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Random Thoughts on Foundation Season 2 (Through Ep. 7)

2023-08-28T03:44:16Z

I found S1 of Foundation to be like watching two different shows: one boring Mary-Sue fest and one gripping exploration of speculative fiction (with Gaal and Hari sandwiched in between). Season 2 evened this out. The Mary-Sue stuff is mercifully gone, and the Cleonic clone family drama is less interesting. What’s left is a pretty well written story that I’m glad to watch but neither grabs my heart nor tests my imagination. Spoilers below the cut( Read more... )

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Foundation TV Series: Some Gushing for the Cleons

2022-04-28T02:05:53Z

The reason I call myself a science fiction fan is that I love science fiction's capacity to explore the human condition by comparing "us" (our in-group) to something different. This might be done via different cultures, technologies, biologies, environments, etc. I love it when a well-written story changes something and explores how that change ripples out, transforming how existence works for the characters and cultures under consideration. When a story does this well, I find it absolutely magical. I also find it's frustratingly rare. And, therefore, I am over the moon to have found this kind of sci-fi with Foundation's Cleons.

Spoilers for the Foundation TV series ( Read more... )

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Essay on "Woke" Sci-Fi Heroes (Yep, Going There)

2022-04-23T04:52:54Z

I just finished season 1 of Foundation, and it's inspired meta in me. Rather like with ST: Discovery season 4, Foundation left me feeling like I was watching (at least) two shows: one that was spectacularly good science fiction and one that okay-ish. I'm bursting to write a gushing fannish essay about the good show, but I'm going to make that my reward for starting out with the okay-ish, and to do that, alas, I need to address "wokeness." Because my discontents with Foundation land along its arguably "woke" female hero. Moreover, it's not just Foundation. Frustration with "woke" women heroes is a pattern for me, and that bothers me because I consider myself progressive. I want to have better representation in media. I want to see diversity celebrated. I agree we've had far too many white male heroes in our narratives. So why do my frustrations so often align with those of more conservative folks? I want to do a meander through some things I see going on, both in me and in our society.

Disclaimers: This essay ended up not really discussing men of color. There's much to say; it just ended up being a bit too much to tackle in one essay. This essay is also very much about my personal response as a viewer; others' will vary.

(Major spoilers for Discovery and Babylon 5, minor spoilers for Foundation, Star Trek: TOS, possibly others)( Read more... )

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