Battlestar Galactica Meets the United Nations

This week, Battlestar Galactica, the greatest television show that has ever existed in my opinion, will be unveiling it's swan song with the last two hours of the series finale airing Friday night. I've went on and on about how awesome this show really, really is, but some question it. "It's sci-fi" or "you do know it's called "Battlestar Galactica" don't you?" are frequent responses (admittedly, that is a deterrent as the name comes across as quite dorky to the average person). Regardless of that, it's hard to really top this story that came out yesterday, as it blew my mind and really lays a ton of legitimacy at the feet of those people questioning the show.


Yesterday, Bstar co-creators David Eick and Ronald D. Moore and co-leads Mary McDonnell and Edward James Olmos were asked to speak at the United Nations in a retrospective of the show, as part of a program in which the United Nations is trying to connect with the general public about major world issues like terrorism and human rights via the media.

No less, the event sounds like quite possibly the single coolest event ever. The room was filled with UN members, activists, politicians, moderator Whoopi Goldberg (who is apparently a huge fan), the Bstar folk, and 100 high school students who were requested to have prepared questions for the cast, all of which apparently were awesome and said to draw a lot of amazement from the UN members, who were shocked by Bstar's power to get young people to think about issues. As Robert Orr, the Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Planning put it, "(Battlestar Galactica has) people thinking about issues that we try and get people thinking about every day." That's some power right there.

Absolutely, the coolest moment was when one of the UN members continued to use the term "race" to describe different ethnicities, which led Edward James Olmos (long a activist about racism) on a scathing diatribe of the United Nations, stressing that there aren't different races, there was just humanity, and that was something he's fought for all of his life. He got very heated, and even finished his oration with his patented line, as he yelled "So say we all!" to the audience - all of whom responded back with the same line, and they chanted back and forth for a good measure. It was apparently so touching to Olmos, that he shed a tear or two, which McDonnell reached over and wiped for him.

Intense. Impossibly cool.

In short, you may question Battlestar Galactica and it's ability to be good television when I say it, but come on now. The United Nations are preaching how great it is. You never heard them say that about CSI did you?

Didn't think so.

Watch Battlestar. Better late than never. So say we all.