I must admit I might be too used to Jack to give Cameron a fair chance, but I also feel it would have been better if Cameron had a distinctive separate personality. I think Cam and John both share some of Jack's qualities. (Though neither really has Jack's brand of smart-aleck sarcastic. Cam's more cheerful quips, and John's humour is more deadpan.) But to quote Landry, "All pilots are Type A personalities." As a cocky flyboy who disregards rules, I'd say Cam leans more conservative than John. Cam's not the maverick, John is. Cam is impatient, a go-getter (compared to John's slacker persona), eye on the prize. John adapts to new situations but dislikes change. And Jack? Jack is a veteran, he's a veteran before we even meet him. I feel like we could peel back layer after layer and still not know everything about Jack O'Neill.
Nevertheless, Sheppard and Cameron telling Rodney to shut up in the briefing taking the piss out of him, even though they specifically needed his help, the joke with the lemon, the condescending attitude aboard the Prometheus,in my opinion EVERYTHING in that episode was just unnecessarily mean and left an aftertaste of cool kids bullying the geek. THIS is the part of your comment that really bothered me. Because you're saying that John and Cam are wrong to tell Rodney to shut up, when in fact Rodney is the one who keeps interrupting Sam every two seconds. Why is he even talking? Sam is running the meeting, she's got a plan already set, she has covered every single point that Rodney brings up (which he'd know, if he'd just let the woman speak), and it's extremely frustrating to me as a feminist to see a female scientist get continually interrupted by a man who thinks he knows better, when really, he's just dragging out the meeting even longer. Time is of the essence! If he'd simply let Sam finish speaking, then filled in anything she missed, I sincerely doubt anyone would've told him to shut up.
The fact that Rodney "can't help himself" does not excuse his behaviour. (I'm not even going to get into his inappropriate comments to Sam later on the Odyssey.) Now, I enjoy Rodney's rants for the most part, and on SGA he's given far more leeway to insult and interrupt and generally own the stage. I don't mind this! It's fun! Hewlitt is great at those long, complicated back-and-forths with Zelenka and others. But this does not mean his behaviour is okay. In as much as Cam is "dismissive", yes-- he does not appreciate Rodney's ego in general, or his behaviour toward Sam in particular. Rodney is a grown man and he's more than capable of behaving like a professional. He can be brave and heroic and selfless. But in this episode? There was also a lot of his, shall we say, less pleasing qualities. The fact that Cam notices and disapproves of these qualities is hardly Cam's fault.
I mean, I'm willing to give you the "being mean to McKay" thing if you'll give me "Rodney started it".
ETA: Fixed David Hewlitt's name! Also wanted to say, since you don't know me, I actually like Rodney as a character. He's not my favourite, but I enjoy him in canon. I'm just a bit leery of the fanon that's grown up around him.
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timeasmymeasure
Part 2 of 2
Date: 7 June 2009 07:53 pm (UTC)I think Cam and John both share some of Jack's qualities. (Though neither really has Jack's brand of smart-aleck sarcastic. Cam's more cheerful quips, and John's humour is more deadpan.) But to quote Landry, "All pilots are Type A personalities." As a cocky flyboy who disregards rules, I'd say Cam leans more conservative than John. Cam's not the maverick, John is. Cam is impatient, a go-getter (compared to John's slacker persona), eye on the prize. John adapts to new situations but dislikes change. And Jack? Jack is a veteran, he's a veteran before we even meet him. I feel like we could peel back layer after layer and still not know everything about Jack O'Neill.
Nevertheless, Sheppard and Cameron telling Rodney to shut up in the briefing taking the piss out of him, even though they specifically needed his help, the joke with the lemon, the condescending attitude aboard the Prometheus,in my opinion EVERYTHING in that episode was just unnecessarily mean and left an aftertaste of cool kids bullying the geek.
THIS is the part of your comment that really bothered me. Because you're saying that John and Cam are wrong to tell Rodney to shut up, when in fact Rodney is the one who keeps interrupting Sam every two seconds. Why is he even talking? Sam is running the meeting, she's got a plan already set, she has covered every single point that Rodney brings up (which he'd know, if he'd just let the woman speak), and it's extremely frustrating to me as a feminist to see a female scientist get continually interrupted by a man who thinks he knows better, when really, he's just dragging out the meeting even longer. Time is of the essence! If he'd simply let Sam finish speaking, then filled in anything she missed, I sincerely doubt anyone would've told him to shut up.
The fact that Rodney "can't help himself" does not excuse his behaviour. (I'm not even going to get into his inappropriate comments to Sam later on the Odyssey.) Now, I enjoy Rodney's rants for the most part, and on SGA he's given far more leeway to insult and interrupt and generally own the stage. I don't mind this! It's fun! Hewlitt is great at those long, complicated back-and-forths with Zelenka and others. But this does not mean his behaviour is okay. In as much as Cam is "dismissive", yes-- he does not appreciate Rodney's ego in general, or his behaviour toward Sam in particular. Rodney is a grown man and he's more than capable of behaving like a professional. He can be brave and heroic and selfless. But in this episode? There was also a lot of his, shall we say, less pleasing qualities. The fact that Cam notices and disapproves of these qualities is hardly Cam's fault.
I mean, I'm willing to give you the "being mean to McKay" thing if you'll give me "Rodney started it".
ETA: Fixed David Hewlitt's name! Also wanted to say, since you don't know me, I actually like Rodney as a character. He's not my favourite, but I enjoy him in canon. I'm just a bit leery of the fanon that's grown up around him.