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EpDis: Chrysalis

Babylon Squared

  • A -- Excellent

    Votes: 10 90.9%

  • B -- Good

    Votes: 1 9.1%

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  • Total voters
    11
Moonface said:
I finally finished my recaps (well... the gathering is still missing, but I think I'll only take some snippets from it, to show Lyta and her interaction with Kosh and maybe GKar and Lyta. remember, my primary goal is not to make a "proper" recap, but a short reference to all the major plotpoints to get my pals back on track fast...ish.

Anyways: I saw JMS commentary on this episode and he mentioned, that for Clarks inauguration they used a picture of Jonson's inauguration as a reference. I didn't get why (as a European, I've know glue about US presidents). So I skimmed over the Wikipedia articles of JFK and Jonson, and I do get why Santiago stands for JFK, as JFK was very peace oriented, but I fail how Clark is a reference to Jonson, as he did continue JFKs path, if I didn't miss anything.

Any insights from US citizens on this?
Click to expand...



When Kennedy was assassinated the US felt a shock following the murder of the president while in office. I think JMS wanted to achieve the same sense of shock after Santiago's unexpected death. I don't consider Clark to be anything like Johnson.
 
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Moonface said:
Anyways: I saw JMS commentary on this episode and he mentioned, that for Clarks inauguration they used a picture of Jonson's inauguration as a reference. I didn't get why (as a European, I've know glue about US presidents). So I skimmed over the Wikipedia articles of JFK and Jonson, and I do get why Santiago stands for JFK, as JFK was very peace oriented, but I fail how Clark is a reference to Jonson, as he did continue JFKs path, if I didn't miss anything.

Any insights from US citizens on this?
Click to expand...

I think it was more to evoke the shocked feeling the US had after Kennedy's assassination more than any commentary about Johnson.
 
Yeah one of the first national images of the time was that picture of Johnson being sworn in. It was meant to show the public that there was stability in the leadership. The only comparison necessary was an act of stabilization done in a time of crisis. There is zero real life connection between Clark and Johnson that I've ever seen or heard beyond the concept of them taking over after their predecessor is killed, but I'm no expert on Johnson. ;)
 
I think I'm right in saying that scene of Clark being sworn in was shot on the 30th anniversary of the real event? Another of those Babylon 5 coincidences.
 
Dutch citizen here, but just to drop my two (euro-) cents.

What JMS meant was meant literally. Not figuratively. The shot of Johnson’s inauguration is pretty well known in the USA. By copying the staging JMS tried to pull some emotional strings. It likely would have gone over the heads of most foreign viewers, but for those that lived through the JFK shooting it might work.

Just compare these photos of Johnson’s inauguration and Clark’s inauguration.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First..._taking_the_oath_of_office,_November_1963.jpg

https://i.stack.imgur.com/stsYO.jpg
 
yeah! While reading about Johnson I saw the picture JMS was talking about. And as Santiago was a good president who wanted to to improve the relations to aliens, I saw parallels to JFKs mission to end "war itself". That's why I searched for more references, as I assumed that this was a political commentary and Johnson might have had a similar nimbus as Clark has. But when I couldn't find anything I was confused. SO the explanation about the pulling of the emotional strings seems to be all JMS was going for.

Thanks for the insights :)
 
Moonface said:
yeah! While reading about Johnson I saw the picture JMS was talking about. And as Santiago was a good president who wanted to to improve the relations to aliens, I saw parallels to JFKs mission to end "war itself". That's why I searched for more references, as I assumed that this was a political commentary and Johnson might have had a similar nimbus as Clark has. But when I couldn't find anything I was confused. SO the explanation about the pulling of the emotional strings seems to be all JMS was going for.
Click to expand...

Greetings. First time posting so am a bit on the nervous side.


Was recently rereading the B5 script books, and recalled that in the commentary section for Chrysalis JMS mentioned this scene. Beyond the visual cues to Johnson being sworn in, JMS wrote: "I wanted the sense of dislocation and shock that followed in the wake of the JFK assassination, the nearly subliminal feeling that with this one event, the wheels have come off the future." If he were to recreate a similar scene for a reboot, wonder if he would revisit this or go in another direction?
 
LateArrival said:
If he were to recreate a similar scene for a reboot, wonder if he would revisit this or go in another direction?
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Assuming he goes for somewhat recent events, there are not too many truly iconic events that would evoke an emotional reaction. Especially if the scene has to be internationally recognisable.

Only one I can think of right now would be Bush’s speech from the WTC rubble. Though I suspect that would be considered too gratuitous and/or politically motivated by many. (of course nowadays everything can be interpreted as being political by some, but that’s a whole different discussion)
 
LateArrival said:
Greetings. First time posting so am a bit on the nervous side.


Was recently rereading the B5 script books, and recalled that in the commentary section for Chrysalis JMS mentioned this scene. Beyond the visual cues to Johnson being sworn in, JMS wrote: "I wanted the sense of dislocation and shock that followed in the wake of the JFK assassination, the nearly subliminal feeling that with this one event, the wheels have come off the future." If he were to recreate a similar scene for a reboot, wonder if he would revisit this or go in another direction?
Click to expand...

Welcome and thanks for the quote from the script books!
The assassination of JFK of course was (and still is) international recognizable, but was already about 30 years old when B5 came out. But it was so huge, that in my country in my generation only 2 US presidents where known: the one in office and JFK. Albeit we only knew that he was assassinated, not much else, and picture wise I never saw Johnsons inauguration, I only recall the video material of JFK in the car (so for us europeans the reference in "Seinfeld" was better recognizable as they went for the assassination itself)

For what JMS could use for a reboot, I think 9.11. is a really good candidate, and JMS was not afraid to go places others didn't dare. When I watched "the war prayer" with friends who knew a lot of StarTrek but not B5, the reaction to the stabbing and branding of "Shaal Mayan" was shock, one even said that that's nearly too much for her. So I can really imagine that JMS would want to go for this, but I don't think WB will let him. I didn't look into this topic for a while, but the last time I checked, wasn't there a movement that banned showing old movies/shows that featured the WTC, to not trigger anyone?
 
One last remark about the inauguration scene, a little bit off topic though: I decided to watch Battlestar Galactica (haven't seen it thus far) and started with the first part of the mini series yesterday, where they show the attack and the inauguration of Laura Roslin...

Thanks to your explanation I now did pick up the reference of the scene instantly :)
 
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