Paper on performance and personal identity in the television series “Battlestar Galactica”

Sérgio Dias Branco

Humanities Commons

Labyrinths of the Self: Different Characters, Identical Bodies in Battlestar Galactica Sérgio Dias Branco BSG 2007: The Politics, Poetics and Philosophy of “Battlestar Galactica”. Bucks New University, 28 Jul. 2007. 1This paper analyses a specific aesthetic feature of  Battlestar Galactica (2004-): the actors’ effort to interpret different characters assuming identical bodies that coexist in the fic-tion. The actors who appear as the cybernetic entities called cylons and James Callis who plays Gaius Baltar incarnate various characters — or versions of  them, in Callis’s case — without emphatic physical changes. My aim is to assess the function of  this fea-ture within the structure of  the series. Why do we see them as different when they can easily be confused? Because, in some cases, they are presented as psychologically different. We know that the humanoid cylons are versions of  specific models. These models can be thought of  as templates: they de-termine the shape of  each version, but not who they are or what makes them unique as beings. The characters’ differences are therefore conveyed through performance — that is, through the significant details of  their voices, costumes, postures, and gestures.  There are versions of  humanoid cylons that the series has no narrative or dramatic interest in differentiating. They share more common traits than differences and at times it is difficult to know if  we are seeing the same copy or not. For example, the number five model is known as Aaron Doral (Matthew Bennett) and its copies are dis-tinguished by what they wear — yet the suicide bomber turns to Adama (Edward James Olmos) when he hears: “Doral.” A copy of  this model appears later, overseeing the rela-tionship between Boomer (Grace Park) and Helo (Tahmoh Penikett) in Caprica and wearing the same outfit as the first version. We tend to see them as the same character, even if  there is a possibility that they are indeed different individuals. Note that these are characters interesting in themselves — for example, Leoben’s (Callum Keith Ren-nie) religiosity lends him a tranquillity and patience that he sustains even when being beaten or after being murdered several times by Starbuck. We are always unsure if  they are the same versions of  the model and this unsureness goes hand in hand with the disinterest of  the series in asserting their difference. Cases like these are outside the scope of  this study, which will focus only on cases in which one actor clearly por-trays different characters. 2Battlestar Galactica distinguishes the nature and personality of  the various copies of  number six (Tricia Helfer), for instance. A careful analysis of  such distinctions will demonstrate how the series draws attention to a concept of  the self  that has connec-tions with John Locke’s philosophy — especially his definition of  personal identity as consciousness and memory continuity in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.  In 1fact, the profusion of  characters with the same visual and aural appearance may be seen as a labyrinthine representation of  the individual and collective self. There are three distinct performative acts at the heart of  this labyrinth of  relations that contribute to the differentiation of  characters with an similar look. Taking into account the real-istic dimension of  Battlestar Galactica’s universe, these acts will guide my analysis: pre-tending, imagining, and feeling. Pretending Humanoid cylons like D’Anna (Lucy Lawless) or Simon (Rick Worthy) pretend as a way to deceive and to go unnoticed. Of  course, there is a character that constantly deceives and lies: Gaius Baltar. However, in his case this difference between deception and truth does not put in question the way we look at him through a comparison with an identic-al counterpart — although as we shall see, this happens with the act of  imagining. An-other example is the revelation of  the four cylons within Galactica’s crew at the end of  season three, which simply gave us additional and unexpected information about these characters. In contrast, in “Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 1” (2.19), Brother Cavil (Dean Stock-well) pretends to be a spiritual counsellor, but he is in fact an atheist. Nevertheless, he conveys conviction through the way he moves his left hand, punctuating sentences and stressing them as directives. He finalises the conversation by drumming on the table . John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (London: Penguin, 1997).13with both hands, celebrating his mastery in a sign of  vanity. In the next episode, “Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 2” (2.20), Brother Cavil encounters another Cavil. In narrat-ive terms, they are fundamentally the same character, but there is an important aspect: their coexistence in the same scene prompts us to acknowledge their difference. After both characters have spoken, we understand that they have different functions: the Cavil from Caprica is simply the bearer of  a message whereas Brother Cavil has infilt-rated into the social structure of  the fleet. They have a lot in common — for instance, their cynicism easily turns into amorality — but their reunion emphasises something that a single one them cannot get across: the redundancy and triviality of  their dis-course is underlined when it is repeated and shared by another version. This is exactly what happens when Brother Cavil demonstrates how simple it is for him to complete the other’s speech, with the camera selectively focusing on who is speaking, shifting from the foreground to the background. Accepting Locke’s distinction between con-sciousness and soul (or thinking substance), we may remark that although they think alike, their personal identity is different because they do not share the same con-sciousness. Pretending, playing a role, shows their individual awareness and particular responses to specific surroundings. Imagining Some characters sometimes imagine and inhabit an alternative world. In season three, Caprica-Six reveals that cylons project an environment of  their choice that substitutes the physical world for their senses. Baltar’s virtual Six and Six’s virtual Baltar seem to be a product of  a connection born after the devastating attack on the colonies in which Caprica-Six dies for the first time protecting Baltar. These virtual beings are not fig-ments of  their imagination: that much is proven by virtual Six’s tangibility. The same cannot be said about the moments in which Baltar is with Six in his destroyed house, 4which appears intact. In “The Hand of  God” (1.10), there is a scene like this, inserted even before the festive music from the previous scene has ceased. Consequently, the scene is not marked as narratively distinct. It deals with Baltar’s guilt for the role that he played in the attack and the meaning that religion can be forced to provide. We do not see Baltar dreaming, but the setting alone tells us that this is imagined. Like virtual Six and virtual Baltar, this Six and this Baltar highlight aspects of  the original Caprica-Six and Baltar. She gently fondles his hair, touches his skin, and savours every word that comes out of  her mouth, calling attention to her seductive nature. In his first pose, he is relaxed and unworried, lying on the lounger, his right leg flexed, smoking a cigar-ette, in contrast with the seriousness of  the subject. He assumes a second position in the end, with his harms open too close to the torso — a ludicrous, contrived posture, accentuated by the open and thin bathrobe and, in addition, by the last shot when he looks up. His posture and gestures spotlight his narcissism. The series uses these ima-gined figures to show the essences that the real Caprica-Six and Baltar conceal: her meaningless persuasion and his ridiculous irresponsibility. These are figures that ap-pear more than once and that may be interpreted as projecting the persons who have imagined them. For Locke, a person is an intelligent thinking being that can know it-self  as itself  as the same thinking thing in different times and places. Caprica-Six, despite being a cylon, fits this description. Feeling There are characters who show their feelings and, in doing this, define their individu-ality within a group. The cases of  the model eight Boomer and Athena and of  Caprica-Six are exemplary. Examining a scene between the two Sharons and Caprica-Six from “Rapture” (3.12) is revealing. One thing that distinguishes the models six and eight is that they are emotional. It is no surprise then that they frequently ally — for example, 5to save Anders (Michael Trucco). These models and their different versions are also un-like humanoid cylons like Aaron because they have been changed by their personal history. According to Locke, identity is ever changing: the self  is a self-aware, self-re-flective consciousness in a body. Cylon minds may not be originally empty, like the blank slates that Locke believes that human minds initially are, but they are shaped by experience, by sensation and reflection. Likewise, the meaning of  the scene where Athena and Caprica-Six Boomer discover Hera, Athena and Helo’s baby, in Boomer’s care, depends on the knowledge of  what happened before. Athena has a skirt whereas Boomer wears trousers. Boomer lacks Athena’s easiness of  movement. She speaks against cylon and human coexistence and dismisses Athena’s worries about Hera’s health without conviction, with her arms locked on her belly. Then she abandons this rigidity to become nervous and skittish when she realises the inimitable relation that Athena has with her daughter. Boomer is constantly shot alone and her solitude is un-derlined when Athena and Caprica-Six converse. Finally, she threatens to break the baby’s neck. Athena balances her emotions in contrast with Boomer’s escalation: Athena’s tense face and voice express a deep concern while she tries to reason with Boomer using the calming movements of  her right hand. Caprica-Six is responsive to Athena’s affection and reacts violently, killing Boomer. Caprica-Six’s reaction may also have to do with her culpability. She probably remembers killing a baby in Caprica without thinking twice, just before the destructive strike on the Twelve Colonies. Conclusion: Self This paper has reclaimed the aesthetic significance of  performance in Battlestar Galactica, considering its sensory, formal, and expressive properties. Paying close at-tention to detail, the previous analysis has stressed how the characters’ actions — pre-tending, imagining, and feeling — embody their identity. Lockean philosophy estab-6lishes this connection between agency and identity. So even though we are seeing the same bodies, they are different characters. The personal differences between them are investigated in the series as much as the continuity of  each self. Even when the charac-ters are imagined or resurrected, they have the same memory. We are encouraged to take every image and every gesture as pieces that compose a maze of  identity. Our attention to their difference is demanded exactly because their identical bodies dispute that their personal identity can be conveyed by their appearance alone.

Labyrinths of the Self: Different Characters, Identical Bodies in “Battlestar Galactica”

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Labyrinths of the Self: Different Characters, Identical Bodies in “Battlestar Galactica”

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