Thoughts on "G'kar's" recent death...
Feb. 15th, 2006 12:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conulyMaybe it's just me. I know this happened when "Scotty" died, and it happens every time an actor like this dies...
But I don't like it. I don't think it's fair or respectful to make all your tribute-posts about this guy in terms of the character he played.
Andreas Katsulas had an existance outside of his role as G'kar. He had a family, and friends. He had people who will miss him - and don't point out that you will miss him. I mean people who will miss him because they knew him. It doesn't seem to me to be the same thing.
Yes, G'kar on B5 said some pretty inspiring things. G'kar wasn't real. Would that he were, I liked G'kar - but if I want to see him again, I can just watch another episode, watch a movie. If I want to call up Andreas Katsulas and chat with him... I can't. And that's a big difference. Andreas Katsulas did not, except in the most literal of senses, say those pretty speeches. A fictional character did. A fictional character who, by the sheer nature of being fictional, is unable to ever properly die.
I didn't ever meet the Man Who Played G'kar. And I never will. Maybe he was a horrible person. Maybe he was a miser, or a misanthope, or a drunk. Or, on the other hand, maybe he was a saint, good with children and animals, or caring deeply about causes most of the rest of us have never even heard about. I don't know.
I do know that he was a real, living person - and whether you miss him or not, he wasn't the same as a character he once played. You can see G'kar again any time you like. You can't see the dead.
It just doesn't seem right, the way people act as though man and character are one and the same. It's not fair to the person who lived.
But I don't like it. I don't think it's fair or respectful to make all your tribute-posts about this guy in terms of the character he played.
Andreas Katsulas had an existance outside of his role as G'kar. He had a family, and friends. He had people who will miss him - and don't point out that you will miss him. I mean people who will miss him because they knew him. It doesn't seem to me to be the same thing.
Yes, G'kar on B5 said some pretty inspiring things. G'kar wasn't real. Would that he were, I liked G'kar - but if I want to see him again, I can just watch another episode, watch a movie. If I want to call up Andreas Katsulas and chat with him... I can't. And that's a big difference. Andreas Katsulas did not, except in the most literal of senses, say those pretty speeches. A fictional character did. A fictional character who, by the sheer nature of being fictional, is unable to ever properly die.
I didn't ever meet the Man Who Played G'kar. And I never will. Maybe he was a horrible person. Maybe he was a miser, or a misanthope, or a drunk. Or, on the other hand, maybe he was a saint, good with children and animals, or caring deeply about causes most of the rest of us have never even heard about. I don't know.
I do know that he was a real, living person - and whether you miss him or not, he wasn't the same as a character he once played. You can see G'kar again any time you like. You can't see the dead.
It just doesn't seem right, the way people act as though man and character are one and the same. It's not fair to the person who lived.
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no subject
Date: 2006-02-15 06:12 am (UTC)