Mantra of the Month: The Starbuck Effect

By Adrienne Wallace On March 1, 2012 · Leave a Comment

So life’s a bitch. What do you want me to do, cry about it?
~Lt. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace

I know, since I write about food all the time here, you thought I might be talking about coffee for a second there didn’t ya? I’m guessing that you didn’t take me for a Battlestar Galactica fan. Well, I am. Of version 2.0 anyway.

In the classic Battlestar Galactica, Lt. Starbuck is played by a man, Dirk Benedict and when the show was reprised in 2003 as a mini-series, and again in 2004 as a weekly series on the Sci-Fi Channel, they added a major twist, making the character a female. In fact they changed two major male roles into females (Starbuck and Boomer). This added to the already intense relationship between Starbuck and Boomer, and increased the show’s over all badass bitch factor which was already strong with a cybernetic lifeform clone [aka Cylon-the bad guys/girls] played by Lucy Lawless [duh, Zena]. Starbuck, the ultimate hothead, babe, starfighter pilot, and rebel, was played by Katiee Sackhoff. She took the stereotypical womanizing, arrogant, alcoholic, reckless, daring, gambling, “don’t give a shit” male role and femmed it up, all the while keeping the same characteristics. USA Today described her as “the broken warrior, a young, idealistic soldier who has been fighting for all the right reasons, but has lost something along the way” (2009). I’m telling you, it’s refreshingly brilliant casting and writing!

So now that you are up to speed on the awesomeness of this character, the quote above has been a part of my Facebook “about me” section since I saw this episode [yeah, it's THAT important]. It inspires me to choke down that ball of emotion that conjures in my belly when I get angry. Because anger, instead of making me punch stuff, or take constructive action, illogically brings uncontrolled tears to my eyes. This statement inspires me to say, “nope that’s not fair”, “I’m sorry you feel that way”, or “that sucks” and then encourages me to move forward even when I’d rather die or be in the fetal position, sucking my thumb, and rocking back and forth. This statement lets me own my emotions, pick up my chin and walk on even when I can feel my face flush and a sick wave of defeat wash over my body. Life CAN be a bitch and crying about it isn’t the solution-of this I am sure.

So this March mantra serves as your wake up call. It’s not going to make you feel all reassured and warm on the inside like a hug; nope, this mantra is not a serene one. This mantra gives you certain permissions. Permission to NOT act like a girl if you don’t want to. Permission to live out loud without regret or apologies. Permission to totally kick some ass.

Related Posts:

Mantra of the Month – February

Mantra of the Month – January

Mantra of the Month – December

Mantra of the Month – November

Mantra of the Month – October

Mantra of the Month – September

Mantra of the Month – July