Stargate and Nudity

[ykickamoocow]

The only thing I'd say, Clanger, is that we don't know that it's Michael saying to himself, "I'm going to wear a shirt that's too small for me." In fact, I'd imagine it's not. I do, however, agree that the odds are... slim... that Teyla's wardrobe comes from Rachel's closet.

In both Stargate and Stargate Atlantis it has been the male main characters who have shown the most skin. Really neither Carter or Teyla have shown as much skin as alot of the male main characters.

[TraK]

Well the nudity is kinda awkward when you watching it in your room and your mum walks in and asks WTF am i watching.

[Drax]

Well the nudity is kinda awkward when you watching it in your room and your mum walks in and asks WTF am i watching.

My mum doesn't care.

[Daedalus-304]

Well the nudity is kinda awkward when you watching it in your room and your mum walks in and asks WTF am i watching.

Exactly, or even worse if my grandparents come in the room (They think shows like the Simpsons are bad), I would hate to see what they would say about a nude scene.

[Major Clanger]

The only thing I'd say, Clanger, is that we don't know that it's Michael saying to himself, "I'm going to wear a shirt that's too small for me." In fact, I'd imagine it's not. I do, however, agree that the odds are... slim... that Teyla's wardrobe comes from Rachel's closet.

That would be Major Clanger to you, Keller

Looking at MS in non-stargate pics, I'd say he's not averse to wearing tight t-shirts. I'm not averse to him doing it either.

As for there being more male flesh in Atlantis, I'd have to take everyone's word for it. I'm afraid I had to give up on it halfway through S2.

[Skydiver]

Honestly, what raised a hair on my chest is that Showtime insisted that they had nudity. That they had no choice in the matter. I understand, it was 11PM at night, but even still -- sex sells, and they obviously thought Stargate needed some boodies to sell.
.

that was my point. shau'ri's full monty didn't NEED to be in there. the scene could have been just as effective without it. in fact, ketterling's terror was convayed quite nicely and we never got to see the actress's breasts or bottom.

it was gratuitous nudity. and if you watch the TV version with the nudity edited out...the story moves on just fine.

if you don't need it, don't put it in

[ijffdrie]

it makes the episode a little more enjoyable though(no i am not a pervert, i just like woman) and what's the harm, except a little cost of time in which we could have a space battle?

[DebraDownSth]

I don't think it's "people" in general, so much as Americans in particular. Gore, torture, massive violence, cursing like a drunken Irish dockworker are all a-okay, but for some reason a little skin chills their blood.

Please do not characterize ALL Americans in same slot. It is bigotry.

But I do shake my head at people saying the few secs of nudity, simply nudity, not sex, made the show UNWATCHABLE for their kids... and I don't care what country they are from. If your children haven't seen nudes and are not okay with it, you need to turn off the tv, get some parenting books, and start making normal human bodies an okay thing to see. Someone on another board posted his wife won't let him watch that episode over it. You really have to wonder about their relationship, his control, and their sexual maturity.

I happen to think nudity, even if not ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL to a story, is fine. Human bodies... we all have them. My personal feeling is that our making human bodies something BAD to see is a big part of the human problem with sexism the world over. Oh well.. as for sex on stargate, my vote is not nearly enough!

[Blistna]

My point when starting this thread is one of those "artists" insinuated that violence is acceptable on tv but nudity is not.

If you beat someone up (either in public or at home) your likely to spend years in gaol but nudity in real life is far more acceptable as there are nude beaches and if someone walked down the street naked they would most likely get some intersting looks from the general public and maybe a small fine from the police.

I have no problem with the violence levels on Stargate but i do have a problem with people saying that nudity is more damaging to a society than violence which is simply not true. If people can accept torture, beheadings and the killing dozons of Jaffa in a matter of minutes then why cant people accept the occasional nude scene?

Let me re-quote what you quoted.

"It doesn't belong in Stargate," Wright said. "I'm not a prude, [but] this is a family show. It has violence, there's no question it has violence, but it is almost always some sort of 'just' violence as opposed to random or gratuitous."

So in your opinion, was Children of the Gods, the full frontial nudity, make the show better? Did you watch it on Showtime, looked at her body and said, "Wow, this makes the show so muc more enjoyable!" Or, rather, did you say "Meh" or even, "OK, that was random."

Honestly, i was like..."Um, Stargate has nudity?" And felt weird...because i was in my fiance's apartment, she was gone to work and her roommate saw me watching some hot chick naked on TV.

So let me be clear. The violence is just. It's not like we have violence to sell the show, but was the nudity just? I think Wright thinks it wasn't.

[Seastallion]

I agree that the nudity in 'COTG' was unnecessary in terms of moving the plot forward in the story. Having said that, I was not and am not opposed to it. Admittedly, I am male, and as such a bit of a dog. I can't help it... millions of years of evolution are hard to overcome, and we males do enjoy a beautiful naked female body. That isn't to say that women don't enjoy nude males on occaison (they do). It's just we males in general are more stimulated visually. We're simple. Women get all complex with all these vague complex fantasy ideals. Enough to make your head spin.

In essence though, Stargate is NOT an orgy filled nudity fest. Nor is it supposed to be. The issue of sex isn't ignored, but it isn't the focus show, nor should it. There is a time and place for everything, and outside of possibly some specifically designed erotic fanfiction, sex and nudity (not the same thing, but certainly related) don't really belong in Stargate as a rule. Just some of my thoughts on it.

[ykickamoocow]

So in your opinion, was Children of the Gods, the full frontial nudity, make the show better? Did you watch it on Showtime, looked at her body and said, "Wow, this makes the show so muc more enjoyable!" Or, rather, did you say "Meh" or even, "OK, that was random."

Honestly, i was like..."Um, Stargate has nudity?" And felt weird...because i was in my fiance's apartment, she was gone to work and her roommate saw me watching some hot chick naked on TV.

So let me be clear. The violence is just. It's not like we have violence to sell the show, but was the nudity just? I think Wright thinks it wasn't.

My first episode of Stargate was COTG's when i bought the dvd. When the nude scene came on screen my bother and younger brothers were all in the room and it didnt bother me one big. The sceen in COTG's showed just how evil the Goa'uld were and in some respects i think that scene was when Apophis was at his most evil in his entire run on the show. The writers may not have innitially intended to have the nude scene in there but i think it works better than if they had used weird camera shots to prevent the audience seeing anything.

[ToasterOnFire]

Not so. Teyla's grandmother figure in Critical Mass, for one, and many similar characters on SG-1 were respected figures (occasionally double-crossing) and also women over 35. There are less of them overall because there are less women in lead roles, and we usually meet new leaders of some sort. That's a realistic statistic, however sad, and not something I think worth complaining about.

You may not, but I think the discrepancy is something worth pointing out. Why are there fewer women in charge? And why are the guest women in charge almost universally young and attractive (Teyla, Larrin) while the guest men in charge are almost universally older and often less attractive (Oberoth, Koyla, The Seer, Caldwell, Ellis, Sumner, Everett etc.)? Why was Carter in charge of SG1 in s8 only to be replaced by a less-experienced Mitchell in s9? Why is Carson's replacement far too young to be believable in her leadership position?

When it comes to the young folk who guest star...I can only think of a few of either gender that were not somewhat attractive (and I do pay at least a little attention to that, though I more often focus on character).

Younger guest stars sure, but characters that are older and less attractive are almost always men.

And anyway, would you really want a female Lucius? A female Woolsey? A female Oberoth? I like it that the female characters are almost never used as comedic relief in such a fashion.

I never saw Oberoth as comic relief, but my point had nothing to do with that anyway. Notable men on SGA have been overweight or pudgy, old, balding, and/or have an average level of attractiveness (or less ). I can easily count the women equivalent on one hand (Teyla's grandma and...?). Would it be that outrageous to have a women on the show who was a little thicker around the middle or one who was more average in looks? Apparently yes.

Just to make sure; you do realize that this isn't inherently a fault of SGA right? And that pretty much the entire entertainment industry is like this?

Yes, I do realize this. It's a fault of the industry that is perpetuated by SGA. Do I expect more? At times. Would I like to see more women of various ages and attractiveness on the show? You bet. But SGA is in no way groundbreaking as a show and doesn't step outside of its safe little box of set gender roles and cliches (which is too bad, considering good SF is supposed to think outside the box). I don't see them getting off the industry bandwagon anytime soon.

[ykickamoocow]

I never saw Oberoth as comic relief, but my point had nothing to do with that anyway. Notable men on SGA have been overweight or pudgy, old, balding, and/or have an average level of attractiveness (or less ). I can easily count the women equivalent on one hand (Teyla's grandma and...?). Would it be that outrageous to have a women on the show who was a little thicker around the middle or one who was more average in looks? Apparently yes.

The woman who was leader of the Tok'ra was abit older and Weir wouldnt really be considered young (she was middle aged).

[Major Clanger]

Two women makes it balance?

I'm still ambivalent about the nudity in COTG - it actually does fit the plot for reasons I've outlined before, and really does show the Goa'uld at their most ruthless and self serving.

[MerryK]

Why was Carter in charge of SG1 in s8 only to be replaced by a less-experienced Mitchell in s9? Why is Carson's replacement far too young to be believable in her leadership position?

*sigh* Carter was not replaced. She left the team to work in Area 51, and Mitchell was brought in to lead SG-1. She eventually rejoined the team, and Mitchell was nominally in charge but Carter was always treated as his equal.

Would it be that outrageous to have a
women on the show who was a little thicker around the middle or one who was more average in looks? Apparently yes.

I can think of several off the top of my head. Garshaw of the Tok'ra, Linea in Prisoners, the innkeeper in The Quest 1, the leader of the Enkarans in Scorched Earth, and a couple others whose episodes I can't place.

But SGA is in no way groundbreaking as a show and doesn't step outside of its safe little box of set gender roles and cliches (which is too bad, considering good SF is supposed to think outside the box). I don't see them getting off the industry bandwagon anytime soon.

I have to grin at this, because the Stargate writers have never said that they wanted to be anything but a good sci-fi show. Not like BSG, which wants to remake the genre—Stargate has never had such lofty goals. I know I wish for better equality in everything I watch, but I don't fuss about the show if it's not there, I fuss about the industry that makes it impossible to have a show with true equality. Even if Stargate set out with that goal in mind, they'd have to submit to those who are financing them, and I don't think unattractive women are going to make the cut.