TNS and Family

[mjm800]

Some TOS fans (not all as I am a TOS fan) have long argued that TOS was about family and TNS is not. Often they point to Adama and Lee’s relationship from the mini, labeling it dysfunctional when compared to that of Adama and Apollo, I have deferred to this argument ony because I agree that TOS was a happy fuzzy family hour and it us left with the a sense that the bonds between father and son were indeed strong.

However, after viewing TNS episodes 4 and 5 can anyone seriously state that TNS is not about family? Adama and Lee did whatever it took to find Kara because she is family; moreover, Adama bonded with Lee even if for a moment before raising the walls again you knew that he loved his son above all else.

TNS has proved to me that it is about family perhaps not the perfect family, but one that I can relate to because they most resemble my own. We do not always get along, and sometimes we do not speak for long periods and we certainly have our share of baggage and problems, but when the going gets tough we will always be there for each other, no questions asked.

[CylonGod]

Well said mjm800 (I am a TOS fan too) and I totally agree with you. The TNS take on families is more like todays families. (dysfunctional, mixed race, muliti religous, etc).

[Roner]

I agree. We all love our families but we don't always agree with them. Sometimes we get mad but that doesn't mean we don't care for and about them. TNS plays the family angle in a more realistic manor then TOS did.

[ah-chie]

I'd like to think I came from a fairly normal family, but when I examine the details (especially once we all reached adulthood) there were always plenty of issues, dysfunction and even "internecine" warfare on occasion.

I think the idealized portrayal of families is a pleasant fairy tale, but it just isn't something that most people can relate to nowadays.

And this show isn't "Touched by an Angel", so I think to show families that have to face their conflicts goes right in step to the darker tone of the show.

Even with conflicts to resolve, families, like the one on the new BSG, can show what is truly remarkable about familial relationships - they often have a strength that only makes itself known during times of great crisis.

That is more "human" than any "fantasy like" portrayal of the ever wise father and the always loyal and loving son.

By showing a warts and all look at the relationships with the Adama family, seeing those two having both successes and failures while struggling to come to some kind of an understanding of each other, watching Lee discover that his father does care for him deeply - it actually demonstrates the true emotional impact that people can have on each other.

This show doesn't have a simplistic message about families - it demands that the viewer sift through the plots and the dialogue and hunt out the greater truths about relationships - they are definitely there... written on the faces of the characters (actors) in their eyes as they look at each other and in the quietness of their telegraphed thoughts (like the expressions that Adama and Lee echanged after the Commander told his son that he would *never* have stopped searching for him if he were lost).

[Ziptie]

mjm800 said:

Some TOS fans (not all as I am a TOS fan) have long argued that TOS was about family and TNS is not.

I've never bought that argument, and I don't think the other, oft-used one (that TOS was a product of its time) holds up either.

Families have always had their schisms and dysfunctions in at least equal measure to their strengths. The difference between the new series and the old one is that the writing and portrayal of the relationships attempts to be realistic, capturing both the negative and the positive. In contrast, the depiction in TOS was always hopelessly optimistic and unrealistic.

At end of day that was the sort of vibe inherent in pretty much any Glen A Larson production - the good guys were good and the bad guys were bad, and the good guys always won in the end.

It might have made good wholesome teatime entertainment, and given everyone an idea about what they hoped "family" would mean, but drama it wasn't.