Battlestar G. is my teacher

I will write more about this topic over the coming days: the rising idea of forgiveness in pop-culture... how are we seeing the need for grace in entertainment? 

My first example: Battlestar Galactica

Huh? I'm kidding, right? What's with the cheesy title for starters?

Well, for those who aren't yet in the know--trust me, it's worth your time--I recommend a recent Salon feature, titled: 

Everything you were afraid to ask about "Battlestar Galactica"

A complete primer on the smartest sci-fi TV show ... maybe ever.

By Thomas Rogers

http://www.salon.com/ent/tv/feature/2008/04/02/bsg_explainer/

"...by virtue of its strong writing and naturalistic style, the series manages to be engaging and politically relevant. Its creator, Ronald Moore, uses "Battlestar's" universe as a funhouse mirror for American post-9/11 cultural anxieties. Since the miniseries' initial Cylon attack -- with its parallels to the events of Sept. 11 -- "Battlestar" has broached topical debates about torture, military occupation, abortion, genocide and war crimes. It has managed to do so while avoiding the trap of strained allegory and partisan politics..."

And how does forgiveness figure here?

To quote http://redblueamerica.com/:

"Battlestar Galactica" and America after 9/11

"'Battlestar Galactica'" is perhaps the smartest and most comprehensive artistic meditation on life in post-9/11 America that exists in all of popular culture... At the end of Season Three, in fact, Lee Adama -- the admiral's son -- gives a rousing courtroom speech. Everybody, he says, has committed awful mistakes in the course of trying to survive the end of the human race. But those sins should be forgiven, he suggests, because everybody is trying their best in the face of unspeakable evil. Left and right, we all need to give each other a little grace."

If sci-fi can change it's spots and really speak to us like the adults we are... then the sky's the limit. That's the final frontier; or put another way, consider Battlestar's thesis: survival is not enough--you have to earn it, be worthy of it. One accomplishes this by finding grace in situations where it is profoundly absent from the scene. You have to make your redemption stick. Every day. And then you have to live with your choice. Every day.