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Fannish 5: Five Believers
Oct. 1st, 2011 10:46 amName five characters whose religious beliefs are important to them.
If one is a DS9 and BSG fan, this is almost too easy. I'll try to save the obvious for the last.
1) Jed Bartlet from The West Wing. Famously argues with God in Latin, but wouldn't dream of leaving the church. Actually, the Jed & faith scene that most sticks in my mind, other than the big outburst from Two Cathedrals, isn't the one from the pilot where he disses the homophobes or the s1 death penalty episode one of his confession, but the s7 conversation over ice cream he has with the Republican candidate (who, in an irony alas missing in real life but true for WW, is more of a securalist and thinks it would be hypocritical to fake it) on the subject.
2) G'Kar from Babylon 5. All the way back in very early s1, when G'Kar looked like he was destined to be the comic relief villain, JMS was careful to establish already that his faith is central to him and that he takes it very seriously indeed. Thus it continued to be through G'Kar's Heroic Resistance Righter phase, culminating in the irony of the way he becomes a messiah figure making it impossible for him to actually live with his people.
3) Rita from the Doctor Who episode The God Complex. Go, Toby Whitehouse, for including a Muslima among your sympathetic characters, and one who showcases that intelligence, questioning curiosity and courage can go hand in hand with valuing one's faith.
4) Kara "Starbuck" Thrace from Battlestar Galactica. Of course, with BSG you can name much over the cast over four seasons, but to me the end scene from Flesh & Bone in s1 which shows Kara praying to her gods remains one of the most original twists, because it would have been so much more obvious to make the the daredevil hedonist pilot a sceptic. Mind you, there was an obvious precedent for the writing team. To wit:
5) Kira Nerys from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Much as I myself have issues with the Prophets as presented on DS9, I always appreciated the choice to make Kira, the second lead of the show, a woman of faith, and the way the show treated her religion as central to her characterisation for seven seasons. It was then something very new in Star Trek, traditionally an agnostic collection of shows (and I wouldn't have it otherwise). And Kira would not have been Kira without this.
If one is a DS9 and BSG fan, this is almost too easy. I'll try to save the obvious for the last.
1) Jed Bartlet from The West Wing. Famously argues with God in Latin, but wouldn't dream of leaving the church. Actually, the Jed & faith scene that most sticks in my mind, other than the big outburst from Two Cathedrals, isn't the one from the pilot where he disses the homophobes or the s1 death penalty episode one of his confession, but the s7 conversation over ice cream he has with the Republican candidate (who, in an irony alas missing in real life but true for WW, is more of a securalist and thinks it would be hypocritical to fake it) on the subject.
2) G'Kar from Babylon 5. All the way back in very early s1, when G'Kar looked like he was destined to be the comic relief villain, JMS was careful to establish already that his faith is central to him and that he takes it very seriously indeed. Thus it continued to be through G'Kar's Heroic Resistance Righter phase, culminating in the irony of the way he becomes a messiah figure making it impossible for him to actually live with his people.
3) Rita from the Doctor Who episode The God Complex. Go, Toby Whitehouse, for including a Muslima among your sympathetic characters, and one who showcases that intelligence, questioning curiosity and courage can go hand in hand with valuing one's faith.
4) Kara "Starbuck" Thrace from Battlestar Galactica. Of course, with BSG you can name much over the cast over four seasons, but to me the end scene from Flesh & Bone in s1 which shows Kara praying to her gods remains one of the most original twists, because it would have been so much more obvious to make the the daredevil hedonist pilot a sceptic. Mind you, there was an obvious precedent for the writing team. To wit:
5) Kira Nerys from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Much as I myself have issues with the Prophets as presented on DS9, I always appreciated the choice to make Kira, the second lead of the show, a woman of faith, and the way the show treated her religion as central to her characterisation for seven seasons. It was then something very new in Star Trek, traditionally an agnostic collection of shows (and I wouldn't have it otherwise). And Kira would not have been Kira without this.
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