"Oh brave new world. That has such people in it" Shakespeare's The Tempest
Dr. Elizabeth Weir: Hey, what are you guys doing?So, after having no hope at all of retrieving the utterly brilliant thoughts that emanated from my sleep-deprived brain (because, as any college student will tell you, sometimes that’s “the best stuff”) and then dissolved into the ether, I felt it was still necessary to give you at least some semblance of them. If I’m honest, I must admit that they probably were not as brilliant as they appeared to be at the time, and, thus, God decided the world was not in need of them, and chucked them for me. Thank you, God. As ever, you probably saved me embarrassment!
Major John Sheppard: I'm teaching Teyla how football is the cornerstone of Western civilization.
Weir: And you didn't invite me?
Sheppard: Oh, you like football?
Weir: No, not really.
Sheppard: Oh, come on, it's real, it's unpredictable, it's full of passion... and beer... hot dogs.
Dr. Rodney McKay: Cheerleaders.
Weir: I just can't understand you're allowed one personal item, and you chose this.
Sheppard: It's a metaphor. Don't you see? This entire expedition is the biggest Hail Mary in human history.
Anyway, mostly it was a discussion of the brilliant characters on Stargate Atlantis. The writers on that show truly did have a way of engaging the viewer and making us love characters which we probably wouldn’t have loved otherwise. Part of the way they did this was with some brilliant dialogue between characters.
Putting Geek-speak into their mouths and then forcing them to explain it to others is a pretty classic technique that truly works. Doctor Who has been doing it since the mid-1960s, after all. And, honestly, it can pretty much be traced back in time as far back as you can go, because any young hero being initiated into a new world (think Luke Skywalker for a modern example) acts as the reader/viewer’s eyes. They don’t even have to be particularly young these days, just new. This happens in the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood when Gwen Cooper stumbles upon Torchwood and Captain Jack Harkness explains it to her. These heroes/heroines do tend toward young, of course; the supposition, I think, being that older and wiser characters don’t really need the explanations. Also, as these are really stand-ins for our own journeys in life (which is why we get so connected to them on an emotional level), the stage in our life where we would most identify with this kind of hero is going to be when we are young(ish) rather than older and more experienced. Joseph Campbell, my own mythology white knight, really explains this well in his theory of the Hero’s Journey. Here’s one site that shows the steps of that journey:
http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/smc/journey/ref/summary.htmlI love Stargate Atlantis. I’ve really become a fan. After all, you’ve got the whole idea of an ancient society that had superior technology (bringing in this whole majestic ancient past angle), you’ve got a group of scientists and explorers, “new” worlds, a female expedition lead (kudos for that, right out of the gate), people from all over the planet with unique and interesting and sometimes practically incompatible personalities (and accents), danger from actual aliens, and dangers from unknowns in the Atlantis City itself. Oh, and this really cool spiritual aspect because the ancients were trying to “ascend” as well. Soooo, let’s see, that’s adventure, archeology, science, space travel, fantasy, humour, diplomacy, danger, Geek Speak, and every so often just a hint of romance (because they are cut off from Earth a lot of the time so who else are they interacting with!?)…oh, yeah, and there’s politics and the army, too.
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These characters are ones you can appreciate and root for, but the characters don’t drive all the stories. There’s action and peril and monsters coming out of the woodwork. And, to top it all off, there are some truly great lines.
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Sheppard: How's it coming, Rodney?
McKay: Slower than I expected, but faster than humanly possible.
"I only know one thing for sure and that is that flying darkness that eats energy can only be very, very bad." McKay
Weir: Who would have thought you'd believe in ghosts?
McKay: I never used to. Until I learned about things called Wraiths that can suck the life out of you with their hands. What the hell is that?
(After Dr. Beckett didn’t want to go through the Stargate)
Sheppard: He's worse than Dr. McCoy.
Teyla: Who?
Sheppard: The TV character that Beckett plays in real life...
Sheppard: Just think of it as a walk on the beach…a beach that’s about to EXPLODE…Sheppard: You think it's worth checking out?
McKay: Any significant energy emission generally indicates technological civilization.
Sheppard: So... you think it's worth checking out?
Dr. Rodney McKay: [sarcastically] I'm sorry. Yes. Energy field good.
[Dr. McKay is wearing an Ancient personal force field generator]
Dr. Weir: I'm still trying to understand how you thought it was a good idea to test this device by having someone throw you off a balcony.
McKay: Oh, believe me, that's not the first thing we tried.
Sheppard: [Smug] I shot him. (gets a look from Weir) In the leg!
McKay: I'm invulnerable!
Weir: Aren't you the one who's always spouting off about how proper and careful scientific procedure must be adhered to?
McKay: [Smug] In-vul-nerable!
Torrell: Well, I could kill you. But you strike me as the type of man who, despite being weak and cowardly on the outside, harbours a strength of character he doesn't even know he has.McKay: I'm sorry - was there a compliment in there?
Weir: Rodney - you can take the rest of the day off.
McKay: [lies down onto the floor on his back with his eyes closed and his hands folded on his chest] Oh. I am gonna curl up in bed with the largest sandwich I can find.
McKay: Well, let me see - we've got slow death, quick death, painful death, cold, lonely death…
Beckett: We believe ATA or Ancient Technology Activation is caused by a single gene that's always on instructing various cells in the body to produce a series of proteins and enzymes that interact with the skin, the nervous system and the brain. In this case we're using a mouse retrovirus to deliver the missing gene to your cells.
McKay: A mouse retrovirus?
Beckett: It's been deactivated.
McKay: Well, are there any side effects?
Beckett: Dry mouth, headache, the irresistible urge to run in a small wheel...
Beckett: ...well if I've learned one thing, Mum, it's that we Earthlings are very...
Lt. Ford: Doc! You can't say that!
Beckett: What?
Ford: Earthlings. It's compromising security!
Beckett: She knows I'm from Earth, son! It's not a bloody secret!
McKay: I'm not sure I can fix this.
Dr. Peter Grodin: You can fix anything.
McKay: Who told you that?
Grodin: You did. On several occasions.
Beckett: You have a date, Rodney? With a woman?
McKay: It is simply two adults sharing some friendly... Yes, with a woman!
Weir: You think once the initial shock is over, we'll have the old Rodney back?
Beckett: I'm afraid so.
McKay: Did I mention that I know almost everything about almost everything?
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