My Shoes are Too Tight
But it doesn't matter.
Simon K. Jones started his rewatch of *Babylon 5* this week, so I pulled this post from my crusty dusty old blog and reworked it for here.
Babylon 5 is an artifact of the 90s. Back then, most scifi shows were low budget endeavors that wasted away on second tier networks in third tier time slots. Not even the myriad Star Trek spinoffs launched in that decade got the marquee billing Trek gets today.
But in other, more important ways, Babylon 5 is a timeless science fiction classic. The show was more of a serial novel than an episodic series, which meant unlike Trek, its characters could change. It also tackled political and social issues head on in decidedly non-utopian ways.
Hence this exchange on Notes a couple of weeks ago:
Babylon 5 is a space station that acts as a center for interplanetary trade and diplomacy. It’s the fifth Babylon station. The previous four did not end well.
“My shoes are too tight. But it doesn’t matter because I have forgotten how to dance.” Londo Mollari
Londo Mollari is the Centauri ambassador to Babylon 5. The Centauri people live in a culture steeped in tradition. They call themselves “The Centauri Republic,” but are subjects of a monarchy with all the trappings of an ancient feudal kingdom; a strict class system, legalized slavery, arranged marriages, bigamy, and an often bewildering set of social customs. As you can see from Mollari’s appearance, the men literally dress and wear their hair like peacocks. The higher the social status, the more ridiculous they look. Later in the series we meet an aristocrat (modeled after Caligula) who differentiates himself from the rest by looking almost normal.
My favorite storyline in the five-season series is Londo’s struggle with his place in the universe and Centauri society. His time living among with other species, including the Centauri’s mortal enemies;distinct possibilities the Narn, opens his eyes to a different way of life. It spans the entire series and has an incredible payoff.
This scene is one of the first in which we sense he may be more than a preening fool and scheming villain. Vir (yes, that’s Flounder from Animal House) comes to Londo to convince him to help call off an arranged marriage between two young Centauri. Londo disagrees because of “Centauri tradition.” But, as we see from this clip, he’s not thrilled with the situation, either.
The best science fiction (and fantasy, which B5 has elements of) uses imaginary places, peoples, and circumstances to teach us about ourselves. Babylon 5 does this in the large, with themes about humanity, spirituality, and the nature of evil, and in the small with minor subplots like this one.
Babylon 5 can be rough around the edges, especially with some of the acting and the outdated special effects (although some of those effects were bleeding-edge back then) but it’s worth a watch for any science fiction fan.
Holiday Hiatus
I’m taking a few weeks off from Substack while I finish up my book, celebrate the holidays, and make plans for next year. I’ll be back in the first full week of January.
In the meantime, sign ups for ARCs of Shadows of the Past are still open.
It's 1915, twenty years after the Martian invasion failed. The aliens left behind advanced technology and weapons, and now humanity is on the brink of a catastrophic war. Caught in the middle of the chaos are two unlikely heroes: Emil Zimmerman, a young German soldier, and James Brogan, an introverted radio engineer.
Emil dreamed of escaping his small village and making his way to the big city, but finds himself in the trenches fighting for an army that indiscriminately wields deadly Martian weapons. Meanwhile, James just wants to be left alone, but is pulled into a web of conspiracy when he's called upon to repair crucial radios on Long Island.
As the world hurtles towards the brink of destruction, Emil and James find themselves on a collision course with fate, each struggling to survive and make sense of a new reality.
Happy Holidays to you all!
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Eric Goebelbecker
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