I just had this revelation in a discussion I was having with someone about BSG.
It’s all about the zombies.
Zombie stories (when not played for laughs) are about survival. The world gets turned upside down, and suddenly life goes from being cushy and comfortable to fleeing the Cylon tyranny hordes of the undead. Old, trusted faces suddenly become something inhuman and menacing. They’re us, only now deadly, implacable, unstoppable, inhuman attackers harry the protagonists at every turn. The dead march on, threatening us with oblivion. Civilization crumbles, and
the survivors try to retain both their humanity and their lives, sometimes one costing the other …
Classic zombie fare.
And it what works best, IMO, on BSG. Seeing how the humans hold up as their worlds (literally) fall apart. How they and their institutions reel, recover, twist, fall, rebuild. How the desperate compromises they make in order to survive may — or may not — be worth it.
One of the best comics out there — at least in the zombie category (hmmm — maybe this is why I have zombies on my brain mind) is Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead. “In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally begin living.” In a universe controlled by humanity’s creations and putative successors, we’re forced
to finally determine what is human.
The more I think of it, the more I realize those are all themes I find enjoyable (if that’s the word) in both (well-written) zombie tales and in BSG — and a reason why going too much into Cylon motivations and society leaves me cold: the story isn’t about them, it’s about us.
*reads reads reads*
* The world gets turned upside down.
* The threat of oblivion.
* Civilization crumbles.
* The survivors try to retain their humanity and their lives, sometimes one costing the other.
Hmmm.
Also, it’s cool that you could have that discussion at work. I don’t work with anyone I could have that discussion with.
Well … it was an e-mail discussion on a list, so I can’t claim a particularly spiffy work conversation. (I wish!)