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What's with the MENSA crack?

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    What's with the MENSA crack?

    I was reading some observations about this episode on other sites and there seems to be two intepretations of Rodney and Daniel's "could of been MENSA" remarks.
    Were McKay and Daniel really saying they thought Sheppard being in MENSA was a big joke? When his AU self WAS that intelligent and the original casting call said he was a "closet math genius?"
    Or were they just joking around to really annoy Shep? I'll give you those two are genius genius's but I'm not sure they think John is a stupid person.
    And the Radek comments were a little mean.
    In general I loved this episode, but I think Martin Gero isn't the biggest Shep fan in the world so I don't know how to interpret these comments.
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    #2
    Originally posted by Dr Quinn View Post
    I was reading some observations about this episode on other sites and there seems to be two intepretations of Rodney and Daniel's "could of been MENSA" remarks.
    Were McKay and Daniel really saying they thought Sheppard being in MENSA was a big joke? When his AU self WAS that intelligent and the original casting call said he was a "closet math genius?"
    Or were they just joking around to really annoy Shep? I'll give you those two are genius genius's but I'm not sure they think John is a stupid person.
    And the Radek comments were a little mean.
    In general I loved this episode, but I think Martin Gero isn't the biggest Shep fan in the world so I don't know how to interpret these comments.
    Good. Sheppard's ego really does need to go down a peg or two.

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      #3
      I don't see Rodney as honestly thinking Shep isn't smart, so I think he was just having fun poking fun at Shep and Daniel joined in. John and Rodney live to snark at each other so I choose this explanation.
      Radek, on the other hand, he probably doesn't think John is able to completely understand the minute details of what he's talking about, and isn't exactly diplomatic in saying so in a time of crisis.
      Shep puts up with alot of nonsense from the other characters here and doesn't whack them on the head once, which I greatly admire.
      (where is Gibbs (NCIS) when we need him )

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        #4
        They're just joking around seeing as how he doesn't look like he could be in MENSA (he's in the military and a "flyboy", after all).

        Also, he doesn't really act like he could be in MENSA most of the time either.



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          #5
          Originally posted by FallenAngelII View Post
          They're just joking around seeing as how he doesn't look like he could be in MENSA (he's in the military and a "flyboy", after all).

          Also, he doesn't really act like he could be in MENSA most of the time either.
          I disagree. I think that they were laughing at the fact that some people consider MENSA serious business (not that Shep does), needing an IQ of ~135 to get in. To McKay and Jackson, that is a joke, as their IQs are easily north of 170, possibly getting close to 200.

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            #6
            I'm annoyed by the whole thing, frankly. They built up Sheppard as Mensa smart and somewhat of a math genius in the first season, and now they seem to be turning that into a joke. And yeah, I blame Gero for it mostly. This was a joke they tried to work into Miller's Crossing, and it ended up getting cut. But on the deleted scenes on the DVD, Gero made some comment about how "no one really believes John Sheppard could ever have been in Mensa." It made it sound like in their minds Sheppard's been going around constantly talking about how he could have been Mensa and everyone just rolls their eyes at him and doesn't take him seriously. And that irritates me. A lot. I liked the fact that they made Sheppard out to be really smart in the first season, that he wasn't just a soldier or a hotshot pilot. I don't like it that part of why I liked the character in the first place is now being made into a joke.
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              #7
              Originally posted by cjv4 View Post
              I disagree. I think that they were laughing at the fact that some people consider MENSA serious business (not that Shep does), needing an IQ of ~135 to get in. To McKay and Jackson, that is a joke, as their IQs are easily north of 170, possibly getting close to 200.
              Then why did they obviously make it at John's expense (John was obviously miffed or something)?



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                #8
                Originally posted by Dr Quinn View Post
                I was reading some observations about this episode on other sites and there seems to be two intepretations of Rodney and Daniel's "could of been MENSA" remarks.
                Were McKay and Daniel really saying they thought Sheppard being in MENSA was a big joke? When his AU self WAS that intelligent and the original casting call said he was a "closet math genius?"
                Or were they just joking around to really annoy Shep? I'll give you those two are genius genius's but I'm not sure they think John is a stupid person.
                I take it as the latter. In The Brotherhood we know that Sheppard passed the mensa test and Rodney was surprised that Sheppard was that smart since he definietly doesn't brag about his being smart.
                I think it was a Rodney moment trying to bond with Daniel at Sheppard's expense.
                Rodney most likely can't understand why anyone would not want to be a part of mensa if they are that smart so him trying to give Sheppard a dig would be part of his competetive personality.

                Originally posted by Dr Quinn
                And the Radek comments were a little mean.
                Rodney is always mean to Radek. It's part of his need to compete, to always be the best and he does that by putting others down.
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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Killdeer View Post
                  I'm annoyed by the whole thing, frankly. They built up Sheppard as Mensa smart and somewhat of a math genius in the first season, and now they seem to be turning that into a joke. And yeah, I blame Gero for it mostly. This was a joke they tried to work into Miller's Crossing, and it ended up getting cut. But on the deleted scenes on the DVD, Gero made some comment about how "no one really believes John Sheppard could ever have been in Mensa." It made it sound like in their minds Sheppard's been going around constantly talking about how he could have been Mensa and everyone just rolls their eyes at him and doesn't take him seriously. And that irritates me. A lot. I liked the fact that they made Sheppard out to be really smart in the first season, that he wasn't just a soldier or a hotshot pilot. I don't like it that part of why I liked the character in the first place is now being made into a joke.
                  I didn't care for that scene either because it didn't come across as good natured teasing. It had a mean spirited quality and Gero's comment confirms that this was the intention. I don't like the fact that I increasingly see these writers as little boys who change characters willy-nilly to conform to their current vision of them, even if their current vision contradicts what viewers have seen on screen over the years.
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                    #10
                    Originally posted by ykickamoocow View Post
                    Good. Sheppard's ego really does need to go down a peg or two.
                    I don't see Sheppard with a big ego, Rodney is the one with the ego problem IMO.. that's why he didn't even like having Daniel around..
                    Sheppard has been proven to be smart since season one but Rodney can't bear anyone being smarter than himself, that's why he is always having a go at Radek, but having a dig at Sheppard being in mensa was pretty low I thought.
                    You don't have to be a geek to be intelligent and Sheppard has proven many times over the years how intelligent he is.
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                      #11
                      Originally posted by Killdeer View Post
                      I'm annoyed by the whole thing, frankly. They built up Sheppard as Mensa smart and somewhat of a math genius in the first season, and now they seem to be turning that into a joke. And yeah, I blame Gero for it mostly. This was a joke they tried to work into Miller's Crossing, and it ended up getting cut. But on the deleted scenes on the DVD, Gero made some comment about how "no one really believes John Sheppard could ever have been in Mensa." It made it sound like in their minds Sheppard's been going around constantly talking about how he could have been Mensa and everyone just rolls their eyes at him and doesn't take him seriously. And that irritates me. A lot. I liked the fact that they made Sheppard out to be really smart in the first season, that he wasn't just a soldier or a hotshot pilot. I don't like it that part of why I liked the character in the first place is now being made into a joke.
                      Originally posted by maxbo View Post
                      I didn't care for that scene either because it didn't come across as good natured teasing. It had a mean spirited quality and Gero's comment confirms that this was the intention. I don't like the fact that I increasingly see these writers as little boys who change characters willy-nilly to conform to their current vision of them, even if their current vision contradicts what viewers have seen on screen over the years.
                      Originally posted by bluealien View Post
                      I don't see Sheppard with a big ego, Rodney is the one with the ego problem IMO.. that's why he didn't even like having Daniel around..
                      Sheppard has been proven to be smart since season one but Rodney can't bear anyone being smarter than himself, that's why he is always having a go at Radek, but having a dig at Sheppard being in mensa was pretty low I thought.
                      You don't have to be a geek to be intelligent and Sheppard has proven many times over the years how intelligent he is.
                      ITA with you three. If was very miffed by the whole make Sheppard look dumb thing. Frankly it's a little petty and getting a bit obvious. They have taken a character that in S1 could do math problems in his head, frequently solves the problem in a practical way that all the esoteric workings of the resident genuises put together can't seem to manage and turned him into someone to be ridiculed. I blame the writers and in this case Gero. I don't know if anyone else has portrayed John like this but I do remember Gero's comment on the commentary and the snickering that went with it.

                      What it accomplished in this particular episode was to turn John's supposed best friend, Rodney, into a 12 year old girl who talks about one friend to another to make herself seem superior. In this case right to John's face.

                      And since when is Zelenka so unkind? And since when does math have to be dumbed down for John? Couldn't he have written the dialogue so that Zelenka said something like due to time constraints he didn't have time to explain the complex science but could simplify it for him. But that wouldn't have reminded the viewer that Sheppard is not a super genius.

                      Maybe next time everybody needs saving Shep will just tell them he's too stupid to understand what's happening, they'll have to rescue themselves.
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                        #12
                        Yeah, I had to rewatch that scene again because it was so awkward the first time through. In the end I just figured Rodney was making a crack at John, but I agree it was a little mean spirited. Basically jibbed at how he could have been in Mensa and should therefore be able to solve these problems too, but why would he want to? He didn't join after all? I just got a darker and nastier tone from it. It wasn't a playful remark IMO.

                        Then the remark from Radek about dumbing down the math was just insult to injury. *Shakes head* I think some people are forgetting just how often John pulls out a clever plan to save everyone.

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                          #13
                          Guys..lol....go over the Mckay and Mrs Miller transcript.

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by Southern Red View Post
                            ITA with you three. If was very miffed by the whole make Sheppard look dumb thing. Frankly it's a little petty and getting a bit obvious. They have taken a character that in S1 could do math problems in his head, frequently solves the problem in a practical way that all the esoteric workings of the resident genuises put together can't seem to manage and turned him into someone to be ridiculed. I blame the writers and in this case Gero. I don't know if anyone else has portrayed John like this but I do remember Gero's comment on the commentary and the snickering that went with it.

                            What it accomplished in this particular episode was to turn John's supposed best friend, Rodney, into a 12 year old girl who talks about one friend to another to make herself seem superior. In this case right to John's face.

                            And since when is Zelenka so unkind? And since when does math have to be dumbed down for John? Couldn't he have written the dialogue so that Zelenka said something like due to time constraints he didn't have time to explain the complex science but could simplify it for him. But that wouldn't have reminded the viewer that Sheppard is not a super genius.

                            Maybe next time everybody needs saving Shep will just tell them he's too stupid to understand what's happening, they'll have to rescue themselves.

                            To the bolded part, that's exactly what I was thinking. All they had to do was have Radek say he didn't have time to get into the details. They were working on the clock if I remember correctly and John didn't want a long detailed explanation anyway for that reason.

                            Honestly, I'm feeling like there's an epidemic of mean spirited behavior going around on this show lately.

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by Southern Red View Post
                              And since when is Zelenka so unkind? And since when does math have to be dumbed down for John? Couldn't he have written the dialogue so that Zelenka said something like due to time constraints he didn't have time to explain the complex science but could simplify it for him. But that wouldn't have reminded the viewer that Sheppard is not a super genius.

                              Maybe next time everybody needs saving Shep will just tell them he's too stupid to understand what's happening, they'll have to rescue themselves.
                              I really don't think Zelenka was being unkind to John. Watch his facial expressions. he was sincerely struggling to find the right words to use. Zelenka has the extra struggle of translating from Czech to English which can't be easy under extreme pressure and on top of it trying to communicate a very complicated abstract items such as the math he was trying to use.

                              It was obvious that Radek was struggling to find the right words and he was upfront with John about it right from the start of the conversation. Alot of scientist and engineers use the terming dumbing down to explain things to people who don't know, the idea is to give them a picture. That's not being mean, though most of us don't like to be told it is being dumbed down for us and John did respond to Radek appropriately and Radek got the point.

                              I do think Rodney was delibertly being meanspirited to John to make himself look better in front of Daniel.
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