JMS on CompuServe (Mar 27, 1996) *POSSIBLE SPOILERS* 1/2
Brent Barrett
brent.barrett at 24stex.com
Wed Mar 27 13:08:49 EST 1996
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WARNING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The following posts may contain SPOILERS for
upcoming Babylon 5 episodes.
Continue at your own risk.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL IS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE
RESPECTIVE MESSAGE AUTHORS AND CANNOT BE
REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT THE EXPRESSED
PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR.
Note that JMS has expressed his public permission
that all of his messages may be reproduced freely.
I give permission for my summaries to be reposted in
any form, however I reserve all rights to them and
the right to revoke this permission at any time.
[ Note from Brent: Before you ask, no I cannot forward
your questions to JMS. He has asked that questions
not originating from CIS accounts not be posted to
CIS. He encourages all of us to wait for the
moderated USENET group, to which he plans to
subscribe. ]
[ Summary: Wonders if JMS thinks he's writing B5 like a novel, except that
he turns in one chapter at a time and can't go back to fix anything he
notices down the road. ]
#: 476418 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Mar-96 15:11:10
Sb: #476244-#Lost Threads?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Yeah, it is a lot like a novel, but as you say, once a chapter is done,
you can't go back again...so it's like writing a novel in steel instead of
paper; you can't erase what's done. So anything you modify has to be
forward-directed, rather than backtracking. It's quite an elegant dance,
really. And a definite challenge, just to do it, let alone incorporating the
real-world speed bumps (an actor breaks a limb, isn't available for some reason
at an important point, whatever). So you have to keep the general outline in
your head at all times, and be able to shift and slide but keep on going where
you're going.
jms
[ Summary: Wants to know if the Sheridan Maneuver (jump point within jump
point) releases more energy than it takes to create it. Also wants to
be sure this is the same JMS that created Babylon 5. ]
#: 476419 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
26-Mar-96 15:11:12
Sb: #476289-#Unresolved plot lines
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
It's two separate mechanisms; no one has been able to open a jump point
in a jump point because of the hideous amount of energy needed by the ship in
question. They used the White Star to open a jump point within a standing
*jump gate* that was already there, and had a secondary source of power. The
competing energies were impossible to control, and blew the whole thing.
And yes, I'm *that* jms.
jms
[ Summary: Wants to know if Sinclair and Catherine are still engaged to be
married. ]
#: 476421 S6/Babylon 5: Upcoming
26-Mar-96 15:11:16
Sb: #476400-Unresolved plot lines
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
They had to break it off...he had responsibilities that excluded that
kind of relationship.
jms
#: 476275 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Mar-96 04:53:27
Sb: #475769-#Popularity & Msg Traffic
Fm: WILLIAM H. DIPAOLA
>>But, don't get me wrong, I like B5 and Star Trek very much. I really don't
see why so many feel the need to compare the two, or say things like "mine is
bigger than yours." I'm happy enough to appreciate both and leave it at
that.<<
Actually, my vehemence(if it can be termed that) stems from those
people who occasionally drift over from the Trek Section with the expressed
purpose of trying to undermine what the show really has to offer from an
entertainment standpoint by trying to somehow make Ratings the issue. It
happens all the time, and I think it's really cheap and small on the part of
those fanatical Trekkers who choose to engage in this type of activity. I see
it also on the B5 Message Boards on AOL, though there is considerably less
traffic there when compared to this Forum(and that's because CSERVE's Message
Boards are far Superior to AOLs). I'm merely trying to counter those types of
comments and assertions because they're really designed to try and tear at this
shows audience in such a way as to make viewers feel bad about something they
enjoy. They can't bash what the show has to offer from a quality standpoint
because even they know deep down in their bitter hearts that B5 is Quality
Superior, though they won't allow themselves to admit it out loud. They instead
perceive the program as a threat to their franchise which must be vanquished in
order to assure Trek's future, and I think that's just absolutely ridiculous.
If Trek can't assure its own future based on merit, then in my opinion it
doesn't deserve a future. And I must close by qualifying my remarks by saying
that I am a Trekker. I grew up loving TOS, later grew to enjoy TNG once it
improved, and have even derived some pleasure from DS9 on occasion. Voyager has
offered far less in my view, and many fans of this show are just bitter that
what is being offered by the writers of that show can be described as nothing
less than sub- standard, and I believe that *some* of them take their
frustration out on those who love and enjoy B5 with a passion. In essence, much
of this 'competition," if it can be termed that, stems from jealousy and a
perception of B5 as representing a threat to the Trek franchise, and this is
why this bitter feud has come about and continued on to this day.
When I stand up for B5 I do so out of pride, and not because I want to
engage in a childish exchange of "mine is bigger and better than yours". I
simply can't stand it when people take cheap shots.
#: 476427 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Mar-96 15:19:15
Sb: #476275-#Popularity & Msg Traffic
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
What those who use ratings to bash B5 tend to forget is the history of
ST...that the original ST limped along in the ratings basement for its three
seasons, that fans of Lost in Space were constantly bashing it as an attempt to
cash in on that show (some reviewers even noted this, in TV Guide and
elsewhere), and that finally it got dropped as a ratings failure.
One would think that knowledge might encourage tolerance....
jms
[ Summary: Points out the Hypernauts and Space Cases connections to B5
for another user. ]
#: 476428 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Mar-96 15:19:16
Sb: #476385-#SpaceCases&Hyper. in EW
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
One correction: I had nothing to do with writing the Hypernauts pilot,
that was Christy Marx, I have no creative involvement with the show whatsoever.
It's their creation.
jms
[ Summary: Wants to know if any CD-ROM titles are planned. ]
#: 476524 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Mar-96 19:52:53
Sb: #476423-B5 CD-ROM
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Actually, a CDrom screen saver is *already out* from Sound Sources; info
can be had in one of the B5 libraries. Beyond that, a B5 encyclopedia is still
in the works for CDrom, though not finalized yet. Also, Christopher Franke,
our composer, will be doing a second B5 soundtrack and a CDrom to go with it.
jms
[ Summary: The poster is doing a paper for a class in "Classical [greek]
Mythology" and wants to know what mythical sources JMS used to help him
shape his Epic Hero. The poster notes that Bruce Boxleitner mentioned
the Arthurian Legends, so the poster would like to know if JMS sees this
as a major influence. ]
#: 476525 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Mar-96 19:53:00
Sb: #476429-#Nature of Army of Light
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Well, if you're going to look at heroic epic, sure, the Arthurian story
is a classic...but the earliest and best of these remain the Illiad and the
Odyssey. Homer was definitely hitting all cylinders with that.
If there's an aspect that informed B5's development, it's the arc of
that heroic epic, which if you look at it dispassionately, is as much about the
people *around* the hero as the hero himself. And all too often, the hero
achieves the goal, but falls or falters or is changed by the end of it. Much of
what passes for contemporary "heroic epic" assumes that it means the Good Guys
Win. Heroic here as a term goes back to its much earlier origins, a "heroic
effort" is something that takes everything you have, against terrible or
impossible odds.
Yes, you achieve the goal...but you fall in battle in the fields of
Troy. Yes, you create Camelot, but in the end you are destroyed and Camelot
falls. There's tragedy and mistakes side by side with the glory and the gains.
The accounts of Arthur's meeting with Mordred at Camlan field, and how the
final battle began is classic ironic drama, a tragedy of great
proportions...and an aspect of that fed directly into the development of the B5
backstory, as you'll learn later this season.
Histories are written about the soldiers who won their battles; but
songs are sung about the soldiers who fell in battle struggling for a greater
cause. What inspires us is the unfinished work, the dream of picking up the
fallen standard and taking it ten more feet up the hill, knowing that even if
you fall, the next man in line will take it another ten feet, until finally the
hill is taken. Humans are constantly throwing their lives away on causes logic
tells us are hopeless...but which in time become real for that reason.
It's a dangerous romance with myth, heroism, and death. On the one
hand, it inspires an Arthur...on another, it inspires a car bomber to blow
himself and 27 bystanders to bits en route to an appointment with Allah.
What makes the heroic epic work is that it taps into all the myths and
archetypes that have been with us for all of recorded history, and much of its
oral history. Where B5 gets into this area is in trying to look at the kinds
of myths and epics that have gone before, and finding not the specifics, but
the themes which are universal, the *sense* and the feel of it, which are
intangible, and which is what makes doing an epic so hard. Either you feel the
structure, or you don't; if you try to hammer it down into a formula, a
step-by-step process, it turns to quicksilver in your hands and slips away.
You have to take it all in, then listen to the inner voice and write
accordingly.
I remember a stanza from a poem I read a long time ago; "Love will die
if held too tightly; love will fly if held too lightly; lightly, tightly, how
do I know, whether I'm holding or letting love go?" This kind of fiction
operates on the same basis. Substitute the word epic or story for love, and
the logic holds.
So the epic hero or story can't be a *model*, to use your phrase; it can
only be an inspiration for what has gone before...an echo in the back of your
mind that whispers and guides you through all the dark places.
jms
#: 476440 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Mar-96 16:03:05
Sb: #476418-#Lost Threads?
Fm: PHILIP HORNSEY
>> And a definite challenge, just to do it, let alone incorporating the
real-world speed bumps (an actor breaks a limb, isn't available for some reason
at an important point, whatever)
I would think that these sorts of things not only lend the whole story
verisimilitude (people *do* break limbs, but usually writers don't think to do
it to them), but might also contribute to the creative process, making you
think of things you wouldn't normally.
Case in point, Talia Winters. Sure, you could have put Lyta in from the
beginning, but it seems somehow more "real* that she didn't hang around, and
then came back. It just *looks better* that when she saw a Vorlon they dragged
her back and she had to break loose.
For the same sort of reason I really like the Sinclair-Sheridan change. The arc
kicked into high gear when Sheridan came on board, and the whole of season one
(which *had* to be, *by definition* the weakest season) suddenly became a
really cool prologue. Now we have Sinclair comming back. All in all it really
works.
Phil^^^^
FREE MARS!
#: 476526 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Mar-96 19:53:08
Sb: #476440-#Lost Threads?
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Exactly. B5 has to be an organic process; it's a history of the Babylon
station and the people who lived there once upon a time. It should have the
feeling of a real place, and real people. Stuff happens to real people. The
key is to turn it to your advantage, and use it to make the story stronger.
It's like trying to tapdance while people are rolling bowling balls at
you and firing burning arrows...if you can keep to the rhythm, and even add
some interesting new steps because of all the commotion, while making it all
feel perfectly natural...then you've got something.
jms
[ Summary: "Are the Vorlons & Shadows related in *any* way?" ]
#: 476741 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Mar-96 23:41:18
Sb: #476515-Vorlons & Shadows
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Define related.
jms
#: 476520 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Mar-96 16:41:04
Sb: #Episode titles
Fm: ARWEL PARRY
I notice that one of your upcoming episodes is entitled "Sic Transit Vir".
Since you're using a Latin title, does the fact that "vir" is the Latin word
for "man" have any significance?
Arwel
"Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get you!"
(Only 17 days 18 hours and 19 minutes to season 3 in the UK, thank goodness).
#: 476742 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Mar-96 23:41:19
Sb: #476520-Episode titles
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Yes, it's sort of a double pun in that respect...thus passes the man,
which can have many meanings, also entering manhood, or dying, or going away,
or the more Vir transitioning, or going...lots of variations.
jms
[ Summary: Wants to know if JMS' involvement with the V script means that
they're bringing V back to the air. ]
#: 476743 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Mar-96 23:41:21
Sb: #476527-YEAR (sing) of shd war..
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
No, the V mini I wrote was several years ago, a planned revival that was
ultimately dropped as too expensive.
jms
[ Summary: Asks again if JMS has any plans in case of cancellation. ]
#: 476744 S5/Babylon 5: General
26-Mar-96 23:41:25
Sb: #476636-Yr. 4 renewal
Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Let me rephrase this: I can't answer the question because I can't allow
the question to even exist in my head.
jms
[ Continued in next section -- BB ]
/*********************************************
* Brent Barrett brent.barrett at 24stex.com *
* Senior Software Engineer Automedia, Inc *
* -- Watch Babylon-5! -- *
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