WhateverThings

This episode allowed us to see some of the backstory to Starbuck, and we learned some about who her mother was and how that perhaps shaped who she has come to be. We are to some extent a product of our environment although I would not say we are fated to a particular path. One of the topics in the show was the idea of Starbuck’s destiny. (There was great line - “Kara Thrace and Her Special Destiny - sounds like a bad cover band.”)

The idea of a destiny is sometimes tossed about in Christian circles. I think of things like the Purpose Driven Life and spin-offs. Not that the PDL necessarily teaches that there you have a particular destiny, but it easily becomes warped or misunderstood that way. God has a purpose for my life. I need to find it and then follow it. Sometimes that purpose is understood to mean a specific task, a special part of God’s plan. I don’t see that suggested a whole lot in the Bible. We may have unique opportunities but I am not sure that the Bible suggests that each person has a unique destiny to fulfill.

What raised more interesting questions for me was not the story itself, but the story behind the story. Why was Kara/Starbuck killed off (if she really was)?

In his podcast, Moore says “I was drawn to the audacity of it [killing off Starbuck].” I respect the willingness to kill off a main character. It’s hard because often it is a particular character that makes a show good. On the other hand, in a show like this it provides realism and also a sense of tension. If I am watching a show in which the main characters never die, my only worry is how are they going to get out of this trap rather than will they get out of this trap? I like that uncertainty in knowing that everyone is mortal. But, something about Moore’s comment strikes me as wrong. It almost seemed as if he were doing it simply for the shock value, which does not strike me as compelling reason. Not unlike what is sometimes done in churches, where we do something simply to try and shock or awe people. We have to ask ourselves, does it serve our mission?

I spent a little time perusing the SciFi forum after the show to see what the reaction was of other fans. There were a number who reacted with comments like “He ruined my show.” This all begs the question, whose show is it? On the one hand, it is really the product of Moore and his team. On the other hand, it is produced for an audience to see. I will have to wait and see how it plays out. Starbuck was a central character and it seems like her absence will alter the feel of the show (which has already been different during season 3 anyhow).

Another comment on the forums was that her death did not seem to be dramatic enough, or not fitting for a great hero. Not all deaths are dramatic or heroic. For example, Patton died in a car accident after the war. Hardly a great death for a brilliant military leader like Patton. Others have simply grown old and died in their beds. For some reason we have developed a mythos in which the hero, if s/he dies must make some great sacrifice or have a particularly dramatic death. Maybe it’s because we want death to mean something. Of course all it means is that we are sinners. The good news is that there was one death in history that had special meaning and significance, made even more significant by the fact that he did not stay dead but rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of God the Father. I am thankful for what that death means to me.

So say we all!