The first two episodes were intermittent, probably meaning that a robot rebellion broke out in a far far away human colony galaxy. Cylons used nuclear weapons to almost completely destroy twelve colonies, leaving only one ship about to be decommissioned." "Battlestar" Battlestar Galactica and dozens of civilian spacecraft, a fleet of less than 50,000 people in total. By the end of the second season I watched, it was the story of this fleet fleeing all over the world.
The remaining 50,000 people, that is, the population of a small county town in the mainland, are the last seeds of mankind, jumping around with ubiquitous enemies in the vast universe, and also facing the shortage of materials and the infiltration of enemies. , The faction’s suspicion, despair, powerlessness, loneliness, and helplessness, but a group of protagonists who are shrewd and brave enough to be non-human (later discovered that many are indeed non-human) can also make a living.
Although the sparrow is small and has all five internal organs, even though it is less than 50,000 people, there is a mini American society hidden in it. The twelve colonies (Americans like to describe human civilization as a colonial society in space-based plots, it goes without saying, say oneself) each has a legal person to form twelve corporations, similar to the U.S. Congress; (also It’s a bit like the UN Security Council, because the twelve colonies were originally independent countries. Such an institution was formed after the Cylons rebellion.) A presidential government governed by civilians. The female president was originally the Minister of Education. She went to participate in Galactica’s retirement ceremony. As a result, the colony It happened to be bombed. She was the largest official in the entire fleet, and she succeeded the president; a huge media organization (every time the president holds a media meeting, I wonder, how can I find out the room full of reporters among 50,000 people?) Finally , Of course, there is that too large army.
On the desperate road that was madly blocked by the cylons, normally such a group of people would be almost 100% spartanized by external pressure and turned into a highly militarized and organized centralized structure, but if it were such a plot, it would not be worth it. I took time to write about this stuff. The screenwriter maintains the fragile existence of democracy like a gossamer between Galactica and the thrilling military duel of the Cylons, and cleverly carried out a "unexpected" deconstruction of the structure of human society.
President Roslin,
the former Secretary of Education who was nicknamed an elementary school teacher by those who opposed her, is almost a perfect image of a president in American culture. She has weaknesses. Apart from anything else, advanced breast cancer is powerful enough, a president who knows her date of death! There are gimmicks. However, she has persistence, choice, and assertiveness. She does not hesitate to fall out with the fleet commander and escape to a planet where the birds do not shit because she believes her dream is true. The loveliest thing is that in the face of a motion that will almost destroy humanity, he will tamper with the votes, but in the end he will not be able to match his conscience and give up the seat of the president. This is a very strange fantasy that Americans have about their leaders, that is, he or she must be a person, an American, with all kinds of problems and making all kinds of mistakes, but he or she is one of us. This may have something to do with the fear of being a mythical dictator. There is a new meaning in this TV series: if you have nothing wrong with it, it must be cylon.
In contrast to President Roslin, Adama is a representative of military male supremacy that maintains the survival of the human race. Strong physique, few words, calm, decisive, meticulous but not lacking in adventurous courage, he is a perfect military leader created by the state apparatus (his personality image is borrowed from many famous generals in Western history, you can compare ). In the face of the overwhelming military threat of Cylons in the play, he has almost become the only hope for human survival and the soul of the entire fleet. Just like cutting-edge sociological concepts, the screenwriter changed the traditional military male supremacy into military violence supremacy, removing the male monopoly on violence (starbuck is an example, the original series is a man). However, in sociology, including in international relations, it is believed that male supremacy is an artificially shaped ideology rooted in the country’s needs for male combatants, because of the high-intensity violent confrontation, especially the violent confrontation between human societies. The above is anti-human. Only a distorted man-made ideology can ensure that such social activities are effectively organized. Therefore, males-violence-confrontation-honor-conquest-decisiveness-bravery and so on are regarded by us as being The common-sense concept of praising men is actually distorted and militarized. Adama is the perfect male figure promoted by this distorted military male chauvinism. As mentioned above, it is the human race in the face of the threat of violence. Relying on survival. But I personally think Adama is too perfect. The professional army is essentially a machine that eliminates humanity. A chivalrous and tender like him can only be an American hero.
So far, this man and woman, as the highest power core of the entire fleet, has formed the most basic social structure of gender balance.
Survival itself is greater than the form of existence. This existential assertion is the truth of many people. Without the premise of existence, it does not matter what form the difference exists. But does it make sense to exist in an inhuman form? Is a society based on the extinction of humanity still a human society? This question may be an eternal philosophical contradiction, and the reason is simple, because we cannot give an accurate definition of what makes us self-declared, what is our own human nature. But the play gave a very clever plot, that is Cylon. The characters in the play constantly try to maintain their little human heritage by comparing themselves with Cylons, and the screenwriters rely on these. The “objective” person and human nature created by himself maintain a vague concept of human society that is worthy of existence (and this concept will change as the characters communicate with Cylon, so as not to fall into the rigid “setting” (Injury)
Limited life, fragility, suspiciousness, and emotional use can be said to be the most direct image created for "people" in the play. In the face of Cylons who can continue to borrow corpses to return to their souls, the uniqueness of individual human life experience has become the most eye-catching difference between humans and Cylons. And the various "human natures" triggered by the fear of death based on such precious lives have also become the proud heritage of mankind. The human society in the sense of modern deconstruction is filled with countless independent life experiences, full of This is the foundation of modern Western liberalism—the prerequisite for individual independence and freedom. The insidious screenwriters went around a big circle, introduced these concepts into the story in a simple and easy to understand, and then unfolded the deconstruction of the social structure.
Although Galactica and the entire fleet behind her were put under tremendous external violent pressure, the internal political structure started from a basic and balanced starting point, the most prominent being the Roslin and Adama mentioned above. structure. Adama, who is the representative of maintaining the survival of the race, and Roslin, who is the representative of individual independence and freedom, have intensified the contradictions bit by bit after the previous episodes. Roslin and the entire government have become a check and balance force to contain the military that is constantly reaching out to the civilians. Although Adama is dramatized as a tough but full of "justice" military leader image rather than a typical military dictator in popular culture, it still cannot conceal the military dictatorship he represents. After a long period of “struggle”, the military and the government finally reconciled. The seemingly president’s non-violent non-cooperative movement succeeded. Democracy is reborn like a nirvana Phoenix, but it actually relies on Adama as the leader of the military. Support for Roslin and her "myth". Although the logic is not the same, it can be seen that the screenwriter metaphors that democracy and prosperity within the Western world are strongly dependent on the status quo of its military and economic "violence", but he does not make a negative value judgment on it. The democracy under the collusion between the political and the army of the warlord is regarded as a charity of the warlord, and he continues as an internally stable social structure (a liberal democratic society) in the story. This is why when Pegasus suddenly appeared, the President Roslin Actually squeezed Adama to kill his boss Cain.
In natural selection, the contest of political entities is essentially a contest within species. The difference in the structure of social power is like the difference in genes between individuals. Galactica and Pegasus, you can say that they represent Athens and Sparta, or the United States and the Soviet Union, respectively. , But in the final analysis is the opposition between a civil rights and free society and a military dictatorship society. As said before, in the face of threats from foreign enemies of this scale, almost any social structure will automatically return to a military dictatorship that integrates all resources to counter violent threats. If Galactica does not have the previous series of thrilling political entanglements, she and her The fleet will almost become like Pegasus, slowly eating the civilian fleet around it, leaving only a "perfect" warship to survive in the vast universe. And Pegasus only suddenly appeared when the military and government in the Galactica fleet were good. It was him as a warning symbol of the cruel ending that Galactica did not embark on.
After completing the burden of ideological opposition, the screenwriter quickly broke out the contradiction between Galactica and Pegasus. As a superior officer, the personal confrontation between Admiral Cain and Adama is not the main one. As a professional soldier, Adama will not actively challenge Cain's authority. The opposition is logically guided to the judgment of basic values. It was the attitude towards the captives of Cylon that caused the tension between the two sides.
The positions of the two opposing parties are very different. The diversity and tolerance that the struggling to maintain on Galactica has prevented that micro-society’s hatred and fear of Cylon from turning into a torrent that can distort the basic values of good and evil. Although sharon is still used as a machine, it has not yet become a political contradiction to be transferred and vented. Object, and the cylon on Pegasus is not that good. Although the psychological distortions of the Peasus crew have been treated in a popular way in the play, the primitive way of venting like sexual violence can already explain the problem. The main characters on Pegasus are full of Russian characteristics. This is the stereotype of the centralized society in the Western world since George Orwell’s 1984, dehumanization. Although the appearance of Pegasus is not just to create a sense of superiority for the people of the Galactica fleet, But the scriptwriters’ expressions of their disgust with centralization are already stark. When I saw there, I suddenly felt that what was expressed in the play was not a democratic legend that had suffered and was reborn from ashes, but a democracy that had been set up. Myth, the screenwriters themselves know that democracy can survive in such an environment is incredible, but still let it exist as unsurprisingly as possible. By the end of the second season, the election results have been tampered with the elected President Roslin. And Adama finally decided to give up the presidency and accept the motion they thought might destroy humanity, just because of democracy. Some people say that shit doesn't work at all. Roslin and Adama are sinners, etc. Some people disagree. I personally understand it as a religious plot in the Western world. For them, the purpose of democracy is not what I said before as a society. The structure is a tool for confronting other social entities, but to achieve individual independence and freedom. Everyone in the society has the power to determine his own future and destiny. My interests are the interests of this society. There is no illusory "collective interests" that can be used to operate. Therefore, the result of democracy is sacred, even if it is proved in the end. It's wrong, it's still the choice of each individual's own destiny.
Democracy is a religion. The deeper you believe, the more effective it will be.
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