lesbiassparrow | (no subject)

Have you ever watched something that you know is not good, that frequently makes you want to smack most of the main characters at least once per episode, but still you can't stop watching?

Such is my horrified and fascinated reaction to watching season one of Stargate:~~the white man's burden~~Atlantis. The main plot of this show is fighting EVIL SPACE VAMPIRES whom our intrepid heroes wake by accident while doing something they shouldn't! The male lead is a maverick who always know better than his female boss! His female boss decides that interviewing people (whose culture and lifestyle your crew accidentally have destroyed) in a friendly way means locking them in their quarters first then having two of you throw hostile questions at them! Because clearly that's going to get them to want to tell you things. For supposedly smart people they do an endless amount of stupid things most of which I am apparently supposed to applaud because a) they leave no one behind (thus waking the EVIL SPACE VAMPIRES) and b) they value human life.

It's like they sent all of the people most likely to cause harm in our galaxy to another one to ensure that they couldn't blow things up here.* At least now I know whom the ancestors of the people on Star Trek: Voyager are.

And still I find myself compulsively wondering what fresh havoc they will wreck in every new episode. And madly shipping everyone with everyone else on an episode by episode basis. Except for Sheppard/McKay. I think Sheppard would shoot him within 10 minutes.

SEND HELP. STOP. CANNOT STOP WATCHING. STOP. PLEASE. STOP.

* Honourable exception: Lt. Ford. I bet they kill him, the bastards.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh, but they don't just get rid of him. Wait until you find out HOW they get rid of him.

Trust me, he doth not get a dignified end. There have been times when I wished they'd just killed him off at the end of Season 1 and let the character die a hero (you know, like quite a few of the other characters who end up dead. But they're, what's the word, white).

As for Sheppard/McKay, I don't really see it on the show itself, but I started reading the fic before I ever watched the show, and there are some very good writers in the fandom. Naturally, there are lots of sucky ones too, but I tend to ship McShep over the length of a good story. But yes, Hewlett/McKay is fandom's Marty Stu a LOT.

Oh, and just to clarify, the show's gender and race issues don't get better in future seasons. Just thought you'd like to know. And they never do let Rachel Luttrell take off that wig and use her gorgeous real hair. I guess she'd look too ethnic and not Pocahantas-y enough. On the bright side, some of the non-white actors on the show have said things in public which suggest they know exactly what kind of issues the writers have. Very politely, and there are many segments of the fandom sticking their fingers in their ears and going "la la la la", but at least they're getting a few swipes in without losing their paycheques.

I haven't read any Sheppard/McKay. I was too traumatized by reading a bunch of horrifically purple fics about Jack and Daniel from the first Stargate. (All of which were on rec lists. I am now deeply suspicious of Stargate rec lists as a result.) I am sure that you could write in character slash for this show but I haven't read any of it yet.

But you know what makes me sad? Even when they get rid of Ford I will steep keep watching despite my wrath.

SEND HELP. I. JUST. CAN'T. STOP.