Originally posted by dasNdanger
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Notice the part I put in bold:
Spoiler:
Todd's 'confession' to Keller. If you didn't catch it, watch it again - he really let his guard down, then he caught himself. It was a very 'human' moment...he was NOT being Wraith there...he was letting his weakness show. Is he getting tired? Or is Keller just the sort who wins men's hearts? God - can you see it? Ronon, Rodney AND Todd, all competing for Keller's affections??! LOLOL...
das
Spoiler:
Keller. I think Todd is the sort of character that always anticipates a not so "happy" outcome. In terms of his feelings about the betrayal, when I go back and look at his face, it seems that he is grieved and torn and ambivalent all at the same time. Nonetheless, he is a wraith of action and matters must be dealt with quickly, then feelings are sorted out later. If he wanted to take over the ship, it was quite obvious he had the means to do so as soon as he entered it (with that glow stick thingy), but he only used it when direly threatened--which he was. So, for his part it seems he was dealing on the up and up. This would make sense as he had developed more that a tenuous trust with the humans.
Re: Keller. As we've discussed here to death, Todd is not a stock type character; he is not black and white, he is not a baddie; he is not a goodie. As JM had said previously, he responds logically in any given situation. What this directly implies is that he is a wraith of reason, one who appreciates it and desires it from others.
He knows that with these particular humans, the humanity he has can be expressed. This does fulfill a need for him which is not "openly" permitted in his culture. I believe he was "thinking aloud" to Keller, and honestly, this particular human culture gives him the needed permission to do this. I keep rethinking in my head what I would have said were I in Keller's position.
[I think the wraith are beautiful bla bla bla....]
Re: Who the Wraith are. Todd's scant vulnerable thoughts have told us more about all of wraith culture than I think we've seen in five years. Two brief sentences and he summarized their whole self identity. "What would we do?" "Who would we be?"
In the arena of critical logic, a unit I have to teach my grade 12 students, often definitions occur because of what one is not. In other words, when there is no known explanation for a phenomenon, one way of defining "it" is by stating what it is not. For instance, early explorers to Australia did not know what the little duck-billed, egg-laying rodent (platypus) "it" was, but they could tell what it was not: not a duck, and not a rodent. Thus, a new category was introduced. The platypus is the last of its particular branch of monotremes (mammals that lay eggs). Eventually, it was determined to be a "rodent" of sorts in that it is a mammal.
To sum up, the wraith have defined themselves by what they do not want to be "human". They have spent their entire existence defining themselves this way. It is a paradox we have heard several times: the wraith make comparisons to humanity, have stated our great similarities, yet have always considered humanity an anathema to them. It is almost like a culture of self loathing--no wonder they value life (even their own kind) so little.
So, whether the wraith are more buggy or more human, the issue Todd seems to be wrestling with is the state of the wraith's "humanity"; Indeed only their humanity (even if they are only half and originated from insects) affords them the things they have: culture, language, intellect, bipedal motion, philosophy, snappy sense of fashion. This is the paradox Todd is wrestling with. This is the paradox Victorian society wrestled with when they realized that "WE ARE" essentially hairless apes.
Re: Keller. As we've discussed here to death, Todd is not a stock type character; he is not black and white, he is not a baddie; he is not a goodie. As JM had said previously, he responds logically in any given situation. What this directly implies is that he is a wraith of reason, one who appreciates it and desires it from others.
He knows that with these particular humans, the humanity he has can be expressed. This does fulfill a need for him which is not "openly" permitted in his culture. I believe he was "thinking aloud" to Keller, and honestly, this particular human culture gives him the needed permission to do this. I keep rethinking in my head what I would have said were I in Keller's position.
[I think the wraith are beautiful bla bla bla....]
Re: Who the Wraith are. Todd's scant vulnerable thoughts have told us more about all of wraith culture than I think we've seen in five years. Two brief sentences and he summarized their whole self identity. "What would we do?" "Who would we be?"
In the arena of critical logic, a unit I have to teach my grade 12 students, often definitions occur because of what one is not. In other words, when there is no known explanation for a phenomenon, one way of defining "it" is by stating what it is not. For instance, early explorers to Australia did not know what the little duck-billed, egg-laying rodent (platypus) "it" was, but they could tell what it was not: not a duck, and not a rodent. Thus, a new category was introduced. The platypus is the last of its particular branch of monotremes (mammals that lay eggs). Eventually, it was determined to be a "rodent" of sorts in that it is a mammal.
To sum up, the wraith have defined themselves by what they do not want to be "human". They have spent their entire existence defining themselves this way. It is a paradox we have heard several times: the wraith make comparisons to humanity, have stated our great similarities, yet have always considered humanity an anathema to them. It is almost like a culture of self loathing--no wonder they value life (even their own kind) so little.
So, whether the wraith are more buggy or more human, the issue Todd seems to be wrestling with is the state of the wraith's "humanity"; Indeed only their humanity (even if they are only half and originated from insects) affords them the things they have: culture, language, intellect, bipedal motion, philosophy, snappy sense of fashion. This is the paradox Todd is wrestling with. This is the paradox Victorian society wrestled with when they realized that "WE ARE" essentially hairless apes.
WK
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