Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[astrogeologist]

my fave voyager ep was the one where janeway got whumped and had to fight some icky creatures on the ship, alone. she was all ripley-like. cool!





sally

I know exactly which ep you are talking about (although don't ask me the title of it) - and I agree wholeheartedly. When I think of Janeway, the images from that episodes are the ones that pop into my head!

[Gate gal]

My thoughts on leadership in Season 10...

Spoiler:

I still have strong feelings about the decision that was taken and ideally I would like the outcome of Mitchell/Landry's leadership discussion to be command being returned to Carter to redress the blatant discrimination (and I agree, btw, that giving Carter command doesn't translate to it becoming the Carter show), but I'm also a realist and I don't expect that to happen (I'll be shocked if it does).

So I have moved on and accepted the show's new format. What I hope is that they write both characters better than S9.

So, given the realistic anticipation that Mitchell's leadership of SG1 is unequivocally stated, I am hoping that somewhere in the discussion, Landry makes it clear that Mitchell should be listening to the more experienced members of his team esp Carter who has led Daniel and Teal'c before; that if he was acting as a better leader, they would be more inclined to follow him. And that the conversation then translates into Mitchell acting as a better leader in the stories thereafter. If they have to have a different leader than Carter then I'd prefer he was actually portrayed as a good leader and a worthy successor (which would make more sense of why Daniel, Teal'c and Carter would accept his leadership).

Equally, I'm hoping that Carter is shown as the strong character of old where her intelligence and military eptitude are showcased. That her role in the team is shown as vital and important, and that her contributions are still key to making the team work. For whatever reason this just didn't come across in S9. Given some of the photos and promo interviews in the run up, I'm hopeful this will happen in S10.

Well said! I believe a lot could be forgiven with good writing! Speaking of which, when are you leaving for Vancouver again? The writing staff is waiting!

[WhatFateAlmondRoca]

with all the different interpretations i've read from shore leave (10 pp, 10 different views), i'd like to know 'when' amanda had asked the ptb to quit the teasing? was this the past she was talking about (seasons past), or season 9/10?




sally

Excellent million-dollar question, to which I don't have the answer. I don't remember her saying WHEN she actually went to them and said that. Anyone else?

[WhatFateAlmondRoca]

CAPTIONARY

Good one! Here's mine

Sam: Well, now that we've seen all the S10 scripts what do you think? Daniel? Teal'c?
Teal'c: The ensuing odor would seem to indicate that it would be wise to remain in Hazmat...
Daniel: Who's going to tell Vala to put hers back on?

[scarimor]

CAPTIONARY

Daniel: "Stupid idea, this paint-balling vacation."

[astrogeologist]

Leadership issue:

There is nothing that the writers can do now to ameloriate their decision. The institutional sexism these men demonstrated when putting a man who'd never seen a stargate before in a leading role on a SG team, pushing aside the experienced woman, simply has to stand as a blight on the show, a testament to the industry's institutional gender bias, and a reminder that given the option, people will be stupid.

It's there. No amount of scribbling and fudging and revisionist rationalising can change it. They did it. They exposed themselves to inevitable contempt and ridicule. It's done and the shame is stuck there.

They should just ignore it now rather than dig themselves in deeper, but I doubt they can figure that out either.

I totally agree. That's the only issue in Stargate that has ever made me hopping mad! I mean they go to all the trouble of writing one of television's most strong, competent female role models (with a LOT of help from Amanda I might add!) and then cast her to one side as soon as the male lead leaves! I mean I know Amanda missed a few episodes at the beginning of the season but so what? Rick has missed more than that in the past and the writers never sidelined him! (BTW I'm not saying that it has anything to do with Rick at all, if anything I think if he was still on the show, if the issue had ever occurred, the writers wouldn't have dared to disrespect Carter like that!)

Having come from a school where the women's lib movement was thrown in my face practically every day I have to say that I'm deeply disappointed with TPTB on this issue. I expected more than that after 8 years of (more or less) equal roles!

You've both stated things perfectly! Thank you!

And, off topic, but what school was it where they

Spoiler:

threw the women's lib movement in your face practically every day? I rarely hear much about it around where I live, nor did I hear much about it when I went to college.

In fact, I think I've been pretty lucky. I pursued a geology/geophysics degree in college and I do not remember encountering any sexism, nor any giant women's lib sagas at the time. My first couple of jobs out of college put me right there with professional male geologists who'd been working in the field for decades, and they all seemed to respect my professional opinion where I felt it was warranted.

I didn't experience sexism in the workplace until I got my latest job (the one I'd always wanted) - teaching college-level geology. I won't go into the details, but I was unprepared for the sexism.

I also can't easily stick my finger on a lot of instances in TV and movies where there has been the blatant negative sexism that we saw when SG-1's PTB wrote things so that Carter gives up command to the New Lead Male. It's absolutely stunning. And mind-boggling that they could have ever thought it was appropriate. And even worse, that they would get anyone else to want to go along with the idea.

erm... stepping off the soapbox now...

[Gate gal]

A thing to add: while this has done no harm to AT's image (who remains as cool as ever), it dosn't do Ben Browder any favours. No matter how good he is about it, he will be associated with the sexist decision because he plays the ill-conceived male character which was written to diss the existing female one. It's not his fault - there's nothing he can do about it; but it's unpalatable.

That is the bigger problem for me. I like BB and I even like Mitchell, but I could like Mitchell a lot more if it weren't for the leadership issue. Honestly, AT isn't the one who was hurt the most by this decision. We love her and adore Sam, so our indigination is towards the PTB and BB. I hate that. BB doesn't deserve to take the heat for this decision. It really wasn't his fault, but it still affects my view of his character in a negative way. Now, what is done is done, so this year I am going to try really hard not to hold his position on SG1 against him. I hope the PTB make that easy for me with some amazing story telling and team bonding.

[Skydiver]

don't you wonder what would have happened (how it would have been written) if amanda hadn't have went on maternity leave? what would have been the ptb's excuse then for taking command away from sam and giving it to newbie mitchell? or would that have happened...

too bad joe mallozzi wasn't still around and answering questions. we could ask him this question, and then sit back and see how many ways he 'didn't' answer it.






sally

i think AT being on baby leave made it easy for them. it made it easy for the folks at scifi to push her down. it gave them a ready made excuse to write the character down.

adn, in one way, i do think that the writers orignally meant well. let's give AT some time off. she's worked hard to get the baby, let's let her have some time. let's not work her 21 hours a day.

but i do also think that the poor nature of the writing only made it worse. while thier hearts might have been in the right place, the execution left something to be desired.

they carelessly wrote it off adn didn't seem to care that thier carelessness damaged the character

[Skydiver]

That is the bigger problem for me. I like BB and I even like Mitchell, but I could like Mitchell a lot more if it weren't for the leadership issue. Honestly, AT isn't the one who was hurt the most by this decision. We love her and adore Sam, so our indigination is towards the PTB and BB. I hate that. BB doesn't deserve to take the heat for this decision. It really wasn't his fault, but it still affects my view of his character in a negative way. Now, what is done is done, so this year I am going to try really hard not to hold his position on SG1 against him. I hope the PTB make that easy for me with some amazing story telling and team bonding.

very true.

i WANT to like mitch. I was looking forward to someone else JOINING the show....but this 'super duper hewo force feeding' is just too much.

I think i'd adore Major Mitchell. Newbie with a bit of hero worship and a crush on the team.

but mister Hewo Cambo????

sigh, nope, just does NOTHING for me

[scarimor]

very true.

i WANT to like mitch. I was looking forward to someone else JOINING the show....but this 'super duper hewo force feeding' is just too much.

I think i'd adore Major Mitchell. Newbie with a bit of hero worship and a crush on the team.

but mister Hewo Cambo????

sigh, nope, just does NOTHING for me

It's so crass. As a fan of the show, the crassness makes me squirm with embarrassment. I shouldn't be made to feel embarrassed for my favourite show, dammit!

[Skydiver]

slight change of topic, my shore leave pics

amanda, amanda and carmen and corin

have fun and enjoy but please do not take without permission

[Gate gal]

Sally, of course I wasn't at shoreleave, but the gist I got from several of the reports I read afterward was that this was an ongoing (as in current) issue. Something to the effect of Amanda feeling that they needed to either do something (as in get those two together) or not do something (as in resolve it to the negative).

One way or the other, there needs to be a decision, because as long as they drag out a half-baked 'what if' scenario, then each time it's brought up in canon, Sam (the character) loses a bit of her integrity because she's portrayed as being angsty and indecisive. She loses strength by being forced into a melodramatic corner and it's OOC for Sam to not know what she wants at this point.

It would seem that Amanda would rather the writers made a definitive choice (one way or the other) and made that choice clear so that Carter would no longer be portrayed as weak and irresolute each time the issue of her feelings for Jack (or his for her) emerged.

I think Amanda would stand behind either decision, frankly, she'd make it work for Sam, but it definitely seems that she (Amanda) would prefer that Sam was able to move forward and away from the perpetual and (perhaps even frustrating) mawkish limbo they keep hammering on where Sam and Jack are concerned.

I would be so bold as to imagine that shippers and non shippers alike would even agree on that point, too.

The old euphemism: " $$$$ or get off the pot. " most definitely applies!

mg

Well said! It is way past time for resolution! I wouldn't be happy if things weren't resolved my way (I want that SHIP), but I need a decision one way or the other. I agree that Amanda would find a way to make it work for Sam. She can do a lot with body language and facial expressions even when things aren't written into the script.
Oh, and Major Sal, I hope we get steak this year, but I doubt we'll get prime rib until the motion picture!

[astrogeologist]

A thing to add: while this has done no harm to AT's image (who remains as cool as ever), it dosn't do Ben Browder any favours. No matter how good he is about it, he will be associated with the sexist decision because he plays the ill-conceived male character which was written to diss the existing female one. It's not his fault - there's nothing he can do about it; but it's unpalatable.

You nailed that one squarely, scarimor!

Spoiler:

I can't even look at the guy now! And I know it's not his fault. I know that it's TPTB that decided to do what they did in terms of bringing his character into SG-1 and making the show Mitchell and BB centric. That was their decision, not his (to my knowledge).

I love scifi. And I'm always looking for new scifi and more scifi to watch and read. I don't get the Scifi channel with my cable package (in my area, they've put the scifi channel with the higher-end digital cable packages), so I'd never seen Farscape until it started showing up in syndication this past year. I've tried to watch it. I've tried to like it. I want to like it. But I can't. And my dislike has nothing to do with Farscape, and everything to do with what Stargate PTB did for the SG-1 series. I'm really pissed at them for that - the ramifications of what they did extend far beyond SG-1.

I'm not going to slam Farscape, but others do - simply because of the way that the Farscape actors were brought into the Stargate universe.

What a crime!

[the dancer of spaz]

(ps, do the guys get asked who's the best kisser?)

ok, now i'm done.

Oh, thanks for reminding me. A preteen (girl) got up there and asked how many boyfriends Sam has had... And no, I'm not kidding. AT seemed to struggle, got some help from the audience, but in the end, I believe she said, "I don't know."

That's when I actually started to get a little annoyed. I wasn't so much annoyed with the young teen who seemed to be asking a question of a woman she admired; but I was annoyed at the fact that it's really gone so far.

[minigeek]

Oh, thanks for reminding me. A preteen (girl) got up there and asked how many boyfriends Sam has had... And no, I'm not kidding. AT seemed to struggle, got some help from the audience, but in the end, I believe she said, "I don't know."

That's when I actually started to get a little annoyed. I wasn't so much annoyed with the young teen who seemed to be asking a question of a woman she admired; but I was annoyed at the fact that it's really gone so far.

Yeah. That sucks. Personally, I think someone should have asked her whether Teryl was a better kisser than Claudia, I mean I know *I* have always wondered about that... Oh well.