A not-all-inclusive Keller poll

[xparrot]

Yup, I've got better things I ought to be doing - but I didn't get much sleep last night, so I'm not doing them. So here, have a poll!

I'm seeing a lot of divergent opinions around about Dr. Jennifer Keller 'round SGA fandom these days, and I'm terribly curious about the stats (my apologies to everyone who's heartily sick of this.) As is apparent to anyone who reads my lj regularly, I'm not exactly unbiased about this, but I've tried to make this poll as neutral as possible; please speak up if you think it fails in that.


[Poll #1312661]

Comments

[liviapenn.livejournal.com]

I haven't been watching much of this season, but what annoyed me about Keller in S4 was that her characterization seemed very variable-- like it changed in every episode. What annoys me *now* is that they basically could have done every Keller episode with Katie Brown instead. What was the point in having Rodney break up with Katie Brown if they were just going to have Keller be the exact same type of character, in the exact same type of relationship with Rodney?

Also, if they'd kept Katie around, there wouldn't have been a reason for them to *focus episodes on her*-- and I can't imagine how annoying it is to have multiple episodes in this season focused on a brand new character, when people also know these are the last episodes we're ever gonna get.

And also, w/out Keller, it wouldn't have been so disappointing for the Ronon fans, who got led on thinking that there might be Ronon/Keller, and were really hoping to see Ronon get focused on in that type of storyline, instead of the kind he usually gets.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Apparently a lot of people like Rodney/Keller because it's so different from Rodney/Katie. I admit to not seeing that; Keller is different from Katie (more critical, less eager to please him), but the way Rodney acts around her seems exactly the same to me.

Yeah, I was hoping for some romantic Ronon, shame that didn't work out. I get the feeling most of the writers have Ronon-phobia; they don't know how to handle him...

[liviapenn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I liked that Katie wasn't passive in their relationship. She asked *him* out-- at least I always assumed she did, since their first date was her cooking for him in her quarters, and she was the one to check in to make sure they were "still on." And she definitely wasn't afraid to disagree with him.

But yeah, as someone who liked Katie, and thought that the Rodney/Katie relationship was realistic and adorable, I was disappointed when they broke up, and then even *more* disappointed when it turned out that they apparently broke up so that Rodney could go out with someone younger, cuter and more often in need of rescuing by him.

And the handling of the Ronon/Keller thing was just *maddening*. His first romantic overture to anyone that we know of in *ten years*, and apparently us fans were idiots for actually expecting it to mean anything. :(

[renisanz.livejournal.com]

And the handling of the Ronon/Keller thing was just *maddening*. His first romantic overture to anyone that we know of in *ten years*, and apparently us fans were idiots for actually expecting it to mean anything. :(

This is what irks me the most. That and the fact that there's been no real justification for why Jen would choose Rodney over Ronon. All of a sudden, Rodney is in love with her, with no lead up to it, and then he happens to confess it when all his undesirable personality traits are exacerbated by his contrasting behavior caused by an alien parasite.(?!)

I think it's completely goes against the (supposedly) established character of Jennifer not putting up with Rodney's crap. But somehow she manages to fall for him despite virtually no growth being show in his personality. *sigh*

I have no idea what the writers are trying to do. This season has been hit and miss, but I've enjoyed the team episodes the most, the ones lacking the romance. I was all for seeing some Ronon/Keller gratification this season, too. :( I haven't watched any episodes since The Prodigal.

[liviapenn.livejournal.com]

Also, one more thing: before her episodes aired, I *often* loudly defended the casting of Jewel Staite as the head of medicine, because actors often play characters that are older than their actual ages-- female actors especially, which is sexist, yes, but really pretty standard. So why couldn't Jewel be playing a 30-year-old, and so on.

But then the character showed up and was *written* and *played* like a whiny, self-obsessed 15-year-old who wasn't handling summer camp very well, and treated her minor personal issues as being more important than other people's massive tragedies. "Hey, sorry about your entire clan being missing and possibly dead, Teyla, but anyway, I get to go home and see *my* dad-- so, laters!!" ARGHH.

So, yet another reason I don't like Keller, because I defended her on principle and was SO WRONG.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Arggggh! I try not to think about "Missing" in that context, because, yeah. At the time, I was thinking we were being shown Keller's bad side - that her whining and self-obsession and general lack of sympathy was something she was going to get over, or struggle with, same as with Rodney. Rodney can be a self-absorbed bastard a lot, but it's never presented as a positive thing; other characters in the show make fun of him for it, don't like him for it, and he's actually becoming aware enough to be trying to get over it.

But everyone loves Keller, everyone is always eager to buck up her self-confidence when it wavers, no one ever calls her on making it ALL ABOUT HER (in "Quarantine" - "Oh woe is me, I never fit in! And yes, I know I'm talking to a guy whose entire people were killed off in a genocide the likes of which my planet has never witnessed - but seriously, I had trouble making friends in college, isn't that sad!" For that matter in "The Shrine" it ticks me off that Jeannie is losing her brother, and Keller is all, "It's my fault," just so people can jump to assure her it's not. Even though IT IS.)

...Umm. Yes. I might be a wee bit bitter about this? ^^;

--And yeah, I didn't love Rodney/Katie, but I didn't mind it, either; they both seemed to be adults in that relationship, sort of odd, tentative adults, but two people who mostly had their own lives but found common comfort in each other when their schedules matched. It wasn't the Greatest Love of Rodney's Life, but there was genuine affection there. With Rodney/Keller, okay, we know there's Love (they said so!) but I haven't really seen the "like"...

There might be one major difference

[alyburns.livejournal.com]

What annoys me *now* is that they basically could have done every Keller episode with Katie Brown instead. What was the point in having Rodney break up with Katie Brown if they were just going to have Keller be the exact same type of character, in the exact same type of relationship with Rodney?

The ages of the two actresses probably accounts for it. Good heavens, we simply can NOT allow a 40 year old man to actually date - let alone end up with - a woman in her thirties! The world would end. I'm sure it's written in the Great Book of TV Irritations that 40 year old geeks "...shall end up with pretty, cute as button girls in their twenties!"

::gags::

Re: There might be one major difference

[liviapenn.livejournal.com]

Yes, that too. I mean, I'm sure we ALL here can agree that we love Rodney and that he's sexy and lovable (once you get to know him.) But let's face it, he's not Brad Pitt, and there comes a point when you're just like "man, stop with the Rodney Sue already."

I mean, it's not like fanfic writers never write Rodney pairings that *I* think are kinda implausible. Do I actually believe that a twenty-something super-hottie like Faith or Dean Winchester would bump into Rodney in a bar and be like "whoa, I wanna take *that* home?" Not really. Do I enjoy reading it? In *fanfic*, yes, because (in most cases) I know the writer of the story is just putting two hot characters together-- they're not Mary-Sue-ing themselves into the story through Rodney.

But knowing that a lot of the writers of the actual show *do* treat Rodney as their Sue... it just makes the whole "adorable, adoring, damsel-in-distress girlfriend who's 15 years younger than him" a case of massive TMI. SGA writers, I didn't wanna know that, ok?

Re: There might be one major difference

[d_odyssey.livejournal.com]

Word!

[zillah975]

w/out Keller, it wouldn't have been so disappointing for the Ronon fans, who got led on thinking that there might be Ronon/Keller, and were really hoping to see Ronon get focused on in that type of storyline, instead of the kind he usually gets.

THIS.

I can't help liking Keller. For one thing, every time I look at her, I see Kaylee's older twin sister (yep), and for another, I really do kind of relate to her.

But the whole bait-and-switch thing just -- rawr!! I really wanted to see the two of them together! I wanted to see her bring out his softer side and him bring out her feisty, kick-butt side! I thought they'd be brilliant together, and I thought this meant that the writers were finally going to recognize Ronon as an actual person, with depth of feeling and complexity of character and all that stuff.

If they hadn't ever thrown us the Ronon/Keller stuff, I might have liked the Rodney/Keller stuff, but as it is, it's just galling.