Open Secrets of the Pegasus Galaxy
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| Vid | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Open Secrets of the Pegasus Galaxy |
| Creator: | yevgenie |
| Date: | December 2008 |
| Format: | digital vid |
| Length: | 4:04 minutes |
| Music: | Everybody Knows by Leonard Cohen |
| Genre: | gen ensemble issuevid |
| Fandom: | Stargate Atlantis |
| Footage: | Stargate Atlantis |
| URL: | vid announcement post on LiveJournal, vid announcement post on Dreamwidth Vid (streaming) at blip.tv |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Open Secrets of the Pegasus Galaxy is a Stargate Atlantis vid by yevgenie, who said about it:
- "I hope I can do this vid justice. If I can... well, the way I've been thinking of it, it's all of my Issues with SGA boiled down into one song. And the reasons I love it as well, but if I'm being honest, I don't think that SGA has been well-written from an ethical standpoint. [...] I love SGA in spite of its flaws, but man, are there some serious flaws. This vid is an attempt to poke at the love and the problems both, from the *inside*."[1]
and:
- "This is my love letter to Stargate Atlantis. It is also a letter about how Stargate: Atlantis drives me fucking crazy. [waves hands in explanation]"[2]
Vid summary: That's how it goes, everybody knows.
Recs and Reactions
- "Brilliant vid about life and death in Pegasus. It's a meta-essay in vid form, and it made me fall in love with the show all over again."[3]
- "Oh, man, holy wow; this is fantastic. I love the feel of this vid: its darkness, its gritty feel. The candy-colored palette of the Pegasus galaxy I know and love has been replaced here by something shadier, more morally ambiguous, and yet these are my beloved characters, just seen through a different lens. [...] I need to watch it again; I'm kind of awestruck."[4]
- "It's one of those vids that just perfectly gives you the show that YOU'VE been watching the whole time - with all the messiness, and the human losses, and the sheer inevitability of Pegasus all laid out beautifully. One of those "this is the show we've made ourselves out of the show you've given us" vids. Seriously, it's really lovely; you should go see it."[5]
- "wow, this is really great - I wouldn't have thought that this song would make a good vid (ILU Leonard Cohen, but you sing so sloooooow) but you've really taken the mood of the song and made it your own, played it against the sheer inevitability of Pegasus. The way you put John under gaze after gaze is just perfect - I mean, if EVER there was an 'open secrets' kind of guy - and I think that Teyla and Ronon also come through really beautifully here, especially Teyla looking at the wall drawings to "the war is over." And god, that one short shot of Ford was PERFECT. This makes perfect sense to me as a love letter to SGA, because it's how I often feel about the show, too - that it does all this stuff about exploitation, and ends-justify-means, and sheer plodding cruelty, but it isn't aware that it does all that stuff, and so ends up being VERY frustrating sometimes. Anyway, I think it's gorgeous."[6]
- "[...] this is the vid that says everything we all know about SGA and don't talk about. Basically, I'd sum that up as: no one gets out of Pegasus clean. (In fact, you mostly don't get out at all. This vid makes that point, too.) The Wraith are the enemy, but how are they different than Atlantis, given some of the decisions the home team makes? The Ancients are (supposed to be, and oh my god, so not, so skeevy) the good guys, but look how badly they fucked Pegasus over. The open secret of Pegasus seems to me to be that everyone fails, falls, dies, fucks up, and fucks over. No heroes.
- And now I'd like to talk about the song. Because, see, I love Leonard Cohen. I occasionally fantasize about marrying one of his songs. But I have always considered him basically unviddable. Turns out, nope! I just didn't have the right vision, because oh my god how this song works - works for the vid, works for the theme, works works works. Even if this vid didn't say something I've always wanted someone to say about SGA, I would still love it to pieces, because it's a vid to Leonard Fucking Cohen. That sound you just heard was my heart growing three sizes." [7]
Screencaps
References
- ^ yevgenie's How I'm spending my downtime post, 10 Feb 2008. (Accessed 14 Jan 2012)
- ^ From yevgenie's vid announcement post, 11 Dec 2008. (Accessed 14 Jan 2012)
- ^ Rec from SGA fic/vid recs - main list, Part 2 post by astridv (Accessed 14 Jan 2012)
- ^ comment at the vid announcement post by kassrachel, 11 Dec 2008. (Accessed 14 Jan 2012)
- ^ vid rec! post by thingswithwings, 14 Dec 2008. (Accessed 14 Jan 2012)
- ^ comment at the vid announcement post by thingswithwings, 14 Dec 2008. (Accessed 14 Jan 2012)
- ^ The One That Demonstrates Why You Might Not Want to Make Pegasus Galaxy Your Vacation Destination. Well, Yes, Life-Sucking Monsters. But It Gets Much Worse Than That, Actually. From 190: I'm Going to Vidding Land rec post by thefourthvine, 5 March 2009. (Accessed 14 Jan 2012)