How I fell in love with Kara Thrace
Feb. 27th, 2009 03:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shah_of_blahWith it being Kara Celebration Week and all that, I tried to pinpoint just what it is about her that makes me fangirl her like no other. I have obsessed over shows and other things before, but I have never obsessed over a character like this. So this is not exactly meta. It probably won't tell you anything you didn't already know about Kara, but I enjoyed writing it.
My love affair with Kara Thrace began with 33. The year was 2005. My then-boyfriend was a BSG fan. I showed him Firefly, and he showed me 33. As each character came on screen, he gave me a one-sentence explanation of who they were. He was a little bit biased.
When Kara came on screen (striding around her Viper, brushing off Lee and his stims) he said, “That’s Starbuck, and she’s awesome.” Or something to that effect (what? It was over three years ago).
I wasn’t immediately hooked. It wasn’t until about a year and a half later that I actually started watching the show. But since my introduction to 33, the only character I really remembered was, of course, Kara “Starbuck” Thrace, who was awesome. When I finally sat down and watched the miniseries (and then season one, and season two, and season three...) I was instantly drawn to her and fascinated by her. Every time I watched an episode, I would then find transcripts and screencaps online and go over all of Kara’s scenes again. I also started reading the TWOP recaps at this point. In short, I couldn’t get enough of Battlestar Galactica, but my entire perception of the show was based around Kara, so when I say “I couldn’t get enough of Battlestar Galactica,” I mostly mean “I couldn’t get enough of Kara Thrace.”
I can’t really pick out a specific moment that made me love her. I just know that when I was waiting for the netflix disc with You Can’t Go Home Again on it, I was damn near going crazy with suspense, even though I knew she wasn’t going to die on that moon. I know that I was frustrated by Bastille Day and Water because Kara didn’t feature prominently in either. I know that I loved her in YCGHA, when Adama kissed her forehead and she only let her heartbreak show when he couldn’t see her face. I know that the moment when she whacks the guy with her cane in Colonial Day is one of my favorite moments from the entire show.
What exactly is it about her that drives me to distraction? Well, there are the obvious things. She kicks ass and takes names. She’s occasionally snarky, and always sexy as hell. She doesn’t give up. She has been so deeply shaped by her history, but she is not defined by it. She hides her vulnerability with incredible arrogance. Her self-esteem is, simultaneously, ridiculously high and horribly low. She’s intensely private, despite being in many ways a very public figure (she is afraid to be caught praying, but somehow I think she wouldn’t be too bothered by being caught frakking). She’s intensely private, so when she does share something personal, it’s even more valuable.
She’s an incredibly complex character, with a tendency towards the insane. Even though she’s usually out of control, when she wants to she can become so focused that she’s this incredible force. But that can’t be it, because I love her when she’s completely batshit too, and I love her when she’s messing up and...well, let’s just say that I wouldn’t ever kick her out of her chair.
I think maybe I love her to this insane degree because of a more undefinable quality. She’s very present. If she is in a room, my eyes will be on her. Even when she’s still and quiet (an event which is admittedly unusual) her very presence seems bright and loud and full of motion.
That’s really cheesy, but that’s the best way I can think of to explain my love for Kara Thrace.
Or I could just say I love her because she whacked that guy with her cane in Colonial Day.
Cap from GalacticaBBS. Possibly my favorite Kara moment from season 4. She's so happy! Who could resist that?
Feel free to chime in with why you love Kara!
My love affair with Kara Thrace began with 33. The year was 2005. My then-boyfriend was a BSG fan. I showed him Firefly, and he showed me 33. As each character came on screen, he gave me a one-sentence explanation of who they were. He was a little bit biased.
When Kara came on screen (striding around her Viper, brushing off Lee and his stims) he said, “That’s Starbuck, and she’s awesome.” Or something to that effect (what? It was over three years ago).
I wasn’t immediately hooked. It wasn’t until about a year and a half later that I actually started watching the show. But since my introduction to 33, the only character I really remembered was, of course, Kara “Starbuck” Thrace, who was awesome. When I finally sat down and watched the miniseries (and then season one, and season two, and season three...) I was instantly drawn to her and fascinated by her. Every time I watched an episode, I would then find transcripts and screencaps online and go over all of Kara’s scenes again. I also started reading the TWOP recaps at this point. In short, I couldn’t get enough of Battlestar Galactica, but my entire perception of the show was based around Kara, so when I say “I couldn’t get enough of Battlestar Galactica,” I mostly mean “I couldn’t get enough of Kara Thrace.”
I can’t really pick out a specific moment that made me love her. I just know that when I was waiting for the netflix disc with You Can’t Go Home Again on it, I was damn near going crazy with suspense, even though I knew she wasn’t going to die on that moon. I know that I was frustrated by Bastille Day and Water because Kara didn’t feature prominently in either. I know that I loved her in YCGHA, when Adama kissed her forehead and she only let her heartbreak show when he couldn’t see her face. I know that the moment when she whacks the guy with her cane in Colonial Day is one of my favorite moments from the entire show.
What exactly is it about her that drives me to distraction? Well, there are the obvious things. She kicks ass and takes names. She’s occasionally snarky, and always sexy as hell. She doesn’t give up. She has been so deeply shaped by her history, but she is not defined by it. She hides her vulnerability with incredible arrogance. Her self-esteem is, simultaneously, ridiculously high and horribly low. She’s intensely private, despite being in many ways a very public figure (she is afraid to be caught praying, but somehow I think she wouldn’t be too bothered by being caught frakking). She’s intensely private, so when she does share something personal, it’s even more valuable.
She’s an incredibly complex character, with a tendency towards the insane. Even though she’s usually out of control, when she wants to she can become so focused that she’s this incredible force. But that can’t be it, because I love her when she’s completely batshit too, and I love her when she’s messing up and...well, let’s just say that I wouldn’t ever kick her out of her chair.
I think maybe I love her to this insane degree because of a more undefinable quality. She’s very present. If she is in a room, my eyes will be on her. Even when she’s still and quiet (an event which is admittedly unusual) her very presence seems bright and loud and full of motion.
That’s really cheesy, but that’s the best way I can think of to explain my love for Kara Thrace.
Or I could just say I love her because she whacked that guy with her cane in Colonial Day.
Cap from GalacticaBBS. Possibly my favorite Kara moment from season 4. She's so happy! Who could resist that?
Feel free to chime in with why you love Kara!
