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Kelso323
When I was young, I loved Star Trek like no other. When I was young, I could not believe that any ship in science-fiction could astound or impress unless it belonged to the Federation Starfleet.
But as I grew, I realized it was possible to explore the 'human condition' without the pretense of allegory or anecdote. I came to understand that examining every facet of humanity could be done effectively by simply showing humans being human.
I thank Aliens for introducing me to this, as well as showing that our future does not necessarily end up utopian, where adversaries are antiseptically flashed into ashes by a phaser.
I came to love a little known, oft-forgotten series called “Space: Above and Beyond”, which not only showed humanity in all its triumph and fault, but attempted to introduce a visceral reality to science-fiction.
And while I do remember the original “Battlestar Galactica”, I cannot say that by virtue of its existence I am willing to discard or discount the possibilities which lay beneath its sterile gloss. To be sure, the characters were memorable, and rightly beloved, but only in so far as we love Kirk, Spock or McCoy. We love them for being the ideal men and women in a less than ideal situation.
But we are human, by definition, flawed.
And that is the root of what I love in the new “Galactica”. There is no exposition, no pretense, no perfection. The show is perfect because the characters are flawed. The characters are “human”. They are imperfect heroes.
For those who would decry, I say take a moment, step back and do what it is that science-fiction asks us to do; examine “another” possibility, one that might not be, but could be. Love the original Galactica, but set aside your prejudice and examine the new upon its own merits.
And doing that one thing, setting aside preconception and viewing each work within its own unique context, is what science-“fiction” is all about.