Why does this need to be hammered home, is my question?
This is a key question, for me. Because the difference between Keller and everyone else is that Keller not only is lacking a good reason that she's the head of medicine on Atlantis - but she has very good reasons why she should NOT be in that position. She has two huge strikes against her that have never been addressed.
Here's what I've been struggling with. I understand your point. This:
For the first time in StarGate, we have a girl filling the Rodney role. She came to Atlantis because she had a thinky skill (medicine) and all of a sudden she's being thrown into these action/adventures she's not prepared for.
This has been bugging the hell out of me ever since you brought it up, because in theory, I absolutely agree. I love Rodney because I love characters who evolve and develop. This, the Keller you see, is a character I'd be interested in seeing. Except I keep harping on the lack of abilities in the Keller I see, without being able to pinpoint what was bothering me so much. I've finally figured it out.
This kind of character - the inexperienced and unconfident but strong-willed young person coming into their own - does not work as a senior medical doctor.
Such a storyline works great for a regular blueshirt. An inexperienced young scientist - let's call him Daniel Jackson - is recruited into a top secret project because of his language skills. He studies esoteric hieroglyphics, so esoteric that only a handful of people in the world can understand them anymore, and he's developed a crazy theory about them being related to aliens. He's got no physical skills to speak of and precious few people skills; he's got cute floppy hair, but that's all he's got going for him. Not exactly the ideal candidate for expeditions off-world. Except for the hieroglyphics. Which only he knows. So the project has no choice but to recruit him, giving him a key position, and he struggles to live up to the role.
All the blueshirts on Atlantis potentially have a similar story - they're experts in their chosen field (even if that field's never specified), probably a field esoteric enough that only a handful of people even know it exists. So even if they're young or inexperienced or reluctant to go off-world, the SGC recruited them for their unique expertise.
But Keller's not a blueshirt - she's a medical doctor. She's a good doctor, perhaps a great one; she's a skilled surgeon. But there are a lot of skilled surgeons in the world. What sets her above all of them; why was she selected/recruited by the SGC?
If she were simply a very competent doctor, I could believe it's just combination of luck and ability, and being in the right place at the right time, knowing the right people. Janet Frasier was very skilled, but not necessarily a genius, at least not until the SGC forced her to become one on the fly.
But Keller has two major strikes against her from the start, and what goes unexplained is how she overcame these strikes. And this is why I am so "show me the money," demanding that she be not just good, but amazingly good, because otherwise, I can't see how she got the position.
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winterfish
no subject
Date: 2008-09-25 01:19 pm (UTC)This is a key question, for me. Because the difference between Keller and everyone else is that Keller not only is lacking a good reason that she's the head of medicine on Atlantis - but she has very good reasons why she should NOT be in that position. She has two huge strikes against her that have never been addressed.
Here's what I've been struggling with. I understand your point. This:
For the first time in StarGate, we have a girl filling the Rodney role. She came to Atlantis because she had a thinky skill (medicine) and all of a sudden she's being thrown into these action/adventures she's not prepared for.
This has been bugging the hell out of me ever since you brought it up, because in theory, I absolutely agree. I love Rodney because I love characters who evolve and develop. This, the Keller you see, is a character I'd be interested in seeing. Except I keep harping on the lack of abilities in the Keller I see, without being able to pinpoint what was bothering me so much. I've finally figured it out.
This kind of character - the inexperienced and unconfident but strong-willed young person coming into their own - does not work as a senior medical doctor.
Such a storyline works great for a regular blueshirt. An inexperienced young scientist - let's call him Daniel Jackson - is recruited into a top secret project because of his language skills. He studies esoteric hieroglyphics, so esoteric that only a handful of people in the world can understand them anymore, and he's developed a crazy theory about them being related to aliens. He's got no physical skills to speak of and precious few people skills; he's got cute floppy hair, but that's all he's got going for him. Not exactly the ideal candidate for expeditions off-world. Except for the hieroglyphics. Which only he knows. So the project has no choice but to recruit him, giving him a key position, and he struggles to live up to the role.
All the blueshirts on Atlantis potentially have a similar story - they're experts in their chosen field (even if that field's never specified), probably a field esoteric enough that only a handful of people even know it exists. So even if they're young or inexperienced or reluctant to go off-world, the SGC recruited them for their unique expertise.
But Keller's not a blueshirt - she's a medical doctor. She's a good doctor, perhaps a great one; she's a skilled surgeon. But there are a lot of skilled surgeons in the world. What sets her above all of them; why was she selected/recruited by the SGC?
If she were simply a very competent doctor, I could believe it's just combination of luck and ability, and being in the right place at the right time, knowing the right people. Janet Frasier was very skilled, but not necessarily a genius, at least not until the SGC forced her to become one on the fly.
But Keller has two major strikes against her from the start, and what goes unexplained is how she overcame these strikes. And this is why I am so "show me the money," demanding that she be not just good, but amazingly good, because otherwise, I can't see how she got the position.