - Teal'c is the 'native guide' - black, primitive people.
SGA - Teyla is the 'native guide' - mixed race, primitive people.
SGA - Aiden is the 'yes, man' - black
SGA - Ronon is the 'grunt and muscle' - with a polynesian background (? I think - but even if not, the point with Teal'c, Teyla and Aiden still stands)
You know, I'm waiting for the episode where they come across an Asiatic civilisation that's either run like the Japanese samurai or full of Asian crime gangs.
It's a bit worrying, not that there are characters who are relegated to the background and they're non-white(other characters are background, too: Janet, Carson, Zelenka, etc), but that the non-white characters seem to be inevitably relegated to the background in the Stargate universe.
To some degree, I'm sure it's symptomatic of TV shows: white people want to watch white people. Still, I find it disturbing that the nominated 'leaders' of the primitive peoples - and therefore their representatives - are almost always non-white. (Plus, the leaders of the 'white people with civilisation' are evil if their cultures aren't.)
Finally, I'm curious about the fact that the 'jumper driver seat is on the left. Not all civilisations drive on the right-hand side of the road. It's like the assumption that people in the Northern Hemisphere have that birds fly south for the winter, and that things get warmer the further south you go.
Atlantis does not necessarily have to be in the northern hemisphere of its planet. I mean, it very well may be - I haven't studied the shots of the planet all that well. But, coming from the other half of the planet (where Christmas is in summer and we build our houses facing north for the best sun) I think it would be cool to have all the people from up north completely turned around by the fact that the sun's path lies northwards and not south, while the people from the southern hemisphere are all "what are you guys going on about?" While secretly snickering behind their hands.
The idea of a culture that influenced Earth (instead of American-Earth influencing it) is intriguing: but it would have been nice to see some of the standards turned upside down - perceptions changed and rearranged - to make people think.
And if you can sandwich some perception adjustment in between entertainment, I don't think that's entirely a bad thing.
no subject
Nope, all the Black people in Friends live in Brooklyn ;)
And I think it's really the writing more than the casting that's telling. Stargate, and *particularly* Atlantis, is about applying American doctrines to *other galaxies*. If it seems racist/condescending/practical, then one might want to look at the last 125 years of American foreign policy.
This is a point I'd love to see explored further because unlike print sci-fi, sci-fi on TV is way more like current stuff you see in the news. Or at least if feels like that to me.
I guess for me the casting remains important because I want to see this range of experiences and lives (warts and all) and not be given the same old same old over and over again.
It makes people uncomfortable to watch things like "Michael" when hi, Tuskegee Airmen experiments. Or trading arms for resources, when hi, every single proxy war in the Cold War era. Or the four-man teams traipsing in on their high horses, armed to the teeth, when hi, American imperialism in Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and shall I keep going across the Pacific rim?
Yeah, the dodginess of what they're doing in the Pegasus Galaxy never ceases to amaze me. I don't know if I'd see it as subversive as I would see it as practical. In a way, having Atlantis so far away from Earth means you can't ignore this stuff in the way that we often do in RL because the impact is direct and comes back to bite you in the tuchus much faster.
It is desperately important to put that out there -- to put real consequences in front of art-imitating-life policy -- because Americans as a whole just don't get what their effect on the world is. They are never -there- for first contact. For a vast segment of the population, leaving their home state might as well be stepping through a Stargate.
So very, very true.
no subject
Amen!
Yeah, I do think there needs to be a greater ethnic mix... in general. Really, hugely in general. It's disgraceful what's being done (or not done) to Hispanic characters, for instance, at a time when they're going to be the largest 'minority' group in the U.S.
Tongue-in-cheek: As I said above, though, would I really want one of 'my' people to be cast in Atlantis?? Hey ma, we violated the Geneva Convention again. *g* (Oh, don't mind me, my family makes jokes about walking into a place and being the only Others.)
The subversion I'm seeing... okay, maybe it's just me. I'm taking an International Relations course, where some of the stuff that makes fandom revile Elizabeth Weir not only makes sense but has books devoted to it. But I for one react viscerally to the image of white guys with guns and candybars meeting up with their little brown friends. Is it PC? No. Did it happen? Oh yes. But if it were any more blatant, would it be watched and/or brought up in conversation? No. So I'll take it.
no subject
Word. I live in California so to see no Mexicans/Chicanos in say, "Buffy" was whacked out and strange. To apply it to Stargate, I guess they get around the diversification of the military contingent by having it be international but still.
As I said above, though, would I really want one of 'my' people to be cast in Atlantis?? Hey ma, we violated the Geneva Convention again. *g* (Oh, don't mind me, my family makes jokes about walking into a place and being the only Others.)
Oh no, I totally get it. :g:
The subversion I'm seeing... okay, maybe it's just me. I'm taking an International Relations course, where some of the stuff that makes fandom revile Elizabeth Weir not only makes sense but has books devoted to it.
Yeah, the overreaction to some of Elizabeth's decisions always leaves me with my head shaking.
But I for one react viscerally to the image of white guys with guns and candybars meeting up with their little brown friends. Is it PC? No. Did it happen? Oh yes. But if it were any more blatant, would it be watched and/or brought up in conversation? No. So I'll take it.
Well, aren't we (America) doing that in Iraq? Especially with the push to show the more "positive" imagery?
When the war started, a local Black-owned TV station had a show where people could call in and talk about how they were feeling about the war. The dominant theme from the callers: be careful of the crazy American soldiers coming over there to 'save' you.
And you're right, if it was more blatant, it would either not be on TV or it would get muted than it is now.
For what it's worth, I think that the fact that most of us are willing to sit here and pick the mess apart means that the show is doing its job. We as watchers should interrogate what's up there on the screen and our own assumptions. There's nothing wrong with critical viewing and we're all going to bring our own experiences to what it is we're seeing, up to and including, applying real world logic. Even when the real world logic doesn't fit. Does that make sense?
no subject
I think part of it is that many of fangirls over-identify with Elizabeth: I've seen it in RPGs and fanfic - she's their Mary Sue self-insert into Atlantis.
So she makes the decisions they would...which aren't always the decisions she makes.