Sunday, February 15, 2009

Question of the Day: BSG style


BATTLESTAR GALACTICA is catching heat because they didn't gay-up Gaeta. It was revealed that he's gay in the web shows and many fans hoped to see him...act gay.

But that wasn't the focus of his character, and now folks are upset and feels like it's a slap in the face. But my question is...Was it important to keep Gaeta the way he was, or throw in more gay aspects about him?

via Dooq.com

5 comments:

Todd HellsKitchen said...

It would have been hard to make him gay and then have him be the villain that he was, albeit a well intentioned one (He really thought he was standing on principle)... Still the only gay character suddenly overthrows Adama?? Oy!... I was clueless about his persuasion til a guy at work told me to watch the webisodes... Was Gaeta's boyfriend from the Webisodes in the first couple of shows this season??? I dunno... Anyway... Lee Adama is the one that I want to date... LOL

Ian said...

If viewers go back to the very beginning of the show, back to when BSG was still a mini series, you can see signs Ron Moore & Co were developing Felix Gaeta to be gay. There's subtle clues and it's not overtly stated, but they exist.

I think the writers didn't have Gaeta out for same reason Sci-Fi channel refused to air Torchwood, American audiences still can't deal with blatant male homosexuality. It's wrong, yes, but it shows how far we still have to go.

I don't think the writers should have done anything more with Felix than what they did. His sexuality does not impact his character development IMHO. In fact, I think it'd be a drawback if they had. In the end, Felix is shown as treasonous and a coward, waffling and struggling to "find" himself. He stood up for what he believed in, but only because he was trying to prove himself to everybody he wasn't weak.

IF the writers HAD emphasised his sexuality, then folks would've decried how Hollywood was being stereotypical depicting gay men as "weak and confused...blah, blah, blah." So, I say, they did a good thing with Felix's storyline.

Ian said...

Todd-
Gaeta's boyfriend, Lt. Louis Hoshii, has been a side character for a few seasons. I forget how long, but he's been around at least since they left New Caprica.

Rewatch the show from the beginning with all of Felix's interaction with Gaius Baltar, there's a definite crush-like chemistry going on...

Anonymous said...

I agree with Ian. Really pressing his gay identity right before he turns treasonous would have had bad ramifications from the public and played into the gay=evil and weak stereotype. That bugged me a bit as well. As soon as they reveal that he is gay(online not on the show), they also reveal that he is gonna pull a coup on Adamo. Which would have just added fuel to the fire for the homophobes out there.

KAOS said...

I don't know this show, but why do some people feel that we need to be spoon-fed everything? Often, a character's sexuality isn't explicitly stated and it's left to the viewer to decide for themselves *who* is *what*. Sometimes I prefer that approach...

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.