{"id":9579,"date":"2015-06-19T14:57:36","date_gmt":"2015-06-19T18:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/writingprogram\/?page_id=9579"},"modified":"2015-08-17T15:30:36","modified_gmt":"2015-08-17T19:30:36","slug":"jones","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/writingprogram\/journal\/past-issues\/issue-7\/jones\/","title":{"rendered":"Battlestar Galactica<\/em>:
A Vehicle of the American Road"},"content":{"rendered":"

Caroline Jones<\/h2>\n

Read the instructor’s introduction<\/a>
\nRead the writer’s comments and bio<\/a>
\nDownload this essay<\/a><\/p>\n

Battlestar Galactica<\/em> premiered when 9\/11 was still a fresh infliction on the American soul, and with the show\u2019s vivid depictions of issues such as terrorism, racial tension, and suicide bombings, it established its allegorical nature and fostered an open and honest dialogue about these issues with its audience. While there has been a plethora of scholarly discussion surroundingBattlestar Galactica<\/em>\u2019s 9\/11 allegory, all of this discourse has been done in the context of defining\u00a0Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0as being solely a science fiction narrative.\u00a0Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0is more than that\u2014it is actually a complex blend of genres, encompassing not only the science fiction genre but also the travel genre and the road genre.\u00a0Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0specifically operates as an American road narrative through allegory: its \u201cAmerican\u201d nature stems from its commentary on 9\/11, whereas its \u201croad\u201d nature manifests itself in the pilgrimage that the fleet takes through uncharted space. By using this new context to reconsider\u00a0Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u2019s 9\/11 allegory, new interpretations of the narrative can be gleaned that breathe new life into the series and ensure that it continues to stay relevant years after the initial aftermath of 9\/11. This method of reconsidering genre can be applied not only to\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>, but also to discussions and interpretations surrounding genre as a whole as well as the complex ways in which genres interact with each other within single narratives.<\/p>\n

Previously on\u00a0Battlestar Galactica<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In its original 1970\u2019s form,\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0was a science fiction narrative that would have fit the stereotypical absurdity that some ascribe to the genre, with its inclusion of robot dogs and unicorn planets. However, the reimagined\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0with Ronald D. Moore at the helm did away with all of this silliness by focusing on the core plot of the original: a ragtag group of humanity\u2019s last survivors on the run from a robotic threat. Moore refined these core ideas and made them applicable to a post-9\/11 world; to this end, Moore explicitly states that \u201cwhat happens to the people in Galactica is what happened to us in September, but in several orders of magnitude larger\u201d (Moore qtd. In Bassom 12). To illustrate this point, the series begins with a nuclear holocaust against humanity, committed by that which humanity created\u2014the robotic Cylons, who have since evolved from hulking masses of steel to having exteriors that perfectly imitate those of humans.<\/p>\n

Following this devastating event, which leaves very few people alive, the Secretary of Education of the Twelve Colonies, Laura Roslin, is sworn in as President through the line of succession. Concurrently, the commander of the Battlestar Galactica<\/em>, Bill Adama, finds himself at the head of the fleet\u2019s military due to the Battlestar Galactica<\/em> being the only battlestar to survive the attack. However, the Cylons will not settle for anything less than humanity\u2019s extinction, and a desperate chase unfolds as the fleet searches for Earth, a fabled lost colony from their religious scriptures, while simultaneously attempting to fend off the Cylons.<\/p>\n

Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u2019s 9\/11 allegory is robust and has already been explored in great detail in scholarship. However, all of this scholarship has been done with the assumption that\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0operates solely as a science fiction narrative. In \u201c”I See the Patterns”:\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0and the Things That Matter,\u201d Tiffany Potter and C.W. Marshall write that\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0is an example of \u201cblending traditions and subgenres,\u201d but do not actually define those traditions and subgenres that are being blended beyond the scope of science fiction (5). This oversight is understandable because of the ease with which one can classify any spacefaring narrative as a science fiction, but rather unfortunate because of the limitations that this rigid genre classification imposes on further discourse surrounding the narrative. If\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0was instead defined as a narrative consisting of multiple interacting genres, previously analyzed components of its 9\/11 allegory can be reinterpreted using this new framework.<\/p>\n

Establishing Battlestar Galactica <\/em>as an American Road Narrative<\/strong><\/p>\n

This pilgrimage that Adama initiates constitutes the backbone of what defines\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0as a road narrative. In Romance of the Road: The Literature of the American Highway<\/em>, Ronald Primeau defines the \u201croad journey\u201d as \u201can epic quest, a pilgrimage . . . that helps explain where Americans have been and where they think they might be going\u201d (1). While\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0can certainly be viewed as an \u201cepic quest\u201d through space, it aligns more closely with a pilgrimage due to the religious references that Adama invokes in order to give credibility to his claim of Earth\u2019s existence. He quotes the Sacred Scrolls, the culture\u2019s religious texts: \u201c\u2018Life here began out there,\u2019\u201d and turns to the fleet\u2019s appointed spiritual leader, the priestess Elosha, for confirmation of Earth\u2019s existence in the Sacred Scrolls (Miniseries Part 2). At the end of the address, the camera transitions to Adama\u2019s audience, and while Roslin looks skeptical, and indeed later voices this incredulity to Adama, the ordinary members of the crowd look excitedly to and embrace one another, cheer and clap, their faces alight with the hope that Adama has succeeded in instilling in them. Thus the fleet begins their pilgrimage to find Earth.<\/p>\n

This newly formed pilgrimage aligns with Primeau\u2019s definition of a road journey, but complications arise with defining\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0as a road narrative due to the fact that they are not actually travelling on the highway\u2014Primeau strictly defines American road narratives as ones in which the character(s) \u201ctravel by car throughout the country\u201d (1). However, Primeau later states that \u201cdeviating from standard road formats are the experimental narratives,\u201d one of which he describes as \u201cthe futuristic\u201d (15). As one of these \u201cfuturistic\u201d narratives that Primeau describes,\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0has abstracted the road and transformed it into the path through uncharted space that the fleet travels. The car, the vehicle through which the pilgrimage occurs, is therefore naturally replaced by the various spacefaring vehicles that the fleet possesses. The imagery of the road (Figure 1) is strewn with barren loneliness, struck with a harsh geometrical divider of steel.\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0contains similar imagery in its opening sequence: the fleet is enveloped by the steely harshness of uncharted space (Figure 2). Therefore,\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0still aligns with Primeau\u2019s definition of a road journey even though the road is not physically present\u2014the road is instead replaced by uncharted space in this \u201cfuturistic\u201d narrative (Primeau 15).
\n
\n<\/a>\"Jones<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n


Figure 1: Lange, Dorothea. <\/em>The Road West.\u00a01938. Silver gelatin. Photograph.
\nSource: www.metmuseum.org<\/a><\/em><\/h5>\n
\"Jones<\/a>
Figure 2: <\/em>Battlestar Galactica, Season One Opening Sequence<\/em><\/h5>\n


An American road narrative is distinct from road narratives in general because it focuses on aspects of American life particularly, which\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0accomplishes through its allegory surrounding 9\/11.\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u2019s allegory raises questions about America\u2019s 9\/11 experience, yet gives few answers; indeed,\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u2019s goal is not to provide answers, but to \u201c[invite] people into dialogue\u201d (Primeau 5). For instance, in \u201c(Re)Framing Fear: Equipment for Living in a Post-9\/11 World,\u201d Brian Ott explores the plotline of New Caprica, a planet that the fleet attempts to settle in lieu of finding Earth. The temporary peace that the fleet has found is interrupted by the Cylons who descend upon the fledgling colony, easily take over, and establish an oppressive rule. A resistance against the Cylons emerges, with its members eventually resorting to suicide bombings in order to attempt to overthrow the vicious Cylon authority. Ott notes that the Cylon\u2019s methods of maintaining order among the colonists, which include interrogation, parallels American involvement in Iraq post-9\/11. He explains that \u201cin seeing the world through the perspective of the humans on New Caprica, viewers are challenged to see Iraq through the eyes of Iraqis\u201d (24).\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0adheres to this provocative storytelling throughout its narrative, and it is in this way that it aligns itself with Primeau\u2019s tenets of the road narrative\u2014it is through this dialogue with its audience regarding 9\/11 that\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0attempts \u201cto understand experiences\u201d surrounding 9\/11 (Primeau 1).\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0in its entirety is an example of a complex coalescence of genre. It can be defined not only as a science fiction narrative, but dually as an American road narrative. With this new definition established, it is now possible to revisit other previously examined components of\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u2019s 9\/11 allegory and derive new interpretations from them.<\/p>\n

Interpreting Allegory Through a New Lens<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following the 9\/11 attacks, the Bush leadership adopted an \u201cus versus them\u201d philosophy, which Ott describes as a \u201cprominent strategy for addressing internal dissent\u201d (21). It is in this way that the administration buried \u201cemergent cultural values,\u201d a term coined by Raymond Williams and which Primeau describes as those that \u201cadvocate alternative or oppositional attitudes and beliefs\u201d\u2014under patriotic rhetoric, the \u201cdominant cultural values\u201d (4). This silencing of emergent voices is explicitly represented in\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>. In \u201cBastille Day,\u201d Roslin approaches the prisoners of the fleet with an offer: in exchange for their physical labor, they will be offered points towards their freedom. The prisoners unanimously decline, and from the group emerges a leader, Tom Zarek, an infamous political terrorist. A hostage situation unfolds, and Zarek demands Roslin\u2019s immediate resignation as President due to what he sees as her unlawful seizure of the office. In an attempt to silence this \u201cemerging value,\u201d Adama dispatches an armed squad to regain order on the prison ship. In this clash of dominant and emerging cultural values, a mediator appears in the form of Apollo, the commander of Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u2019s pilots, who is able to broker a compromise by promising Zarek that elections be held within the year. According to Primeau, struggles between different cultural values are frequently present in American road narratives, and in this context, interpretations of this episode have different implications to\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u2019s allegory. While Ott views this episode \u201cas a stern rebuff to the Bush administration and its\u2026arrogant refusal to change course or even entertain alternatives,\u201d it can also be viewed as an instance in which\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0is able to \u201copen dialogues between oppositional elements\u201d (Ott 22, Primeau 5). Indeed, Apollo is the physical manifestation of this dialogue, and it is through this rational conversing between dominant and emergent values that a favorable compromise is reached. This does not suggest a \u201cstern rebuff,\u201d but rather, an optimistic evaluation of the ability of Americans to respectfully consider views that differ from their own.<\/p>\n

Although Ott may be correct in his claim about this scene, he fails to explore the conversational elements that manifest within the episode that are only definable through the use of the road genre\u2019s vocabulary. At the conclusion of season three, four of the final five Cylon models are revealed through the use of an adapted form of Bob Dylan\u2019s \u201cAll Along the Watchtower.\u201d Although the song itself has ties to the 9\/11 allegory through the way in which the song is related to the tumultuous 60\u2019s era, which Eftychia Papanikolaou explores in \u201cOf Duduks and Dylan: Negotiating Music and the Aural Space,\u201d it is also a crucial plot element, as only four characters aboard the Battlestar Galactica<\/em> can hear it\u2014four of the unknown final five Cylon models. Through their search for the origins of the song, at the time only unrecognizable musical notes, they all inexplicably converge to the same location, and begin to hum the now recognizable song. They come to the realization that they are Cylons\u2014their reactions range from disbelief to rage, but as they eventually come to terms with this revelation, Colonel Saul Tigh, second in command of the Battlestar Galactica<\/em>, proclaims: \u201cMy name is Saul Tigh. I am an officer in the colonial fleet. Whatever else I am . . . That\u2019s the man I want to be\u201d (“Crossroads Part 2”). Tigh chooses his own path even with the revelation that he has been and has created his own enemy, rather than suffer from a crisis of identity. In the same way, through the stripping of political rhetoric and the revelations of the more controversial aspects of the War on Terror, Americans might find that America has become something that they do not wish it to be. American road narratives \u201creaffirm traditional values even as they challenge the status quo,\u201d which Tigh does in the way that he continually proves his loyalty to the fleet even with the knowledge that his true identity is that of the fleet\u2019s enemy (Primeau 8). This reinterpretation through the American road lens suggests that the true message here is that Americans can still be patriotic and pro-America (traditional values) even while they disagree with the dominant culture\u2019s political rhetoric (challenge of the status quo).<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again\u201d is the sina qua non line of\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>. By interpreting this central quote of the series in the context of the road narrative, it can be seen that this line represents the culmination of\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u2019s 9\/11 allegory. In \u201cDaybreak Part 3,\u201d the fleet begins to settle down on the new Earth, the audience\u2019s Earth, and the audience is treated to stunning views of the frontiers of the untouched planet. American road narratives often deal with frontierism, and generally portray the frontier as an ideal that has mostly been tarnished by human hands, which is exactly what\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0does: as the camera continues to pan over the seemingly unending frontier scenery, the towering of steel buildings comes into view and the text \u201c150,000 years later\u201d appears across the screen. It is understood that this is the present day, and in the city, two manifestations of what seem to be angel-like figures appear who have taken on the appearances of Gaius Baltar, former President of the colonies, and Six, a Cylon. They reflect on the pilgrimage of the fleet and discuss the future of the planet, to which the angel Baltar asks: \u201cDoes all of this have to happen again?\u201d (\u201cDaybreak Part 3\u201d). While this line is traditionally interpreted to be referring to the advancing robotic technology in the present day, it is also densely packed with allegorical meaning. Through both the destruction of the frontier and the events of 9\/11 that have already happened on Earth, most of what was experienced in the fleet\u2019s time has already happened again. However, this line represents the hope that humanity will deviate from some of the colonists\u2019 mistakes in order to create a better world. There is a hope expressed in the culmination of the fleet\u2019s journey that by having accompanied the fleet and having engaged in discourse with\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>, that the audience will \u201cultimately [return] triumphant\u201d from this quest, and \u201c[bring] restorative powers back home\u201d in order to reverse the current trend of destruction on Earth (Primeau 7). While Ott views the audience takeaway from\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0as having applications surrounding only the 9\/11 allegory, by reexamining the series finale with the added context of traditional American road themes and values, a very powerful message about the disastrous consequences of unchecked destruction of the frontier also emerges.<\/p>\n

This paper focused solely on the reexamination of previously well-defined elements of\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u2019s 9\/11 allegory through the redefinition of the series as an American road narrative, but\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0discusses many more issues than just 9\/11. The framework established in this paper can be extended to any number of these issues in order to further explore the complexities that genre redefinition introduces into previously well-established narrative interpretations. In \u201cNo Exit,\u201d Brother Cavil, a Cylon, expresses his frustration with his human-like form:<\/p>\n

I want to see gamma rays! I want to hear X-rays! And I want to\u2014I want to smell dark matter! Do you see the absurdity of what I am? I can\u2019t even express these things properly because I have to\u2014I have to conceptualize complex ideas in this stupid limiting spoken language! But I know I want to reach out with something other than these prehensile paws! And feel the wind of a supernova flowing over me! I\u2019m a machine! And I can know much more! I can experience so much more. But I\u2019m trapped in this absurd body! And why? Because my five creators thought that God wanted it that way!<\/p>\n

Much like Brother Cavil,\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0has been trapped. It has been trapped in an unwavering, rigid genre definition, but by reevaluating this and freeing the narrative, new layers of meaning are revealed that enhance the show\u2019s interaction with the audience. Now, many years removed from 9\/11,\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Battlestar Galactica<\/em>\u00a0remains relevant because of its central message interwoven within these layers: the road to a brighter future begins with hope.<\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/h2>\n

Battlestar Galactica<\/em>. Moore, Ronald D.. SyFy<\/em>. 2003\u20132009. Television.<\/p>\n

Bassom, David. The Official Guide to Battlestar Galactica<\/em>. London: Titan Books, 2005. Print.<\/p>\n

Ott, Brian L.. \u201c(Re)Framing Fear: Equipment for Living in a Post-9\/11 World.\u201d Cylons in America: Critical Studies in Battlestar Galactica<\/em>. New York: Continuum, 2008. 13\u201326. Print.<\/p>\n

Papanikolaou, Eftychia. \u201cOf Duduks and Dylan: Negotiating Music and the Aural Space.\u201d Cylons in America: Critical Studies in Battlestar Galactica<\/em>. New York: Continuum, 2008. 224\u2013236.<\/p>\n

Potter, Tiffany, and C.W. Marshall. \u201c\u2018I See the Patterns\u2019: Battlestar Galactica and the Things That Matter.\u201d Cylons in America: Critical Studies in Battlestar Galactica<\/em>. New York: Continuum, 2008. 1\u201313.<\/p>\n

Primeau, Ronald. Romance of the Road: The Literature of the American Highway<\/em>. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1996. Print.<\/p>\n

Williams, Raymond. Marxism and Literature<\/em>. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1977. Print.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Caroline Jones Read the instructor’s introduction Read the writer’s comments and bio Download this essay Battlestar Galactica premiered when 9\/11 was still a fresh infliction on the American soul, and with the show\u2019s vivid depictions of issues such as terrorism, racial tension, and suicide bombings, it established its allegorical nature and fostered an open and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4801,"featured_media":0,"parent":9553,"menu_order":11,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/writingprogram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9579"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/writingprogram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/writingprogram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/writingprogram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4801"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/writingprogram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9579"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/writingprogram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10020,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/writingprogram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9579\/revisions\/10020"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/writingprogram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/writingprogram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}