Thought of the Day for TPTB
Daniel's Departure: His Appeal And What He Means To Us by Louise
I tend to go for geeky guys. Heaven knows why. There’s something about glasses and boyish haircuts that probably brings out the motherly instinct in me. I guess it’s like Marilyn Monroe said in Some Like it Hot, guys with glasses just seem ‘more gentle’. It’s like portraying a weakness and a kind of vulnerability. It makes a difference from all those macho-types that really turn me off. I find Michael Palin (a young Michael) and Bill Gates attractive, and recently, I’ve tapped into the almost surreal charm of Daniel Jackson from Stargate SG1. It seems however, that I am not the first. He has more web pages dedicated to him than Brad Pitt, or so I hear. Women who fall for this character don’t just like him...they’re totally head-over-heels. I don’t quite know how he does it, but he has, or does, something, that exerts pheromones every which way from women within a ten mile radius.
When you’re watching Stargate, it’s totally human to categorize the characters into their corresponding clique. We have O’Neil for example, a macho military, egotistical guy, who’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but incredibly down to earth because of it, with a kind of roughness which you can instantly warm to. There’s Carter, the ‘genius’ nuclear physicist/rocket scientist/mathematical prodigy who works out how nuclear reactors work for ‘fun’. Being a woman of course gives this a deeper perspective, and we also frequently see a much more emotional and kind side to her, which is forever at the disposal of the other characters’ in their times of need. We have Teal’c, a seemingly non-feeling alien with an odd sense of humour, used mostly for his intimate knowledge of Goa’uld technology and magnificent warrior-like skills on the battlefield. ‘Indeed’, a cornerstone of the team as he provides humour in the detatched quality with which he deals with scenarios.
And then we have Daniel. He’s not military, he’s not a genius, he’s not an alien or a warrior, and for these reasons, it is why most of us can identify and relate to him. He brings the human quality to SG1, forever being the ethical and moral conscious of the team when a dilemma arises. When there’s an innocent in crisis, you can rely on Daniel to make sure of their well-being. It’s comforting to see it in ‘Demons’, when Carter, Teal’c and O’Neill are making their way back to the Stargate to save their skins, that he is the one talking to and comforting the poor girl Mary they have just saved from death, staying with her and tending to her needs. He is continually putting the needs of others first, and in constant self-denial that he is worthy of any sort of recognition for this.
Throughout it all, he is the character we see cry the most. He cries when the girl, the creator of the replicators, is shot down, even though she was about to destroy the SGC. It seems that strangers, even hostile ones, can touch him to the point of overwhelming emotion. He is forever trying to see the beauty in people, regardless of their actions, race, age or religion. His sensitivity can be extremely moving at times, and he exudes a feeling of comfort and safety.
His humour, lack of military knowledge or any kind of macho-like quality, and emotional deepness makes him undoubtedly the most favoured and respected member of the SG team by fans. With that in mind, and also the irrefutable fact that he’s extremely easy on the eyes, it doesn’t surprise me that so many people were devastated at his decision to leave Stargate.
The episode breaks me down into tears every time I see it, and even slight references to him in the episode after, when Carter is handling his glasses in his study or when Carter and Teal’c are mourning his loss in the ship, make my eyes well up yet again; partly in anger.
Because all of this could have been easily avoided. If the producers had recognized his integral part in the series and gave him a role suitable and correlating to the magnitude of his importance, then maybe we would not have had to sit through that heart-wrenching episode. It’s mind boggling how they could fail to see how much he means to the fans, as well as to the other cast members. Daniel Jackson, and the actor who brings him to us, Michael Shanks, deserves the same respect that is given to O’Neill and Carter in terms of major roles in episodes. I would also personally like to see Teal’c be recognized as a cornerstone of the team, and be duly given sufficient storylines.
It seems the producers cannot take constructive criticism, as Michael had told them that he was not fond of the way the series was headed, with more and more earth-bound storylines. Had it not occurred to them that he may have been voicing the concerns of the fans themselves? And does this not matter?
For what is the show without it’s dedicated fans? No doubt it would be pulled from sky and cancelled. They really have got us in a catch 22-we are so dedicated to the show that we cannot bear to stop viewing, but we are so dedicated to Daniel Jackson that we cannot bear to see the show continue without him. The only option we have left is to badger MGM to offer Michael Shanks more scripts in the role of Daniel. Mr Shanks has commented that he would like to come back to the show, if they wrote some decent scripts complimentary of his relevance to the show.
They are already in the middle of filming season six without him. As for us UK fans, we are left with the, almost painful, repeats to watch until the new series airs in autumn, showing Daniel Jackson still in the SG team as we know and love him, further augmenting in the back of our minds the terrible loss we have just experienced. I am not sure how the new series will indeed cope without him, and still live up to our high expectations.
With all this in mind, I must stress at this point that, yes, I realise it is just a TV show, and this is just a character, who hasn’t ‘really’ died. But I think all Stargate fans would agree with me that the show has touched us all very deeply; we have observed the characters develop and change with an intimacy that only Stargate really provides, and that it is indeed like losing a much-loved friend, for whom we are passionate enough to fight for his return, or at least a decency and respect within the treatment of his memory.
I have heard the remaining team discover an alien man, the same as Daniel but only ‘better’. I do not see how this can be true, as the very reason why we love and value Daniel is because of his deeply rooted human quality, and not because of his skills as a linguist and archaeologist; although these are important in his role in the series and who his character is, that is not why we reserve such a fondness for him.
I expect the new character will be greeted with much caution and dislike from viewers, as we now know the corrupt circumstances surrounding Michael’s departure. I doubt very much whether this new character will be accepted by fans into the team, in the same way as Daniel was, and from this we can expect a gradual decline in ratings. Fans of the show do not want to see Daniel’s memory mocked and smeared by the entrance of someone supposedly ‘better’ in comparison. We have been trying to tell MGM this since news of Daniels departure reached us...to no avail. It seems they are determined to learn the hard way that audiences are not easily manipulated into believing and feeling whatever the producers tell them to feel, and that Daniel was, and still is, extremely close to our hearts, and cannot be replaced by a ‘newer and better model,’ like a toy.
No doubt this treatment of his character will leave a very sour taste in our mouths, and we shall continue to mourn the loss of a series, which would, once upon a time, captivate our hearts and minds and enthral us completely in a way which no other sci-fi series has done before.
R.I.P. Dr. Daniel Jackson
R.I.P. Stargate SG-1
By Louise
13th June 2002
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