I should say before I start that Babylon 5 was my favourite television programme of all time, ever, even including Blake's 7 which caught me at a vulnerable time when I fancied practically everyone in it. If you haven't seen Babylon 5 then do so - it's out on video, so there's no excuse.

I should also say that I absolutely loathed the ending, to the extent that I find it too depressing to even criticise it. Maybe this is because I was (am) in love with G'kar and really felt that we should have seen the end of his story, but I know other, less xenophilic, people who also agree with me.

This page contains story ideas - if JMS should chance to see them, he is welcome to use them, no charge. (well you never know, he may get funding for the rest of Crusade one day.

Better aliens - physical

Yes, I know it's somewhat limiting having to use humans in makeup to play most aliens, and no less a person than the great Jon Pertwee says that the best aliens have a recognisable set of eyes and mouth with which to show emotion... But. We still haven't seen furry aliens, aliens with tails, aliens with anything other than five fingers (although Lorien's fingers were at least very long), aliens of radically different heights (there's a little people's union, so there's no shortage of actors), or aliens with very dark skin (we get black humans, but little variation in other races).

Better aliens - family life

Why are all aliens races so patriarchal? And those we've seen seem to have a family structure of mummy alien and daddy alien and little baby alien that just looks like a smaller version of its parents. Where are the communal families? The hives (I look forward to hearing more about the Gaim)? The races that couldn't give a shit who your father was? The litters of alien kittens and cubs?

On the romance side B5 does a bit better, with polygamous (but definitely not polyandrous) Centauri, but most other races seem distinctly monogamous whenever their love lives get a mention. I'd like to know more about the Drazi, though, and find out whether the Narn really are non-monogamous or whether G'Kar was just saying that, for his own purposes...

Alien Punks

Well not just punks, but youth (or adult) sub-cultures of any sort. You can't really believe that every single Centauri has the same haircut? (Why Emperor! How Radical! You have slightly shorter hair!!) That all Narn wear the same clothes? That no Minbari in a thousand years has ever decided to go mad and paint their headbone pink? We get a little variety in the humans, although not as much as I'd like, so why can't aliens be at least as imaginative?

Sexism: general

It seems odd that if Earthforce have female fighters that they still have so few. It would be possible to write it off as residual sexism, but no human character has ever complained of it. I also get tired of every single character (human and alien) having unresolved issues with their fathers. No-one seems to care what becomes of Sheridan's mum, and the only mothers we do hear of are either dead (Ivanova's) or conveniently locked away in a nunnery (Delenn's).

Sexism: Centauri

I don't have a problem with there being a sexist culture in the League, but again, I would like to see someone, either human or Centauri, complain of it, better yet I'd like to see a Centuari feminist. There have been feminists at almost every stage of human history, so they should have some. Of course you wouldn't be able to tell them from humans, because they'd grow their hair... I'd also love to know what B5 policy is on alien cultures which contradict theirs. What would happen, for instance, if a Centauri slave came asking asylum - would Security defend the "owner's" rights?

See my links page for a good Bablyon 5 page.
See Justin's homepages on Xibalba for his Star Trek rant, which is considerably longer, but which is what inspired this one...

Last updated 2nd March 2000