[CM]

I was playing WoW with the TV running and some version of Star Gate was on. I believe it was Star Gate Atlantis. Basically the scene that got me thinking was that the ship with the main characters and one alien species was stuck in the star gate and if they didn't move through completely they would die. The scene was where one of the alien "elders" stated that in their culture and traditions knowing you would die was a sacred situation and that there were rituals which needed to be performed. Now the human character berated the alien character stating that as long as she was incharge she would not tell the alien on board to prepare for death. The message implied by dialogue, music and the way the scene was shot was that the human was in the right and that the alien was wrong in what he asked and thought.

I found that supremely arrogant and pathetic. The alien culture holds death sacred and that he has requested that the other alien be informed of her or his death and be allowed to perform the rituals. There is a flat out refusal and denial of what they feel is necessary for their customs in place of what humans think is right. Now many may say this is hollywood and tv. So its obviously pro-human or what not.

But i don't see that as a TV flaw. Rather i see that innate to all humans. You see that in politics daily. Just not between west and east. But even between the east and east. This is just not a stereotype situation but an inherent belief that our system or culture is better in some way to other cultures. This is most manifest in my opinion not in the US but in Europe. In the east it is obviously Islamic society that feels it holds moral superiority over the rest of the world. The Japanese are a close second.

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