{"id":665,"date":"2011-10-14T13:00:25","date_gmt":"2011-10-14T20:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=665"},"modified":"2011-10-09T16:43:12","modified_gmt":"2011-10-09T23:43:12","slug":"mark-watches-battlestar-galactica-s03e14-the-woman-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2011\/10\/mark-watches-battlestar-galactica-s03e14-the-woman-king\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Battlestar Galactica’: S03E14 – The Woman King"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fourteenth episode of the third season of Battlestar Galactica<\/em>, a large group of Sagittaron refugees boards the Galactica <\/em>carrying a fatal (but treatable) disease. When they claim that a specific doctor is poisoning them, Helo must determine if he can put aside his own biases to find the truth. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Battlestar Galactica<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I think anyone watching “The Woman King” probably felt a growing sense of discomfort at what unfolded on the screen, but I personally thought my stomach and my heart would eat each other and explode until the big climactic reveal at the end of this episode. For me, this episode hits particularly<\/em> hard because it works so well as a general metaphor for the experience of institutional and personal acts of racism. As someone who has grown up in a world where this is still a reality (and having been a victim of racism just less than a month ago!), there’s certainly a whole lot to like about the way that “The Woman King” portrays how prejudice combines with power to wreck and ruin lives.<\/p>\n

(Just a heads up, as there will be frank talk about racism in its many forms below in case you’re not up to reading about it right now.)<\/p>\n

I don’t think the analogy is entirely perfect, but I don’t mean to say it’s at all bad. It’s just that there’s really no way to write a perfect analogy for what racism does in a fictional setting like this because it’s so pervasive and so complicated. Yet there are so many tiny and gigantic moments throughout “The Woman King” that had me either nodding my head in approval (YES, YES, THAT IS EXACTLY HOW IT IS) or grimacing in discomfort.<\/p>\n

The history of the Sagittarons is brought forward in numerous ways in this episode, and we must remember that of all the colonies, they were the most oppressed and exploited. We are given multiple perspectives of different Sagittarons, from Dualla, who still proudly proclaims she is one, to Zarek, who was essentially ostracized because of his crimes, to Portia King, who is still a member of this society. It’s important to note a couple things about how this is written, and why I ultimately like it so much. The Sagittaron culture is inconceivable to the majority of people, and most are so revolted by it that they take no steps to even learn the slightest thing about it. If you pay attention, you’ll see how it’s accepted to be casually dismissive of everything<\/em> it means to be a Sagittaron, and even those high up in command are comfortable writing off the culture as “crazy” or depraved or primitive. In fact, until Helo gets involved, there’s not a person to question or correct this mentality anywhere<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This is part of what creates an atmosphere for damaging acts of casual and systematic racism. (And it’s important to note that the word means something slightly different in the Battlestar Galactica<\/em> universe, since their concept of race is built off of the colonies and not so much on skin color.) We have a climate of officers, admirals, and other people in a position of power who all believe it is entirely rational and acceptable to dismiss the concerns of a whole group of people simply because of their beliefs and where they used to live. It’s never vocalized<\/em> that way, but that’s the undercurrent here: these people are weird<\/em> and not advanced<\/em> and not like us at all<\/em>. Why should we care?<\/p>\n

Once you combine this with the introduction of the Mellorak infection, “The Woman King” demonstrates the disaster that unfolds. By holding positions of power, the people who hold deep-seeded prejudices towards the Sagittarons both have the ability to restrict their access to necessary resources and<\/em> escape any and all accountability for these actions because the system inherently supports them for it<\/em>. At no point does Admiral Adama say, “I am totally cool with you either ignoring or murdering the Sagittarons,” to Michael Robert. He doesn’t need to<\/em>. By calling Helo’s accusations “unfounded” and using his power to quell dissent in the way he does, he is sending that unspoken message: this may continue. You do not need to fear the repercussions of your actions because there are none<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I am also glad the episode goes to great lengths to give us the voice of the affected group, this time all through Portia King, who is the titular character. (God, I love that I thought the title referred to something entirely different.) And here is where I really do feel like Battlestar Galactica<\/em> did this right. As someone who is a Sagittaron and has witnessed the discrimination right before her eyes, who knows with all her heart that something horrible happened to her son, who is watching her people perish, she vocalizes this multiple times to anyone who might listen, especially<\/em> Helo. And what is she met with? Dismissal. She is ignored. She is told that she is paranoid, that she’s too loud, that she’s a nuisance. She is told that her culture<\/em> is to blame, that there can’t possibly be anything wrong with the establishment. Even Helo, as noble as he is here, asks Portia King why she trusted the doctor in the first place<\/em>, trying to shift the blame even on microscopic level. Naturally, the loaded question offends her because it’s not the issue at hand: Dr. Robert killed her child, and no matter what her culture is, or where she’s from, or what the timeline was when she did<\/em> allow him to get medicine, this is not her fault<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Even when Helo starts to believe that Dr. Robert is purposely withholding medicine or giving the Sagittarons a placebo of sorts, we get to witness just how power can be used to oppress other people. No matter how many times Helo tries to raise suspicion that something is wrong, he is refused any grounds to speak. I already addressed Adama’s implicit part of this, but I actually think Colonel Tigh’s reaction to Helo’s accusations is more telling. Even if there might<\/em> be some truth to what the man says, Tigh shows Helo that HE DOESN’T CARE<\/em>. Dr. Robert is on the right side! He is loyal! He is one of them, and he couldn’t possibly<\/em> be doing something like that! How dare you even suggest<\/em> a thing!<\/p>\n

And it’s this that allows Dr. Roberts to run rampant. Even if there are people like that doctor, Doc Cottle, Tigh, and Tyrol who display their bias out in the open, we see that those who choose not to speak up and correct them and shut them down are just as implicit in what happens. It’s because they do nothing to send the message that this sort of bigotry, even when spoken as a joke or an offhand comment, is at all acceptable. So it continues. It continues, and it grows, and it festers, and it spreads so deep and so far and so completely<\/em> that even when someone who is part of the marginalized group (Helo, in this example) tries to fight back, he is met with derision, hatred, violence, cries of disloyalty, and rage. Even when he is able to demonstrate a clear pattern (DATING BACK TO NEW CAPRICA!!!) that shows that Sagittarons face a fatality rate of OVER 90%<\/strong> while in the care of Dr. Robert, his “proof” of a systematic failure is still just an “obsession” or the work of a man who desires to be a martyr. The “evidence” that Doc Cottle requires is all framed in a way that benefits him, and I am happy that it’s portrayed this way. The people in power demand that those they’ve subjugated provide “evidence” in their<\/em> terms. Anecdotal evidence means nothing; they control the method by which to air grievances.<\/p>\n

What I’ve just described is something I have lived with, from those days in Boise, Idaho, where my brother and I were the only two brown kids amongst hundreds of white children, where people thought we were from a foreign country and practiced weird voodoo magic. (Yes, that really happened to me. When I was seven.<\/em>) I have been told that I’m “obsessed” with white people when I try to point out institutionalized racism. I have been told I’m un-American, that I have no loyalty to my country. I’m too mean. I’m too loud. It’s my own people’s fault that Mexicans are so disrespected in the United States. If only we had just assimilated<\/em> into this country better, no one would have a problem.<\/p>\n

Every example of this sort of bigotry that appears in “The Woman King” is something that I, as a person of color, have lived. Again, I don’t think the metaphor extends to everything, and it doesn’t always address how race intersections with other institutional marginalizations in the best way. But I think that this episode shows people how a culture<\/em> of prejudice can create an environment where horrible things happen. And even though people would like to say we here in the United States live in a “post-racial” society, I can point to countless acts of racism, even in modern movements like Occupy Wall Street, or New York’s SlutWalk, or in voter identification laws being used to discourage people of color (amongst other groups, like the elderly, immigrants, and students) from voting in elections. We are not in post-racial America. It does not exist.<\/p>\n

This episode shows us that we need<\/em> to start listening to voices who are crying out about discrimination and hatred, that we need to put aside our preconceived notions of things we have no experience with, that we have to start dismantling this systemic problem by turning to those around us and telling them to–if you’ll excuse my blunt phrase–shut the fuck<\/em> up.<\/p>\n

By the way, have I told you how much I love this show?<\/p>\n

One last thing that I can’t not<\/em> talk about: I celebrate the return of Head Baltar. I think that it’s one of the most fascinating dynamics in the entire show, and I love the chance to see that snarky, sarcastic version of Baltar, to see Caprica Six in a different role than we’re used to. I am<\/em> genuinely interested into what she thinks she is going to do on Galactica<\/em>. I’m sure Athena is right, that her best chance for survival is to assist the humans, but what is she going to take from Head Baltar’s suggestion to act like a human?<\/p>\n

Right, I LOVE THIS SHOW DEARLY<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"