Stargate Gayness
Spurred by this article, I was just thinking about this script that I wanted to write for Stargate. Considering that Stargate is ending, I figure I might as well talk about it to get it out of my system.
Just to say, I haven't been the best fan, although SG-1 is definitely enough to keep me entertained for an hour. I especially love their self-depreciation through the show-within-a-show Wormhole X. For the last few seasons I've been consistently impressed with their writing.
Stargate Atlantis isn't quite so impressive. I started watching because I thought Joe Flanigan was cute (why else?) but I haven't been consistently impressed by the acting. I have to say though, David Hewlett, who plays Rodney McKay, is hilarious. I mean, seriously funny. Usually the engineer is so competent, he has to be in order to solve the weekly puzzle. Scotty, La Forge, Carter, and Tyrol all fall into that category. McKay is different enough to really catch my attention.
Anyway, both of the Stargate shows, especially SG-1, really have taken on role that Star Trek originally became so popular for, and that is heavy social commentary disguised as a light hour of television. Where the original Star Trek addressed racism, sexism, and the cultural movements of the time, Stargate has addressed religious fundamentalism, the media, and to some extent the function of government. Battlestar Galactica has done some of this, with it's treatment of both an occupation and the slim line between Democracy and Dictatorship.
All these moral issues are interesting to me, but I think it's odd how sci-fi avoids even the barest mention of homosexuality.
Anyway, onto the show, as I would write it at the moment even though I know the show is over. I might be a little behind on the plot, and if I am, I apologize. This could have been adapted to fit with any of the last few seasons basically by substituting characters, objects, and enemies.
SG-1 is on a planet, probably exploring it while looking for the sangraal, the weapon capable of destroying ascended beings, and the solution to Earth's problem with the Ori invasion. The enter the village, and ask about the Ori.
Oh, yes, the villagers say. The Ori were here. They were preaching Origin, but they were driven away.
SG-1 look at each other, with one of those knowing looks. They were driven away? Could this be what we're looking for?
The villages lead them into the village, and instead of a device . . . they find a young man, sitting at the table of an inn, drinking quietly alone.
They approach him, and before they have much chance to speak, he looks up at them and says, You must be the Tau'ri.
He introduces himself as Entené (a basic non-human name that I just made up). He's been traveling among worlds that do not have much traffic with the worlds controlled by the Goa'uld, trying to keep a low profile. Yes, he defeated the Prior and drove him away, but only because they had released a plague on this planet that threatened the populace.
Daniel Jackson has the temerity to ask the obvious question: How was he able to defeat the Prior?
Oh, that's not hard. Entené is really an ex-ascended being. One of the first from the Alterans, perhaps even the first ascended Ancient. Back then, Entené decided to explore the universe on his own for a while and left his race before others could catch up.
When he finally reconnected with the other ascended Ancients he found that they had developed a strict non-interference policy with the mortals, something that was not ingrained into Entené because of his biologically based ascension. Because of his status as one of the first ascended Alterans and the fact that he had not succumbed to evil and domination like the Ori, the ascended Ancients decided to allow him to live as a partially ascended being, much like Anubis eventually became except that Entené is still allowed to use the powers and knowledge gained from ascending. He may have even been the template upon which Oma formed Anubis.
Daniel explains the problems that the Ori pose to humanity, and Entené decides to visit Earth with SG-1 in order to consider whether or not to help the SGC in their fight against the Ori.
On Earth, Entené talks extensively to the guards assigned to show him around the SGC and answer his questions. He is impressed with the Tau'ri have built, and finds that their proactive beliefs are is closer to his own mentality than the strict non-interference policy of the other ascended Ancients. He decides to consider the request of the SGC to assist against the Tau'ri, but on one condition: That the SGC allow him to seek a human mate from Earth. After all, Entené has been traveling alone for millenia and he would like to have someone that has roughly the same beliefs that he does to be a companion.
SG-1 is troubled. He doesn't intend to force a woman to become a mate, does he? No, he'll do nothing more than approach them, and if they choose to go with him, the SGC will allow them to go.
Suddenly, a call comes in: The Ori are attacking. SG-1 leaves with Entené, rush to the battle, and easily defeat the Ori vessels. Entené tries to capture the ships so that he can inform the humans onboard that the Ori are not really gods, but the Priors on board manage to combine their powers and destroy their vessels. Entené explains that he can easily stop several Priors, but enough of them can overwhelm his limited powers. Since he had to keep the Tau'ri ships protected, the Priors were able to trigger the self-destructs.
While Entené is upset about the deaths, SG-1 is elated. On the way back to the SGC, they agree to Entené's request to allow him to look for a mate on Earth.
Back on Earth, in front of several people including Mitchell and Carter, Entené approaches the one of his guards and asks him to be his mate. All of the SGC personnel are stunned, it's a male Sergeant, not a female.
Carter and Mitchell pull Entené away, but the damage is done. Suddenly the Sergeant is relieved of his duties. They try to explain "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," to Entené but he is now very confused. He has been a part of your military for years, and he has not changed, Entené says. Why would this make him any less fit for duty than an hour ago?
Mitchell goes to try to convince (whoever the current General is) that Entené was simply confused about the social situation and that he wasn't implying that the Sergeant was gay. In the mean time, Entené talks with Carter, who agrees to go ask the Sergeant for his answer.
The Sergeant, who has been confined to his quarters while the SGC investigates, is scared. Carter talks with him, trying to calm him down and talk him through his decision.
Mitchell enters, and points out that the whole thing was caught on tape. The Sergeant's career is basically over. If he's interested, he might as well go with Entené. The Sergeant says yes, Carter takes his message to Entené.
Entené nods sagely, and teleports to the Sergeants quarters and is going to try to fight his way out of the base, except the SGC soliders refuse to open fire on the Sergeant.
Entené and the Sergeant make their way to the Stargate, which opens it much like it does for the Nox (i.e. as a plot device) and after some quick goodbyes from the Sergeant and a quick You are good people, but there are things that you have to learn before we'll be good friends from Entené they step through the gate and vanish.
SG-1 look at each other, sigh, and go back to looking for the sangraal.
THE END
Incidentally, I don't think that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is going to go away soon. Perhaps Bush will start fiddling with it near the next elections, but only to drive "values voters" to vote and not out of any real interest in making things better.
Just to say, I haven't been the best fan, although SG-1 is definitely enough to keep me entertained for an hour. I especially love their self-depreciation through the show-within-a-show Wormhole X. For the last few seasons I've been consistently impressed with their writing.
Stargate Atlantis isn't quite so impressive. I started watching because I thought Joe Flanigan was cute (why else?) but I haven't been consistently impressed by the acting. I have to say though, David Hewlett, who plays Rodney McKay, is hilarious. I mean, seriously funny. Usually the engineer is so competent, he has to be in order to solve the weekly puzzle. Scotty, La Forge, Carter, and Tyrol all fall into that category. McKay is different enough to really catch my attention.
Anyway, both of the Stargate shows, especially SG-1, really have taken on role that Star Trek originally became so popular for, and that is heavy social commentary disguised as a light hour of television. Where the original Star Trek addressed racism, sexism, and the cultural movements of the time, Stargate has addressed religious fundamentalism, the media, and to some extent the function of government. Battlestar Galactica has done some of this, with it's treatment of both an occupation and the slim line between Democracy and Dictatorship.
All these moral issues are interesting to me, but I think it's odd how sci-fi avoids even the barest mention of homosexuality.
Anyway, onto the show, as I would write it at the moment even though I know the show is over. I might be a little behind on the plot, and if I am, I apologize. This could have been adapted to fit with any of the last few seasons basically by substituting characters, objects, and enemies.
SG-1 is on a planet, probably exploring it while looking for the sangraal, the weapon capable of destroying ascended beings, and the solution to Earth's problem with the Ori invasion. The enter the village, and ask about the Ori.
Oh, yes, the villagers say. The Ori were here. They were preaching Origin, but they were driven away.
SG-1 look at each other, with one of those knowing looks. They were driven away? Could this be what we're looking for?
The villages lead them into the village, and instead of a device . . . they find a young man, sitting at the table of an inn, drinking quietly alone.
They approach him, and before they have much chance to speak, he looks up at them and says, You must be the Tau'ri.
He introduces himself as Entené (a basic non-human name that I just made up). He's been traveling among worlds that do not have much traffic with the worlds controlled by the Goa'uld, trying to keep a low profile. Yes, he defeated the Prior and drove him away, but only because they had released a plague on this planet that threatened the populace.
Daniel Jackson has the temerity to ask the obvious question: How was he able to defeat the Prior?
Oh, that's not hard. Entené is really an ex-ascended being. One of the first from the Alterans, perhaps even the first ascended Ancient. Back then, Entené decided to explore the universe on his own for a while and left his race before others could catch up.
When he finally reconnected with the other ascended Ancients he found that they had developed a strict non-interference policy with the mortals, something that was not ingrained into Entené because of his biologically based ascension. Because of his status as one of the first ascended Alterans and the fact that he had not succumbed to evil and domination like the Ori, the ascended Ancients decided to allow him to live as a partially ascended being, much like Anubis eventually became except that Entené is still allowed to use the powers and knowledge gained from ascending. He may have even been the template upon which Oma formed Anubis.
Daniel explains the problems that the Ori pose to humanity, and Entené decides to visit Earth with SG-1 in order to consider whether or not to help the SGC in their fight against the Ori.
On Earth, Entené talks extensively to the guards assigned to show him around the SGC and answer his questions. He is impressed with the Tau'ri have built, and finds that their proactive beliefs are is closer to his own mentality than the strict non-interference policy of the other ascended Ancients. He decides to consider the request of the SGC to assist against the Tau'ri, but on one condition: That the SGC allow him to seek a human mate from Earth. After all, Entené has been traveling alone for millenia and he would like to have someone that has roughly the same beliefs that he does to be a companion.
SG-1 is troubled. He doesn't intend to force a woman to become a mate, does he? No, he'll do nothing more than approach them, and if they choose to go with him, the SGC will allow them to go.
Suddenly, a call comes in: The Ori are attacking. SG-1 leaves with Entené, rush to the battle, and easily defeat the Ori vessels. Entené tries to capture the ships so that he can inform the humans onboard that the Ori are not really gods, but the Priors on board manage to combine their powers and destroy their vessels. Entené explains that he can easily stop several Priors, but enough of them can overwhelm his limited powers. Since he had to keep the Tau'ri ships protected, the Priors were able to trigger the self-destructs.
While Entené is upset about the deaths, SG-1 is elated. On the way back to the SGC, they agree to Entené's request to allow him to look for a mate on Earth.
Back on Earth, in front of several people including Mitchell and Carter, Entené approaches the one of his guards and asks him to be his mate. All of the SGC personnel are stunned, it's a male Sergeant, not a female.
Carter and Mitchell pull Entené away, but the damage is done. Suddenly the Sergeant is relieved of his duties. They try to explain "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," to Entené but he is now very confused. He has been a part of your military for years, and he has not changed, Entené says. Why would this make him any less fit for duty than an hour ago?
Mitchell goes to try to convince (whoever the current General is) that Entené was simply confused about the social situation and that he wasn't implying that the Sergeant was gay. In the mean time, Entené talks with Carter, who agrees to go ask the Sergeant for his answer.
The Sergeant, who has been confined to his quarters while the SGC investigates, is scared. Carter talks with him, trying to calm him down and talk him through his decision.
Mitchell enters, and points out that the whole thing was caught on tape. The Sergeant's career is basically over. If he's interested, he might as well go with Entené. The Sergeant says yes, Carter takes his message to Entené.
Entené nods sagely, and teleports to the Sergeants quarters and is going to try to fight his way out of the base, except the SGC soliders refuse to open fire on the Sergeant.
Entené and the Sergeant make their way to the Stargate, which opens it much like it does for the Nox (i.e. as a plot device) and after some quick goodbyes from the Sergeant and a quick You are good people, but there are things that you have to learn before we'll be good friends from Entené they step through the gate and vanish.
SG-1 look at each other, sigh, and go back to looking for the sangraal.
THE END
Incidentally, I don't think that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is going to go away soon. Perhaps Bush will start fiddling with it near the next elections, but only to drive "values voters" to vote and not out of any real interest in making things better.
Labels: gay, media, science fiction, writing
posted by Spherical Time at
11:02 PM
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