Can a TV show educate? BSG at the United Nations

26 April 2009 865 views No Comment

Originally, I had written this article in the same week as the final episode of BSG aired. It was supposed to be published on another site, but that didn’t happen yet and so I decided, since I spent quite some time writing it, to publish it here.

Background Information: Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Ronald D. Moore and David Eick (all of the new Battlestar Galactica) appeared on a panel at the United Nations in New York, where issues like torture, war, faith and many other things were discussed and the show (BSG) was used as a mirror of actual, present conditions. It was an incredibly interesting and thought-provoking discussion, more details can be found here.

Now, here’s the article I wrote (the first sentence was in regard to the site it was supposed to be published on):

WHY A TV SHOW CAN EDUCATE – QUESTIONS OF CONSCIENCE IN BSG

I never thought my first article here would be about ‘Battlestar Galactica (2003)’. I always believed I would instead make my entrance with a grand ‘Babylon 5’ piece, but the airing of the final episode of BSG and a special event made me write this instead.

By pure chance I learned that Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell, as well as Ronald Moore and David Eick, were invited to the United Nations for a discussion panel, moderated by no one less than Whoopi Goldberg. The panel was centered around the topics which are equally important to the real world organization and the sci-fi show: human rights, terrorism, armed conflict, and the conflict between people and their faith(s).

I think the fact itself – that actors and producers of a commercial tv show were invited to an organization like the United Nations – speaks not only for the quality of the show, but of the importance of those topics and the desperate need to make them heard and recognized more broadly.

One centerpiece of the panel was a short, emotional outburst/speech given by Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama) when the phrase ‘race’ was dropped. With a passionate voice he called especially on the high school students present to carry his message to their peers and help to institute a different way of thinking: that ‘race’ is a word used to draw borders and put people in other categories than oneself, making discrimination and injustice much easier. I admit that I needed to swallow hard when I heard him finally shout at the assembly (which erupted in roaring applause): “There’s only one race, and that’s what the show brought out – that is the human race. Period. There is but one race! So say we all!”

And then I wondered – how would someone, who’s not equally passionate about the sci-fi genre, react to something like that? Would they too recognize the undeniable truth behind those words or would they instead focus on the messenger and dismiss the message, because it was not delivered by a seasoned diplomat or high ranking politician?

I tried to imagine my mom, who doesn’t get my fascination with the genre at all; I tried to imagine my colleagues, who have come to an amused acceptance of this ‘eccentricity’ of mine. I tried to think of my friends, who put up with my glowing recounts of episodes because they are my friends, but not because they are really interested (which just makes me love them more).

In every case, my conclusion was more or less the same: I could virtually picture them either raise their eyebrows and smirk or look disdainful at that actor who said such a thing in such a presumptuous way. How could Olmos, a mere product of Hollywood, assume he had the slightest insight into these topics? Just because he had played a leading role? That didn’t qualify him for any political statements, let alone that dramatic “So say we all!” at the end. Really, the guy’s confusing reality with the show. Or he’s having delusions of grandeur.

Those would be the reactions I would most likely get. All of them might carry an element of truth. Still, the big picture would go unnoticed – and the big picture is that this message (“There is but ONE race”) probably reaches more people than most UN reports or publications. I don’t know the exact numbers for the show, but I’d dare to say that it is more likely that the average teenager or regular person in general watches BSG instead of surfing the UN website or leafing through the publications of any human rights organization. One might criticize that as a sign of a decaying culture, governed by the media, but it’s a truth nonetheless. Denying and condemning it doesn’t help in the least.

I marvel instead at the opportunities which are presented through these circumstances, and so did UN representative Robert Orr. He stressed how fascinated and thankful he was that a show like BSG, which reached such a large audience, picked up topics which are fundamental in every society and in global interaction.

That is probably one of the reasons that ‘Battlestar Galactica’ has become such a success – the show confronts many ways of thinking and issues which are as real for us in our world as they are for the fictional characters in theirs: Starbuck waterboarding a prisoner. Boomer getting almost raped while in prison. Number Six being horribly abused by orders or at least tolerance of Admiral Cain during her incarceration. The people of the fleet scared out of their minds when realizing that the enemy is among them, unseen and impossible to recognize. Their need for strong leadership and gentle assurance at the same time. Their search for a new identity in a world alien to them, among every day worries about job, loved ones, and basic needs like food and clothing.

In a post 9/11 world, these worries are real, and they are global. The attacks on the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and later on the trains in Madrid, Spain, have brought home the terrible truth that people usually ignore in order to pursue their normal life: that there really is no absolute safety. There is no way of defending anything against suicide attacks. When one side is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for their cause, but you are not – then you are out of options. This very theme is upfront in BSG: as long as the Cylons had their resurrection hub they too did not fear the death of their body, knowing that their mind would download into new flesh.

Reports about tortured prisoners during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the mass killings of civilians in Darfur, and as recently as the end of 2008 reports about human rights violations by soldiers during the Gaza war, have made us question just how far we can go in the fight against terror before we become what we fight, not just losing out identity but forsaking every right of judgment we might have had before. And at some point we realize, when we go about our lives and our jobs, that we probably should care more about those issues, but we just don’t find the time.

With a show like BSG out there, we are/were constantly reminded of those issues; of the dark side of ourselves, our society, our nation. And where there is provocation, there is thought. And only where thought is can understanding be. And with understanding, there might even be change.

So, today it might not be the classy diplomat who can entice the masses – even though I would argue that the campaign of the recent US presidential election has shown that people have gained new hope when it comes to politics. Today, messages like the ones mentioned above might be transported via other channels. In an age where the media consumes much of our attention, it seems strangely appropriate that thought-provoking ideas should also be transported through a tv show. *cough*Star Trek:TOS. Babylon 5*cough*

In this regard, it also seems more than appropriate that the actors, who had to think and feel into their characters making hard decisions or performing terrible acts, should speak up about it. Their combined fan base is huge and transcends national borders, religious differences, language, age and gender. Why not use that following, those people listening and willing to spread the word, to transport those topics? Because, in the end, it comes down to just those people, you and me.

We create the world we live in and why should those actors not take the chance to at least try and make a difference. Imagine how much could already be accomplished if every second fan took the time to think seriously about these issues. What if every second of that group talks about it to someone else. And every second of that third group thinks about it. And so on. I don’t claim the actors have a special insight, specific knowledge about the topics, or anything. I say they might have given it some more thought since they had to live in that alternate reality for a couple of years now and to just dismiss their statements because of their profession would be less than smart. And since they are people like you and me, who care about their families, their safety and their home – our Earth – their opinion should matter to us as much as everyone else’s.

Just because Katee Sackhoff has never waterboarded anybody doesn’t mean she can’t have an opinion about it. Just because Mary McDonnell has never been president doesn’t mean she can’t say anything about how leaders may struggle between their conscience and the choices they are faced with.

And just because Edward James Olmos has never really led a dwindling group of 50,000 humans towards a new home doesn’t mean that what he says about race is not true! Because it frakking is! The humans in the show have one common enemy, the Cylons, which unite them in a way it has not yet happened with humanity on Earth. We are focused on territory and resources, petty disputes about whose god is real and whose isn’t, and about the question if the color of your skin or the country you were born in determines the quality of the being you are.

Edward James Olmos rightly said that the use of the phrase ‘race’ only helps to keep people apart instead of bringing them together – differences are accentuated and thereby deepened. Psychology uses the terms ‘ingroup’ and ‘outgroup’ to describe similar phenomenons. Everyone in the ingroup (your sports team, your circle of friends, your team at work, your community, your nation) is usually perceived as stronger, smarter, or generally at least slightly superior than members of the outgroup (the other team, the other nations, the other religions). This helps us to feel better about ourselves (who likes to be part of the ‘inferior’ side) and to give us confidence. It’s a completely natural process, but one would think that we should have evolved enough to start realizing that we cannot go on like that.

Just take a step back for a moment and think about it: visualize our Earth, as seen from space – this blue, fragile, beautiful orb hanging against the velvet black of space, against the emptiness around it. Our home. The only place we’ve got to live on. How ridiculous, stupid, and tragic do our wars seem when looked upon from that perspective. How useless. How endlessly sad. And the question that keeps popping up is: Why? After all, we all have to live together on that blue ball. There’s nowhere else to go.

Faced with the everyday reality on the set, the actors, writers, and producers of the show might have gained a better understanding of what it means to be human than some diplomats, good-will ambassadors, or politicians. When faced with the fact that everything you have is gone and all you have is each other, it stops to matter where you are from, what you believe in, which language you speak, which gods you worship (or not) and which color your skin has. Because, in the end, we are all the same – human.

Re-reading my own words, I think I will write a couple of follow up articles, because in the recent weeks there have been so many developments that just fit perfectly with what I’ve said here.

I am thankful for everyone who choses to discuss the article and I am looking forward to hear your opinion, but please – keep it civilized. Fight with facts and arguments, not dogmas or hate.