Battlestar Galactica: Immersion Therapy for Post 9/11 World

[Richard D]

An occupying force trying to mold an alien society in its own image. A government co-opted to act as a puppet regime for the occupying army. Civilians recruited to serve on behalf of the occupiers to hunt down terrorists and saboteurs. Resistance fighters striking back and recruiting suicide bombers to kill their fellow citizens en masse in punishment for collaborating.

An uninitiated television viewer tuning in to see this war unfold, and to watch hand-held camera footage of armed soldiers wearing night-vision goggles and kicking in doors to search for terrorists, would be surprised indeed to learn they were not watching a documentary about the American occupation of Iraq, but rather an episode from the third season of the remarkable science fiction series "Battlestar Galactica".

Except of course that American audiences were now required to sympathize with the terrorists, to recognize the cynical justifications of an occupation force, and to understand -- if not condone -- the motivations of the suicide bomber. None of which would likely have been possible for most audience members had it been a show about the war in Iraq. But as cast in the fictional universe of a civilization adrift in space pursued by robots and synthetic humans of its own making, it became fascinating and compelling television.

On March 20th the series came to a spectacular yet downbeat conclusion - -- as it turns out, one day after the 6th anniversary of the launching of the "shock and awe" campaign against Iraq.

http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/133419/battlestar_galactica%3A_immersion_therapy_for_post_9_11_world/