Sally wrote:
Jenny Kaye wrote: <The scene is demonstrating that Vila is: 1/ Shallow 2/ A braggart 3/ An untrustworthy liar 4/ Self deluding 5/ Incapable of forward planning 6/ Stupid, in that he greatly underestimates the intelligence of the
people
he is talking to. Even though he has known these people for a very long time.>
Let me guess, he's not your favourite character.
No, I rather like him-- I'd rate him as perhaps my third favourite character :-).
Vila's background is as fluid as his mind is, of course. In 'Horizon',
when Avon calls him "a fifth-grade ignorant", his answer is "I chose the
wrong
parents, didn't I?" - nothing about cheating one way or the other on the tests (interesting that he doesn't call Avon on that incorrect ranking either).
Didn't think of that one, you're absolutely right. It's interesting, isn't it? The fact that he doesn't "correct" Avon on the ranking strongly indicates that it wasn't incorrect at all...
In 'Shadow' he says to Cally that he grew up 'among the Delta
service grades'
Again, good point-- 'among' doesn't necessarily means he was one.
and was in the Juvenile Detention Wards at a very young age
("since I was old enough to read the graffiti');
So he was certainly a crook in his teens.
in 'Power' he mentions to
Pella that he was "technical advisor for the escape" at the 'academy' of CF-1;
Well, obviously "academy" is a euphemism for something else :-).
in 'Stardrive' he says he was sent to a penal colony (possibly Cf-1)
at age 14. In 'The Way Back' he says to Blake that he's had his head adjusted 'by some of the best in the business'.
You've done your research, haven't you :-)?
Of course, this interesting history would make perfectly good reasons for being deprived of the Dreaded Captaincy, without bringing in anything
about
the tests.
Very true!
In fact, he's disarmingly honest about the shadier part of his
history (always assuming he's telling the truth about *them* :-). He's
not
in the slightest bit ashamed on his Delta rank
Well, first of all, we don't know for certain that he was a Delta rank, only a 5th Grade ignorant, (though it's very possible that, as Dana suggests, Alphas, Betas etc, are subdivided into further Grades). We also know that in Volcano Vila states that his classification was Grade 4 ignorant (a subtle increase on the Grade mentioned in Horizon that Vila manages to slip in) and then tries to justify that by saying he bribed a friend at the test centre to mark him down. So there are two examples of him being dishonest about his history for a start. And then you can add a third when he tells Pella he was at an "Academy" and the fourth in Horizon when he blames his Grade 5 classification on his parents. So really it isn't at all accurate to say that Vila wasn't in some way ashamed (or at least trying to play down) his past, or he'd've been straight about it, wouldn't he?
- of all the crew, he's the
most open and talkative *about* it
Can't argue there :-).
- nor does he seem to think it makes him
inferior to the others (he does sometimes feel that way, I think, but due to very different reasons).
I don't agree. Why tell all these lies if he didn't want to "adjust" his history to every situation he found himself in?
So empty 'bragging' about a higher rank seems
pointless, even for him.
It's pointless, but as you've just demonstrated, he's done it on at least three occasions.
So yes, there's a decent case to be argue that he was simply making it up as he went along. The problem is that one thing Vila says here is
absolutely true. He is
*not* stupid, but actually quite bright in his own way, as he clearly demonstrates in other episodes (sometimes pulling the possibly-Alphas'
butts out of
strife, when he absolutely *has* to).
Yes, but there are different types of stupidity, isn't there? In the same way that there are different types of intelligence. Haven't you ever wondered how a particular friend can be so bright somethings, and yet utterly stupid when it comes to something else? Vila's good at hoodwinking the unwary, but then he would have to be, to be a good thief. Vila also uses language well, it's even possible that the accent he has when meeting Blake is one he had just put on, so as to appeal to Blake's Alpha Grade sensibilities. Vila is also good at opening locks, and this total paranoia means that he is sometimes right about approaching, or potential dangers. His cowardice also is an aid when in a sticky situation, in that it appears to concentrate his mind and provide the adrenaline rush that allows him to think straight.
He's somewhat scatterbrained IMO,
definitely *not* an intellectual, and as lazy mentally as physically,
I think you're right.
but he can be very quick and flexible (which is why he's Avon's
second-favourite
sparring partner,
after all; *were* he stupid or slow, Avon wouldn't waste
his breath).
Again, Vila isn't slow, but he can be really stupid sometimes. Remember his dropping that gun in Space Fall?
'Weapon', which is the episode that gives us most information - little though that is - on the grading system, and the reason I have real
problems
slotting Vila into Delta-by-rank.
But he may not be. He could be a 5th Grade Beta. All we know is that he's a 5th Grader. He may have spent time with the Delta service grades because they were easier to steal from. We just don't know.
Goodness, Coser is a *Beta*, and from the
way Servalan and Travis - and even Blake - talk, you'd think that was
only
for the terminally slow and thick
I don't really follow this bit. Servalan, Blake and Travis are all very intelligent, but all in different ways. They may all be Alphas but that doesn't mean that they all think alike. They are people, not sausages :-).
- "this man Coser is brighter than his
grade classification would suggest".
He was. And that's what pissed Coser off.
Also, the clear implication is that Beta grades are considered and treated as *very* inferior to Alphas runs all the way through the episode
I think what we are actually seeing is the Beta Grade from the perspective of Coser, who is quite clearly vengeful, and not just a little bit mad. He seems like somebody who is, say, lower-middle-class and aspiring to be upper-middle-class-- and so sees everything in the most negative light possible.
(actually, it's a pity that the writer made
Coser a Beta,
No. It's the entire point of the story-- where's his motivation otherwise :-)?
as the attitudes in this episode to this secondary rank make
it that much harder to judge where the rest of the crew might be;
they can't*all* be Alphas!!)
We are never told what they are IIRC.
Which begs the question of how someone as bright as Vila unquestionably *is*ended up in the service grades that are lower even than Coser.
I don't think so. Again, from the info you have provided, we don't now know that Vila was indeed a service Grade himself. And again, although Vila can be bright at some things, there's a difference between being bright and being bright enough to build a weapon as sophisticated and intelligent as IMIPAK. Coser is very interesting actually, in that he rails against the Grade classification system, yet treats Rashel like dirt.
(It also>indicates - rather strongly - that being a Beta grade is both
restrictive
and horrible;
Well, Coser sees it that way, but then Coser seems a complete egocentric bastard.
if someone like Vila found himself headed in that direction I can see him doing anything to avoid it.
Yes, but until he had actually experienced such a thing, how could he know what it was all about? Also, any prejudice from Alpha grades for Betas must be lightweight compared to the prejudice he would feel as a Delta.
Unquestionably, he was having a dig at Tarrant, who at this stage is quite likely irritating the living daylights out of him.
We don't know what the relationship between Tarrant and Vila is at this stage. Yes, he's having a dig at Tarrant, but I think it's to distract Avon.
<As Avon confirmed, "A pro keeps it simple.">
Sorry, ma'am, but I'm still an amateur at 'Playing the Game' so I don't have> >to do what Avon says if it don't make sense to me ...
Simplicity always make sense, it's overcomplex and spurious reasoning that marks out the amateur.
Jenny.
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