(Still stuck on Stargate silliness)

Oh! English-speaking aliens!

WTF is up with that, anyway? I mean, every frelling planet they go to, everyone speaks English! But they write in ancient Phoenician, or Welsh, or something. HUH?

What's the deal?

without the extended network of people he cares about despite himself, it would get hella boring real quick. They keep him on the edge of humanity. Without them, he'd have crossed over a long time ago.

This may inform why I am so fond of origin stories for the guy. Then again, also the noir-y ones, because noir is all about crossing over that edge.

As for Stargate. Which would you rather: Vancouver actors say "aboot" on every planet, or Vancouver actors say "plxtmagrablke" or similar? Then to show that the Really Are From Far Away, we give them hieroglyphs. Champollion would be so proud.

Vancouver actors say "aboot" on every planet, or Vancouver actors say "plxtmagrablke" or similar? Then to show that the Really Are From Far Away, we give them hieroglyphs. Champollion would be so proud.

Um. So... not even a handwave? At least we got handwaves in Farscape and Star Trek...

::sigh::

Not every planet. Abydos had language issues.

Which doesn't make it even a little better.

Suela -- in the making it better or worse camp, they have acknowledged it in Wormhole X-Treme. Not addressed it, just acknowledged it as they poked at most of their inconsistencies in that hour.

Frankly, I like the lack of a handwave. Because the half-assed attempts on FS and ST irritate me with their holes. When there's no garment there, it's harder to nitpick.

Heh. I have no earthly clue whatsoever as to why the aliens speak English on distant planets. Even if they were descended from humans who spoke English (and that's a big if), after several thousand years, you'd think they'd have developed a language of their own. As for the hieroglyphics? Damned if I know.

Basically, it's one of the things about the show that make you go, "WTF?" then handwave like a mad person. Stargate has lots of things like that. That's why, while we love the show, we never forget to mock it in the same breath.

Edited to say, handwave on the part of the viewers, not the writers. I don't think they ever went into any length to explain why the aliens spoke English.

Edited to say, handwave on the part of the viewers, not the writers. I don't think they ever went into any length to explain why the aliens spoke English.

Depends on who you get on what day. Occasionally they try to say things like "no no, they're speaking other languages, it's just that we don't show it!" Which, you know, er, whatever.

When there's no garment there, it's harder to nitpick.

I dunno. When there's no garment there, I watch, gobsmacked, as they prance around in the altogether, cellulite jiggling. It's not like I can unfocus my eyes and ignore the minor infelicities. The whole thing is on display.

But YBMV. ::shrugs::

Occasionally they try to say things like "no no, they're speaking other languages, it's just that we don't show it!" Which, you know, er, whatever.

That's pretty funny. Almost acceptable, and yet, not.

Some things I can accept as convention. The omission of the entire deal is one of those.

But if you bring it into the story, I want something babelfish quality at the very least, otherwise I sit there wondering why we only get some Klingon words, or just really confused about what I'm hearing and if I'm supposed have microbes too.

It's either come up with a device you have to explain to everyone you meet or have everyone speak english. This isn't Stargate: Language Geek Technical Manual. The gate is a plot device for story. Every planet can't have language issues or every single episode would get bogged down dealing with language.

By not mentioning it, the show is easily syndicated and dubbed for any language on earth, like the original Trek was.

I did like the fact they brought up the language thing in Episode 100, "Wormhole Xtreme." (Along with a bunch of other stuff)

"Bigger! Big-er!"

I don't know as how this is the thread to discuss it, but would someone care to convince me why Batman has sidekicks?

It's something Oracle, Alfred and Nightwing have all called him on from time to time.

In the beginning, he took in Dick Grayson because of the parallel of both of them having seen their parents get murdered. Others have posited that he keeps taking on partners as a way of keeping touch with his humanity--keeping him from becoming too withdrawn from people.

Frequently, however, the partners really impose themselves on him--Dick Grayson discovered the batcave and convinced Batman to train him to be his partner. Oracle/Batgirl was never an official partner, but made such a nuisance of herself that he HAD to work with her. Tim Drake figured out Batman's identity all on his own, and then kind of blackmailed him into making him his partner, and so on.