![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I'm Puzzled
Jan. 1st, 2006 01:19 pmSo, where did the idea come from that Rodney can't bluff or lie? This is totally accepted fanon, and people seem to imply that they got it from canon, but it puzzles me greatly.
Rodney has been working on top secret projects for at least six years that we know of. He implies in "Underground" that he's been doing so for even longer. (See the conversation with Ford about building a nuclear bomb for the grade six science fair that got him questioned by the CIA that lead to his first job). Clearly, he'd have to be secretive and able to bluff/lie to pull that off for so many years. And, in "48 Hours", how long does it take Carter to figure out that Rodney is the one who determined the arbitrary limit on how long a pattern can stay in a buffer before it degrades?
Then, on top of that, we have "The Storm/The Eye". This seems to be the episode that prompts the belief that Rodney can't bluff/lie because he caves to the whole 'tortured by the Genii' thing. Yet, as the storm surge approaches Atlantis, he convinces Kolya that the plan to power the shield with lightning won't work. ("In case you haven't noticed, I'm a very arrogant man, I think ALL my plans will work!") He is so convincing that Kolya decides to abandon Atlantis. This is not the work of a man who cannot lie.
Personally, I think Rodney CAN lie/bluff/dodge/etc; he simply chooses not to hide his feelings from those he is close to. (Yeah, yeah, I ended a sentence with a preposition. Bastard!) All those moments of reacting to certain doom in a certain way take place within the context of his team and the people on Atlantis whom he trusts. He is emotionally open to them (and to Carter) in such a way as to make it possible for him to express himself freely.
Now, do I think it is easy for Rodney to bluff or lie? Nope. I think it takes a lot of effort for him to hide things. But, he is a freaking genius, people. Give the man some credit for having the ability to dissemble.
In short, please stop making Rodney act like a child who is incapable of lying to his parents. Treat the man with the respect deserving of the greatest mind in two galaxies.
That is all.
Rodney has been working on top secret projects for at least six years that we know of. He implies in "Underground" that he's been doing so for even longer. (See the conversation with Ford about building a nuclear bomb for the grade six science fair that got him questioned by the CIA that lead to his first job). Clearly, he'd have to be secretive and able to bluff/lie to pull that off for so many years. And, in "48 Hours", how long does it take Carter to figure out that Rodney is the one who determined the arbitrary limit on how long a pattern can stay in a buffer before it degrades?
Then, on top of that, we have "The Storm/The Eye". This seems to be the episode that prompts the belief that Rodney can't bluff/lie because he caves to the whole 'tortured by the Genii' thing. Yet, as the storm surge approaches Atlantis, he convinces Kolya that the plan to power the shield with lightning won't work. ("In case you haven't noticed, I'm a very arrogant man, I think ALL my plans will work!") He is so convincing that Kolya decides to abandon Atlantis. This is not the work of a man who cannot lie.
Personally, I think Rodney CAN lie/bluff/dodge/etc; he simply chooses not to hide his feelings from those he is close to. (Yeah, yeah, I ended a sentence with a preposition. Bastard!) All those moments of reacting to certain doom in a certain way take place within the context of his team and the people on Atlantis whom he trusts. He is emotionally open to them (and to Carter) in such a way as to make it possible for him to express himself freely.
Now, do I think it is easy for Rodney to bluff or lie? Nope. I think it takes a lot of effort for him to hide things. But, he is a freaking genius, people. Give the man some credit for having the ability to dissemble.
In short, please stop making Rodney act like a child who is incapable of lying to his parents. Treat the man with the respect deserving of the greatest mind in two galaxies.
That is all.
