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02-18-2003, 11:01 AM | #41 | ||||
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I do plan to see Ararat and Atanarjuat: the Fast Runner. |
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02-18-2003, 12:18 PM | #42 | |||
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02-18-2003, 12:36 PM | #43 | |
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From "Brain Bugs" on StarDestroyer.net:
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02-18-2003, 01:20 PM | #44 |
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The bottom line for me (and I'll close on this note) is the writters were damned either way.
If you make the Klingons like humans, then you run the risk of being called ethnocentric, and assuming everything else has to be and act like we do because it's the "right way". If you make the Klingons decidedly different, then you run the risk of being called racist, and assuming nothing else can compare to us because we do things the "right way". Whenever you create a society from scratch (be it elves or Klingons or orcs or vampires) you need to define some values and characteristics in order to give them some identity. We have two places to draw these characteristics - human societies and animal bahaviour. Of course you are going to assign some traits which are unfavourable. Of course you are going to have people looking for the "real world" Klingons. But really, what's the option? ST does a good job at creating societies that are pretty damn imaginative. But the Borg wear thin, and you cannot have a 7-year story around a race of beings that value canasta above all else. I've heard it said that living things have four primary instincts - feeding, fighting, fucking and fleeing. (argue amongst yourselves) It seems reasonable to try and tie these instincts to created cultures. (feeding=Ferengi, fighting=Klingons, fleeing=Romulans, fucking=Federation) We get the "self-preservation" instinct because it is more morallay palatable to us than the other three (and really, how many Klingons actually watch TNG?). I'm not saying that racism in the characters does not exist. Just that, one way or another, someone is going to cry foul. |
02-24-2003, 10:55 AM | #45 | |
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