While Keith gathers his thoughts on this, I¹ll jump in...It¹s fitting that Michelle Forbes ended up coming into this show because before her, you had two choices: Country...and western. There¹s the two dimensional Number Six, and the two dimensional Starbuck. And just when you think ³Boomer² has character...she¹s a robot. Too. Until ³Razor² Galactica was not exactly a shining example of well written women in sci-fi. I know that¹s really a genre problem, but the thing about the women in Galactica...the best written of them all was the sister Apollo ended up marrying. And they never really DID anything with her humanity. She was Black, so she suffered. And then there was joy. And then she suffered.
One of the things I really liked about Farscape was that I was able to get into the male and female characters. I BELIEVED them both. I haven¹t been able to say the same with any of these other sci-fi shows. And to the earlier point: I liked looking at Uhura more than any other woman in a Starfleet uniform, but give me an Ensign Ro episode any day. Now for a temporary digression. When I met Garrett Wang in the Los Angeles airport last month, I told him that I didn¹t watch/like Voyager, but that my wife loved the show. He said he¹d heard that a bit before and asked me why. I told him I couldn¹t get over the fact that Janeway got the crew lost and that the whole show was about a group of people coming together to fix her screw-up. Right. Basically I admitted I hadn¹t seen much of the show but made a judgment based on ³Caretaker². He told me to put Kirk, Sisko, and Picard out of my head and watch the episodes without 7 of 9. He said I would see some neat science fiction stories screaming to get out. And so, for the past month, I¹ve watched episodes here and there on Spike. And he was right. Some of these episodes are really good Star Trek. Take away the first episode, and the last episode, and most of the 7 of 9 era, and Janeway is a competent captain....but then comes 7 of 9, and the series becomes Space:1999 starring Pamela Anderson. I have accepted that Sigourney Weaver¹s character in ³Galaxy Quest² isn¹t just one Star Trek inside joke..it¹s THE sci-fi inside joke. Women are horribly written in science fiction, and as I look back through my collection..it¹s been this way for a really long time. There are some bright moments, but there ain¹t a lot. I wonder if Terry Farrell realizes what kind of impact she had on young women. On 1/18/08 1:48 PM, "Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > I grow up wanting to be Uhura, so she will always be a fave, but top of > my list are Jadzia, Kira, Ro and sometimes Janeway - What can I say. I > know the character was erratic, but Girlfriend had some big balls. I > think Troi and the red-headed doctor definitively had potential for > bigger and better things. I do not think in the 60s they were capable > of giving Uhura more depth. Most of the women in that series seem to be > simply plot devices. Most were obsessed with their looks and seeking > reassurance in time of crisis's. The empowered ones always seemed > terribly conflicted and often died or went mad. > > What are your thoughts about the women of Galactica? I would ask you > about the women of Stargate, but they never develop characters or > relationships on those shows > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:KeithBJohnson%40comcast.net> wrote: >> > I hear you! I was just thinking about all the regular female characters in >> the Trek TV universe: Rand, Uhura, Crusher, Troi, Ensign Ro, Jadzia Dax, >> Nerys, Cassidy Yates, Ezri Dax, Janeway, Torres, Kes, Seven of Nine, T'Pol, >> Hoshi Sato. >> > >> > You know what's funny? in terms of pure physical, animal instantaneous >> appeal, Rand, Uhura, Troi, and Seven win it hands down, all being curvaceous, >> pretty women. But in terms of overall appeal, the women I found most >> fascinating and attractive, Jadzia is at the top of my list of favorite Trek >> females, up there with Ensign Ro, Cassidy Yates, and Kira Nerys. Indeed, if >> pressed Jadzia is probably my overall fav Star Trek female as a complete >> package: strong, intelligent, capable, as well as attractive. Her or Cassidy >> Yates (that actress is cute as hell!) >> > >> > Looking at my choices--Ro, Yates, Nerys, Dax--they're all strong women with >> their own minds, their own career paths, who don't cater to men. They remind >> me of my wife: strong but beautiful, compassionate, but tough when needed. I >> find the more well-rounded women (no pun intended) to be more intriguing than >> those like Troi, who are physically hot, but whose characters were fairly >> minor or secondary. >> > >> > I wonder, if Uhura or Troi had been given the chance to stretch like Dax, >> Nerys, or Yates, would I put them at the top of my list? >> > >> > >> > -------------- Original message -------------- >> > From: "Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor)" >> <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> <mailto:tdlists%40multiculturaladvantage.com> > >> > >> > >>> >> Sigh... I still want to be Dax when I grow up >>> >> >>> >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:KeithBJohnson%40comcast.net> wrote: >>> >> >>>> >>> Tracey, >>>> >>> >>>> >>> Found this entry about Farrell from the Star Trek Wiki: >>>> >>> >>> >> http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Terry_Farrell >>> >> >>>> >>> After leaving Deep Space Nine, Farrell stated that, if asked, she would >>>> love >>>> >>> >>> >> to return to Star Trek to play Jadzia as a clone, Jadzia from another >>> universe >>> >> or a hologram. She also stated she grew greatly from playing Dax and that >>> she >>> >> wouldn't change a second of her time with Star Trek. >>> >> >>>> >>> It has often been criticized by many fans that her character, Jadzia, >>>> was not >>>> >>> >>> >> seen as a part of the flashback sequences towards the end of "What You >>> Leave >>> >> Behind". This was due to the circumstance that Farrell did not give the >>> >> producers her permission to pictures of her being used in those scenes. >>> Although >>> >> a scene was written for Jadzia in the final episode, budget costs meant >>> they >>> >> couldn't afford Farrell and the scene was never filmed. >>> >> >>>> >>> At a Star Trek convention in 2007, Farrell said she wished she had not >>>> been so >>>> >>> >>> >> quick to leave Deep Space Nine, because "Jadzia Dax was the coolest >>> character"; >>> >> even Reggie can't compare: "It's hard to go from [playing] a hero to a >>> neurotic, >>> >> bad cook," she explained. >>> >> >>>> >>> And below are a couple of excerpts from an interview with Farrell >>>> herself a >>>> >>> >>> >> few years ago. She left DS9, I think, because the character wasn't >>> growing to >>> >> her satisfaction in the last couple of years. (She says as much in the >>> official >>> >> Star Trek interview). I think she felt "Becker" would give her more to do >>> and >>> >> more exposure. It didn't. There are only rumours why she was fired from >>> >> "Becker": the standard "she wanted more money", or " we just wanted to go >>> in a >>> >> different direction. Nothing personal". I bet she was asking for more >>> money and >>> >> screentime--and that's not a criticism. An actor wants to act and wants >>> good >>> >> material to work with. >>> >> >>>> >>> Anyway the interview excerpts are below. >>>> >>> >>>> >>> Oh--another bit of trivia i read is that she's married to that dude who >>>> did >>>> >>> >>> >> the Muldar ripoff character in those "Sprint" commercials, and a claim >>> that she >>> >> and Michael Dorn dated for a minute! >>> >> >>>> >>> *********************** >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>> >> >>> http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/community/chat/archive/transcript/1194 >>> .htm >>> >> l >>> >> >>>> >>> What made you decide to leave the show? Do you regret it in any way? >>>> What do >>>> >>> >>> >> you think of Ezri's character? Soban >>> >> >>>> >>> Terry Farrell: Well first off, I haven't seen the show since the >>>> beginning of >>>> >>> >>> >> the season. I don't know the Ezri character. It was a very difficult >>> decision to >>> >> leave the show but my contract of 6 years was up and I felt in my heart >>> that I >>> >> was ready to move on for creative reasons. I went through many struggles >>> over >>> >> the decision but I knew something different, more challenging was out >>> there for >>> >> me. And so I hope you understand that it was a career decision for me and >>> I will >>> >> always love the character of Dax and treasure the time I spent with her. >>> And >>> >> now, I have Reggie, so I'll never know if I would have missed the 7th >>> season, >>> >> because I'm very happy hanging with Ted Danson. ... >>> >> >>>> >>> Q:Terry, you did a fine job developing Dax's character over the first >>>> few >>>> >>> >>> >> seasons. But towards the end, it seemed as if she was lost in the shuffle >>> by the >>> >> writers. Do you agree? >>> >> >>>> >>> Mark >>>> >>> TF: I think it's difficult with 9 regulars in the cast and numerous >>>> >>> >>> >> re-occuring guest cast to keep track of the storyline of each of your >>> >> characters. So yes, I think Dax was lost in the last 2 seasons. And >>> that's one >>> >> of the reasons I decided it was a good idea to leave, because there >>> wasn't much >>> >> for me to do. And I like to work. So now I'm at work everyday. Thank you >>> for >>> >> your question. >>> >> >>>> >>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>> >>> Yahoo! Groups Links >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>> >> >>> >> Yahoo! Groups Links >>> >> >>> >> >>> >> >>> >> >> > >> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > Yahoo! Groups Links >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
