Jennifer Keller | Stargate Atlantis (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
forsometimenow) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
doublestars2012-03-11 09:32 pm
forsometimenow) wrote in doublestars2012-03-11 09:32 pm
Entry tags:
OOC: Meta - In Defense of Jennifer Keller
After I finished Stargate Atlantis, I went poking around the fandom a little. I was surprised to learn (though on reflection, really shouldn't have been) that a lot of the fandom absolutely hates Jennifer Keller. Keller ended up being one of my favorite characters, so I thought I'd write up a list of the common points I've seen against her and refute them.
This essay contains spoilers for the entire SGA series, so tread with caution. I should also note that this is also based on just one watchthrough of the series, so my memory of some episodes might be a little fuzzy. And though it shouldn't need to be said, this essay is just my own opinion.
1. She sucks because she fell in love with Rodney.
I'm not going to touch fans who hate her simply for getting in the way of McShep or (insert other favored pairing with Rodney). More understandable are those who dislike the way the relationship was written or believe it was shoehorned in/contrived. However, consider the show's track record with OTHER pairings- Rodney/Jennifer was no less pushed in or contrived than the others. In fact, I'd argue that their pairing was actually a little better written than most.
Consider, for example, Rodney's previous relationship with Katie Brown. Katie was barely ever seen onscreen except for when she and Rodney interacted, so the relationship- and then the progression to Rodney wanting to marry her- seemed to come pretty much out of left field. Sure, they must have interacted plenty offscreen or else Katie wouldn't have put up with Rodney at all, but all we viewers saw were a few scraps. This hardly seems like enough to base a pairing on, and yet they lasted quite a while in-universe.
For an example involving two completely different characters, let's look at Teyla and Kanaan. Kanaan wasn't even mentioned onscreen until Teyla's pregnancy became known, then he was suddenly the father of her child, a childhood friend, and someone she'd had feelings for forever. They even tried to poorly retcon his existence in by having the other characters mention how obviously infatuated with Kanaan Teyla was.
Rodney/Jennifer is no McShep as far as blatant ship tease/Ho Yay goes, but the two of them had their moments before their official hookup. It's most evident when they're together, and either one of them is nervous or in danger- it's obvious before the confession that both of them have come to care about one another.
2. She replaced Carson and will never be good enough.
I can totally understand why fans were and are disgusted with the way Carson was written off- but it's not Keller's fault that it happened. She's not Carson and never was intended to be an expy of/female version of him, and I imagine she'd get even more hate from the fandom if she WAS too much like him. She is and should be seen a character in her own right.
3. She's whiny and useless.
I've seen hate leveled toward Keller both because of her insecurity and because she's pretty much useless in fighting situations and gets kidnapped or put in danger several times. However, I believe her insecurity is completely understandable- she had big shoes to fill, she's young and had little experience with the Stargate program and interstellar travel, and even admits herself that she struggled all her life with finding a place to belong. Considering that her first duty as chief medical officer of Atlantis was to try and save the life of Elizabeth Weir- who was much loved and cared about by all of the Atlantis expedition members- all the while knowing that she was fighting a losing battle, beginning to buckle under the pressure seems pretty understandable. She had come to a scary new place where she didn't know anybody and was under constant threat from life-sucking aliens- not everybody is going to look at a challenge like that and be a John Sheppard.
As far as her Damsel in Distress moments and lack of fighting ability- again, she was new and unseasoned at the time. Developing fighting skills takes time, and when you're among the likes of John Sheppard, Teyla Emmagan and Ronon Dex, not to mention having to take a lot of time patching up all kinds of strange injuries and dealing with parasites and alien diseases no Earth medical school could prepare you for, I feel like it's perfectly understandable that Jennifer didn't develop into a fighter right away. It took time for the civilians like Rodney, Elizabeth and Carson to learn how to defend themselves in battle, as well- yet none of them seem to be disliked for it the way Keller is.
4. She was accepted by the others too quickly.
I'd argue that this is actually not the case at all- for example, in "Quarantine", Ronon mentions that he felt that Jennifer was weak and didn't belong. She was very rarely seen casually hanging out with the crew until several months of in-show time had passed. She interacted with the others plenty on a doctor-patient level, but it took some time for her to come out of her shell and be a friend, rather than simply a colleague. And of COURSE the others were going to care and come after her whenever she got in trouble- what were they supposed to do, leave her to die?
At the beginning of the series, everyone on the crew seemed to gel and become good friends rather quickly, so this isn't Jennifer being a special case. Teyla in particular was accepted by most of the team members without question despite being a total stranger, and had Sheppard's total trust placed in her right off the bat. Anybody in-show who found this worrisome was immediately shot down and shown by the writers to be wrong. Why is this so bad and unrealistic when it happens to Keller?
TL;DR
Jennifer Keller is one of my favorite characters in Stargate Atlantis, and I think it's quite unfair that she gets a lot of flak, in particular for things that are deemed acceptable when it involves other characters.
This essay contains spoilers for the entire SGA series, so tread with caution. I should also note that this is also based on just one watchthrough of the series, so my memory of some episodes might be a little fuzzy. And though it shouldn't need to be said, this essay is just my own opinion.
1. She sucks because she fell in love with Rodney.
I'm not going to touch fans who hate her simply for getting in the way of McShep or (insert other favored pairing with Rodney). More understandable are those who dislike the way the relationship was written or believe it was shoehorned in/contrived. However, consider the show's track record with OTHER pairings- Rodney/Jennifer was no less pushed in or contrived than the others. In fact, I'd argue that their pairing was actually a little better written than most.
Consider, for example, Rodney's previous relationship with Katie Brown. Katie was barely ever seen onscreen except for when she and Rodney interacted, so the relationship- and then the progression to Rodney wanting to marry her- seemed to come pretty much out of left field. Sure, they must have interacted plenty offscreen or else Katie wouldn't have put up with Rodney at all, but all we viewers saw were a few scraps. This hardly seems like enough to base a pairing on, and yet they lasted quite a while in-universe.
For an example involving two completely different characters, let's look at Teyla and Kanaan. Kanaan wasn't even mentioned onscreen until Teyla's pregnancy became known, then he was suddenly the father of her child, a childhood friend, and someone she'd had feelings for forever. They even tried to poorly retcon his existence in by having the other characters mention how obviously infatuated with Kanaan Teyla was.
Rodney/Jennifer is no McShep as far as blatant ship tease/Ho Yay goes, but the two of them had their moments before their official hookup. It's most evident when they're together, and either one of them is nervous or in danger- it's obvious before the confession that both of them have come to care about one another.
2. She replaced Carson and will never be good enough.
I can totally understand why fans were and are disgusted with the way Carson was written off- but it's not Keller's fault that it happened. She's not Carson and never was intended to be an expy of/female version of him, and I imagine she'd get even more hate from the fandom if she WAS too much like him. She is and should be seen a character in her own right.
3. She's whiny and useless.
I've seen hate leveled toward Keller both because of her insecurity and because she's pretty much useless in fighting situations and gets kidnapped or put in danger several times. However, I believe her insecurity is completely understandable- she had big shoes to fill, she's young and had little experience with the Stargate program and interstellar travel, and even admits herself that she struggled all her life with finding a place to belong. Considering that her first duty as chief medical officer of Atlantis was to try and save the life of Elizabeth Weir- who was much loved and cared about by all of the Atlantis expedition members- all the while knowing that she was fighting a losing battle, beginning to buckle under the pressure seems pretty understandable. She had come to a scary new place where she didn't know anybody and was under constant threat from life-sucking aliens- not everybody is going to look at a challenge like that and be a John Sheppard.
As far as her Damsel in Distress moments and lack of fighting ability- again, she was new and unseasoned at the time. Developing fighting skills takes time, and when you're among the likes of John Sheppard, Teyla Emmagan and Ronon Dex, not to mention having to take a lot of time patching up all kinds of strange injuries and dealing with parasites and alien diseases no Earth medical school could prepare you for, I feel like it's perfectly understandable that Jennifer didn't develop into a fighter right away. It took time for the civilians like Rodney, Elizabeth and Carson to learn how to defend themselves in battle, as well- yet none of them seem to be disliked for it the way Keller is.
4. She was accepted by the others too quickly.
I'd argue that this is actually not the case at all- for example, in "Quarantine", Ronon mentions that he felt that Jennifer was weak and didn't belong. She was very rarely seen casually hanging out with the crew until several months of in-show time had passed. She interacted with the others plenty on a doctor-patient level, but it took some time for her to come out of her shell and be a friend, rather than simply a colleague. And of COURSE the others were going to care and come after her whenever she got in trouble- what were they supposed to do, leave her to die?
At the beginning of the series, everyone on the crew seemed to gel and become good friends rather quickly, so this isn't Jennifer being a special case. Teyla in particular was accepted by most of the team members without question despite being a total stranger, and had Sheppard's total trust placed in her right off the bat. Anybody in-show who found this worrisome was immediately shot down and shown by the writers to be wrong. Why is this so bad and unrealistic when it happens to Keller?
TL;DR
Jennifer Keller is one of my favorite characters in Stargate Atlantis, and I think it's quite unfair that she gets a lot of flak, in particular for things that are deemed acceptable when it involves other characters.