With its fourth season due to air in January 2008, the award-winning Battlestar Galactica continues to be exceptionally popular for non-network television, combining the familiar features of science fiction with direct commentary on life in mainstream America. Cylons in America is the first collection of critical studies of Battlestar Galactica (its 2003 miniseries, and the ongoing 2004 television series), examining its place within popular culture and its engagement with contemporary American society.
Battlestar Galactica depicts the remnants of the human race fleeing across space from a robotic enemy called the Cylons. The fleet is protected by a single warship, the Battlestar, and is searching for a "lost colony" that settled on the legendary planet "Earth." Originally a television series in the 1970s, the current series maintains the mythic sense established with the earlier quest narrative, but adds elements of hard science and aggressive engagement with post-9/11 American politics. Cylons In America casts a critical eye on the revived series and is sure to appeal to fans of the show, as well as to scholars and researchers of contemporary television.
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"The collection engages and impresses with the acuity of its insights." —Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media
About the Author
Tiffany Potter, teaching in the Department of English, University of British Columbia, and holding a PhD in English Literature, focuses her research on cultural studies, with emphases on colonial and post-colonialism, feminism, the history of sexuality, and the historical literatures of anthropology and race. She has published extensively in many journals, including Early American Literature.
C.W. Marshall is an Associate Professor of Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies, with a PhD in Classics and a post-graduate diploma in Christian Studies, in the Department of English at the University of British Columbia. Having published on the conventions of heroism from Greek tragedy to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, he brings to this project an understanding of the foundations of Western mythic and narrative patterns
Tama Leaver researches and writes about the relationship between people and technology in a variety of forms. He is particularly interested in the ways that the boundaries between people and technology are collapsing over time (if these boundaries really existed at all!). Tama is a lecturer in the Department of Internet Studies at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia having gained his PhD in 2006 at The University of Western Australia. He writes about film, television, science fiction, social media, online issues and a range of other areas.
If you watch BSG actively, attentively, if you "work" at the show watching for where it's echoing our current political/religous/gender/? issues, concerns, then read this book of essays.
The essays are of varying density and depth, but I enjoyed them all. Something to be gained from each of them although many were definitely on the "scholarly" side of the street. Some of the essays intrigued me from the first sentence and I underlined extensively. Others, I read quickly, simply didn't resonate with the material.
The diversity of points of view, the diversity of aspects of BSG investigated and dissected by the the authors is what makes this book worth the money.
Cylons and humans...what's the difference? Torture...is it ever justified? Rape...can a machine be raped? (Is Boomer a machine? Does a machine have feelings?) Is Starbuck a serial killer? (How many times DID she kill Leoben??) Is there racism among the the humans? The Uncanny...the "double" "The Farm" episode...pro life/pro choice... Why is Hera so important? How important is a hybrid? What will synthesis mean to Human and Cylon??? ...I could go on and on.
Again...if you actively watch BSG, like getting into philosophical/political/current events parallels, you will like this book. If you think about the show once you've seen an episode and then look out at the world we live in and relate the two...you'll like this book. If you're willing to put in some effort, you'll like this book. If you're already putting effort into BSG and enjoy doing that, you'll like this book.
I rated the book 4 stars...5 stars is perfect in my estimation and nothing is perfect...thank the gods for that!
Great book. If you're interested in learning more about the socially relevant elements of Battlestar Galactica or how to approach creating a socially relevant eposodic sci-fi TV show. I was afraid it would be bogged down with references to Plato and and other long winded philosophers taught in philosophy 101 college classes (like a lot of these types "You've seen the film/TV show, now copare it to such and such philosopher" books) that aren't too exciting to read about. I was pleased to find that it is both an easy read, very educational, and very enjoyible. I serious recommend this book to anyone who feels wacthing Battlestar Galactica changed their lives for the better.
Overall this was an interesting piece. Because it is actually a collection of essays it is hard to be more specific about the overall content. Some of the essays were better than others. A few brought out points I was unaware of and to me these were most interesting. It isn't light reading for the casual fan, but for anyone who likes to unravel all the fine details and analyze, it is an excellent tool.
