Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[Agent_Dark]

Hmmm maybe its time for some Dark!Sam fics to start popping up. You know, ones where she finally snaps and cuts loose. I havn't seen many around - (hint hint for our esteemed fan fic writers here ) Maybe I should try and put this plot bunny down on paper that I've been thinking about...

I suppose that begs another question - What would it take for Sam to snap?

[ForeverSg1]

Completely agree with you here. I think Sam definitely holds things together very well.

A scene that some sam bashing has taken place is Sam's anger toward Dr. Lee in Paradise Lost. Some fans claimed that this expression of anger and frustration (which I thought AT did beautifully), shows that she is incapable of being a leader, and that she will not have respect from others around her. So, yes, it is dangerous for Sam to show any kind of emotion for some fans--they want her to be in the background.

For me, this scene was fabulous---AT's face showing frustration and her voice was amazing to me. If Jack, Daniel, or Teal'c had expressed the same level of frustration---this would have been interpreted that the character has such depth and passion.

Do the people who claim that Sam's show of anger proves her incapable of being a good leader not remember episodes like "Red Sky" where Jack beats the crap out of someone after they blow up the rocket? It is comments like that that make me utterly frustrated with much of the fandom community.
People who choose to tear someone down and find fault with one character's actions, yet are totally willing to ignore similiar actions in someone else.

I love Jack. I love his complexities. I think he's a wonderful leader, but these characters are suppose to be human, with human emotions. I don't want to watch a cookie cutter or sugary sweet character. I want to see real humans dealing with unnatural situations. I want to see real emotional reactions and consequences for said actions.

I don't need a soap opera drama but if I wanted to watch a bunch of unemotional robots slash and kill their way across the planet, I'd watch Terminator.

Hmmm, I think my blood sugar must be getting low because I've found msyelf writing several lengthy posts over the past hour or so. Sorry for my soap box sermon. I'll go get something to eat...hopefully I'll be in a better mood when I get back.

ForeverSG1

[Skydiver]

strix
welcome to samanda!!!

always glad to have more friends playing here

as to Blue Feather....well i suggest that you, and everyone, read it and make your own opinions. My form of bashing may not be yours and making up your own mind is the best way

as to jack in red sky, yes he did blow up. quite spectacularly i may add. And if it were sam whacking some guy adn nearly shooting him, we'd never hear the end of the screams of outrage demanding that she be courtmartialed for unprofessinal behavior

hand in hand with stereotypes is the double standard

[jckfan55]

[QUOTE=ForeverSg1]

She is blended a second time in Nightwatchers and again just shrugs it off as if it were nothing. [QUOTE]
That really bothered me too.

In Desperate Measures, she is used as a lab rat by Adrian Conrad and yet when Sam sees his dead body on the Prometheus we really see no reaction from her. One would have thought that seeing the man who was responsible for her abduction would have caused some sort of mental flashback, angst, something.

Yes, they could have taken a second to flash on her giving him a look of hatred, or satisfaction that he was dead.

In New Order, Sam is kidnapped and tortured by the replicator Fifth, but in Gemini when Sam speaks of Fifth it's with pity and regret in her voice. There is no heat, no show of pain. In fact, we see her almost excuse his actions due to the fact that he is child-like and has feelings for her.

Except that I think we see that one of the reasons Replicarter fools Sam is that she believes 5th has tortured RS as much as he did her. Maybe I'm reading things in, but we do get a *small* sense that there has been fallout for Sam. I just wish we had seen *hints* of it before. Something like her looking tired & Daniel saying, "another nightmare?" Sam saying something like: "They getting better, but sometimes when I wake up from one it takes a second to remember I'm not on that ****replicator ship & then it's hard to get back to sleep."

[ForeverSg1]

These are probably the same people who would see no problem with Jack almost killing the zealot in Red Sky in a fit of rage. Don't get me wrong, I thought that was a great scene. But using it as an example, I doubt there were calls for Hammond to remove him from command for that little outburst.

LoL, guess I should have read all the posts before I made my last comment.
GMTA

ForeverSG1

[Strix varia]

Do you suppose this could also be another case of the mostly male writing staff showing the female as responding the way that they would like a woman to act? It's certainly easier to deal with a woman(or man) who accepts whatever happens without reacting badly.
NC

I think that the writers did a really good job with Sam up until season 7, when things went off in strange directions (which could have been a good thing, had it been handled a little differently).

I can think of two times when Sam reacted very much like a female (and very unlike a guy). In Solitudes, she got so frustrated at being unable to get the gate to work that she was practically in tears, and in Singularity, again, she was in tears having to leave Cassie alone... Crying in anger and frustration is a very female reaction, and AT did an absolutely fantastic job portraying the emotion in those episodes.

[astrogeologist]

I wasn't trying to imply that we haven't occassionally been able to see Sam blow-up or become angry. It's that she doesn't seem to hold any grudges whatsoever. It's like at the end of the day, she just lets everything slide off of her back.

I would love to see Sam in the gym beating the tar out of a punching bag inorder to let off some steam after an really bad day. Throw a wrench across her lab, something...anything. I really don't know how she managed to deal with McKay without hitting him. The man was nearly slanderous. The fact that she allowed herself to be spoken to in that manner or that her superiors allowed it to even happen was infuriating to me.

I agree that the way she behaves is a very good way to live life; it's not good to bottle things up and carry a hatred for someone forever, but being tortured or kidnapped by someone should really push those limits.

I don't consider myself a very vindictive person, but if someone hurt a member of my family, or tortured one of my children... I would come unglued. I don't even know if I have it in me to forgive that person let alone forget what they did and move on with my life. I honestly don't know how Sam can go through everything she has over the past eight years and keep her sanity let alone her compassion and ability to forgive.

But perhaps that's why I love this character so much,
because she is far greater person than I have ever hoped to be.

MajorSal started this thread by saying

Why do I like Sam? Because she's what I'd like to be.

And I think you just brought us full circle, ForeverSG-1.

I like watching a female hero that I admire... and that reminds me of the better ways to live life (and how to deal with the nimbnuts that we all get exposed to!). I also think that it's a stellar tribute to AT that for a woman as beautiful as she is - she's got us discussing the admirable aspects of Sam Carter - instead of 'how do we get ourselves to look like her'... no, we're talking about 'behaving like her'!

I think a scene of Sam beating the tar out of the gym-punching bag... or having a chat with Daniel where they both express some of the frustrations they've had to deal with... or showing her thinking about McKay's words before she blasts the ink off of a practice target on the firing range... all of these types of scenes could be great. Simple, short, not overdone. I am unfortunately, too scared of what could get written if they set out to purposely write 'Sam gets angry'... or 'Sam loses it'... errrr... look what happened when they simply set out to give her a boyfriend... something so simple and innocuous grew into a B-grade soap opera that took Sam out of some of the scifi stories ... not to mention fueling the ship wars as if someone had thrown a lit match into a room full of open gasoline containers! So... I'm a bit worried about having them put too much into 'Sam gets angry'... I'm a bit... gun-shy?

And I have to agree with you all that I don't know how someone could keep their cool like Sam has... but I do like that she has kept her cool... it just comes across so *classy* to me... and it's one of the reasons that I really like the character of Sam Carter.

But I am willing to pitch in on the cost of a punching bag... or some ammo and practice targets... to help our favorite woman let off some steam!

[astrogeologist]

Ok, screen caps from Heroes 2. The first four are obviously of the battle scene, and note the level ground apparently all around and trees in the background. The second four are of Janet and crew, first of all having to run into the woods, then clearly on a slope, working on Wells.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...es/heroes1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...es/heroes2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...es/heroes3.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...es/heroes4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...s/heroes4a.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...es/heroes5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...es/heroes6.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...es/heroes7.jpg

Great screen caps, NC! Thanks!

[jckfan55]

LoL, guess I should have read all the posts before I made my last comment.
GMTA

ForeverSG1

Great minds think alike!

[Agent_Dark]

But I am willing to pitch in on the cost of a punching bag... or some ammo and practice targets... to help our favorite woman let off some steam!

Maybe we should draw on those practice targets 'I'm a Sam Basher!'
Oh wait, maybe we should put that on OUR practice targets

[jckfan55]

I can think of two times when Sam reacted very much like a female (and very unlike a guy). In Solitudes, she got so frustrated at being unable to get the gate to work that she was practically in tears, and in Singularity, again, she was in tears having to leave Cassie alone... Crying in anger and frustration is a very female reaction, and AT did an absolutely fantastic job portraying the emotion in those episodes.

So true!

[jckfan55]

Alternate Season 6 Episode Title:
The Changeling---Rescue: SG1

[astrogeologist]

Except that I think we see that one of the reasons Replicarter fools Sam is that she believes 5th has tortured RS as much as he did her. Maybe I'm reading things in, but we do get a *small* sense that there has been fallout for Sam. I just wish we had seen *hints* of it before. Something like her looking tired & Daniel saying, "another nightmare?" Sam saying something like: "They getting better, but sometimes when I wake up from one it takes a second to remember I'm not on that ****replicator ship & then it's hard to get back to sleep."

JckFan55 - that would make a great little scene between Sam and Daniel!

[astrogeologist]

Alternate Season 6 Episode Title:
The Changeling---Rescue: SG1

LOL! Nice one, Jckfan!

[Uber]

Very well stated! I was a Star Trek fan for almost the entire run of the franchise, partially because it was one of the few scifi shows available at the time, but also because I did like the writing and characters. But, it doesn't resonate with me the way that SG1 does, mainly because of what you've stated here. (And if I'm honest, because there was no character like Sam ) In the Trek universe, things seemed almost too perfect, and most of my favorite episodes there were ones that highlighted the personal interactions between the characters. But maybe we're not the "typical" science fiction fan, whatever that is.

NC

I loved Trek and somewhere deep in my heart I always will (someday I will forgive the franchise for Enterprise).

I loved the dynamic between Kirk/Spock/McCoy. There was a deep bond that surpassed friendship - they were family.

This is the kind of dynamic that I see in SG-1 between O'Neill, Teal'c, Carter and Jackson (with the added bonus of an attraction b/w O'Neill and Carter, which I think adds another great layer of character depth). They would die for each other a hundred times over...heck, Daniel's already half way there (ooh, sorry, bad Daniel joke).

Along those lines, I've loved the scenes with Sam and Teal'c recently. He's like her significantly older brother (what is he now, like 100 years old?) who's there to give her support and guidance. I really hope they get to spend more on screen time together next season.

I don't think I would be nearly as interested in the show if I didn't sense the bond between the team - that they felt for each other something that went beyond just fighting side by side on a weekly basis. That sense of "family" adds depth and a realistic edge to how real people respond to these extreme life and death scenarios as they protect the Earth from threats from abroad.