Miranda Posted March 9, 2010 Report Posted March 9, 2010 It was so long ago H and X were on that I can't remember much about them, to be honest. I just remember preferring Xena cos it was more unusual. That must have been, what, 10 years ago they were on? Time flies....
slideyfoot Posted March 9, 2010 Report Posted March 9, 2010 It was so long ago H and X were on that I can't remember much about them, to be honest. I just remember preferring Xena cos it was more unusual. That must have been, what, 10 years ago they were on? Time flies.... Heh - it is frightening how quickly a decade can slip away. 1989 used to feel quite recent, and that feeling has now transferred to 1999. I've got some Hercules boxed sets, so had a chance to see the first two seasons again not very long ago, with a start on the third. I also used to think I was only nostalgic about the '80s, which is weird, because I was born in '81, so was very young during that decade. Despite the fact I can't have been old enough to remember a lot of it, my favourite music, films, cartoons etc are heavily centered on the '80s (and indeed the '70s, musically speaking: adore disco!), not the '90s. Still, I'm finding now that there is a ton of stuff from the '90s that gets the nostalgia going too, like Hercules, and indeed the relaunch of Star Trek. I never had any interest in the original series, but I love DS9 (TNG and Voyager have a few good episodes, but I don't enjoy them anywhere near as consistently).
Nathan. Posted March 10, 2010 Report Posted March 10, 2010 Ooooh. 'Legend of the Seeker' deserves a thread of its own. Not because I'm a hardcore fan - in fact, I have yet to see a single episode. But, I am friends with Brooke Williams who plays Jennsen (I think that was the character's name anyway) so I support nevertheless .
emmasi Posted March 10, 2010 Report Posted March 10, 2010 Also, Legend of the Seeker isn't in the Hercules/Xena universe! Xena was one of those special shows like Buffy or Angel or Supernatural that can turn on a dime. One second you're laughing out loud at how ridiculous everything is, just going along with it and losing yourself in the fantasy, and then the next second someone dies and you feel like your heart's been ripped out... I think that's why "Been There, Done That" is my favourite episode. Joxer is one of my favourite characters, so when he died at the start of it and Gabrielle was crying and Xena was saying that he would have wanted to die as a hero, trying to stop people from killing each other, it was so sad and touching and horrible and I was traumatized ! But then, after the day repeated itself over and over and over and Joxer had woken Xena up to the same damn day for the hundredth time in a row, she killed him with her chakram and went back to sleep - I laughed! Gabrielle was horrified and in shock, and trying to pull the chakram out of Joxer's chest - and I laughed even harder!! It was a simple enough plot formula, which many other TV shows and movies before and since could in fact say "been there!" and "done that!" to, but it's episodes like that that tell me how a good a show really is, when it can make me run the full gamut of human emotion in 40 minutes. It's pretty spectacular when you think about it. I'd say that Xena is a feminist show, but in the GOOD sense of the word, meaning that she fights to be EQUAL to men, not ABOVE men... and she does it by being strong, intelligent, passionate, fair, and a kick-ass physical threat! In other words, she only puts men down when they HAVE to be, not just because she wants to make herself look good by degrading another human being... but I digress... The costume is over the top of course - they all are - but I just chalk that up to the "fantasy" aspect. If you're going to have a woman this awesome, she might as well be a smokin' hot babe as well And it's not like the guys weren't wearing skin-tight leather pants and very few shirts. Visual exploitation is fine by me as long as it goes both ways Xena's not exactly a stick either. She's built! Callisto is rather stick-like - but more like a poison arrow. It's hard to believe that such a small and beautiful woman could be so psychotic and destructive, but that's how she gets ya!! Another example of how a ridiculous fantasy situation has left me emotionally scarred for life is when Callisto switched bodies with Xena, and she was taunting Xena's horse, Argo: "I look like Xena, I even smell like Xena...but something tells you I'm not." And then she cut Argo up so that Xena would have to perform a mercy killing on her own horse who she loved! IT WAS HORRIBLE!!! *CRIES* Lucky Xena was too smart for Callisto and managed to make Argo all better, but still... *scarred for life*
Miranda Posted March 10, 2010 Report Posted March 10, 2010 I loved DS9 too, it was less neat than the other Star Trek series i.e. everyone didn't end up chortling at the end, every problem solved dear me, I'd better not tell you what year I was born, I am so ancient!
slideyfoot Posted March 11, 2010 Report Posted March 11, 2010 it's episodes like that that tell me how a good a show really is, when it can make me run the full gamut of human emotion in 40 minutes. It's pretty spectacular when you think about it. Hmm. I should really revisit Xena some time: maybe after I've got through all the seaons of Hercules. I'd say that Xena is a feminist show, but in the GOOD sense of the word, meaning that she fights to be EQUAL to men, not ABOVE men... It is unfortunate that feminism has become something of a dirty word. It really depresses me when women feel they have to qualify something they say with "I'm not a feminist, but". Being a feminist is something to be proud of, especially as there is still so much work to be done in order to reach equality (for a start, the rape statistics globally remain shockingly high: IIRC, it is something like 1 in 3 women globally will be raped in their lifetime). Not that you were saying feminism was a bad thing, but it got me thinking. he costume is over the top of course - they all are - but I just chalk that up to the "fantasy" aspect. If you're going to have a woman this awesome, she might as well be a smokin' hot babe as well wink.gif And it's not like the guys weren't wearing skin-tight leather pants and very few shirts. Visual exploitation is fine by me as long as it goes both ways tongue.gif Heh - true, there is a fair bit of male eye-candy as well as female. Nevertheless, I hate the way a woman is expected to look amazing on TV and film almost regardless of their role, while the reverse certainly isn't true for men (consider how many successful, unattractive male actors there are in comparison to female actors). I loved DS9 too, it was less neat than the other Star Trek series i.e. everyone didn't end up chortling at the end, every problem solved From what I've read, it is supposed to be the 'darker' Star Trek, as main characters get killed, people don't always succeed, they go through plenty of suffering (e.g., poor old Miles O'Brien). Though speaking of endings, the series conclusion wasn't all that satisfying, especially given a large chunk of it consisted of "remember when" type montages. dear me, I'd better not tell you what year I was born, I am so ancient! Meh - 'old' and 'young' are highly relative terms. To a 10 year old, 18 is ancient. To a 30 year old, 18 is incredibly young. To an 80 year old, 30 is just a child.
Miranda Posted March 11, 2010 Report Posted March 11, 2010 My favourite part of DS9 was the relationship between Miles and Julian i.e. hating each other to start with then ending up closer than brothers. If you liked DS9..... have you watched Babylon 5? A superior sci fi series about a space station and its inhabitants with an incredible story arc. Perhaps we'd better start another thread
Nathan. Posted March 11, 2010 Report Posted March 11, 2010 I guess it wouldn't be out of line to mention the series "Legend of the Seeker" in here either, since it's made by the same people who made Xena and Hercules... and since my dearest little Jason Smith has starred in an episode, lookin' all yummy and playing with swords .. Also, Legend of the Seeker isn't in the Hercules/Xena universe! So we do or don't talk about it in this thread?
emmasi Posted March 12, 2010 Report Posted March 12, 2010 Iunno. I don't mind either way. I think I only said that cause you said that Legend of the Seeker deserved its own thread It seems to be developing into a general fantasy/sci-fi thread anyway so... I only started it! I didn't know there'd be questions and decisions!! *cries!!*
slideyfoot Posted March 12, 2010 Report Posted March 12, 2010 My favourite part of DS9 was the relationship between Miles and Julian i.e. hating each other to start with then ending up closer than brothers. Yeah, that was a good story arc. No-nonsense, hard-working, grizzled Irish engineer and naive, highly educated young doctor with a posh English accent start out hating each other, but slowly develop mutual professional respect, until eventually it becomes a close friendship. I also liked the way they kept Bashir's ethnicity vague: he could have been South American, Arabic, Indian etc, but it is never pinned down. However, my favourite characters were probably Kira (speaking of strong female characters) and the two main Cardassians, Garak and Dukat. If you liked DS9..... have you watched Babylon 5? A superior sci fi series about a space station and its inhabitants with an incredible story arc. Always meant to get into it properly, but never did. Only ever seen the odd episode. Perhaps we'd better start another thread Sounds good to me.
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