In a message dated 2/21/01 3:58:06 AM Eastern Standard Time, N.Faulkner@tesco.net writes:
<< Plenty of reserve, dignity, and respect there, I'm sure you'll agree. >>
Well, I wasn't going to say anything... but what he said. I take exception to the statement that the British have more "reserve, dignity and respect" than Americans. Talk about a broad generalization! I love visiting England and I think it's a wonderful country... and there are many things about it that are much better (in my eyes) than America... but the reverse is also true. There are many things *here* in American that are better than in other countries, including England. And "reserve, dignity and respect" exists in both countries (not to mention many other countries, as well). Of course, there are those models of British reserve, dignity and respect on Red Dwarf we can always point to... ;-)
*Are* the Blakes 7 characters "British"? Well, personally, I don't think so. At least not all of them. If we follow that train of thought than the vast majority of spacegoers in the Star Trek Federation universe are *American*. The vast number of humanoids *and* aliens on Babylon 5 are mostly *American*. Even Xena and Hercules were *American* because, although the actors aren't American and the show isn't filmed in America, the actors mostly speak with American accents for an American audience. In fact, many "American" shows are now filmed in Canada. So, Scully and Mulder and the whole FBI must have been Canadian! (They are now "American" because the show moved operations to LA, I believe.) Hmmm, Farscape is filmed in New Zealand, isn't it? So, are all of the characters on Farscape originally from New Zealand?
Even if we want to extrapolate that many of the B7 characters were meant to be "British" in the far future, who's to say that the *behavior* of people that far in the future will be the same when it comes to emotions or *anything*? Hundreds of years ago in England, did people think and talk the same way that they do today?
And taking it even further, just how much of the characters' lives did we get to see? Not much, really. This is why so many fans find fan fiction appealing in the first place: the ability to take the characters and the situations in different directions and to explore all different kinds of things, including emotions.
It seems to really bother some British fans when American fans want to participate in the fandom in this manner and I can only say sorry. A fan is a fan and if they feel motivated to write in their danged old American way, too bad. Don't read American fan fiction if it really bugs you that much.
Annie
In message 81.72ab701.27c53100@aol.com, Ashton7@aol.com writes
*Are* the Blakes 7 characters "British"? Well, personally, I don't think so. At least not all of them. If we follow that train of thought than the vast majority of spacegoers in the Star Trek Federation universe are *American*. The vast number of humanoids *and* aliens on Babylon 5 are mostly *American*.
err, but they *are* American...
I mean that quite seriously. Much as I love ST (when it's not Voyager), it does look to me remarkably like the good ol' US of A projected into the future. Possibly because it was quite deliberately written as that, so far as much of TOS is concerned. I can't really comment on B5, but what little I've seen struck me as much less overtly American in tone than does ST. And yes, B7 has a blatantly British feel. (This may be a good time to remind the list that my national identity is somewhat ambiguous...)
From: Ashton7@aol.com
Well, I wasn't going to say anything... but what he said. I take exception
to
the statement that the British have more "reserve, dignity and respect"
than
Americans.
Er ... actually, Helen said that, not me.
Even if we want to extrapolate that many of the B7 characters were meant
to
be "British" in the far future, who's to say that the *behavior* of people that far in the future will be the same when it comes to emotions or *anything*? Hundreds of years ago in England, did people think and talk
the
same way that they do today?
By which argument, it becomes perfectly reasonable to posit that people in Blake's time think, act and feel in a 'British' manner, even if those people are not British themselves.
And taking it even further, just how much of the characters' lives did we
get
to see? Not much, really. This is why so many fans find fan fiction
appealing
in the first place: the ability to take the characters and the situations
in
different directions and to explore all different kinds of things,
including
emotions.
But I think we see enough of their emotional lives to speculate with confidence that some degree of reserve is the norm, though obviously more so for some than others.
It seems to really bother some British fans when American fans want to participate in the fandom in this manner and I can only say sorry. A fan
is a
fan and if they feel motivated to write in their danged old American way,
too
bad. Don't read American fan fiction if it really bugs you that much.
I don't think I'd go quite that far:) American fans have made an enormous contribution to fandom, much of it positive, some of it less so. Some British fans haven't exactly covered themselves in glory, either. It's not a clear-cut case of 'British good, American bad', and I wouldn't want anyone to think I was trying to say that.
Neil
"We had joy, we had fun, Had the Trekkies on the run. But the fun didn't last Cos the buggers ran too fast."
-
Ashton7＠aol.com -
Julia Jones -
Neil Faulkner