I have recently been re-watching Babylon 5 and wondering if the Centari-Narn conflict is supposed to be a quasi-parallel for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It's certainly about post-colonialism and comment on having assumptions about the "other."
On the show, the Narn are a vaguely reptilian race (always sci-fi shorthand for "bad aliens") who have red eyes, seem always angry and come from a desert planet. They have recently freed their home world from the Centari Empire (now Republic) in a protracted guerilla war. Despite this, the audience is supposed to sympathize with the Centari because they are the most human looking of all the show's aliens and their ambassador, Londo Molari, is quite the charmer. By contrast, the Narn ambassador, J'Kar, initially comes across as a childish, petulant bully who is not very bright and easily flustered. However, as the series goes on, viewers learn more about the atrocities that occurred under the occupation and J'Kar becomes more competent and sympathetic. I seem to recall Molari once calling J'Kar a "terrorist," but I'm not certain about that.
If it is commentary on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, then Molari's backstabbing, ingratiating manner, coupled with his thick Eastern European accent almost make him an anti-Semitic caricature. (By contrast, J'Kar almost speaks the Queen's English.)
If so, I don't know how much this is offset by the coolest character on the show, Lieutenant Commander Ivanova, being a Russian Jew. The character had flirted with "Neo-Communism" in her youth (It's set in the future) and her starship sports a big honking red star on its back. The character is also incredibly pessimistic. In one episode in which the station had averted utter destruction, another character breathes, "Well the station didn't go boom."
Ivanova nonchalantly responds, "Boom tomorrow. Tomorrow, go boom."
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Quasi-Off Topic
Date: 2006-02-22 07:08 am (UTC)On the show, the Narn are a vaguely reptilian race (always sci-fi shorthand for "bad aliens") who have red eyes, seem always angry and come from a desert planet. They have recently freed their home world from the Centari Empire (now Republic) in a protracted guerilla war. Despite this, the audience is supposed to sympathize with the Centari because they are the most human looking of all the show's aliens and their ambassador, Londo Molari, is quite the charmer. By contrast, the Narn ambassador, J'Kar, initially comes across as a childish, petulant bully who is not very bright and easily flustered. However, as the series goes on, viewers learn more about the atrocities that occurred under the occupation and J'Kar becomes more competent and sympathetic. I seem to recall Molari once calling J'Kar a "terrorist," but I'm not certain about that.
If it is commentary on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, then Molari's backstabbing, ingratiating manner, coupled with his thick Eastern European accent almost make him an anti-Semitic caricature. (By contrast, J'Kar almost speaks the Queen's English.)
If so, I don't know how much this is offset by the coolest character on the show, Lieutenant Commander Ivanova, being a Russian Jew. The character had flirted with "Neo-Communism" in her youth (It's set in the future) and her starship sports a big honking red star on its back. The character is also incredibly pessimistic. In one episode in which the station had averted utter destruction, another character breathes, "Well the station didn't go boom."
Ivanova nonchalantly responds, "Boom tomorrow. Tomorrow, go boom."
Have you seen the show?