Last night Ronald D Moore, David Eick, Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell sat down with Whoopi Goldberg to discuss the social and political meanings of Battlestar Galactica. And they did it at the UN.
Yes, the best science fiction show I could ever even imagine had a special night at the UN, where clips from the show were used to spark discussions on human rights, terrorism, and other sorts of issues that get dealt with at the UN on a daily basis. I really wish I could have been there – it just sounds amazing – especially for this part:
At one point the discussion lit a fire under the Admiral, and the talk
of human rights turned personal for Edward James Olmos. The “Old Man”
launched into a passionate speech about casting off the idea of race as
a cultural determinant, and said we were one race, the human race. His
voice echoed throughout the chamber growing louder until – I kid you
not – he was yelling, “So Say We All,” and the crowd answered right
back. Hell, even I yelled it, I was in the fraking United Nations with
Adama, the gods themselves could not have stopped this moment.
That’s incredible! Click here for the rest of io9’s report from the UN.
I keep meaning to write an ode to Battlestar; I’ll try to get it done before the finale on Friday. But let it be said that despite the show’s occasionally ragtag nature, it has kept going interesting and intelligent places right up until the end. You can nitpick at aspects, but as a whole, Battlestar is a masterpiece.