A Tale of Two Toasters : Évolutions de la figure du Cylon dans Battlestar Galactica entre la version de Glen Larson (ABC, 1978-1979) et le reboot de Ronald D. Moore (Syfy, 2003-2009)

Abstract

This article explores the articulations between the concepts of human and post-human in the two versions of the TV series Battlestar Galactica, Glen Larson’s (1978-79) and Ronald D. Moore’s reboot, first aired in 2003. At the center of both versions, but more specifically in the more recent one, stands the figure of the Cylon, a man-made creation which only reaches its full potential after a rebellion against its creators. Although the Cylon in Glen Larson’s version is simply an army of robot-soldiers under the command of the traitor Baltar, it is possible to perceive (in such characters as the Cylon Lucifer) a budding reflection on the blurred lines between man and machine. In Ronald D. Moore’s version, however, this consideration is the driving force behind the development of the Cylon characters, since the Cylon is now a creature who resembles a human both physically and emotionally, a source of multiple moral issues for humans and Cylons alike. Beyond the philosophical challenges of understanding the current debates on the human, the post-human and more recently the trans-human, this article seeks to analyze how Otherness is portrayed in both versions as well as the evolution of American science fiction in two different socio-political contexts.

Keywords

• Battlestar Galactica
• American science fiction
• posthumanity
• Cold War
• post-9/11 culture
• reboot