Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[jckfan55]

Coley don't misunderstand me....Vala doesn't come close to Sam! She is the opposite and how the team deals with her character and how her character learns from the teams shiny example could be interesting. I don't respect Vala....(never would) and I hope she would never be considered a role model. Guess that is why I don't understand what all the fuss is about....they are opposites and I don't ever see Vala replacing Sam ....just see her as a recurring character. As you said...Vala doesn't come close.
And she may be something to laugh at but as my room mate put it, "that's getting old, glad this is the last episode she's in." The sexual innuendo is what I disliked most about Vala.....I felt they toned that down after the The Ties That Bind.
Guess I still have faith in the writers and producers of the show to make it all come together in the end (But Sam better be in that end!).


Cheers,

Jan

Even CB in an interview said Vala could become "a one trick pony." IMO they could have done much more with Vala than just give her the innuendo & snarky one liners (some of which were admittedly funny), particularly when they had her for multiple episodes. Like you say, they did tone her down a bit--which made me think even more, what a wasted opportunity. I think TPTB need to worry about writing stories for the main characters before they worrry about how to write stories for some new recurring character. Sure it may be fun to write for a new character instead of the usual 4. But maybe that's where adding a few writers either to the staff or on a script by script basis could come in.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to Friday--Sam's at least shown in the previews.

[Uber]

let's see....

welcome to all the new folks.
hic comis regit is samanda's motto. it means 'kindness reigns here'
samanda is the name of our imaginary kingdom (sam/amanda=samanda)

as to the blog, well there's arumor going around that the gentleman who posted the info about CB's pregnancy was not quite authorized to do so, and that the blog has been removed at CB's request.

this isnt' confirmed, but it would explain why the blog entry is gone. folks here have also been deleting thier posts containing parts of it.
I'm not quite ready to start running around deleting posts, although i have closed the threads and asked folks to shelve the topic of CB's pregnancy for the time being

That whole thing hit a new level of freaky for me...

It's a little scary if that's what RCC thinks fans think of him...

[Coley]

Coley don't misunderstand me....Vala doesn't come close to Sam! She is the opposite and how the team deals with her character and how her character learns from the teams shiny example could be interesting. I don't respect Vala....(never would) and I hope she would never be considered a role model. Guess that is why I don't understand what all the fuss is about....they are opposites and I don't ever see Vala replacing Sam ....just see her as a recurring character. As you said...Vala doesn't come close.
Yes I see your point. Guess I'm a little uptight about wanting SG1 to represent women in the best of ways after the writers have done such an great job with Sam. I would just hate a young female to watch the show and think it would be cool to be like Vala, whereas it is fantastic to know that Sam has inspired many a young female to go into science. Yes looking at it from a pure viewing standpoint Vala is certainly something different
And she may be something to laugh at but as my room mate put it, "that's getting old, glad this is the last episode she's in." The sexual innuendo is what I disliked most about Vala.....I felt they toned that down after the The Ties That Bind.
Guess I still have faith in the writers and producers of the show to make it all come together in the end (But Sam better be in that end!).
Yes you may be right there, but I'm still narked with them over the costumes!! My faith has been knocked a little. I think the writers see it as innocent fun. But sadly too many men (and IMO one man would be too many) view women as sex objects. I just squirm at anything which encourages this - however innocently. Yes lets hope they redeem her. CB could be a strong presence, it would be great if they turned her into a more positive one

sg-1fanintn
You too, JanSam! Hope you'll join us on a regular basis.

Don't know about having the time to join you regularly....hard enough keeping up with my gang at the other site....but I might drop in from time to time. I just happen to be on vacation this week (going to Vancouver on Friday....can't wait....is it Friday???) and so I had some time.

Cheers,

Jan

Please join in the fun when you can. You have made some great comments back!!

[Coley]

p.s. Jan have a great holiday!!

[Coley]

Deepspace I'm appalled that you have been getting some unwelcome pm's. We all think the world of you here. The thread is never the same without your eloquence. Please keep posting and ignore the unwelcome pm's.

Is this something for the mods Sky or not?

[Coley]

I do apologise to the citizens of samanda for not being here for a bit now.

Sam Carter / Amanda Tapping ... a fine lady , mother and actor.

pic fr uber

Nice to see you Gatebee!!

[deepspace]

Ok, so here's the deal.
I told myself I wouldn't post again, but I can't just leave. It's not that easy. I guess maybe that gives you an idea of how attatched I've become to the people on this thread.
Some of you have sent me PM's and rep messages with advice. Something in particular that Lys said was that if I leave, then essentially I'm letting them win, letting them have things their way. Other's have said to just ignore the bad PM's. I did for a while, but when swearing escalates and hatefulness becomes more serious, I just don't know how to handle it. Call me sheltered, maybe I am, but I just haven't experienced this before.
Am I overreacting? Perhaps. I just thought I'd better give it a break for a while, let things calm down. The worst part for me is that it's all been directed at me, as a person, and has had very little really to do with stargate in any way. If it was because I had a different opinion on an aspect of the show, it'd probably be ok. No different to what's on the rest of the forum anyway. Therefore I have to come to the conclusion that something about me as a person grates on people. I haven't posted outside of Samanda in months. I would have thought that would make it harder for people to have a problem with me.
I didn't know that there was such a thing as an 'Ignore' option until Sky mentioned it. That might help, I don't know. I certainly don't think it's anything to waste mods time over. It's not like my life is being threatened. Besides, I'm a dumb enough girl to have wiped my PM's to make room for friends to use if they wanted.
I was planning to just keep a low profile, lurk for a while, and then join Uber's forum when she's got it up and running.
I don't know what to do. Do I go away, or do I stay. If I leave, am I giving them what they want, or if I stay, am I just giving them a chance to keep it up? I can't wrap my head around what's wrong or right.
You guys are all very encouraging. I wish I could just forget it all and be here with you. I just feel like... I mean, if I put them on ignore, then I don't get the PM's, but are they still there, watching what I post, scrutinising my every move on the forum? It kind of makes a person feel like they can't post things openly and carefree.
I'm going to think about it over the next week very thoroughly. If I'm not back in a week from today, then chances are I won't be back for quite a while. I'll use the ignore option as Sky said, and if I check in and find no problems, I might be brave enough to return. I do feel rather cowardly about just leaving. But know that I really love you all, and I appreciate your support, kind comments, and advice. So to every one of you who's posted, pm'd or repmessaged, know that I'm thankful, and I apologise to everyone for bringing this stormcloud over our thread.

[Uber]

Ok, so here's the deal.
I told myself I wouldn't post again, but I can't just leave. It's not that easy. I guess maybe that gives you an idea of how attatched I've become to the people on this thread.
Some of you have sent me PM's and rep messages with advice. Something in particular that Lys said was that if I leave, then essentially I'm letting them win, letting them have things their way. Other's have said to just ignore the bad PM's. I did for a while, but when swearing escalates and hatefulness becomes more serious, I just don't know how to handle it. Call me sheltered, maybe I am, but I just haven't experienced this before.
Am I overreacting? Perhaps. I just thought I'd better give it a break for a while, let things calm down. The worst part for me is that it's all been directed at me, as a person, and has had very little really to do with stargate in any way. If it was because I had a different opinion on an aspect of the show, it'd probably be ok. No different to what's on the rest of the forum anyway. Therefore I have to come to the conclusion that something about me as a person grates on people. I haven't posted outside of Samanda in months. I would have thought that would make it harder for people to have a problem with me.
I didn't know that there was such a thing as an 'Ignore' option until Sky mentioned it. That might help, I don't know. I certainly don't think it's anything to waste mods time over. It's not like my life is being threatened. Besides, I'm a dumb enough girl to have wiped my PM's to make room for friends to use if they wanted.
I was planning to just keep a low profile, lurk for a while, and then join Uber's forum when she's got it up and running.
I don't know what to do. Do I go away, or do I stay. If I leave, am I giving them what they want, or if I stay, am I just giving them a chance to keep it up? I can't wrap my head around what's wrong or right.
You guys are all very encouraging. I wish I could just forget it all and be here with you. I just feel like... I mean, if I put them on ignore, then I don't get the PM's, but are they still there, watching what I post, scrutinising my every move on the forum? It kind of makes a person feel like they can't post things openly and carefree.
I'm going to think about it over the next week very thoroughly. If I'm not back in a week from today, then chances are I won't be back for quite a while. I'll use the ignore option as Sky said, and if I check in and find no problems, I might be brave enough to return. I do feel rather cowardly about just leaving. But know that I really love you all, and I appreciate your support, kind comments, and advice. So to every one of you who's posted, pm'd or repmessaged, know that I'm thankful, and I apologise to everyone for bringing this stormcloud over our thread.

First off...way to go Lys...as you were dead on. Don't let nits win. Ever.

Secondly...DS...stay here in Samanda. It's safe. AND as our ever lovin' beloved Skydiver has said, if anyone says or does anything inappropriate, report them to her. She'll take care of it. If it's just rude or whatever, then add them to your ignore list.

But never EVER let nits win. We enjoy you here and I resent the heck out of the thought of you or others staying away because some nit somewhere wrote disheartening or rude things (for clarification's sake, I don't resent YOU, I resent the NITS who feel like they can say/do whatever they want to with no regard to people's feelings).

And finally, in case I haven't mentioned this yet, don't let the NITS win.

Thank you.

[sg-1fanintn]

Ok, so here's the deal.
I told myself I wouldn't post again, but I can't just leave. It's not that easy. I guess maybe that gives you an idea of how attatched I've become to the people on this thread.
Some of you have sent me PM's and rep messages with advice. Something in particular that Lys said was that if I leave, then essentially I'm letting them win, letting them have things their way. Other's have said to just ignore the bad PM's. I did for a while, but when swearing escalates and hatefulness becomes more serious, I just don't know how to handle it.

Okay.....if there's swearing and real hatefulness involved, it's time to turn it over to the mods. No ifs, ands or buts. If you haven't already deleted the PMs, send them on to Sky. If you have, wait til they send you a couple more--then send them to Sky. There's absolutely no excuse for that type of behavior, and no one should have to tolerate it!

deepspace, don't take any of the blame for this on yourself. You're not overreacting! What you're being subjected to sounds like just bad behavior on the part of others. Mods are here to keep Gateworld a polite place. If someone gets away with being impolite, it hurts every user. Help them keep the standards high and help all of us by reporting it. Hey! It's what Sam would do!

[minigeek]

It's okay deepspace. Some eloquent soul named sgatelvr took to calling me a "jackass" for defending Carter's position in SG-1 in that other thread as well. He took it into PM as well, but I just wrote (him?) off. Never replied. I suppose there are small minded folks all over the place. People like that aren't even worthy of your time. Just ignore 'em.

M.G.

[the dancer of spaz]

Like I was scarred earlier from that freaky "edit Sam out of all the pictures" website...

Holy moses, that exists?!?!?! That's freakin' creepy.

Cuz, you know, in the movies when someone does that to you, it's kinda symbolic. And beyond eerie.

[WhatFateAlmondRoca]

Holy moses, that exists?!?!?! That's freakin' creepy.

Cuz, you know, in the movies when someone does that to you, it's kinda symbolic. And beyond eerie.

LOL Y'ALL:

I just visited that site. It's just wrong on so many levels...then I left a post on the "new website" thread for 'authentic SG1'. Must be the spirit of Uber, I just couldn't hold back...

Beyond eerie, yes. Beyond Jr. High, no.

[crazedturkey]

OOooo yay!! serious discussion about feminism and internet culture! *hugs minigeek*

crazedturkey, I want to rep you for being so brave. I'll see if it'll let me after I make this post. I hope others do too, because I've seen the kind of "stuff" that people who live here in Samanda are made of, and I know that everyone I've read so far around here would respect your courage and the fact that you felt you could stand up and speak your mind on this forum. Even if some disagree with a portion of what you have to say. As I do.

I do agree, fans sometimes go a little (?!) over the top when either "criticizing" or "adoring" the so-called powers that be. But hey, that's what discussion forums like this are set-up for, and that's the nature of fans. So I suppose it's all par for the course.

Your comments about bringing everything into perspective are well taken.

Why thankyou good minigeek Feelin' the lurveee..! Have to say also very relieved you guys didn't spank me!

However:

This is a very interesting and very controversial point. You'll see a lot of industry folk arguing about the idea of where Television (as a commodity) is headed these days, and what it boils down to is who the viewers have become.

An interesting thing you said is 'I don't like it, but it reflects society'.. Therein lies the trap. If you don't like it, what makes you think 'society' does? You're a part of that group.

Television as an artform used to fall well beneath the elevation of Film, for the very reason that it tended to (necessarily) pander to the so-called "lowest common denominator" aka "society" aka "the great unwashed", etcetera, etcetera.

But WHO is that?

Over the course of the last few years most especially, that "society" has begun to change in a fairly substantial way. The INTERNET is largely responsible for this change. Because it's a change that reflects a growing awareness and a growing popular (intelligence - for lack of a better word) among the larger viewer demographics. Put simply, viewers are smarter than ever before. They're savvier than ever before. They're more informed than ever before. And they're not buying the cliches as readily as they ever had before.

Formulaic television used to be mathematically guaranteed success in certain markets. But all of a sudden, formulaic television has begun failing - miserably - in ratings markets where it used to thrive. All this - a result of what I think can be called "The Google Generation".

On the other hand, formerly odd, formerly 'cult-type' television shows that (not so ironically) include a great deal more in the science fiction and science-fact genres, are garnering huge followings.

Twenty-some years ago, a series like "The West Wing" would have tanked in the ratings. As would a series like "House" or "Buffy:TVS". Because it's the writing on those shows that made them (smart, edgy, different). Viewers responded to those series - en mass - in a way that defied the old formula.

The old formula had to change. And it has begun to.

That used to be true. But see "Commander and Chief" - airing this fall.

Male vs. Female stereotypes still exist (quite obviously) but the market for television is becoming more global than national. And global markets have - diverse political views. Here in Canada for example, we've already had a female Prime Minister. As have our British cousins. In the USA - that hasn't happened yet.

Look at Stargate. US Dollars. Shot in Canada. I'd say approximately 75% of its fanbase is non-US. Long live the Internet.

What you're saying about television and "male" leads is born of the very thing that's been holding shows like "Commander and Chief" on the backburner for six years before seeing the light of a Network day. But it's not to do with actual viewer response. It's to do with old, corporate standards. The Networks have had to 'grow up' enough in their own right to realize that the viewers the depend on can not only handle new and innovative storylines: they demand them.

Look at this forum (just as an example). Thousands of folks share points of view here, everyone watchs Stargate, and despite the arguing we see going on about who should lead, who shouldn't lead, if we divided the people up between those who actually do have an "anti-feminine" point of view and those who are liberal-minded, I don't think there'd be more than a single handful if that (among the thousands here) who truly are misogynists. The majority are simply folks who like one character or another. Or who live to argue.

That is what Television as an industry is slowly beginning to realize; that the the bar is still too low. The great and wonderful thing about the influence of the Internet over that realization, is that FANS are now far more able than ever before to be instrumental in the education process. Producers and Network executives read message boards (like this one) and see the changes live; as they occur. That translates into new and more innovative forms of Television for viewers (like us).

Have you noticed how many "movie-only" actors have begun crossing into the Television realm of late? Even if we take the Stargate cast and set them aside (Beau Bridges, Lou Gossett Jr.) we've got others like - Gina Davis, Martin Sheen, Charlie Sheen, Chris Rock, Melanie Griffith, Glen Close. Why do you think that is? And if anyone says it's because they can't do movies any more - I'll bite you. Ha.

My point is that where Television is concerned, "the old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be.".

Nope. Not at all, anymore.


M.G.

I completely agree! And I hope that you are right! I hope that what has happened here is that TPTB have decided that with AT's pregnancy, they can't really have a "lead" who's not in the show for the first five episodes. I also suspect that the fact that they've lost RDA has meant they've been seriously stressed about the show tanking, and so have decided to continue to conform to the formula as much as possible by bringing in someone else to play the snarky military guy.

So yes, in a sense,they aren't giving us as an audience credit thatmaybe we would keep watching the show for great plotlines, science and fun, with or without the "star power" of a male lead.

You're right, though, that people like me need to get up and agitate about their being more women as leads in non-traditonal positions (go SAM!) on shows. I most certainly agree. Which is why I express my love for SC and AT whenever possible. But I'm not going to get hugely grumpy with TPTB for not making the whole show about her. Cos in the end, the whole show isn't about her. And I'm not going to sledge Vala for stealing Sam's limelight, cos honestly I think the more chicks on the show showing the men how it's done the better. Vala may not be the best role model, but she's FUN, and entertaining to watch! (And Sam's still there saving the day!)

However, having said that, I always maintain that a little healthy criticism is essential. So if you disagree with me go right ahead!

OOO!! That was fun!

[WhatFateAlmondRoca]

Ok, so here's the deal.
I told myself I wouldn't post again, but I can't just leave. It's not that easy. I guess maybe that gives you an idea of how attatched I've become to the people on this thread.
Some of you have sent me PM's and rep messages with advice. Something in particular that Lys said was that if I leave, then essentially I'm letting them win, letting them have things their way. Other's have said to just ignore the bad PM's. I did for a while, but when swearing escalates and hatefulness becomes more serious, I just don't know how to handle it. Call me sheltered, maybe I am, but I just haven't experienced this before.
Am I overreacting? Perhaps. I just thought I'd better give it a break for a while, let things calm down. The worst part for me is that it's all been directed at me, as a person, and has had very little really to do with stargate in any way. If it was because I had a different opinion on an aspect of the show, it'd probably be ok. No different to what's on the rest of the forum anyway. Therefore I have to come to the conclusion that something about me as a person grates on people. I haven't posted outside of Samanda in months. I would have thought that would make it harder for people to have a problem with me.
I didn't know that there was such a thing as an 'Ignore' option until Sky mentioned it. That might help, I don't know. I certainly don't think it's anything to waste mods time over. It's not like my life is being threatened. Besides, I'm a dumb enough girl to have wiped my PM's to make room for friends to use if they wanted.
I was planning to just keep a low profile, lurk for a while, and then join Uber's forum when she's got it up and running.
I don't know what to do. Do I go away, or do I stay. If I leave, am I giving them what they want, or if I stay, am I just giving them a chance to keep it up? I can't wrap my head around what's wrong or right.
You guys are all very encouraging. I wish I could just forget it all and be here with you. I just feel like... I mean, if I put them on ignore, then I don't get the PM's, but are they still there, watching what I post, scrutinising my every move on the forum? It kind of makes a person feel like they can't post things openly and carefree.
I'm going to think about it over the next week very thoroughly. If I'm not back in a week from today, then chances are I won't be back for quite a while. I'll use the ignore option as Sky said, and if I check in and find no problems, I might be brave enough to return. I do feel rather cowardly about just leaving. But know that I really love you all, and I appreciate your support, kind comments, and advice. So to every one of you who's posted, pm'd or repmessaged, know that I'm thankful, and I apologise to everyone for bringing this stormcloud over our thread.

First of all, Deep, the only stormclouds I'm looking at is Hurricane Ophelia coming at me here in North Carolina! The thing about this thread is that its a family, and that means what you feel we feel and I'd feel gypped if you didn't share and let us help, encourage, uplift etc.

Second, I think its mature of you to look within yourself and over your posts to see if anything is wrong. Rest assured I've never seen anything from you that I would consider inappropriate, let alone worthy of nasty PMs. But its still mature to look and not just write others off, even if they are a bit *imbalanced*.

Finally, is there any kind of pattern to who is doing it? All it takes is ONE person to spread something to their little clique and all of a sudden you have multiple people coming after you when it was really only ONE person that initially had the problem.

I agree with Lys, it would be like letting them win; but I also understand how completely upsetting that would be, and how weird it must feel to post when you feel like narrowed eyes are on you from across cyberspace. When attacks are personal, its personal. But you know what else? ITS WRONG and YES its worth the mods time.

{{{deep}}}

[crazedturkey]

Oh and Deepspace, please stay! Ignore the nasty people! Bad karma will someday catch up with them and kick 'em in their nasty bottoms! No reason you should stop having fun .