frak it

I'm sick...and midterms are coming up. There's nothing to really worry about, since I've adopted the philosophy of refusing to panic until I panic. I'm more concerned that I somehow got sick by watching 15 straight hours of Battlestar Galactica and then some last week. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I ended up with a massive migraine, runny nose, and a deformed spinal cord. It's a tragic sign that I'm not as young as I used to be. I was whipping blithely through 24 marathons, pizza, and massive loads of sugar just a year ago. Then again, that's probably why I can't do it anymore, not to mention the coffee that's totally fraking up my sleep patterns and the alcohol that's fraking up my brain. Frak me.

I didn't know anything about Battlestar Galactica a week ago, then familiarized myself with everything about the show, and now I'm fraking sick of the show. Coining the word 'frak' is definitely the master stroke of this series...I'm ambivalent about the rest. For a sci-fi show, it's surprisingly gritty and pseudorealistic (dark and gloomy is always a plus on my scale). BG's a departure from the usual shows that I indulge in since I like the plot and hate the people. It's always the other way around.

The people on this show are so...human. It totally blows that all of the characters have an assortment of flaws. We're not even talking about stupidity or selfishness or something equally insipid. Instead, we have genocide-supporting, pill-popping, religious maniacs on board. Even I don't have such a grim view on humanity. I find it amazing that these people were the ones left after 99.9995% of the purported human race were destroyed by the machines. I can't sympathize with shows that don't have a moral center...BG does have a moral center, but no one's following it.

To me, the part of the show worth watching is how it addresses the question: What constitutes being human? BG embraces Descartes' "I think, therefore I am." Although the machines were responsible for the human massacre at the beginning, we are shown repeatedly that the people behave no better than their machine counterparts. In fact, the most interesting concept is machines trying to emulate people. We see that machines want to experience love and community, and what happens in their quest to become more like us.

Of course, I also appreciate that the not so subtle hints toward Iraq, religious fanaticism, and other heavy political issues are addressed directly. Battlestar Galactica does not shy away from anything. If only I could get over my absolute hatred of the schoolteacher-turned -president, I would enjoy the show so much more. Honestly, sometimes I think she should be shoved out of a fraking airlock. There's nothing worse than a combination of self-righteousness, weakness, religious fanaticism, and totalitarianism.

In all, Battlestar Galactica's a good show, though not fraking good. The ship sailed to another galaxy a few hours ago.