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