Happy Birthday to Me!
dryope has posted more Season 4 promo pics. Thanks NBC Universal for the BDay gift. ;) I don’t read anything into photos. These pictures represent what the NBC Universal/SciFi marketing department wants to focus on and what (and I would agree with) most of fandom wants to see. But would it kill them to release just one picture of Lee and Laura together? Yes, we shippers are a small group, but we exist! Even if they aren't a couple, they are as legitimate of a family/working dynamic as Adama and Kara.
I did have a few things I wanted to say about the pictures released yesterday. I hope the images aren’t too big, I did shrink them from the Hi Res versions.
I adore this photo, but it does look more as if they’ve reached earth and GQ hired Lee for a photo spread rather than a photo for the Colonial Bar Journal.
I’ve seen a fair share of people displeased (to put it mildly) that Lee is wearing his wedding ring. I don’t get what the big deal is. It is possible that Jamie just neglected to take his wedding ring off, though that is unlikely. The fact is Lee Adama is, at least technically, going to be married at the beginning of the season. I assumed when Dee walked out on Lee that the marriage was over. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, when Dee left him for defending Baltar, Lee realized she never really knew him. I don’t see them coming back from that. I also think the show is ready to dump the storyline because it didn’t work. Promos have shown us that Season 4 picks up right where we left off at the end of Season 3, so Lee is still going to be married. And given the lack of a legal system and the situation they are in, I’m not sure if they are even sure how to proceed with a divorce. Have there been any divorces?
I have to say I would find it fascinating if Lee’s marriage to Dee were officially over, yet he continued to where the ring. Can we say like father like son? Adama and Carolanne were divorced for years, she was even on the verge of getting remarried at the time of the attacks, and Adama still wore his wedding ring. He still wears his wedding ring. Adama doesn’t like to fail, he failed with his marriage, and he can’t let go of that failure. For better and worse, usually worse, in Season 3 we saw he could still punish himself years latter for perceived wrongs. Is Lee any different? He can’t let go of the Olympic Carrier, can’t let go of his ‘mutiny’, and can’t let go of his choice to abandon those on New Caprica. Could he really just let go of his marriage even if he knows it’s over?
As I said before, these promotional photos are merely the product of the marketing department. I don’t think they mean anything, but I like that they made me think of what could be.
In non-BSG related news, I’d like to thank everyone for the birthday wishes,
greycoupon and Anonymous for the virtual gifts, and whoever gifted me with an LJ gift certificate. ::hugs to you all:: There has been no cake or celebrating tonight which may qualify me for loser status. I’ve had plenty of junk food already this week and I had plans tonight, but neither my friend nor I wanted to deal with the crowds at a restaurant and the movie theatre on a Friday night. Considering we are OMG! having good weather this weekend, both are probably very busy.
I know a few of you watch American Idol, did anyone else think a little bit of Michael Johns soul died Thursday night? Not only was he forced to do weird things to his hair, he had an “I’m too old for this shit” look about him during the cringe-worthy group performance.
Was anyone else aware that slash existed as far back as the 60’s? Oh, wait, there was Star Trek. ;) I mention this because last night I watched the film King Rat on TCM. I had watched it years ago, pre-Hornblower, and, at the time, I did wonder if the two leads, King and Marlowe, had an interest in each other beyond friendship. Watching it again now that I’ve been totally corrupted by fandom, oh, my, is it there. There was stroking of hair and hand holding (during a bedside vigil which took my mind right to Hornblower) and declarations of not being able to go on without the other. This all takes place in Japanese POW camp during WWII. Yes, they are in prison and you know about my kink and I’m sick and need help.
Interestingly, I looked up the film on Wikepedia and found this entry for the book which differs drastically from what I saw.
danceswithwords linked to the Han Solo in carbonite desk earlier. I want one!-
cheerful
Cheers!
I agree with your thoughts re: the ring. Last time we saw him he was a married man. He freaked out about losing that ring. He may very well wear it for a very long time, no matter what.
deborah
Those are indeed lovely pictures of Jamie :) I don't think he knows how to take a bad picture.
The last time I saw King Rat I was too young to notice their relationship - damn, I have to watch it again ;)
Happy Birthday!
I'd like to get to know you better, because everything you've done for the fandom makes me intensely grateful and a bit of a fangirl of yours. :)
Beyond Insane
Re: Happy Birthday!
I agree about the wedding ring. It didn't bother me see it in the photos because there's no doubt that the marriage is over in spirit, even if not yet on paper. Maybe that'll be Lee's next task as a lawyer - devising a swift divorce process!
did anyone else think a little bit of Michael Johns soul died Thursday night?
I think the collective soul of the world died during that group number. :)
How will history remember Lee Adama? As the man who gave to Colonial law the quickie divorce. ;)
I think the collective soul of the world died during that group number.
HEE!
Edited at 2008-02-23 05:13 am (UTC)
It's been rather nice, reading and talking on the shipper thread over on skiffy since the pictures come out - the general attitude is so squeeful at having a Lee/Kara promo pic that doesn't involve angsty body language that I think people are partying like it's 1984. The ring's come up a few times, but mainly people are pretty ambivalent about it; I like the ideas you've put forward, both the idea that Jamie just didn't bother taking it off or that it's a symbol for him, but the general shipper attitude I've seen is a mix of Smallville style "why don't they just let the idea of the marriages die?" and "meh, pretty happy pilot pics!"
What's quite interesting is that someone who chats over on the shipper thread got to do a set visit to the BSG set, and the assistant responsible for arranging the photoshoot for the last supper shot amongst other things has said that Ron actually was involved with it; he was apparently on the phone with them as the shot was set up, and was giving instructions on some aspects of it. He apparently specified that Lee had to sit next to the cup, for example. Having dismissed that shot out of hand as a marketing gimmick, I'm now finding myself intrigued at the significance of the cup signifying the final Cylon and Lee's relationship with it. I still like the idea that from the posing and positioning within the shot, the implication is that everyone is focussed on something, and in Lee's case he's the one who's either involved in discovering or directly involved with the Final Cylon, and possibly the only one with an awareness that there is something going on there.
Heh. Yeah, I think that's the main marketing ploy. I also have always felt that SciFi thinks fandom is more concerned with ships then it actually is. Sure, there are a lot of L/K and A/R fans, but the majority of fans watch the show because they like the themes and the characters and not because of who is fraking who.
and in Lee's case he's the one who's either involved in discovering or directly involved with the Final Cylon
Maybe it's Dee. ;) Considering we already have two characters unknowingly married to Cylons I really doubt they'd have Lee follow that same path.
I've heard stories recently that lead me to believe that Ron isn't above messing with people so even though he may have been giving input on some of the shots I'd still question whether it means anything. Or it could be the photographer was explaining his thoughts to Ron and Ron said something along the lines of, "Then Lee should be by the cup."
I'm going to have to disagree with you to an extent about the reaction to the pics at the Skiffy forum. After reading reactions around LJ regarding the pics, I decided to take a peak at various threads at the forum and while I would agree that most people were just giddy over pretty pics of pretty people and seeing their ship, whether it be L/K, K/S, or A/R, posed together, I did see posts that left me scratching my head. To me, and maybe this is because I'm not a huge Kara fan and honestly don't care who (if anyone) she ends up with, Kara/Katee's facial expressions and body language read very similar to me in the pics with Jamie/Lee and Michael/Sam so how can her demeanor be read one way in one set of pics and totally different in another set? I noticed that in all of the photos none of the actors/characters are looking at each other. But it just seemed to me an artsy way of staging the actors and the decision of the photographer.
I guess the thing that really irked me, and let me stress I saw this on some LJs as well, is the Dee bashing. Thankfully, I didn't see anyone bash Kandyce, but I still don't get bashing a character to make your character or ship look better. I admit I'm sensitive to this since I had to deal with this crap in Buffy fandom. I love the character of Spike, but was well aware that he was a serial killer, unrepentant about it, and even as he tried to do good, his motivations were selfish. That Buffy was at all nice to him or showed him any affection was, I thought, to her credit. But time and again I saw Buffy trashed - "bitch" being a favorite term - just to make Spike look better. So when I see Lee referred to as an asshole, Kara a whore, and Dee a skank (and this is stuff I've seen in the past year or so, not necessarily recently) to build up another character or ship it makes me very ill at ease. I totally support criticism of the characters, but I guess in my perfect fandom world that criticism would be held to a higher standard.
I think you know me well enough to know I am not criticizing any particular group of people. I truly believe 99% of fandom is pretty awesome whether they choose to hang out on LJ or Skiffy or some other forum, but there is always a few that I just don't get why they have to dwell in negativity when fandom should be a happy and welcoming place.
Edited at 2008-02-23 11:42 pm (UTC)
Nice Pics of Jamie. Sometimes a photo is just a photo. ;) And when they're as nice as these....who cares for the what or why!
Just wanted to say a "Happy (belated) Birthday to you".
Here's wishing you Bamber dreams....and yummy cake (at some point).
Hope it was a great day for a great lady.
Wooo, the promo shots are so pretty! Hehe, I agree with you on the GQ thingie... ;)
I have to say though, my favorite Lee shot is the one you didn't post here. I agree it's not as "dramatic" as the others, it's just unadulterated prettiness. ;)
I've seen people debating on the ring Lee still wears elsewhere too. Honestly I really like that detail. Look at Bill's finger, he still wears his ring regardless of his marital status! Like father, like son?! ;)
And don't even get me started on the Dee bashing. All I'm going to say is it actually turned me off of the K/L ship!
And don't even get me started on the Dee bashing. All I'm going to say is it actually turned me off of the K/L ship!
Could I interest you in the L/L ship? ;) We don't bash or fight! :) But, seriously, it's unfortunate that some fans drove you from the ship. All the K/Lers on my Flist are sane and I'm sure there is a fair share on the Skiffy forum that are rational about the ship, but I've also seen some posts that make me understand why you just decided to focus on other aspects of the show.