After years of encouragement, I finally bit the bullet...

[conuly]

And started (belatedly) watching Babylon 5.

*taps foot*

People, you all said it was good. And it is. But I never would've started watching it if I'd realized how paranoid it'd make me! I mean, I was cynical before, but after watching seasons one and two in a little under a week, I'm starting to think that the government is full of massive conspiracies, that the world is full of small, petty-minded people willing to sell us out for a tiny bit of personal profit, that the forces of darkness are infecting everyone alive and I need to HIDEHIDEHIDE.

Well. I mean, I thought that before, but now it's worse. It does end well, right?

Edit: A couple of questions. Are we really expected to believe that any organization would unironically call itself the Ministry of Peace? I mean, it hasn't been that long, only a few hundred years. So either everyone has forgotten about 1984, in which case the odds of an organization actually calling itself the Ministry of Peace, with the precise nickname "Minipax" are slim, or people haven't forgotten 1984, in which case the odds are even slimmer.

I mean, I can believe that people would unintentionally echo Chamberlain and not realize how thoughtless the words are, but I find it hard to believe that they'd accidentally stumble upon the words from one of the most influential books of only a couple of hundred years earlier.

Kinda like every sci-fi series eventually has an episode (or sometimes several unrelated episodes) where one jingoistic species has people talking about Final Solution. Guys! We get the Holocaust references even without the key phrases. We really don't need to have it hammered into our skulls!

Comments

Congratulations!

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

Yes. Just keep on watching. Maybe at a slower pace...? I mean, two seasons in a week, that sounds like a bad case of overdosing.

Interesting, my brother experienced the same thing, but on a smaller scale. Now whenever we chance upon something that has conspiracies in it, we say "Ah, it's like Babylon 5" and laugh. Recommendation: The Lion in Winter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_in_Winter).

You should also read the Psi Corps trilogy, especially volumes 2 and 3, when you finished watching the series.

[ex-chaos-by-699.livejournal.com]

Babylon 5 is awesome. I'm glad you're discovering it. :)

The Clark regime definitely reminds me of the Bush regime in a lot of ways.

[sporks5000.livejournal.com]

It's so much weasier that way, though, to assure that your audience is all on the same page. Describe the Holocaust and you migh thave beople thinkin gof any number of Holocaust-like events that humanity's managed to create ofver the course of its long existance, but say the words "final solution" and everyone knows exactly which one you're talknig about.

[azarias.livejournal.com]

Frankly, given the sense of humor that the B5 bad guys seem to have, I'd say it was deliberate.

I love villains who can crack a joke.

[leora.livejournal.com]

I bundle it into the general concept of translation. When I read science fiction about aliens, I don't assume they're speaking English - I assume everything I read was translated into English so I can read it. I do the same thing now and then for concepts. They may not really have named it MiniPeace, but the writers translate it so that the audience will understand the concept. As long as it's done decently well, I don't mind.

[eclectic-1.livejournal.com]

Good, good stuff.

*A moment of perfect beauty*

*sigh*

[raleighj.livejournal.com]

Huzzah for B5 -- loved that show, or at least the scattered episodes I managed to catch. (Unfortunately, I don't exactly remember how it ends...)

[idonotlikepeas]

Does it end well? Hm. That's... a tricky question, actually. It ends the way it should end. It feels right.

Congratulations!

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

Yes. Just keep on watching. Maybe at a slower pace...? I mean, two seasons in a week, that sounds like a bad case of overdosing.

Interesting, my brother experienced the same thing, but on a smaller scale. Now whenever we chance upon something that has conspiracies in it, we say "Ah, it's like Babylon 5" and laugh. Recommendation: The Lion in Winter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_in_Winter).

You should also read the Psi Corps trilogy, especially volumes 2 and 3, when you finished watching the series.

[ex-chaos-by-699.livejournal.com]

Babylon 5 is awesome. I'm glad you're discovering it. :)

The Clark regime definitely reminds me of the Bush regime in a lot of ways.

[sporks5000.livejournal.com]

It's so much weasier that way, though, to assure that your audience is all on the same page. Describe the Holocaust and you migh thave beople thinkin gof any number of Holocaust-like events that humanity's managed to create ofver the course of its long existance, but say the words "final solution" and everyone knows exactly which one you're talknig about.

[azarias.livejournal.com]

Frankly, given the sense of humor that the B5 bad guys seem to have, I'd say it was deliberate.

I love villains who can crack a joke.

[leora.livejournal.com]

I bundle it into the general concept of translation. When I read science fiction about aliens, I don't assume they're speaking English - I assume everything I read was translated into English so I can read it. I do the same thing now and then for concepts. They may not really have named it MiniPeace, but the writers translate it so that the audience will understand the concept. As long as it's done decently well, I don't mind.

[eclectic-1.livejournal.com]

Good, good stuff.

*A moment of perfect beauty*

*sigh*

[raleighj.livejournal.com]

Huzzah for B5 -- loved that show, or at least the scattered episodes I managed to catch. (Unfortunately, I don't exactly remember how it ends...)

[idonotlikepeas]

Does it end well? Hm. That's... a tricky question, actually. It ends the way it should end. It feels right.