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    Group Think

    I've noticed a group think among the main characters. Whenever they encounter a new character the audience is supposed to dislike, all the main characters have the same outlook toward that person immediately, before we even really get to know that other character. They all treat them with some degree of disdain or hostility or are put off by them in some way. This strikes me as unrealistic. In the real world, even among a group of friends, some people will like one person while someone else may not. If a person is bad, one person might catch on right away and it might take others longer to catch on.

    This has happened more times than I can remember, but a couple examples would be Vala and Wier. When Wier first shows up to run the SGC everyone is all skeptical and mildly hostile toward her being able to run the place, but when Hammond 2.0 (Landry) shows up it's no big fuss, the group uniformly seems to like him by default. Vala is a little harder since she stole the ship, but she's clearly not a serious threat or a bad person, you'd think at least someone on the base would like her and think she's kind of bubbly and fun, even if she can't be trusted. But the group think seems to be that she is annoying and everyone is so serious about her. No one seems to warm up and give her a chance until after she's saved their butts. She isn't the best example admittedly, but there are others who immediately it's like the whole crew gets the same vibe about them before we even really know them. It's clearly the writers trying to steer the audience's view of a character through the reactions of other characters we trust, rather than let us decide on our own by seeing the actions of those characters first.

    I love SG-1, I've been watching since it first aired and it was my favorite show for easily a decade. I've watched the entire series all the way through at least a few times. But as I've gotten older I've started to notice some of these things more.
    Saw Stargate three times in the theater when it first came out. Watched SG-1 when it first came on TV. Been a fan since the beginning. Still a fan now.

    #2
    I understand what you're saying to a degree but.

    1. In the case of Vala, I doubt anyone would have trusted her enough until she proved herself because she's a known thief/weapons smuggler etc... That had kidnapped Daniel and left the rest of the crew on a broken ship to be captured by the Gould or die... Just because the episode made it comedic doesn't mean it would have been to them and anyone on the base that instantly liked and trusted her based on what they knew about her would have issues. To top it off the first thing she did upon arriving at the SGC was trap Daniel with the cuffs.

    2. When Wier came to the SGC they were all worried that it was another a plot by the NID/Kinsey. Him becoming Vice President and instantly Hammond being replaced probably scared the hell out of them.

    3. Landry was put in charge between seasons so we don't really know the initial reaction towards him, but he was an old friend of O'Neill, so they wouldn't have had to worry that he was another plant by some outside group trying to take over the Stargate.

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      #3
      Originally posted by Visam View Post
      I understand what you're saying to a degree but [snip]
      I agree. Vala already had a reputation, she was the one that kidnapped them and tried to sell the Prometheus. Weir WAS a blatant attempt at giving the SGC a friendlier face. And we don't know about landry, but presumably they read his mission report and knew what kind of guy he was.

      Look at sheppard: Weir thinks his actions were justified and liked him. O'neill doesn't really care, although he obviously felt obliged to say the "but his background" argument. On the other hand, Col. Summer is a much more by the book guy who doesn't like it, and in "The Siege" we get another general who doesn't like him because of his background, only to change when he gets fed on and realizes Sheppard's intentions were right.

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