Quite Quotable
We are all slaves to our histories. If there is to be a .. bright future, we must learn to break those chains.
J. Michael Straczynski, GROPOS, Baybylon 5
We are all slaves to our histories. If there is to be a .. bright future, we must learn to break those chains.
J. Michael Straczynski, GROPOS, Baybylon 5
"There is always a choice. We say there is no choice only to comfort ourselves with the decisions we have already made."
J. Michael Straczynski, "Point of No Return," Babylon 5.
At some point during the year, I get all nostalgic for Babylon 5. I usually break out the dvds and watch my favorite episodes. (Still waiting on the Blu-ray edition.) Three times, I’ve gone from beginning to end. It’s about time to do that again, I do believe. When that mood strikes, I can’t help but think that so many things could have gone wrong with Babylon 5. It could have been like any other science fiction show set in the far future: encounters with strange, ancient aliens, intergalactic wars, and at the center, a small band of heroes always willing and ready for action. Luckily, it wasn’t. In fact, it wasn’t like any other science fiction show that had ever been on television before. Sure, the comparison between it and Star Trek, especially Deep Space Nine, were easy to make just looking at the surface: a mile and a half long station, space ships, plenty of actors with prosthetic pieces glued to their foreheads. But that’s about as far as comparisons can go. From conception to production, the show was truly visionary.
Creator, producer, and writer, J. Michael Straczynski knows that characters drive stories with what they say, think, and do, and from the first episode to the last, it became obvious that Babylon 5 was not about the station or about the aliens or about the wars. Babylon 5 was about the people. It was about the choices they made and the consequences they were forced to face. In short, Babylon 5 was about life.
But, you say, it is merely a story. True, but isn’t the stories we tell, how we understand ourselves? We are entertained, we are moved, we are enlightened. Truly good stories – no matter when or where they are set – are about life. Therefore, to celebrate the vision that was, is, and continues to be Babylon 5, I’ve put together a list of quotations. Yes, all these happen to be my personal favorites. If you’ve watched, you’ll probably remember who said what and which episode or season they’re from. If not, enjoy nonetheless (and then maybe go give it a try). Either way, hopefully you will be entertained, moved, and more importantly, enlightened.