JMS on CompuServe (Dec 18, 1996) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*
Brent Barrett
bbarrett at speedlink.com
Wed Dec 18 13:20:45 EST 1996
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The following posts may contain SPOILERS for
upcoming Babylon 5 episodes.
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[ Summary of subjects in this section: ]
Sb: #627461-"Oh, Joe . . ."
Sb: #627468-Walkabout Shuffle
Sb: #627548-War of the Worlds
Sb: #627558-#"Oh, Joe . . ."
Sb: #627609-Spinoff arc?
Sb: #627610-FYAmusement
Sb: #627588-"Oh, Joe . . ."
Sb: #627656-Q about shadows&vorlons
Sb: #627668-B5 censored in UK
#: 627461 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
17-Dec-96 15:23:44
Sb: #626542-#"Oh, Joe . . ."
Fm: CARL CANTARELLA
>>Basically, yeah, too much depression and guilt lately, and she's been for the
most part a passive character lately, while others acted around her. Now it's
about time for her to start becoming active again. There's fire and steel in
*use*, and fire and steel waiting to be called upon...time to shift from the
latter to the former.<<
Well, I didn't perceive it as being "too much" because she was totally,
completely, utterly devastated at the prospect of having lost Sheridan, as she
should have been. She has been viewed as an outcast by her own people, only
finding her place among them once again fairly recently; she lost Sinclair
forever, a man she was clearly falling for as well, and then Sheridan vanishes,
apparently for good. It was all enough to crush anyone's spirit and pull the
rug out from under them. I grew somewhat annoyed at the people whining about
her having grown "too dependant on Sheridan" and saying that she had become
"weak" because of it. She needed time to mourn, and she was given that time. I
didn't doubt for a moment that she'd eventually come out of it, scarred and
all, only to fight another day, perhaps more determined than ever to extinguish
the enemy for what they took from her.
People oughtta wake up. Just because Delenn is a woman doesn't mean
that she's going to automatically fall into the weak female stereotype of the
typical, anticipatory female who relies on males for strength. She experienced
a great loss, or thought she had(and she indeed has in a sense even in the
aftermath), and I doubt Sheridan would have acted a whole lot differently were
the tables turned. Sure, he may have shown more anger initially, a desire for
revenge, but he would have been in just as much of a slump emotionally, and it
wouldn't have manifested itself all that differently in him in my view just
because he's a man.
There's nothing as painful as the loss of true love regardless of
whether you're male or female. People should get the "Ripley\Sarah Connor"
notion out of their heads as to what's _supposed_ to constitute a "strong"
woman.
And Kathryn Janeway can stuff a sock in it as far as I'm
concerned!
;-)
#: 627565 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
17-Dec-96 18:28:48
Sb: #627461-"Oh, Joe . . ."
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Exactly. She needed that amount of time, so that's what she had to have
to make it believable. The next logical step is to show the other parts of her
starting to come back into the foreground.
jms
[ Summary: Asks if JMS plans to have TNT air "Walkabout" in its originally
intended order, before "War Without End." ]
#: 627566 S5/Babylon 5: General
17-Dec-96 18:28:49
Sb: #627468-Walkabout Shuffle
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Not really, because it doesn't make *that* much difference to risk
confusing them about it....
jms
[ Summary: The author of the "War of the Worlds" comic clears up the
confusion about his reference to Babylon 5 in the editorial column of
one of the issues of the book. He goes on to thank JMS for his
scriptwriting book, as it's helping the author better format his comic
scripts. He then offers to send all the issues of the book to JMS. ]
#: 627567 S5/Babylon 5: General
17-Dec-96 18:28:50
Sb: #627548-War of the Worlds
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Thanks. I'd love to check out the comics. Because of the press of work
(and so many of the books out there started getting crummy, in my view), I've
kind of gotten out of the comics habit over the last year, so I have no info on
this one. Best to send it along to me via the B5 mail drop, 14431 Ventura
Boulevard, Suite 260, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423. Thanks again, for the kind words
and the reference.
jms
#: 627558 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
17-Dec-96 18:00:52
Sb: #627540-#"Oh, Joe . . ."
Fm: CARL CANTARELLA
>>Selfish how?<<
Well, only selfish in so far as that he proposed marriage to her
despite the fact that he's living under a death sentence, which means that she
had to first accept this before she could agree to marry him. The question that
come up as a result of this, at least in my mind anyway, are; was she able too,
and was he asking too much of her under the circumstances, and should he have
at least given her some time before expecting an answer? In essence, what I
guess I'm asking in a nutshell is, was he expecting too much of her? After all,
what if she didn't refuse because of what he had just told her? Could she have
lacked the courage at such a vulnerable moment, thereby putting her needs on
the back burner for what he wanted? Even if that's indeed what happened, it
still constitutes love, but was it fair of him to put her in that position?
Thus, the question naturally therefore arises from this is, was he thinking
more of her at that moment, or of himself and what he wanted?
BTW, I'm not pointing a finger of blame at Sheridan. He played it
straight with her before asking her to marry him, which was decent, but I do
think he overwhelmed her and should have given her a little time before
'popping the question' once he told her that he was terminal.
#: 627576 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
17-Dec-96 18:52:01
Sb: #627558-#"Oh, Joe . . ."
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Well, I think it's better for someone to know that first, then find out
about it later. "Oh, good, we're going to spend the rest of our lives
together...oh, by the way, now that you've committed, you should know...."
Uh, uh.
jms
#: 627609 S5/Babylon 5: General
17-Dec-96 20:46:34
Sb: #627173-#Spinoff arc?
Fm: REBECCA ESCHLIMAN
<< It would have an arc, yes, but not as rigorous as the one in
B5; I've kind of done that now, and would like to try something
different...I don't like to try and walk in the same stream twice, to
borrow a metaphor from Greek philosophy. >>
Leaving aside the question of *why* you might want to do such a thing,
barring the sheer novelty of it, could you write empty-headed drivel?
I mean by that, something devoid of the psychological depth, cultural
allusions and variously-voiced wit that we currently appreciate in B5.
-rje-
I can almost feel the rustling-in of some kind of enchantment already.
#: 627635 S5/Babylon 5: General
17-Dec-96 22:18:12
Sb: #627609-Spinoff arc?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
"...could you write empty-headed drivel? I mean by that, something devoid of
the psychological depth, cultural allusions and variously-voiced wit that we
currently appreciate in B5."
Never have before, and see no reason to start now. Any time I've worked
on any show, I've tried to bring something special to it. Even when I was
doing animation...the references in "The Real Ghostbusters" got blindingly
obscure and arcane from time to time (we once referred to a group of eskimos of
specific professions gathered to handle a spiritual problem an "inuit minyan,"
which I figure about 8 people in the country got.)
One thing that tends to be true of TV writing in general, not just my
case, is that once you know who's running and writing the show, you have a
fairly good idea of the kind of show you're going to be getting, because shows
tend to be direct outgrowths of the personality of that writer. You can use
phrases like "a Chris Carter show," which calls up one kind of show, or a "Carl
Reiner kind of sitcom," or "a Rod Serling kind of show." A jms show falls into
the same category. I like sharp, witty, in-depth writing; always have, always
will. So that can be counted on as a constant.
The other kind of writing you describe I couldn't do on a bet.
jms
#: 627610 S5/Babylon 5: General
17-Dec-96 20:46:38
Sb: #FYAmusement
Fm: REBECCA ESCHLIMAN
Just an incident you might find amusing:
I was at a gathering of friends the other night, and a few of us were, as was
our wont, discussing B5. A visiting relative was sort of nodding along,
listening to our conversations, when she jerked in startlement when we
mentioned Delenn going into a cocoon. She asked us what we were talking about,
since she had assumed we were discussing real people (i.e., coworkers) up until
that point. Then we had to try to convey to the "b5-untouched" why the show
could inspire us to talk about characters that are truly real. Who knows,
maybe upon her return home she will tune in just to catch the "real" wave?
-rje-
I can almost feel the rustling-in of some kind of enchantment already.
#: 627637 S5/Babylon 5: General
17-Dec-96 22:18:17
Sb: #627610-FYAmusement
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
You're right, that is amusing...in a nice way.
Be of good cheer (despite the season)...they're as real to me as they are
to anyone else.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go stop G'Kar from frightening the
neighbor's cat again....
jms
#: 627588 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
17-Dec-96 19:34:44
Sb: #627576-#"Oh, Joe . . ."
Fm: SCOTT J. EPSTEIN
BTW, Joe, cross-culturally, how does the Minbari sleep-watching ritual compare
in seriousness to a human marriage proposal? Some people think John was being
presumptious in the manner of his proposal.
SJE
#: 627638 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
17-Dec-96 22:18:19
Sb: #627588-"Oh, Joe . . ."
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Well, I think it fair to say that with Delenn starting the ritual, there
had already been kind of an implicit understanding that this was going to be
more than just a fling...and there's still a long road ahead of them before
this can be finalized.
jms
[ Summary: Asks what happened after Sheridan fired on the Shadow in
"Z'Ha'Dum." ]
#: 627673 S6/Babylon 5: Spoilers
18-Dec-96 03:15:31
Sb: #627656-Q about shadows&vorlons
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
The PPG bursts would've wounded the shadow, allowing him time to scramble
out of there before Morden could draw. He then had to fight some other humans
in the area, scramble down some ridges into the cave areas, and then walk out.
jms
#: 627668 S7/Babylon 5: UK/World
18-Dec-96 02:19:03
Sb: #627498-#B5 censored in UK
Fm: GERARD KEATING (IRELAND)
Carl,
>> Aren't you also the same people who get rampant nudity pervading your
airwaves as a part of the norm? Geez, not even we over in the U.S. have gotten
to this level of stupidity yet, <<
It's not stupidity, just different standards. British TV is more tolerant of
nudity and less tolerant of violence than American Stations. The American
network censors have decided the big bad enemy is TV SEX, whereas the British
decided that the baddie is violence.
Yours
Gerard Keating (Ireland) 10:13 on 18-Dec-96 in CIS:SFMEDIA1 using OzWIN ii ver.
2.11
#: 627675 S7/Babylon 5: UK/World
18-Dec-96 03:18:35
Sb: #627668-B5 censored in UK
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Just a note, but so far the 4th season hasn't aired in the UK yet, and
thus hasn't yet been censored, so this header is kind of a misnomer. Also, I
have no idea yet what C4 has in mind, and perhaps it might be a good idea to
see what they do, and react to it, rather than jumping to conclusions based on
what they *might* do....
jms
[END]
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