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the-bi-space-ace · 8 months

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Jack O'Neill & Why Stargate SG-1 is the Best Show in the World

Listen. I have been fully obsessed with Stargate SG-1 lately and it has made me realize a lot of things about media these days so... strap in. I'm about to detail for you one of the major reasons that you should watch this show.

Thank you to @concentratedbastardenergy for watching it with me every night and to @floundrickthewayfarer for listening to me ramble about it as I make my way through all 10 seasons.

Under the cut because it gets long (:

This will be focused primarily on one of the show's main characters: Colonel Jack O'Neill.

I'll start by saying that I am only on Season 6 so this is probably not entirely all encompassing but it is what I have picked up on from Jack since beginning this show.

Jack is a career military man with the United States Air Force. He has fought in wars, was held as a prisoner of war, and now leads SG-1 to explore the galaxy and defend earth against threats.

In order to really understand Jack we have to delve into a very important life event that has shaped who he is today. Jack was married to a woman named Sara but eventually their marriage fell apart which is what initially led him to go on the very first mission through the Stargate. The reason that his and Sara's marriage fell apart is that their son, Charlie, died in a very unfortunate accident when he unintentionally shot himself with Jack's unattended pistol. They rushed him to the hospital but he didn't make it, causing Jack to fall into a deep depression. Him and Sara couldn't reconcile with each other, Jack couldn't deal with his emotions, so they ended up getting a divorce.

This is important to really understand Jack and to understand why the way his character is now is so damn important. The spot he is in when he first begins this journey in Stargate SG-1 is very reflective of this event. I think it's important that Jack's story begins with losing everything he had.

First, let's take the average media image of a man like Jack O'Neill and compare it to what we see in SG-1. Typically we'd see a career military man in media today and he'd be the rugged, stoic, standoffish, tough-guy persona who can't talk about his feelings or express an emotion without a mass amount of prompting. Usually we see this type of character be not only closed off emotionally but also physically (unless it is with their romantic partner, typically.) This type of character would be your average tough guy who doesn't know how to process or express an emotion let alone ever do something utterly “humiliating” like hug someone or cry. The only person you will ever see them affectionate with is usually their partner and, occasionally, their children.

This is not at all reflective of Jack O'Neill.

Jack has been through unimaginable pain. He has lost a part of his life that he can never get back and it absolutely kills him inside. Despite how devastating this is he doesn't just hide the pain away forever. Sure, he keeps it close to his chest and he isn't talking about it 24/7, but he does process it with people he loves. He allows himself to feel it, to express that he feels it, to show that he feels it with his facial expressions and with his words. He is immediately connected to any child that needs help and it shows all over him. He was meant to be a father and that was taken from him and he feels like it is his fault. But it doesn't turn him callous. He expresses that fatherly attribute by taking care of his loved ones, children or otherwise.

Jack has deep friendships. He forms bonds with people and not only holds those relationships dear but also shows how much he loves them. He is a touchy person, believe it or not. He was outwardly in love with his wife, Sara, and was very physically affectionate with her. He is also physically affectionate with his friends. He touches them and hugs them and holds them when they cry and he doesn't act like those things are shameful. There are plenty of times when he ruffles Daniel’s hair, or gives Teal’c a good pat on the back, or hugs Sam. Jack has close, affectionate, relationships with the men and women in his life. He doesn't hesitate to give them affectionate pats on the back, hugs, touch their hair or faces, and he holds them when they need to be held. He is there for them emotionally and physically. Because he wants to support them and this is how he knows how to do that. He never treats these moments like they are out of his comfort zone or weird (which is something I see a lot from media nowadays.) He treats it as friendship, companionship, and his responsibility. He loves them. He makes sure they always know that he does.

There is a very charged moment where Daniel literally has Jack held at gunpoint, and is not in a great state of mind and after Jack talks him down Daniel starts to absolutely break down in front of him. He’s scared, he’s ill, he’s hurting. What does Jack do? He makes sure he’s safe and not hurt then Jack holds him and lets him cry. Because as a friend and a leader what else are you supposed to do when someone you love is breaking down? You hold them. You tell them it’s going to be okay. He helps because it is not only what he should do, it is what he wants to do. In an episode I watched not too long ago he hugs Sam so tight and for so long and the scene never becomes weird or tense or awkward because they clearly love each other, just like all of these characters do, and Jack is scared and cold and simply needs a hug. He is a compelling character because he is aware of his responsibility and duty but has such a commitment to also being their friend.

He is still a person who very much needs and wants to have close relationships and be physically affectionate and when he starts healing from his son’s death he doesn't deny himself those things. He forms those close relationships and he is outwardly loving. It doesn't take away his pain but it does help him feel like a person again, even after all of the tragedy he's experienced.

He doesn't have shame in being afraid or asking for help or crying. One of my favorite Jack scenes so far is with a young boy who says: "Mother says boys from your planet do not cry." And do you want to know what Jack's immediate response is? "That's not true." He goes on to say that crying is good for you. Crying is a natural response and it is not bad or shameful. This man is correcting a nasty thing we tell young boys and he is doing it by admitting that he himself feels emotions strongly and cries and so should this little boy. By the end of the episode he reminds the young boy that it is okay to be sad when you have to say goodbye to a new friend and that he will miss him just as much as this boy will miss Jack. He's healing parts of himself by making sure this kid doesn't grow up with the 'boys don't cry' bullshit that so many people grow up with.

He is shown to have good judgment and protectiveness and has a strong sense of morality tied to his respect for people and their autonomy. In one episode Jack fights back against the government invading another planet and exploiting its native people for a natural resource after they were denied access to it because of destructive and wasteful methods of extraction. He is outwardly angry about the decision to deceive the native people of this planet and he reminds the watcher of all the times we, throughout history and still to this day, have done this and continue to do it even though it is wrong.

The last episode I want to talk about is Abyss an episode in season six where Jack is being tortured for information and sees his dead (ascended??) friend, Daniel. Jack wants Daniel to do something to save him, something that Daniel apparently can not do despite having the power to do so. BUT he does want Jack to ascend. They end up getting into an argument where Daniel is trying to convince Jack that he is a good person. He is worthy of getting out of this. He is able to save himself. Jack swears, up and down, that if he their roles were reversed nothing would have stopped him from destroying everything in his path, taking down everyone who was hurting Daniel and not stopping until every last one of them were dead whether or not they were responsible for that suffering. He'd fight tooth and nail and hurt whoever he had to in order to save Daniel, there is not a single doubt in his mind. Daniel tells Jack that he is a better man than that, that he'd weigh options that weren't killing everyone around them. That Jack wouldn't burn the world down to save him, wouldn't cause that much suffering, and that Jack is fundamentally good. When Jack responds it is to tell Daniel that he's wrong. That everything that Daniel thinks about him, that he's good and kind and he'd find another way to help, is wrong. This moment, although it may seem unrelated, sticks out to me because this is the impact Jack has on people. Daniel sees the good in Jack. He knows Jack would come for him, that he'd support him, that he'd do everything in his power to help. Daniel sees in Jack what Jack always fails to see in himself. They have such a powerful bond, even in moments when they argue. Daniel doesn't doubt Jack's intentions, he doesn't doubt that Jack would come for him, he doesn't ever doubt him like Jack doubts himself. This trust is so indicative of the man that Jack is, of the way he impacts other people's lives, of the way he represents humanity and love and kindness and pain. And the love and respect Jack shows to other people directly impacts the way other people see him.

With the combination of everything above it would be typical to have this character or other characters question his masculinity and challenge it, perhaps even claim they are too emotional to be in charge, but when it comes to Jack this is not the case. All of those attributes are why people say he is a good leader and that he deserves to be in charge. He is shown as strong and dependable and loyal and logical. He is tough. But he is also sensitive, affectionate, and funny. He uses humor to cope and isn't afraid to admit when he's scared or sad. Jack is the king of micro-expressions but I can explicitly tell how he is feeling even with my own challenges with reading expressions.

Today's tv shows tend to shy away from this type of character and want to put a man like Jack into a box. The military man with a tragic past who scowls at everything and hasn't hugged someone in 25 years and doesn't have a close relationship with someone who isn't a romantic interest. I think that does such a disservice to this type of person. I've been missing something from TV shows today and I think Stargate SG-1 has shown me exactly what that is. It's characters who love each other and who show it and say it every single episode. It's story lines that challenge and develop each character past their stereotypes. It is storytelling where I don't have to guess what they're thinking or feeling because it is explicitly written on their face and in their body language. It is a plot that doesn't feel flat or reused. It is fun moments tossed in next to heart-wrenching ones. It is moral dilemmas and fights between characters that get resolved in a satisfying way. It is love and sacrifice and such curiosity and wonder for the world.

I'm convinced I didn't know what the found family trope really was until I watched this show. I'm glad that a show made in the late 90s created a character so authentic and well rounded that he feels like a real person and not a flat caricature. A man who had every opportunity to turn into someone closed off and callous that instead decided that the way out of the darkness was love. I think we need more 'Jack O'Neill's in this world. We’d be better off for it.

#stargate sg1 #jack o'neill #spoilers btw #I mean this show came out in 1997 but imma say spoilers anyway #this isn't a full deep dive into his character bc I simply have not learned everything #but as a person who grew up in a family that did not touch very often I am very drawn to characters like Jack who touch quite a bit #Jack is a beautiful character #he has seen so much tragedy and heartache #the writers could have made him such a stereotype #but they decided he was going to actually use all of that love that he had inside of him #that he could have close friendships #that he didn't lose the fatherly instinct within him it just simply... shifted a bit to accommodate his new life #someone so broken on the inside who gets hit with pain all the time and still loves so damn deeply it hurts to watch #let a man like Jack be outwardly affectionate #let him be scared #let him cry #let him learn to heal #because he is a person and he deserves a full spectrum of emotions and reactions and experiences #I brought this up with my partner and had a whole rant about it because I love what they did with Jack's character #and there is still so much to say but alas I will hush now #I'm sorry I've ranted so much I can't help it he is wonderful #Watch Stargate SG-1 #Stargate Analysis

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