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I just read the transcript for the S2 ep, The Tower since I've never seen the episode, and realised that I didn't miss much.
I recall that, after watching The Tower, someone commented that TPTB seemed to be trying to slap "John is het" labels all over the show in reaction against the Shep/McKay slash. (After No Man's Land screened, someone else commented that the more "het" TPTB tried to make John, the more "gay" he seems. I still don't get that logic.) Which they might have been doing. And failed. Mostly because they're still focusing on Sheppard and McKay.
Newsflash for Stargate PTB:
Fandom Rule #1: popular fandom pairing is decided by character proximity and time on the screen, not by the romantic interest or sexual inclination of a character.
It occurs to me that if TPTB gave the women key roles in the episodes, a la Battlestar Galactica, instead of making it a buddy show with token (or male role) women, they wouldn't have half as much of "a slash problem".
Of course, this would require the Stargate PTB writing women as whole, useful creatures, whose life journeys are just as crucial to the plot of the show as anything that happens to the guys. It might require imagining that the technical solution is not the best solution, or even the only one. It might even require taking the focus off the people with cocks.
Heaven forbid.
--
On another train of thought entirely, my readership seems to be extremely segregated. People read my fic for one aspect only: a single character, a single pairing, a single scenario. And the rest of my body of fic is wholesale dismissed because it's not about the character, pairing, or scenario that these people want to see.
This is when I hate being a "anything/everything" writer.
--
Also, it seems that, even when Teyla's a pivotal character in an episode, there's no win for her. Reading through some of the comments and reviews about Phantoms, it seems that people missed the fact that she was pretty much the eye of the storm when everyone else was running around like lunatics. She solved the whole damn scenario using technical knowledge (establishing what Rodney had done at the start and finish of the ep), weapons expertise, and leadership familiarity (how to influence someone who's mind was in a completely different zone to her own).
No, she didn't create problems, stir the pot, get the dramatic lines. That's not what the character does. Teyla looks at situations and solves problems. She doesn't create them. In fact, she does the classic woman's job: she cleans up after other people have made a mess.
Which might explain some of the negative reaction to her: I mean, a woman whose relating and leadership style is influential rather than confrontational? Who makes suggestions rather than gives orders? Who listens and takes in the information and then offers up her knowledge without the ego of needing to be the one in the limelight?
Anathema. Absolute anathema.
It seems that the only women worth lauding are those who are mouthy, authoritative, and decisive in the stereotypical classic feminist model.
Witness the winner of my WTF? Award: a fan who said that Teyla became a whinging, helpless woman in Phantoms - one who had to rely on a man to get about on her wounded leg.
Would it have been better if Elizabeth had been there to get her about on her wounded leg? Less helpless, maybe? Perhaps she shouldn't have tried to get through to John by calling his name? After all, if you say it more than once, then it's nagging, right? Even if you're in a life-or-death situation, hunted by a team-mate who probably isn't seeing you as a friendly, while being helped along by another team-mate who's reprising an M. Night Shyalaman movie...
Even if you save the day.
So, pivotal character in an ep, still no win.
Contrary to the principle of the lynchpin, it seems that one cannot play a "significant" role if one does not move, grind, squeal, grunt, mesh, whirr or loom large in fandom awareness. And one certainly cannot play a significant or meaningful role if one does not conform to feminist expectations of the modern woman (irrespective of whether the character has even heard of such expectations) including the dress standards of 'modest Earth women'. Because only the modern cultural standards of the west matter when defining intergalactic character worth, yo!
I await further stupidity following screening of The Ark - another episode where, it would appear, Teyla sits still while the boys create a whirlpool around her...then pulls the plug on the deal.
--
*sigh*
I recall that, after watching The Tower, someone commented that TPTB seemed to be trying to slap "John is het" labels all over the show in reaction against the Shep/McKay slash. (After No Man's Land screened, someone else commented that the more "het" TPTB tried to make John, the more "gay" he seems. I still don't get that logic.) Which they might have been doing. And failed. Mostly because they're still focusing on Sheppard and McKay.
Newsflash for Stargate PTB:
Fandom Rule #1: popular fandom pairing is decided by character proximity and time on the screen, not by the romantic interest or sexual inclination of a character.
It occurs to me that if TPTB gave the women key roles in the episodes, a la Battlestar Galactica, instead of making it a buddy show with token (or male role) women, they wouldn't have half as much of "a slash problem".
Of course, this would require the Stargate PTB writing women as whole, useful creatures, whose life journeys are just as crucial to the plot of the show as anything that happens to the guys. It might require imagining that the technical solution is not the best solution, or even the only one. It might even require taking the focus off the people with cocks.
Heaven forbid.
--
On another train of thought entirely, my readership seems to be extremely segregated. People read my fic for one aspect only: a single character, a single pairing, a single scenario. And the rest of my body of fic is wholesale dismissed because it's not about the character, pairing, or scenario that these people want to see.
This is when I hate being a "anything/everything" writer.
--
Also, it seems that, even when Teyla's a pivotal character in an episode, there's no win for her. Reading through some of the comments and reviews about Phantoms, it seems that people missed the fact that she was pretty much the eye of the storm when everyone else was running around like lunatics. She solved the whole damn scenario using technical knowledge (establishing what Rodney had done at the start and finish of the ep), weapons expertise, and leadership familiarity (how to influence someone who's mind was in a completely different zone to her own).
No, she didn't create problems, stir the pot, get the dramatic lines. That's not what the character does. Teyla looks at situations and solves problems. She doesn't create them. In fact, she does the classic woman's job: she cleans up after other people have made a mess.
Which might explain some of the negative reaction to her: I mean, a woman whose relating and leadership style is influential rather than confrontational? Who makes suggestions rather than gives orders? Who listens and takes in the information and then offers up her knowledge without the ego of needing to be the one in the limelight?
Anathema. Absolute anathema.
It seems that the only women worth lauding are those who are mouthy, authoritative, and decisive in the stereotypical classic feminist model.
Witness the winner of my WTF? Award: a fan who said that Teyla became a whinging, helpless woman in Phantoms - one who had to rely on a man to get about on her wounded leg.
Would it have been better if Elizabeth had been there to get her about on her wounded leg? Less helpless, maybe? Perhaps she shouldn't have tried to get through to John by calling his name? After all, if you say it more than once, then it's nagging, right? Even if you're in a life-or-death situation, hunted by a team-mate who probably isn't seeing you as a friendly, while being helped along by another team-mate who's reprising an M. Night Shyalaman movie...
Even if you save the day.
So, pivotal character in an ep, still no win.
Contrary to the principle of the lynchpin, it seems that one cannot play a "significant" role if one does not move, grind, squeal, grunt, mesh, whirr or loom large in fandom awareness. And one certainly cannot play a significant or meaningful role if one does not conform to feminist expectations of the modern woman (irrespective of whether the character has even heard of such expectations) including the dress standards of 'modest Earth women'. Because only the modern cultural standards of the west matter when defining intergalactic character worth, yo!
I await further stupidity following screening of The Ark - another episode where, it would appear, Teyla sits still while the boys create a whirlpool around her...then pulls the plug on the deal.
--
*sigh*
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You know me - my brain racks up a lot of overtime about these things. And since you're all in different timezones to me and not keeping me occupied with fic or chat...
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You're really not. It had moments where I thought 'ok, maybe this could become interesting' but it never delivered. And the whole 'another city like Atlantis' thing did not get the attention it deserved. They should have been out looking for more drones and other cities! But no, they just go 'oh, another Atlantis' and trundle off home. (And, my god, way to screw up a government and then walk away! I mean, it wasn't working anyway, but they totally needed to stick around and help them fix it afterwards.)
Plus, it detracts somewhat from the wonder of Atlantis, which is sadening.
Did you know the writers wrote a scene that made it explicit that John never slept with Teer (I'm pretty sure that was her name)? But then it got cut for time. *headdesk* Pls to not be cutting important character moments, TPTB.
Of course, this would require the Stargate PTB writing women as whole, useful creatures, whose life journeys are just as crucial to the plot of the show as anything that happens to the guys. It might require imagining that the technical solution is not the best solution, or even the only one. It might even require taking the focus off the people with cocks.
You know, I like the slash, and I'd still kill for this to happen.
Which reminds me! I saw this and thought you might be interested:
www.thescifiworld.com interviewed Rachel here (http://www.thescifiworld.net/interviews/rachel_luttrell_02.htm) and she talks about future Teyla focused episodes. *hopes* (I was shocked when you mentioned we didn't get a Teyla episode this season. Grrr.)
"Gilles Nuytens: You spoke about a script where we could see a bit more of the past of Teyla, how is this progressing?
Rachel Luttrell: It’s not. So far, oh boy should we wait till this goes, I don’t know, I mean hopefully at this point it just might be in season 4 because we are nearly at the end of season 3 and we haven’t had a chance to bite into that, which could be a little bit frustrating at times, but they have so many different characters that they have to facilitate so ... but it's out there.
Gilles Nuytens: Did you show it to them?
Rachel Luttrell: I’ve talked to them about it ...
Gilles Nuytens: And what did they say?
Rachel Luttrell: They said yes, they are definitely interested in diving into her past and discovering a little bit more about her family and who they are and where they are, how that has influenced her. They said that they're thinking about it and they want to do so we’ll see, hopefully soon!"
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The downside is that they've been "thinking about it" for a year. And fuck-all has been done.
Witness Season Three.
Frankly, I don't particularly mind if they don't delve into Teyla's past - although they could develop some interesting things about her past. But they should do something about using her in the present, and giving her a viable future in the franchise.
Sateda was good that way - it looked at Ronon's past and his present and his future and showed us what Ronon would do to keep his family safe, and what the others would do to keep their family together. And their actions were specifically couched in those terms by John.
I'd rather Teyla got an ep like Sateda - grounded in the present and the past, and looking to the future - than an ep like The Real World which was some marvellous acting by Torri, but a dead-end for Liz.
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Anyway, I just wanted to say I agree with you, and am shocked that people thought Teyla was weak or whining in Phantoms. Also, if TPTB would let Rachel write her own episodes the way Christopher Judge did, I would be ecstatic. They'd be huge, epic, awesome plots with major impact on Teyla. I wonder which label of Teyla's TPTB have a harder time writing (or paying any attention to her at all): woman, leader in her own right, or person of color?
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The exception to this would be Sam Carter - but they developed her as a scientist, not as a woman. When they tried developing her 'as a woman', the storyline majorly sucked. (The fiancee storyline, not the dynamic between O'Neill and Carter - I found that worked because it was functional and friendly.)
But yes, TPTB have a lot of potential in Teyla, all of it untapped. The scenarios they could do involving the Wraith and her Wraithgene, the development of her background, the explicit acknowledgement of what we only ever see implicitly in her behaviours: keeping everything and everyone together when it comes to the crunch...
Wasteful.
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There's something else that people did not pick up on - Teyla was able to figure out what was happening and what to do because she has spent so much time with her teammates, not just mission time. She's observed and absorbed a lot of who they are (witness the talk with John in Sateda, her ability to follow through on Rodney's instructions way back in Epiphany) and she knows them in a way that they don't necessarily know her. Very much a carry over from her duties as leader of the Athosians.
I find it funny that so many people have a particular view of what a feminist leader would look like because Teyla's character resembles many of the one's I've read in feminist-focused sci-fi - the leaders who look for consensus and for different ways to lead rather than just be "pushy" and "mouthy" - qualities you'd usually find in portrayals of warriors, btw.
Contrary to popular belief, consensus building is hard work. It doesn't preclude more direct action but it does entail a particular set of skills that not everyone has. Besides, Teyla has plenty of steel behind the pleasantness, make no mistake about that.
Considering that she comes from such a small community, Teyla knows she has more to gain 99.9% of the time from consensus building rather than pushing when it's not necessary and even counter-productive. This is not to say that she wouldn't hurt and even kill if she thought it was absolutely necessary but if she's afforded the opportunity, she'll negotiate which is more than you can say for some other scenarios in the Gate universe.
I'd buy more Shep/McKay stuff if you actually saw them interacting as buddies on screen rather than just in a mission setting because sexin or no sexin, I believe in seeing how men get along as friends and not just as antagonists.
Would it have been better if Elizabeth had been there to get her about on her wounded leg? Less helpless, maybe? Perhaps she shouldn't have tried to get through to John by calling his name? After all, if you say it more than once, then it's nagging, right? Even if you're in a life-or-death situation, hunted by a team-mate who probably isn't seeing you as a friendly, while being helped along by another team-mate who's reprising an M. Night Shyalaman movie...
Y'know, even Elizabeth would have been looking at the situation they were in and wondering how the hell they were going to evade Ronon, deal with John and still turn off the damned machine.
Here's what could have happened: Elizabeth and Teyla work out a plan to have John hunt Ronon then make their way back to the cave so they could turn the machine off.
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I found your commentary on Teyla intriguing as ever. I'm not surprised by the comment by Idiot#1, but it's truly irritating nevertheless. Especially since last night in my Sociology class were were discussing gender issues and power in relationships. Essentially the power (defined in this case, as influence and final say in key decisions) in a long term relationship is determined predominantly by *Income(Consider that in the US, a woman makes 76 cents to a man's Dollar for performing the same task) , followed by *Education, and *Occupation (men in blue collar jobs have a greater likelihood of being egalitarian in their relationship than white collar relationships, surprisingly).
What irked me more, I think, was that the avenues women were listed to have elements of power/influence were *Frontstage/Backstage (a sociological concept I won't go into), and *Sex. The data reminds me of the stereotypes we see perpetuated -- that a woman's only true source of power is that of seduction. Blech, it's so frustrating.