Voice of the Audience

[Ripple in Space]

It's a well known writing technique to include a character that acts as the voice of the audience, saying things that the fans would be thinking. I think SG-1 employed this often & well starting with:

Daniel - starting in the Movie

then Jack - around the time he softened after starting to cope with Charlie's death & Daniel was hardened by losing Sha're

then Jonas

then back to Jack

then Cam


Does Atlantis really have a character to act as the audience's voice though?

[Col.Ads]

It's a well known writing technique to include a character that acts as the voice of the audience, saying things that the fans would be thinking. I think SG-1 employed this often & well starting with:

Daniel - starting in the Movie

then Jack - around the time he softened after starting to cope with Charlie's death & Daniel was hardened by losing Sha're

then Jonas

then back to Jack

then Cam


Does Atlantis really have a character to act as the audience's voice though?

You could Argue Teyla to some degree, otherwise nobody else would fit in with that technique

[Gate Rider]

Teyla's the only one who comes close.

[AvatarIII]

possibly ford in season 1

[Rac80]

It's a well known writing technique to include a character that acts as the voice of the audience, saying things that the fans would be thinking. I think SG-1 employed this often & well starting with:

Daniel - starting in the Movie

then Jack - around the time he softened after starting to cope with Charlie's death & Daniel was hardened by losing Sha're

then Jonas

then back to Jack

then Cam


Does Atlantis really have a character to act as the audience's voice though?

TPTB have said that is Jennifer Keller's role.

[Col.Ads]

More I think about it, You have Teyla

Then Beckett and later Keller

[supersoldier34]

depending on the episode it seems to be different people who fulfill this role.

[The Prophet]

Shepperd seems to me to be the Voice of the Audience, asking questions that the audience would ask, and trying to get a gist of what's actually going on.

Such as enquiring what's happening, why we can't proceed with Tactic U before we kill Enemy Y using Device Z using Chemical X.


Yes. Chemical X.

[Ripple in Space]

Keller's supposed to be the voice of the audience? I find her to be the least identifiable character out of the cast. Well, in "The Last Man" AU, then she showed her humanity, but the normal universe Keller hasn't had that growth.

I also don't see Teyla in that role either, I think she's way too wise and being an alien also makes it harder. I know Jonas pulled it off, but Kelownans were very similar to the Tau'ri where Athosians are nothing like the audience.

Ford I could sooner see, a guy who is bright & skilled, but not super-duper powerful in one way or another. He was also written as just an All-American average guy with just an above average skill set in combat & munitions. But his stint didn't work out...

I don't see Shep as the audience either just because he really embraces the role of SciFi Action Hero. He makes for a fun character, but not an identifiable guy. Jack was also a SciFi Action Hero, but he was more down to Earth about it--especially since he made it clear he'd be enjoying himself more sitting by a lake with a fishing rod watching the stars from a telescope rather than cowboying up every week.

[PG15]

McKay then?

[jenks]

Teyla and Keller.

[ShadowMaat]

Keller's supposed to be the voice of the audience? I find her to be the least identifiable character out of the cast.

That could say a lot about TPTB's perception of their audience.

[Willow'sCat]

I don't think SGA ever had one, and that was why they went so off track ethically and morally. If one assumes the voice of the audience is to explain why and why not to take certain actions for moral and ethical reasons.

All I know is season one was better then any other for at least questioning what they were doing.

[MerryK]

That could say a lot about TPTB's perception of their audience.

There's a difference between voice of "the audience" and voice of the audience, IMO. And I know that sounds semantic, and it might be, but let me explain.

"The audience" are the people who don't identify with any of the characters. They may be new viewers, casual viewers, or long-time viewers/fans who just haven't totally clicked with a character. A character who is the voice of "the audience" will be one who asks the obvious questions, has the obvious reactions, and who is generally average in enough ways.

Most fans or longtime viewers, though, will pick up on a character they actually identify with, one who becomes their "voice". It may be the voice of "the audience"; it may not. Sometimes they can look back with nostalgia for those other characters and go "Oh, I remember being that new/naive", but sometimes they find those characters simply annoying (see Cam and Keller, at least for some parts of fandom).

My point is, there will be no character who is the voice of the audience, meaning everyone who watches the show. That is not the point of a voice-of-the-audience character. That character is simply the doorway into long-term fandom.

[s09119]

There's a difference between voice of "the audience" and voice of the audience, IMO. And I know that sounds semantic, and it might be, but let me explain.

"The audience" are the people who don't identify with any of the characters. They may be new viewers, casual viewers, or long-time viewers/fans who just haven't totally clicked with a character. A character who is the voice of "the audience" will be one who asks the obvious questions, has the obvious reactions, and who is generally average in enough ways.

Most fans or longtime viewers, though, will pick up on a character they actually identify with, one who becomes their "voice". It may be the voice of "the audience"; it may not. Sometimes they can look back with nostalgia for those other characters and go "Oh, I remember being that new/naive", but sometimes they find those characters simply annoying (see Cam and Keller, at least for some parts of fandom).

My point is, there will be no character who is the voice of the audience, meaning everyone who watches the show. That is not the point of a voice-of-the-audience character. That character is simply the doorway into long-term fandom.

Excellent point.