Random musings

[wiseheart]

I've rewatched the 3rd season Babylon 5 episode "And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place" yesterday, and a funny thought occurred to me.

Tolkien, who was a devout Catholic, consequently left out any aspects of an organized religion from his work, even though there are, of course, clear parallels.

JMS, who's a declared atheist, can't stop dealing with religious stuff in B5. Really, it reminds me a little of how straight women keep writing male-on-male slash. Something about the forbidden fruit and all that... only the other way round.

Rabid B5 fans have been raving about Star Trek inferiority for uncounted years, their main argument being that Trek lacked originality. Plus, they raved about DS9 being a shameles rip-off of B5, just because both series took place on a space station. Some equally stupid Trekkers riposted that B5 was ripping off DS9.

Now, I happen to like B5 a great deal (even though I'm a devout Trekkie), but I always found it amusing that nobody seems to address the actual rip-off... cuz, let's face it, JMS has ripped off Tolkien, big time. Starting with naming the homeworld of the Shadows Z'Ha'Dum (Moria anyone?) and even giving a techno-mage Gildor's sentence about wizards being subtle and quick to anger. And there are many other examples.

I for my part do find this amusing.

Comments

[cirdan-havens.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. I went into it not knowing that B5 would have so much religion. I just knew it was sci-fi and there was a Kosh. So first thing I noticed was similarity of names and species issues, union of man and elf, names, stuff like that. Even the wars seemed more like novel versions of war than real war based on current events. I sometimes wondered if JMS had watched Legend of Galactic Heroes, a Japanese sci-fi, no aliens but you have government, money, and religion as the main factors affecting events. Babylon 5: The Lost Tales. Obvious much? As for Star Trek vs. Babylon 5, I always thought fans were too fannish in wanting an opinion. _Everything_ is a rip in one form or another. JMS admits it. And we know he likes other sci-fi/fantasy stuff. What's the big deal? On Star Trek's side, their best episodes are often rips, the one I feel is most cited in academia being the Gilgamesh one.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Erm... which Gilgamesh one? *looks sheepishly* I know Gilgames, and I'm a rabid Trekkie, but right now, it doesn't ring a bell.

I liked B5, I really did, even though the religious stuff was getting on my nerves sometimes. "The Lost Tales", IMO, was absolute trash, made to bring in more money from the fans. Yeah, I bought it. Yeah, I regretted it.

As much as I prefer Start Trek (at least the first three series - Voyager was badly done and Enterprise wasn't Star Trek in anything but the trademark name, and the movies were mostly very week), I never tried to put B5 down. Part of the success of "Still Not in Kansas", my most appreciated story ever, is the fact that I've managed to merge B5 and Voyager in a way that fans on both sides liked it.

What I definitely hated was the fact how certain B5 actors *coughsClaudiaChristiancoughs* started to mouth off about what a pile of crap Star Trek was and how much superior B5 was supposed to be. And that, after admitting that she'd never seen an episode, but "her friends told her that it was so politically correct that it made her vomit".

[cirdan-havens.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's a rather obscure and insignificant episode, that's why. Picard and alien captain are trapped on a planet with big scary monster. Alien tries to communicate but language is like Babelfish through the universal translator. Guy keeps saying "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra." Eventually, Picard figures out that they speak in metaphor. It'd be like me saying: It's been a Feanorian day. Unfortunately, he figures it out just as they kill the monster and alien captain is mortally wounded. While guy's dying, he asks to hear a human story as a reference point. Picard tells him about Gilgamesh. Oh, and "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra" basically translates to "Gil-galad and Elendil at Mordor."

Wow, mean-spirited Trek bashing. Gotta love the idiots out there.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Oh, that one! I actually liked that episode very much, I just never realized there was a Gilgamesh reference. Although the translation seems a bit far-fetched for me...

A Feanorian day, eh? Sounds ominous.

[cirdan-havens.livejournal.com]

No kidding, but I've been having a lot of Feanorian days lately. -_-

Every time anyone even suggests that I become a high school teacher, I get tempted anew. I owe my life to some of my teachers and would really like to maybe unwittingly save the lives of others too. Teaching too. It's like meeting one of these young kids online and wanting to help mentor them when they ask for advice. But I have such attachment issues. I'm scared I'll get really bummed about having my students leave me, and even though my friend says they'll come back to visit, I'm not sure it'd be the same. Everyone I know agrees that the students are becoming increasingly immature. And there are years when you don't get any really truly good students, and those times must be horribly depressing. It's so very stressful and emotionally taxing too since I know I can't help any of them in the end. But honestly, I always think about it whenever I hear about a teaching situation/problem or when someone mentions that there's more job security in it. I know it must be different over there, but kids are kids and they do seem to be about just as good/bad over there as they are here. I was hoping maybe you could give me some advice. Figured I'd start asking teacher friends so I can more seriously make an informed decision instead of just telling myself that I don't have the emotional stability for it.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm not the right person to give useful advice about teaching, considering how I've been feeling about my job since the current term started.

[cirdan-havens.livejournal.com]

Ah. Ok. One of my friends did say that if I'm naturally on the depressed side, school might not be the best thing for me. *hugs* So sorry things are still as they are.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Your friends are very right. EVen someone naturally very optimistic like me can get depressed in this education business.