A nice short video where some of the key praises for Babylon 5 are given:
However, something I've never seen mentioned is how socially correct it is. Even though it was produced in the early 90's, diversity is treated as normative. It doesn't matter whether we're talking about gender, sexuality, or racial issue, Babylon 5 almost always makes the most politically correct decision.
A few illustrations for that:
Race: although the main cast (including aliens) are in majority white actors, key secondary characters are often non-white. Meanwhile, bad guys are only ever played by white males, thus avoiding interpretations of racial commentary.
Sexuality: sexual diversity is treated as normative. There's a key lesbian relationship in the series, but it's never portrayed for titillation - in fact, we never see the charcters kiss, but we do see their emotionalc closeness. Later on, two of the male cast pretend they are a married couple to get through a blockade - because gay marriage is not seen as an issue in the future.
Gender: women play key military roles at every level of command, and are never objectified, nor are they ever treated as in need of protection. Key female staff have very real development arcs that avoid common stereotypes for women and instead are focused only on them being people.
It's quite remarkable just how socially correct it manages to be, yet it never does so a the expense of the story or characters. Like any great story where equality is treated as normative, the viewer will never notice unless they are specifically looking out for it.
However, something I've never seen mentioned is how socially correct it is. Even though it was produced in the early 90's, diversity is treated as normative. It doesn't matter whether we're talking about gender, sexuality, or racial issue, Babylon 5 almost always makes the most politically correct decision.
A few illustrations for that:
Race: although the main cast (including aliens) are in majority white actors, key secondary characters are often non-white. Meanwhile, bad guys are only ever played by white males, thus avoiding interpretations of racial commentary.
Sexuality: sexual diversity is treated as normative. There's a key lesbian relationship in the series, but it's never portrayed for titillation - in fact, we never see the charcters kiss, but we do see their emotionalc closeness. Later on, two of the male cast pretend they are a married couple to get through a blockade - because gay marriage is not seen as an issue in the future.
Gender: women play key military roles at every level of command, and are never objectified, nor are they ever treated as in need of protection. Key female staff have very real development arcs that avoid common stereotypes for women and instead are focused only on them being people.
It's quite remarkable just how socially correct it manages to be, yet it never does so a the expense of the story or characters. Like any great story where equality is treated as normative, the viewer will never notice unless they are specifically looking out for it.
