A few weeks ago the unending wait for the last Harry Potter had reached its peak. As a result, I couldn't really concentrate on any kind of half serious reading material and ended up justifying my Netflix fees by watching my DVDs in record time. The show I was going through at the time was Babylon 5.
Now, leaving aside personal love or deep dislike of the Sci Fi genre, the usual mediocre acting abilities you can expect from TV show actors, and the standard agitprop that always seeps our way from Hollywood, Babylon 5 is interesting in a sense that it has one cohesive story and two parallel mystery lines running through it that are engaging enough; but that is not why I mention this particular experience. What really caught my attention was a little development at the end of the second season.
One of the main characters in the show is an alien woman called Delenn. She comes from a race called Minbari, which, of course, is much superior to Earth on many different levels. Even though officially she is just an ambassador to B5, in reality she is a member of the ruling Grey Council, and her real mission is quite different. There is a prophesy of the terrible ancient enemy coming to destroy the galaxy, and humans and Minbari are destined to unite in fight against that enemy. More than that, the prophesy alludes to the fact that Delenn most probably will play a crucial role in that fight. So, believing herself destined for that important mission, Delenn plays a diplomat in order to start preparations for the war.
Later on, in order to breach the gap between humans and her race, she undergoes a painful transformation in order to become half-human. As a result, she is shunned by her own people who are unaware of the greater mission, and later on loses her seat on the Council, which is aware, but stops trusting the prophecy and Delenn.
To top all this off, she must somehow prove herself to the other ancient race, which is running the whole show. So, while trying to explain why she thinks the prophecy meant specifically her, what her true motives are in all this, and why she thinks she is not really full of arrogance, Delenn is faced with an unbearable situation: she might die, or her friend might die trying to protect her. She keeps insisting on protecting her friend and sacrificing herself. "This is my mission: life! It does not matter if it is one life or one billion; I have to protect it!" is her anguished reply. She is willing to die alone, ignobly, unacknowledged, without any kind or hero recognition just to protect another being; and by making that choice she proves that her intentions are pure and noble, and there is no arrogance and self-delusion.
Now, just imagine doing that to any aspiring politician!!! Let them forget laurels and do meaningless and boring job; let them experience disdain and physical discomfort; and in the end, let them prove that they are willing to sacrifice their life without any kind of acknowledgement in order to save just one human life! It boggles the mind, does it not?
15 comments:
хмммм....watch porn, and spare yourself the heartache!
There would be no politicians left, what would we do then? Who would lead and guide us? On whom will we rely in troubled times?
Who's your favorite character?
Where? On Babylon 5 or Harry Potter?
both
For B5 it is really the show, not the characters, although I do like Delenn very much, and Lando and Vir always make me laught; too bad Lando did not stop in time. As for HP, I know it's really sweaping, but I like all the members of the Order (Snape excluded, but that would be a whole essay on its own). I like Harry very, very much for many different reasons, plus Hermione, Ron, and Neville, and I absolutely adore Luna.
funny to acknowledge, but if i where to choose a fave characters in HP it would be....Snape and Ginny
Well, for me there really is no favorite character. All good characters are very likable, but at times annoying, and there isn't a single one who stands out as an absolute favorite. I guess she really made them all very believable. But Snape as a favorite? No way. Snape is pathetic, not even evil, just purely pathetic. Even when he is being courageous and spying, he is not doing the good thing out of conviction. He's doing it in the memory of the woman he loved, who has been dead for years and he never got over it. Puu-lease. How pathetic is that? Well, not as pathetic as picking on an 11-year old orphan because you weren't man enough to stand up to they boy's father.
For once, Maria, I have to agree with you. Although "good characters" never annoyed me: I guess I aprreciate the fact that they are very belivable and very human, your summation of Snape very closely resembles mine, even though I would never go so far as to call him pathetic.
Girls, girls, girls. I guess you never picked up on the fact that James Potter was a jerk and a half, and based on what we saw about Sirius... he never matured either. Snape is by far one of the most complex characters in the book, and yes, I would take him over the entire Potter/Black/Lupin crew at any given moment.
Moshe, Moshe, Moshe, you couldn't be farther from the truth. I can't speak (or write) for Barb, but I did pick up on a fact that the Potter/Black/Lupin trio was a bunch of bullies, at least in school. That doesn't give Snape as a teacher a right to pick on Potter's 10-year old kid, who happens to be an orphan, and death of his parents was if not directly, then indirectly Snape's fault. He also chose to be on the side of clear evil (we are not talking conservatives vs. liberals here, Voldermort and his followers have been killing people just for fun). Snape didn't switch sides out of conviction that - I don't know, killing is wrong, but because the woman whom he loved was about to be killed as well. Hence, to me he might be all complex and conflicted, etc, etc, but still a jerk and definitely not favorite by far.
i see your point, but for a second, try to see the world through Snape's eyes.... you know, i started analyzing Snape, but then i realized, this is getting too good, so I will do a full blown analysis on my blog, and will post the link here once its up (sorry Barb)
You know, it actually amazes me that we have a full blown discussion in comments once more. What's even funnier is the fact the the entry itself has very little to do with Harry, aside from the fact that I mentioned the wait for the last book in the beginning. Moish, you do not have to apoligize: analize away!! Just two things: I think the whole Harry discussion deserves more prominent place (hope to provide it one day); and when thinking of Snape, just remember Neville's Boggart.
I like Snape, too! Plus, there is something about unrequited love that I find strangely attractive...( still trying to catipilize on my commenting powers).
http://moish.livejournal.com/21155.html
done
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