Epiphany

[wren_kt7oz]

This is something that I posted to the bj spoilers board, and now I'm putting it here as well.

It's my interpretation of what I think that last scene in Babylon means.

Open to all comments (even the rude ones).


Was thinking again about what we've been hearing about the
ending and I had an epiphany that I thought I'd share.

It struck me that the problem for me (and I suspect many like me) is
that we've become so bj focused, that the larger issues that C/L
might be trying to address have sort of slipped by.

I asked in an earlier post what the message from the last scene was
meant to be, and totally missed the obvious.

It's not about bj.

It's not even about Brian.

It's about the fact that, despite Stockwell and his ilk, despite
bombs and hatred and violence, Babylon and all it represents are
alive and well.

Brian, from what we have heard, comes close to despair in the final
episode. He considers not rebuilding. He's on the verge of letting
the haters win.

But he doesn't. As once before when he fought Stockwell, he comes
through. He takes up the challenge, and Babylon, his culture, his
way of life, is rebuilt, young and beautiful forever.

I think that's the point that C/L are trying to make with the last
scene.

It's not about Brian being alone and lonely and doomed to permanent
isolation.

It's about Brian (and the unapologetic gay lifestyle he represents)
being triumphant against all the odds.

Did they have to split bj up to do that?

No, of course not.

But, in a sense, that's part of the message too.

Justin is the new generation. He also has survived hatred and
violence, and he's emerged stronger than ever, ready to spread his
wings and take on the world.

He's now "the best homosexual he can be" and he's gone off to live
his life to the full, despite all those who would like to see him
fail, to see him fall, to restrict and reduce him (think the
Hollywood honchos kowtowing to the Bush-ites).

And yes, there are probably ways that all this could have been
achieved without the split.

But I don't think that C/L place the same sort of focus on the bj
relationship that I do.

I think, for them, getting this amazing gay love story to the screen
was almost an end in itself. It doesn't have to have a
conventionally happy ending for them to feel it was all worth it.

For me, looking at it from a character-centric viewpoint, not from a
general, politicised stance, it seems that Brian especially has been
sacrificed. But I suspect that they simply don't see it that way.
That they see both Brian and Justin as representing the triumph over
the forces of bigotry and hatred and Bushism.

I think that's the message we are supposed to get from Brian dancing
alone at a restored Babylon.

Which simply leaves it for us to know the characters well enough to
understand that from here, they can only move on to bigger and better
things. That Brian is no more stuck in limbo in Babylon than Justin
is stuck forever in a garret in the East Village.

And that they are not forever doomed to being apart.

Comments

[budboi.livejournal.com]

Hi there Wren.
I was really interested to read about your epiphany. I had a similar one earlier on this year. I wrote to a friend a while ago that perhaps we are missing the wood (!) for the trees. C/L wrote the screenplay (or Russell Davies wrote the early ones) to get a series of stories/points of view about the gay world across, and the way they do that is by having a character play those story lines.
We watched the story but got distracted by the characters, and they became the whole story to us. Anything which interfered with their love story (you can tell that to me QAF=B/J) was an interruption to us, while to C/L, B/J and all the others were a way to get a story across. I think that is what drama is about.
And although I definitely got sidetracked by the B/J love story (and I *choose* to believe they will be together again and soon in NY) I have to admire C/L for putting together the whole fabulous 5 series. Drag queens & twinks, gay bars, dance parties, drugs, sex, love and friendships spill out of every episode. I know this place and these people.
So many times when I rewatch, I skip through to the B/J scenes, but every now and then I’m in a mood to watch a whole bunch of episodes all the way through, and I am amazed every time by how much I love this show, in its entirety.
I am *so* hanging for S5!
I’m off now to read your further thoughts on 513.
Bud

[wren-kt7oz.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes. I agree.

I mean, for me, from episode one, it was Brian and Justin who hooked me in. But the show ... having this show, getting it on screen and keeping it there for 5 seasons ... that's huge. Simply huge.

And although there have been bits along the way that I simply hated (end S2, for one) and some that I didn't think were very good (end S4), there have been so many wonderful moment in there that to carp on those seems petty.

All that being said, I don't think that C/L are the greatest writers in the world, and I think sometimes, when they sacrifice character to plot they undermine the show. And sometimes they are so heavy handed in making their points, that even I, who agree with them, feel irritated by the way they do it (Deb and the border guard in S4).

But overall, the show still stands as an amazing achievement.

So ... guess we just have to enjoy the last season, and, as for bj, like you I also

*choose* to believe they will be together again and soon in NY.

Sigh.