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beccatoriaOnce upon a time, I would have been thrilled that my show was the first TV show ever to get invited to the UN. In retrospect, considering how faily I tought the finale was particularly on issues such as race, gender, religion, colonialism, etc., it wasn't quite as awesome for me as I wanted it to be (read: faintly embarassing) but I know that's both my opinion and hey, the UN couldn't have known that at the time?
So then EJO says things like, "There's only one race! The human race!" and some UN person - I apologise I can't remember the exact words, basically says something diplomatic along the lines of, "Yes, and that's a lovely thought but it's not useful to dismiss people's very real experiences of racism," to which EJO replied, profoundly, "When a bug doesn't like you, that's racism." TO THE UN, PEOPLE. TO THE UNITED. NATIONS.
Which was - UNTIL TODAY - my all-time all-encompassing symbol for everything I found off-putting about the guy's public persona.
YOU GUYS. EJO IS CLAIMING HE - OR RATHER HIS APPEARANCE AT THE BSG UN PANEL - IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CHANGING THE UN CHARTER.
This would not be so bad, if there were any evidence at all that it had been changed.
I do not even know what to do with this information, y'all. I just cannot process it.
I found this link through fandom grapevine; I believe it originated with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
greycoupon? I got it from asta77 in any event:
http://www.airlockalpha.com/node/6569
There's the link, though since it's written by Michael Hinman and I don't really want to increase his hits, the article is reproduced for posterity below.
"Battlestar Galactica" has been influential in the lives of millions of fans, but probably never like this.
Becoming the first television show ever invited to speak at the United Nations last March would be enough for some people. But not series star Edward James Olmos. Instead, he was out to change the very core of the United Nations itself. And he succeeded.
"The United Nations changed their charter three weeks ago after 'Battlestar' went and spoke at the UN," Olmos told G4's "Attack of the Show." "They changed the entire understanding of their charter that was written in 1947 so that they would never use the word 'race' as a cultural determinate again. There is only one race, and that is the human race."
The news of the charter change has not been made public until that announcement, Olmos said. A search for press releases over the past seven months on the United Nations Web site produced no results for "race" and "charter," and there are no other reports that such a change has been made.
"Nobody knows that the charter has been changed," Olmos said. "It's one of the hardest things that happened to me, and it would've never happened but if it weren't for 'Battlestar.' Did they invite 'The Sopranos?' Did they invite 'The West Wing?'
"'Battlestar and its writers decided to take on what was happening now. The reconciliation between the Cylon and the human being. How did that happen? How could it happen? If the Palestinian and the Jew could only see 'Battlestar,' they would understand how to reconcile."
Olmos did not explain how he was allowed to be the first to break the news, and why it seems that nothing about the charter change was made available through the United Nations. In fact, the charter that is still published on the UN's official site still uses the word "race" as part of its cultural determinant, so it's unclear why such changes have not been reflected in official documents.
The charter was not signed in 1947, but rather on June 26, 1945, and was put into full force in October of that year. Among its purposes listed for the United Nations in Article I, it continues to state that "to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction to race, sex, language, or religion."
The power to amend or modify the charter is listed in Chapter XVIII has to take place after approval by a two-thirds vote of the members of the General Assembly as well as by a vote of nine members of the Security Council. Any alterations would have to be ratified by two-thirds of the members, including all the permanent members of the Security Council.
It is not clear if such a move was made, and if so, how such a massive undertaking was not previously reported in the media.
An attempt late Monday to reach the United Nations by e-mail is pending return, as is a message to G4 asking if they had verified the statement made by Olmos during the interview.
In the meantime, see Olmos' entire interview with "Attack of the Show" below.
So there you have it folks. Palestinians and Jews just haven't watched enough Battlestar Galactica.
I just. Text is inadequate to conveying the level of WTFery this engenders in me. There are no words, people. No. Words.
So then EJO says things like, "There's only one race! The human race!" and some UN person - I apologise I can't remember the exact words, basically says something diplomatic along the lines of, "Yes, and that's a lovely thought but it's not useful to dismiss people's very real experiences of racism," to which EJO replied, profoundly, "When a bug doesn't like you, that's racism." TO THE UN, PEOPLE. TO THE UNITED. NATIONS.
Which was - UNTIL TODAY - my all-time all-encompassing symbol for everything I found off-putting about the guy's public persona.
YOU GUYS. EJO IS CLAIMING HE - OR RATHER HIS APPEARANCE AT THE BSG UN PANEL - IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CHANGING THE UN CHARTER.
This would not be so bad, if there were any evidence at all that it had been changed.
I do not even know what to do with this information, y'all. I just cannot process it.
I found this link through fandom grapevine; I believe it originated with
greycoupon? I got it from asta77 in any event: http://www.airlockalpha.com/node/6569
There's the link, though since it's written by Michael Hinman and I don't really want to increase his hits, the article is reproduced for posterity below.
"Battlestar Galactica" has been influential in the lives of millions of fans, but probably never like this.
Becoming the first television show ever invited to speak at the United Nations last March would be enough for some people. But not series star Edward James Olmos. Instead, he was out to change the very core of the United Nations itself. And he succeeded.
"The United Nations changed their charter three weeks ago after 'Battlestar' went and spoke at the UN," Olmos told G4's "Attack of the Show." "They changed the entire understanding of their charter that was written in 1947 so that they would never use the word 'race' as a cultural determinate again. There is only one race, and that is the human race."
The news of the charter change has not been made public until that announcement, Olmos said. A search for press releases over the past seven months on the United Nations Web site produced no results for "race" and "charter," and there are no other reports that such a change has been made.
"Nobody knows that the charter has been changed," Olmos said. "It's one of the hardest things that happened to me, and it would've never happened but if it weren't for 'Battlestar.' Did they invite 'The Sopranos?' Did they invite 'The West Wing?'
"'Battlestar and its writers decided to take on what was happening now. The reconciliation between the Cylon and the human being. How did that happen? How could it happen? If the Palestinian and the Jew could only see 'Battlestar,' they would understand how to reconcile."
Olmos did not explain how he was allowed to be the first to break the news, and why it seems that nothing about the charter change was made available through the United Nations. In fact, the charter that is still published on the UN's official site still uses the word "race" as part of its cultural determinant, so it's unclear why such changes have not been reflected in official documents.
The charter was not signed in 1947, but rather on June 26, 1945, and was put into full force in October of that year. Among its purposes listed for the United Nations in Article I, it continues to state that "to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction to race, sex, language, or religion."
The power to amend or modify the charter is listed in Chapter XVIII has to take place after approval by a two-thirds vote of the members of the General Assembly as well as by a vote of nine members of the Security Council. Any alterations would have to be ratified by two-thirds of the members, including all the permanent members of the Security Council.
It is not clear if such a move was made, and if so, how such a massive undertaking was not previously reported in the media.
An attempt late Monday to reach the United Nations by e-mail is pending return, as is a message to G4 asking if they had verified the statement made by Olmos during the interview.
In the meantime, see Olmos' entire interview with "Attack of the Show" below.
So there you have it folks. Palestinians and Jews just haven't watched enough Battlestar Galactica.
I just. Text is inadequate to conveying the level of WTFery this engenders in me. There are no words, people. No. Words.
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-28 10:48 pm (UTC)Because srsly? Adama, YOU BECAME A DOUCHEBAG! A douchebag amongst douchebags.
I wonder if thats why Saul Tigh started looking more and more embaressed whenever he had scenes with Adama. Because somethign I felt they lost in the last few episodes was the sense of close friendship between Adama and Saul.
The authenticity of the vomit
Date: 2009-07-29 02:53 pm (UTC)Adama love ended in that scene after Dee's death where he threatened to pull the trigger and kill himself and now I really wish Tigh had let him do it.
Lorne Greene is rolling in his grave.
Re: The authenticity of the vomit
Date: 2009-07-29 02:58 pm (UTC)I don't think anybody got out of hte character assassination exercise intact. Possibly Helo.
Re: The authenticity of the vomit
Date: 2009-07-29 03:47 pm (UTC)Kara become someone I actually approved of. And Caprica, well, her character wasn't assassinated. Just treated like utter crap.
Re: The authenticity of the vomit
Date: 2009-07-29 05:14 pm (UTC)And I used to let it go, and let it slide, but more and more I get angry with how Six was just... the eternal victim in this show. She was beaten, raped, tortured, murdered, over and over again. Far more so than any male character ever suffered.
Re: The authenticity of the vomit
Date: 2009-07-29 06:08 pm (UTC)Yes I could be punished here for accepting a violence against women archetype, but the purpose of the Cylons and of the show was to reveal our dirty human flaws as well as our strengths. In spite of all the Sixes were handed down, they also revealed their capacity for compassion, regret, repentance and love. I'm not justifying the treatment of the Sixes (or ultimately any of the other women in the show), but you can't get the good without the bad.
Now, we can only hope EJO can change the world view on sexism the way he has racism.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 04:34 pm (UTC)But you and I are agreed in that neither of us understands why he went back to his wife OR was friends with Adama. He's so much more interesting when he's not having plotlines with Adama (or Ellen if it's not about him killing her).
JOIN ME IN DENYING IT EVER HAPPENED. DENY CANON. TIGH AND CAPRICA AND THEIR MUTANT FLIPPER!BABY LIVE ON AND HE KEEPS USING LIAM AS AN EXCUSE NOT TO VISIT ADAMA BECAUSE HE'S GETTING EMBARASSED BY HIM AN WONDERING IF HE'S ACTUALLY GONE SENILE. YOU KNOW IT'S TRUE.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 05:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-29 07:02 pm (UTC)But then, just...nothing. Because up to that point, Tigh's storyline was amazing. Especially since Bill, his best friend, was essentially ABSENT for most of the hard parts. It showed that Adama actually did nothing but enable his friend and keep him in his awful state. But once freed of Adama and forced to confront issues like murdering his wife and being a secret cylon, he became just incredible. This incredibly strong, loving person who'd always been there.
And then, like everything else in 4.5, it got packed back into its little box.
In the context of "No Exit" (the episode where Ellen Tigh comes back on the basestar), I LOVE Ellen as the final Cylon. It works so much better than I ever expected and it kind of had to be her for the Cavil reveal to have half as much impact, and boy do I love that reveal.
But, in the context of Tigh's story? Argh. Even if they hadn't just made him run back to her, I miss his feeling he killed her.
Though I think I could have lived with and learned to love a scenario more like the one I did in my fan edit when she comes back but it's not all easily packed back into a box and the whole thing is just a giant fucking mess because Tigh loves everyone and it's not like he can just stop. Even though Ellen kind of never deserved it in a lot of ways, the New Caprica arc did convince me that in her own messed up way, she loved Saul just as much as he loved her, although it wasn't healthy for either of them. And I have to believe Saul loved her because his utterly surprising (for a bitter drunken pirate) capacity for love, perhaps as infinite as Six's, in the midst of such bizarre circumstances is part of what I love(d) about him.
Um, anyway. I arbitrarily declare that in the future of the Redacticaverse, at some point after they find that planet to live on (since I unfortunately chose to show Bill there in deleted scenes), Tigh has to relieve him of command because he is BATSHIT INSANE.
(Really in that ending montage of Things to Come, more and more I wish I'd just said fuck it and put in the shot of Adama getting executed from Baltar's dream.)
no subject
Date: 2009-07-30 12:36 pm (UTC)Because as with much of BSG, it all seemed like everything was going somewhere and being clever, but in the end, they just fucked it all up.
And I think Tigh is one of the best examples of this, because you're right, once he found out he was a cylon, he was amazing. And when he admitted to Bill that he was a cylon, there was no shirking from it, no hiding in a bottle, just dealing with things. (Until Ellen returned and Saul was instantly back in the bottle.)
I loved Ellen as the final cylon initially, but after about 2 episodes it became apparent that they had no idea what they were going to do with her next. And then she just got worse and worse. And I hated her more and more. ANd its one of my lingering annoyances with the show that this great horrible ghastly villian never got a comeuppance.
In stories, we like it when heroes get rewarded and villians get their comeuppance.