posted
The actress who played Ballard was very good, enough that she made the Voyager cast look rather pathetic in some places. It's too bad she won't be around more.
The ending was depressing and pathetic. I see no reason why Ballard decided to return to the species-of-the-week-who's-name-ends-with-i, considering that she had only been in that civilisation for a couple years, but spent the rest of her life in the UFP/Voyager. The parts where she begins speaking the ends-in-i-species language seemed absurd...she probably would have noticed, and how come the universal translator didn't pick it up? Either way, there was no logical explanation for it, unless it's more of Trek-style genetic determinism, culture=species. Indeed, when Seven of Nine wanted to return to the Borg in the eps after "Scorpion," Janeway and co. wouldn't allow it. The only difference between the two is that <sarcasm><rant>Seven was a pure-blooded human, not a mongrel like Ballard, and genetics are everything, so the former is returned to her true home, while the latter is thrown back to the wolves!</sarcasm></rant>
I'm going to beat up the next person to say that Voyager deals with "philosophical issues."
------------------ Frank's Home Page "This is a brand new song...we haven't recorded it yet, but we're going to now." - John Flansburgh
[This message has been edited by The Shadow (edited March 01, 2000).]
posted
A decent ep. Didn't have some huge moral. Just a character piece. Kim finally got a half way decent episode. Although it would have been nice if we'd actually seen this ensign before. At least we got to see those borg kids again.
Oh, and as for that trek racism essay, I hope you don't seriously believe that. It's so full of holes it's almost funny.
------------------ You are wise, witty, and wonderful, but you spend far too much time reading this sort of trash.
posted
Well, for one thing, the author seems to think that any reference to a culture's ideals is racism. When Sisko said to respect Nog's Ferengi ideals, he meant to rspect Nog's ideals which h has because they are the ideals held by the vast majority of Ferengi. And when Picard wanted Riker to respect Worf's Klingon ideals, it was because Picard knew that Worf had those ideals. They never said "all Ferengi are money-hungry little trolls" or "all Klingons are bloodthristy savages who want to be killed when they stub their toes". The references were to two specific characters, Nog and Worf. Sisko and Picard knew that those two happened to hold true to the ideals they were raised with, the ideals held by most Ferengi and Klingons, respectively. There's a huge difference.
------------------ Jackson: "Basically, he was the original Satan." O'Neill: "Well, isn't that special?" -Stargate SG-1: "Serpent's Song"
posted
Well, for one, there's a difference between rasism and stereotyping. Saying "black people are violent" or "all black people can play basketball" is a stereotype. Not hiring someone because they are black or giving all black people basketball scholarships is racism. They are both bad, but they are different things. Stereotyping is the belief, racism is the action.
Also, Scientists have mixed some species here on earth to make a couple new species. I know thay mixed a cantaloupe and honeydew to make a honey-loupe. It was pretty good too.
posted
And I thought that Stadi was comming back to life...mybad! It was a good episode though, but I could have sworn I saw that ensign before, and I don't mean onboard DS9 or the Enterprise-E. What show did I see her in???
------------------ We did it on the floor, We did it by the door, We did it all night, We did it under a light, So how about for tonight we do it some more...
posted
In defence of the genome=culture implication in this specific case:
It would only be in the best interest of the vaguely-named species to create such an assimilation process that it not only reanimates the dead body and transforms it into one of theirs, but also creates a strong craving of some sort for the culture of the species. After all, the "homesickness" of the former corpses towards their origins, explicitly displayed in this episode, would probably be common among all ex-corpses and would need to be actively fought by the species.
How could biolgy create such a craving? It wouldn't be impossible to make the brains have a "subroutine" that associates the sight of a certain type of face or hearing of a certain type of sound with pleasure. Such "subroutines" already exist naturally in our brains, across cultural borders (fear reaction to smell of smoke, or craving for fried food - both are good survival features).
posted
When I look at the way that all human culture is being amalgamated into one big superficial meaningless self-focused amorphous mass of sticky-sweet pseudo-culture, I have no problem with the fact that Trek portrays species and culture as being analagous. I have a feeling that by the time we travel into the stars (if things don't come to an end before then) that there will be one planetary human culture, with one set of norms and standards. This is not adding order to the system, but rather the logical outcome of the descent into chaos; everything is so mixed together and diluted that it all looks, smells and tastes the same.
I offer the world-wide popularity of the Backstreet Boys and so-called "professional wrestling" as evidence.
------------------ Dane
"Mathematicians have long held that a million monkeys banging on a million keyboards would eventually reproduce the collected wisdom of the human race. Now, thanks to the internet, we know this is not true." -- Robert Silensky
posted
Wow. I just read the above-referenced article and I don't know whether to laugh or cry. What pseudo-intellectual fluff! This guy has GOT to be kidding.
Warning: Articles like the one referenced in the first post of this thread are the intellectual equivalent of cotton candy. They may look full and appealing and even taste sweet, but in truth they offer very little (and what they do offer is of dubious nutritive value). Furthermore, they're sticky; once you've tried a little, it's hard to get rid of the intellectual residue so you can fill your mind with things of greater value.
*Falls and sprains his ankle trying to get down from his high horse*
------------------ Dane
"Mathematicians have long held that a million monkeys banging on a million keyboards would eventually reproduce the collected wisdom of the human race. Now, thanks to the internet, we know this is not true." -- Robert Silensky
[This message has been edited by Dane Simri (edited March 02, 2000).]
If the author had been really doing his research, he'd have noticed that Trek can show a considerable variation in cultural thought within cultures. Worf is not Alexander is not B'Elanna is not Duras, despite what the author believes.
And Nog is not Rom is not the Nagus is CERTAINLY not Ishka.
------------------ "Nobody knows this, but I'm scared all the time... of what I might do, if I ever let go." -- Michael Garibaldi
posted
Timo: Even if you find a reason for it, the episode is still saying the same thing. (Besides, if the i-species could do that, why do they need dead bodies?)
Dane: I think you'll find that only a small percentage of the world's population likes the Backstreet Boys, WWF, etc. People will always disagree about things, and the idea of a species-based culture is absurd.
First of Two: That's still not addressing his point, that Trek treats culture and species to be the same thing. For example, how come there weren't any previous Ishkas who formed their own cultures? (BTW, on an unrelated note, take a look at what he has to say about creation/evolution).
------------------ Frank's Home Page "This is a brand new song...we haven't recorded it yet, but we're going to now." - John Flansburgh
------------------ "The Borg wouldn't know fun if they assimilated an amusement park" - Torres Federation Starship Datalink - On that annoying Tripod server.
posted
Actually, Frank, after having lived on every continent except Australia and Antarctica (note not "visited" but "lived") I've found that we are well on our way to world-wide cultural amalgamation. Some more evidence:
- Children wearing "WWF" t-shirts in Portugal. - A Russian lounge band singing Tina Turner and Elton John in a hotel bar in Kuwait City. - A generation of German males who dress like the Marlboro man. - Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Burger King in St. Petersburg, Russia. - The unexplainable fascination of kids in Seoul, Korea, with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. - The bankruptcy of radio stations that didn't play mostly American/Western European music in Rio de Janeiro. - The stagnation in the once-thriving Italian and Spanish film industries as a result of the rise in popularity of American films. - The inclusion of words like "Dilbert-ism" and "da bomb" into coloquial German and Portuguese. - McDonalds EVERYWHERE.
I could go on, but I think you get the point. Please note that I'm not saying that AMERICAN culture is assimilating the other cultures of the world. Rather that, as national boundaries become "culturally porous," all our cultures are seeping into one another and becoming diluted. This is simply the sociological equivalent of the natural law of diffusion.
Please also note that I'm not making a judgement on the "rightness or wrongness" of cultural diffusion. I'm merely stating that it's a sociological trend well supported by the facts.
Now, there are certainly a few parts of the world that are less affected than others. Of those that I've visited, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China, and (to a much lesser extent) France come to mind. My opinion is that it is only a matter of time before they succumb to this phenomenon that we're discussing. With the rising worldwide technological standard, their borders are or will soon be just as culturally porous as everyone else's.
------------------ Dane
"Mathematicians have long held that a million monkeys banging on a million keyboards would eventually reproduce the collected wisdom of the human race. Now, thanks to the internet, we know this is not true." -- Robert Silensky
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