Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[ForeverSg1]

I have to say I find it highly odd to find Sam's thread on the second page while several threads that ship her with someone on the first page. It's an strange world we live in indeed.


Bumpin' back up to where she belongs.

[Skydiver]

i think that that person missed the point of the letter. it's not whether or not sam (and daniel and teal'c) were in the show...it's how they were in the show.

did anything happen to sam, daniel or teal'c to alter them in any way? were they any different in episode 20 than they were in episode 1? Daniel seemed to be there to facilitate vala and be her foil, teal'c was there to move the jaffa policits angle along and sam seemed to be there to support cam

I'm not saying that each of them need 'thier' episode. sure, it'd be nice, but character development can happen even when the character isn't the focus.

take itlod for example. sam is snaked and a ton happens for her. yet we also get a dose of daniel potentially loseing another woman out of his life, jack losing a friend, and fighting for said friend and trying to protect her. and teal'c doing what he can to comfort his friends

while sam may have been the focus, we learned something about all the others as well.

we haven't had those opportunities with s9 and the original three. they exist to be foils for the newbies and as such are more background characters than true co-stars

that's the point many are trying to make

[scarimor]

Speaking of which, are there any zat gun smilies? Hmmm. Just the one. Hey Scari? Next time you're in a smilie-making mood-you want to try making a Sam with a zat?

: takes note : a Sam with a zat - with the energy in lines not balls - check!

they exist

but yeah, we could use more

scari, did you ever offer your gifs to darren?

yes I did (in the smilies thread and in a PM).

PS - Tracy Jane - word has it Sarah Gardner is up and about, free and single, and looking for lurve...

[Skydiver]

he is busy scari, so just wait for him.

[Skydiver]

oh, and time for my reminder....vote for the best sam eps of s7.

as of now, i have two, yes two votes. so if you have a choice, pm/e-mail it to me

[scarimor]

he is busy scari, so just wait for him.

That is what I assumed I sent the PM at about the same time I posted in the smilies thread, just in case he didn't see it.

[KatG]

i think that that person missed the point of the letter. it's not whether or not sam (and daniel and teal'c) were in the show...it's how they were in the show.

did anything happen to sam, daniel or teal'c to alter them in any way? were they any different in episode 20 than they were in episode 1? Daniel seemed to be there to facilitate vala and be her foil, teal'c was there to move the jaffa policits angle along and sam seemed to be there to support cam

I'm not saying that each of them need 'thier' episode. sure, it'd be nice, but character development can happen even when the character isn't the focus.

take itlod for example. sam is snaked and a ton happens for her. yet we also get a dose of daniel potentially loseing another woman out of his life, jack losing a friend, and fighting for said friend and trying to protect her. and teal'c doing what he can to comfort his friends

while sam may have been the focus, we learned something about all the others as well.

we haven't had those opportunities with s9 and the original three. they exist to be foils for the newbies and as such are more background characters than true co-stars

that's the point many are trying to make

But Sky. Didn't you know? The original 3 aren't shiny and new and fun and the best thing to happen to Stargate since it began.

You must not be getting your memos.

[Skydiver]

But Sky. Didn't you know? The original 3 aren't shiny and new and fun and the best thing to happen to Stargate since it began.

You must not be getting your memos.

must not.

course, the mail service here in Denial is a bit wiggy

[KatG]

must not.

course, the mail service here in Denial is a bit wiggy

True. I've noticed that faxes and letters and memos seem to just disappear never to be seen again.

*sigh*

I think I'll stay here.

[ReganX]

But Sky. Didn't you know? The original 3 aren't shiny and new and fun and the best thing to happen to Stargate since it began.

You must not be getting your memos.

Shiny, new and fun doesn't seem to be helping the ratings.

Maybe the writers should consider going back to the boring, non-shiny old characters. You know, the ones with actual depth.

[KatG]

Shiny, new and fun doesn't seem to be helping the ratings.

Maybe the writers should consider going back to the boring, non-shiny old characters. You know, the ones with actual depth.

But it wouldn't be fun and that just won't do.

[ReganX]

But it wouldn't be fun and that just won't do.

I don't know about anybody else, but I'd take an intelligent, interesting show to a 'fun' one that puts me to sleep - "Collateral Damage" actually achieved this.

[minigeek]

I'm having a Sam Carter appreciation morning. And I'm shamelessly OK with that. LOL ACTUALLY... I'm rendering out some stuff and so I have about a half hour to kill here, and I figured what better way than to sign on and say something about SAM.

The thing about Carter that I adore in terms of her character for television (and which I just explained to one of my colleagues here), is that she's somehow managed to jump the bar on a character "type" (if you will), that normally ends up either:

* an over-the-top version of "I am woman, hear me roar and get the hell outta my way because I have more ISSUES than you have ideas..." feminist cliche [See "Starbuck" in BSG - sorry BSG fans ]

OR

* an under-the-top scientific genius / total social outcast lacking any social/interpersonal skills [See Dr. Temperance Brennan in BONES - sorry BONES fans ]

But Sam Carter is NEITHER of those extremes. Regardless of how abysmally the last season of SG-1 has played out, I do have to tip my acknowledgement to the writing team for engendering her character to begin with, smoothing out those cliche potentials and coming up (copiously assisted by Amanda) with a character who rings not only believable, but real.

Sam Carter is a (beautiful) woman, a (likely certified) genius, a (stand-up) soldier, and a psychological conundrum who (all things considered) could far more easily have turned into someone's ill-conceived Mary Sue than she might have become what she DID turn into - a guilelessly visceral female role model.

Quite frankly, I honestly admit that I'd never have given much credence to a television writingteam's ability to come up with such a character to BEGIN WITH, nevermind provide nearly a decade of her, in such a strong, well balanced light. Of course, Amanda played no small role in that development, either. She's the lifeforce behind Sam Carter. But there is a lot to be said for dodging the status-quo where the Carter character is concerned, and I think credit is due all around therein.

I'm certainly a tough audience to please when it comes to my "strong" female characters. Because far too often, the role is distorted, overcompensated for, and made glaringly fictional.

Before I 'met' Sam Carter, if anyone had told me they were writing a character who was:

* a genius
* a pilot
* a soldier (and a good one)
* proficient in high level hand-to-hand combat
* a physicist (PhD)
* a mechanical engineer
* an afficionado of motor sports and classic cycles
* drop dead gorgeous

I'd have said... "Oh yeah, that'll come out looking real."

But... Sam Carter DOES. She IS. Somehow, Amanda and the writers have managed to convince even me of the fact that not only can such a character exist in good narrative, she can grow (because lets face it, she started out pretty damn 'special' to begin with). They've convinced me that she's got flaws, that those flaws aren't huge and overstated to the point where they take over her life and make her into an emotionally unbalanced (necessarily loose-canon), but that she (like any other 'normal' person might choose to) deals with her issues on a case by case basis, and many of them emerge to surprise even HER.

I'm still surprised each time I watch an episode that features her character, at how MUCh they packed into a single soul, and yet how little it seems to affect her persona in any cliche sense.

That, to me is the biggest reason that Sam Carter is a great character. Because she raises the bar - without question. Because she's a hero without resorting to insanity or imbalance. Because she makes mistakes, and has to learn from them. Because she doesn't embody a burlesque. And because she tackles each of her fictional challenges from a Human perspective, despite the scientist in her, despite the soldier. Through the Sam Carter character, Amanda and the writers have engendered a personality (albeit a fictional entitity) who embodies both strength and femininity, not to mention the kind of down-to-earth rationale vis-a-vis problem-solving that we might all hope to achieve in ourselves. Perhaps despite all of that, she still comes across as real. I've said it before and I'll say it again:

SAM CARTER IS THE BEST DAMN FEMALE CHARACTER ON TELEVISION TODAY.

In my books at least, that is no small basket of potatoes to lay claim to.


mini(the unashamed Sam Carter fangurl)geek



-

[ReganX]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, SAM CARTER IS THE BEST DAMN FEMALE CHARACTER ON TELEVISION TODAY.

You're absolutely right about that.

It's actually quite amazing that Sam is a very human character, with all her talents she could easily have ended up coming across as a superwoman.

[jckfan55]

i think that that person missed the point of the letter. it's not whether or not sam (and daniel and teal'c) were in the show...it's how they were in the show.

did anything happen to sam, daniel or teal'c to alter them in any way? were they any different in episode 20 than they were in episode 1? Daniel seemed to be there to facilitate vala and be her foil, teal'c was there to move the jaffa policits angle along and sam seemed to be there to support cam

I'm not saying that each of them need 'thier' episode. sure, it'd be nice, but character development can happen even when the character isn't the focus.

take itlod for example. sam is snaked and a ton happens for her. yet we also get a dose of daniel potentially loseing another woman out of his life, jack losing a friend, and fighting for said friend and trying to protect her. and teal'c doing what he can to comfort his friends

while sam may have been the focus, we learned something about all the others as well.

we haven't had those opportunities with s9 and the original three. they exist to be foils for the newbies and as such are more background characters than true co-stars

that's the point many are trying to make

You're preaching to the choir here, but continue anyway--you do it so well. With a little effort they could have brought Cam along as the new guy without sacrificing Teal'c, Sam and Daniel (in daniel's case sacrificing him on the altar of BAB's new infatuation,Vala). Somehow they managed to keep Jack, Teal'c and Sam in character and busy when Jonas was introduced.
Sam's call-in in the first episode of the season at least made sense in terms of AT's maternity leave. It's the later episodes when she's *back* I have a problem with.