Vala Mal Doran/Claudia Black WOW Thread

[valaCB]

Great. I just realised that most of my posts lack an 'h' or a 'g', because unless you hammer on the key nothing happens.
Sorry for the resulting spelling mistakes.


A.

It's OK. I have looooooooooooooooooooooots of spelling mistakes

[ValaMalduran]

Well, I think another part has to do with "adult content" - I personally don't find Vala's sexual innuendo to be X-Rated, but I have always felt that Stargate needed a little spicing up... I mean, if you think about it the show is 9 years old... even if you started watching it when you were 10 you would be 19 now. I'm not asking for the actors to strip and go at it like on the discovery channel, but I enjoy this extra spice.

You're right. I didn't even consider this that much, because -as you said- I have grown up over the years. These days I consider a certain amount of sexual innuendo more or less necessary, because that's what happens when you put adults together. They tease and like/dislike one another. It's normal, for god's sake.

I never considered Vala's teasing of Daniel OTT, because
a) and the end of the day, she does like him very much.
b) he's just too great a target! How could you NOT tease him. And she's never been cruel. I mean, she hasn't questioned his, hm, manly aspects. It's always good-natured humour.

A.

[LMichelle]

I love the sexual innuendo and banter between Vala and Daniel. She knows how to push his buttons and he plays right into her hands. If he didn't perhaps Vala would ease up on the innuendos.

Does she really think she's going to get him into bed? I don't blame her, though. Who wouldn't want to get Daniel into bed? Daniel is too much of a boyscout to take her up on her offer. Let's say he does want her. If he gave into her and had sex with her, then she'd have the upper hand. It's all about a power struggle between the two of them. And it's very delicious to watch.

[ValaMalduran]

Good point, LMichelle.

Power plays a big role in her life. Whether it was Vala being powerless against the Goa'uld or Quetesh being in power.
The important thing, IMHO, is that respect was always missing in these situations. Quetesh subjects feared her, Vala's former people dispise her and there's definitely no honour or respect among thieves.
Enter Daniel. He may not always take her seriously, but he respects her as a person.
I think, much of her teasing testing the waters. How serious is he? Where's the catch?
Of course, there's also the simple fun aspect of it. As long as he takes the bait why stop? His reactions are priceless sometimes.


A.

[minigeek]

But some people made very offending comments not only on the character - and, IMHO, therefore also on the fans that like Vala- but also on Claudia Black herself. Which I think is one big step too far.

I completely agree about taking offensive comments into the realm of the actors themselves. It's really unfair and unnecessary, and it's OTT completely.

I think I'm going to speak from a different perspective here (slightly) because, as some of you know, I spend a lot of time hanging out in the "Sam's A Great Character" thread, and it's funny because this exact kind of question has come up there a lot of times about the people who bash Sam all the time (and the actress in many instances). And you're right, it is difficult, in some instances, not to see that bashing as a personal affront to our own preferences/likes, etc. It's tought because if we feel we really love a character and what that character does for the show, then to read exceedingly negative commentary about them can be difficult to put into an impersonal perspective. But, that said, I think we have to.

Characters are fiction and actors are (as has been pointed out ad nauseum already) "real people". For one thing, there's that very definite distinction. But for another, there's just too many differeing points of view DISCUSSING the fiction/stories/characters that if we let ourselves take a comment like: "X CHARACTER is the scourge of all evil, because..." make US feel slighted, we'll end up angry and upset a great deal of the time.

One of the things that makes the SaGC thread work so well (and I'm seeing it works here too) is that we all agree to respect one another's POV. So that, say, if one of us is a great big fan of Sam/Daniel or Sam/Teal'c, and someone else likes Sam/Jack or Sam/Nobody, we'll make that known in a funny, teasing sort of way when it comes to argument, but we'll never make the argument personal. And we know (from familiarity with those that are long time posters in the thread) that comments about those likes/dislikes are never aimed as personal attacks, either.

We tease each other about our differing POVs all the time, we're always slipping off sarcastic one liners, in a playful way, because other than the common thread we share, which is that we enjoy the Sam Carter character in general, we all have VERY different points of view with respect to some of the other (fictional) stuff.

This thread is newer, but I've been lurking here a while and I see the same dynamic forming, which is amazing. I started lurking here because as I watched Claudia play Vala on SG-1, I kept thinking what a great actress she was, and that eventually lead to me watching all the Farscape DVDs, too. I'd never watched that show before.

Now, having said that, my version of the "perfect" Vala is not the one we've got right now, but I still consider myself a fan of Claudia's and I certainly don't *hate* Vala. I think the character has MAD potential, and I agree with a lot of you about the components to her personality that make her a neat addition to the SG-1 universe. Where we disagree doesn't really matter because I really respect the admiration you all have for her, and for Claudia, and this is a thread where that respect/admiration for the Vala character should be allowed to shine without hinderance.

I think there are intense folks out there, with intense, very pointed ideas, who simply aren't willing to budge, and/or who feel that those who disagree with them must (somehow) be cast aside or stomped upon. There are people like that in all walks of the fandom, who like/dislike every one of the characters respectively.

I've had some "unhappy" experiences, I can see that some of you have had a few of those as well. But at the root of it, I'd like to think that there are also a lot of folks out there who can sit together (virtually) and have a friendly, teasing conversation about the disagreements (rather than a war). Who can walk away still respecting one another's points of view and feelings.

We have a couple of great Vala fans in the SaGC thread (like Sunny! aka SunKrux) whom we *love* to tease, and she loves to tease us back!

I'm hoping that as Vala returns, I have the opportunity to spend more time in here with you guys and share opinions/stories/quips and quibbles, too. Because the fact is, CB is a FANTASTIC actor, and you never know how good a character is going to be until you give that character a good fair chance to be fleshed out and begin to shine.

Cheers to you all......
mini(the mad)geek (from SaGC)

[ValaMalduran]

Well, minigeek, all I can say is :AMEN.

I haven't been in the SaGC thread for ages. Have to go there and say hi.

A.

[Naeara]

That was a wonderful post, minigeek. One reason I tend to stay away from a lot of the season and episode discussion threads is because of the complete lack of respect for another person's point of view. It's not everyone of course, but there are a few who can ruin it for everyone.

Re: the discussion above. I think some people just don't get Vala. Yes, she's overtly sexual but I see that as tying in with her opportunistic and resourceful side. I remember her saying something to General Landry about what a girl has to do to get by in the galaxy. She has no family or friends to turn to or back her up so I don't see it as that big a deal if she uses sex as a weapon. Of course there is the side to her that likes to tease Daniel, etc so that's definitely part of it too.

There's also the whole "she's replacing Sam omg!" debate which I think we've already talked about in here so I won't go into it.

I can't wait to dive into some deeper stories with Vala. Like minigeek pointed out, there's a boatload of potential there. I enjoyed the little glimpses we got earlier. I've heard some say it was too little too late for them but I don't mind too much. I like learning about her in little bits rather than all at once.

[Sp4ceM0nkey]

Sweet thread... Does anyone know where I can find some hi-res pictures of Claudia. I`m talking 1152x846++. Wanted to change my wallpaper, and all i can find of Claudia are tiny 800x600 wallpapers...

Yeah, and CB rules hehe

[ValaMalduran]

Well, this is a little heaven for Vala fans:
http://www.vala-dictorians.com/

This one has got loads of great images. Scroll down to 'search with Google'.
http://www.starman-imaging.com/

New and growing:
http://claudiablacknews.com/claudia/

The 'classics':
http://www.claudiablack.de/
http://fp.culttv.plus.com/claudiablack/website.htm
http://www.johnaeryn.com/

Have fun!

A.

[Aeryn/Vala]

Sweet thread... Does anyone know where I can find some hi-res pictures of Claudia. I`m talking 1152x846++. Wanted to change my wallpaper, and all i can find of Claudia are tiny 800x600 wallpapers...

Yeah, and CB rules hehe

Welcome! Have fun here!!
And the sites postet my ValaMalduran are the best! You will find a lot of CB stuff!!

[Sp4ceM0nkey]

Ah sweet, thanks ValaMalDuran www.vala-dictorians.com had some really big and clean pictures. Always nice with a fresh girl on the desktop hehe

[sprqy]

Just wanted to say I LOVE VALA!!! Claudia Black is an amazing actrees and I enjoyed every second she played in stargate! Can't wait to see her back in the SGC!!

Vala is the best thing that happened to SG1!

[Aeryn/Vala]

Just wanted to say I LOVE VALA!!! Claudia Black is an amazing actrees and I enjoyed every second she played in stargate! Can't wait to see her back in the SGC!!

Vala is the best thing that happened to SG1!

Welcome ! Did you also see Farscape??

[sprqy]

Welcome ! Did you also see Farscape??

YES!! Not only once but at least 4 times each season and mini...

About farscape, it's true that Claudia didn't play the Comic part (Well except 'The princess' on 'John Quixote' ) but she's so talented and funny playing Vala that i'm really amazed how she could play Aryn son for so long! It's like she's compensating for all the years on Farscape!!

Btw Thanks for the links...

[valaCB]

Just wanted to say I LOVE VALA!!! Claudia Black is an amazing actrees and I enjoyed every second she played in stargate! Can't wait to see her back in the SGC!!

Vala is the best thing that happened to SG1!

Hello sprqy