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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mallus" data-source="post: 3426961" data-attributes="member: 3887">Is the name of her site ("Asking the Wrong Questions") supposed to be, you know, ironical? Here's a few observations about her observations...1) I was troubled by her notion that fictional creations, and the creative process itself, should be treated as sacrosanct. Personally, I think Dirk Benedict popping up and claiming to be God is brilliant (though I am glad Moore was talked out of it). At the very least it demonstrates a healthy sort of playfulness and attitude toward the work. Unless of course you're fond of the portentous, overdetermined, and, you know, dull.  And creative types begin things without knowing the meaning or the ending all the time. She knows this, right?2) Why does the Dylan song bother her so much? What makes that different from names like "William Adama" or "Laura Roslin", or the natty suit and tie Lee wore to court, or any of other places where the details of the shows universe overlap the our own?Discussing why the song provoked such a different response would have been interesting. Claiming the song somehow damages the integrity of the shows invented universe makes her sound like a twit. 3) Why does the inanity of Cylon biology bother her so much? This is a show where humans can build FTL drives(!) small enough to fit into minivans, which indulges in spacebattle porn whenever they can afford to, and sports a God-obsessed sex-bomb robot who may be an angel of God. It's not exactly the kind of science fiction that cares about the science. You know, at all.And Sharon sticking fiber-optic cable in her arm was a visual metaphor pointing to the ambivalence --and special anxiety-- of identity in the BSG universe, not scientific extrapolation or worldbuilding. It can also be seen as just another example of the portrayal of the Cylons as alien in the middle of showing the audience that they're just like us.4) What are Cylons? They're people. And probably vice-versa. It's a time-honored SF trope, the Other that isn't really Other after all. Why get hung up the molecular biology of Cylon blood (in a show not about science) when the narrative function of the Cylon race (in a show that often operates as several different flavors of allegory) is staring you right in the face?5) Her distinction between naturalist/fantastic fiction is awful. 6) Her definition of surrealism is worse. If she's going to dismiss it, at least describe its aims properly.7) Which is moot anyway, since BSG isn't surreal, unless you're using surreal to mean something it doesn't. She had the right idea earlier when she used the term 'metafictional gag', which would be fair, though she'd still need to explain how the song is categorically different from the other 'real world' details.8) She "imagines that the process (of making Surrealist stuff) must be largely intuitive". You don't say... News flash, a lot of the creative process is intuitive. Really, am I missing her irony?Hey, I'm starting to realize what that blogger was up to... this was fun...</blockquote>

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