Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[majorsal]

Well... How about the general underrepresentation of women on the production side of Hollywood leading to atrophy in potentially strong female characters, and an extreme representation of males' fantasies being made manifest in the remains?

uh, okay!

goes to reread what she said

uses dictionary.com to help with the big words

rereads paragraph again


sooo... i wonder what's going to happen in season 10 that's making amanda so happy?





sally

[the dancer of spaz]

uh, okay!

goes to reread what she said

uses dictionary.com to help with the big words

rereads paragraph again


sooo... i wonder what's going to happen in season 10 that's making amanda so happy?





sally

Maybe a feminine touch in the scriptwriting department?



And... to answer your question earlier since my fridge is locked as well... I'm an S/J shipper through and through. But the ship (of any persuasion) means nothing to me if it's used as a means to take away everything that AT has done to make the character unique. In fact, I'd rather Sam go off to become a nun and never look upon a man again, if it meant she could still moonlight as the resident butt-kicker. Of course, an occasional email or two from the three (/four) men in her life would be OK.

[Uber]

Maybe a feminine touch in the scriptwriting department?

I volunteer! As would Strix, Sky etc. and so on and so forth.

[astrogeologist]

Maybe a feminine touch in the scriptwriting department?



And... to answer your question earlier since my fridge is locked as well... I'm an S/J shipper through and through. But the ship (of any persuasion) means nothing to me if it's used as a means to take away everything that AT has done to make the character unique. In fact, I'd rather Sam go off to become a nun and never look upon a man again, if it meant she could still moonlight as the resident butt-kicker. Of course, an occasional email or two from the three (/four) men in her life would be OK.

I too am OK with ship - but never, ever, at the expense of the characters or their heroic storylines. And certainly never at the expense of Carter's!

[the dancer of spaz]

I volunteer! As would Strix, Sky etc. and so on and so forth.

Three ready, willing and qualified volunteers are definitely a great start.

[astrogeologist]

i miss having meaty discussions on this thread. what can we talk about?

Well... How about the general underrepresentation of women on the production side of Hollywood leading to atrophy in potentially strong female characters, and an extreme representation of males' fantasies being made manifest in the remains?

uh, okay!

goes to reread what she said

uses dictionary.com to help with the big words

rereads paragraph again


sooo... i wonder what's going to happen in season 10 that's making amanda so happy?





sally

LOL! Great exchange!!!

[fishyone]

Maybe a feminine touch in the scriptwriting department?



And... to answer your question earlier since my fridge is locked as well... I'm an S/J shipper through and through. But the ship (of any persuasion) means nothing to me if it's used as a means to take away everything that AT has done to make the character unique. In fact, I'd rather Sam go off to become a nun and never look upon a man again, if it meant she could still moonlight as the resident butt-kicker. Of course, an occasional email or two from the three (/four) men in her life would be OK.

Yeah, I agree with the whole ship thing. I have to admit that's one of the things I don't like about the way the writers have written Sam's character more recently (season 7/8). She became a woman looking for a boyfriend rather than a talented, capable scientist and soldier. Sam is not a woman that needs a guy to feel good about herself. And I'm perfectly happy not seeing my ship on screen (because I don't trust the writers). I'd much rather the show be ship-free and go back to being about a team. Ship stuff seemed to stop this... The team seemed to always be being broken up... split in twos...and the nice dynamic was lost. It may just be me, but it drives me crazy when they split it like that (seems like Daniel's always stuck with Teal'c), and the friendships that I loved so much are gone.

I hope season 10 can bring this back, but I'm a pessimist by nature.

[astrogeologist]

Virtual TV Guide Stargate Spoiler: Colonel Carter leads a special team on a clandestine offworld mission while Mitchell and Vala cope with her daughter's capriciousness.
--------

Daniel and Teal'c would be a part of Carter's special offworld mission. Their mission would be gripping and suspenseful... dangerous and heroic. The Mitchell/Vala/daughter segments would be be a second (B) storyline that would tie into TPTB overall arc for Vala's daughter's character and the Ori (a little background character-study stuff about Vala's daughter).

[astrogeologist]

Virtual TV Guide Stargate Spoiler: While test-piloting her modifications to a new hybrid version of the X-302, Colonel Carter discovers a new method of intergalactic travel.

[the dancer of spaz]

Yep. And don't get me wrong: Wanting and needing companionship is an understandable desire. Different people have different goals in that regard, so I have no problem with Sam wanting that to any extent. She's human after all, and if that's where AT sees her heading in her mind, then I believe that's where the character is headed.

However, as AT has said, that's not all there is to the character.

It's when the "desires" become the whole of the person - or at least all we see for a period of time - that it becomes a problem. Because, though there are many fans who have both the experience with the show and the general discernment to know that that's not ALL Sam is about, there are people who are incapable of seeing or unwilling to see (or both) that there's so much more to her than that.

When the writers give us nothing but that, it's almost like it proves that very point. And it really is counterproductive when you take into account what Sam was meant to represent in the beginning of the series, and what Sam has become thanks to AT's hard work.

Over at scifi.com, on one of those lovely little feedback cum fanbase debates, where fans submit letters (there are about a dozen regarding SG-1 and why one group of fans is wrong/right/whatever), someone said that women are harder on themselves and each other than anyone else. I believe that same person also said that female characters shouldn't have to be pigeonholed into the role model category, when male characters are allowed free reign over all kinds of character molds. S/he was talking about the issues fans have with Vala.

I totally agree with the first assertion: When you look at those who don't like Sam, Vala, Elizabeth or Teyla, the dissenters are, I'd say, 75% (or more) female. Is this because there are more vocal female fans in this particular fanbase? Possibly. I dare say there are more vocal female fans in many of the popular, online fanbases today, but that's another story. The fact remains that women, by nature, are harder on themselves and on each other. We place impossible charges and responsibilities on the actors who are meant to represent us on television. And, for the ones who are meant to be great role models, we still expect them to meet some other criteria, so they don't seem "perfect."

In Sam's case, she has to make the right decisions, but not make them too often; show emotion, but not too much; show weaknesses, but not too much. She has to take the lead, but know her place; remain stoic, but not wooden.

And she's not alone.

We have to ask ourselves: Why are we putting substantially more pressure on female characters than on males?

I honestly think it's because male characters have always been a dime a dozen. It's their inherent expendability and interchangeability that perhaps means their place on the food chain isn't quite as at risk as a woman's, their worth is not in question. If you have to really search to find a good female character in a cast, and it looks like she's there to provide the demographic grabber and/or the love interest, that means there's at least 1000% more pressure on the actor who plays her to make that character count, to give her depth, to fight for the integrity of that character, so she can move beyond that creative rut.

Though more and more women are breaking out and somewhat making a name for kick-butt characters, there's still a huge discrepancy. Because I think there's always been that worry that a character with awesome potential will be relegated to "the love interest" again in some way - whether it's as submissive wallpaper or the sultry siren. Or, worse, everyone will just lump her in the "Raging Heifer" category.

In Sam's case, I don't think the ship makes her any less of a role model, to be honest. Like I said before, she's human. AT has mentioned the fallibility of the characters, the traits that make these characters more believable. It works for her, because she needs to essentially sell her character; and it helps us relate to the character and buy it, because she's not a super hero. She's an ordinary human doing extraordinary things. And I think we'd all like to relate to that in some small way.

To be fair, I think Vala has the potential to be a role model, too. A character is what the actor makes it, but the writing has to contain some amount of character depth to it. And as long as Vala's morals and ethics remain questionable, and if she remains relatively static by the first few episodes of S10, even after all that she'll have gone through, that'll say to me that Vala's not meant to be a role model for anyone - male or female. Claudia Black, however, has what it takes to turn her around, imo, if they simply give her a chance.

[Agent_Dark]

Wow, extreme Copy and Paste from somewhere Spazzy?

But yeah, I agree. What annoys me is all the crap handed out to female characters on how poorly they are written, yet the male characters who are equally as poorly written get off scot free. I really dont think the penis is that powerful

[majorsal]

Yeah, I agree with the whole ship thing. I have to admit that's one of the things I don't like about the way the writers have written Sam's character more recently (season 7/8). She became a woman looking for a boyfriend rather than a talented, capable scientist and soldier. Sam is not a woman that needs a guy to feel good about herself. And I'm perfectly happy not seeing my ship on screen (because I don't trust the writers). I'd much rather the show be ship-free and go back to being about a team. Ship stuff seemed to stop this... The team seemed to always be being broken up... split in twos...and the nice dynamic was lost. It may just be me, but it drives me crazy when they split it like that (seems like Daniel's always stuck with Teal'c), and the friendships that I loved so much are gone.

I hope season 10 can bring this back, but I'm a pessimist by nature.

i never saw ship splitting the team up. i saw the writers splitting the team up, which they did in season 9, which had no ship in it... hmmm. i say hmmm.





sally

[the dancer of spaz]

Wow, extreme Copy and Paste from somewhere Spazzy?

Hmmm... I don't follow you, AD.

(Not that this is the first time )

But yeah, I agree. What annoys me is all the crap handed out to female characters on how poorly they are written, yet the male characters who are equally as poorly written get off scot free. I really dont think the penis is that powerful

Yeah... Nope... There's no way to respond to that one. Actually, scratch that, scarimor, Mandy, Ooobs, suse or Sky will probably come up with something witty. Just wait for it.

[Agent_Dark]

lol. I meant was that an 'extreme' copy and paste of a post somewhere else?

[the dancer of spaz]

lol. I meant was that an 'extreme' copy and paste of a post somewhere else?

I still don't get what you're asking, but nope - this all just spewed out of me, fresh off the presses. Repetition of thought in various forms is my way of making myself heard, though.