As no one has been terribly controversial lately, I thought I would throw this into the arena, for general savaging. Please excuse me if I rant too much, I'm slightly well-oiled on Irish whiskey! I've been over to Louise and Simon's newish forum a few times. A lot of lively discussions seem to be taking place. But I've noticed a strong bias towards Avon, at the expense of Blake. Now, I love our Avon, I really do, but I've never been blind to his faults. He seems to me to be a man often struggling against his worst nature, and frequently losing, but doing his best to be true to himself, if no one else. But he has many, many bad qualities. Blake has faults, too, but they are more forgivable, IMO. Blake is flawed, yes, but he is fighting a great evil in the only way he knows. Why is it then that Avon has so many supporters on the L and S forum, (and elsewhere) and Blake apparently so few? All right, Avon is more glamorous, maybe, but I find the sometimes vitriolic condemnation of Blake and his character and motives a bit hard to take. He isn't always right, but he's doing the best he can, driven by a principle which is after all, surely good one: the desire for freedom for everyone, not merely the favoured few. Avon is intelligent, resourceful, courageous, but he is also very selfish, uncaring, avaricious. Yet he's forgiven acts forwhich Blake is condemned. I believe Blake is sincere in his aims. Not necessarily without fault, but doing what is right by his beliefs. He seeks to persuade the crew, not manipulate them in a cynical way. He leads from the front as much as possible, and he's not afraid to die, even for a principle which may seem pointless to a man like Avon. Avon, when his turn comes, is not a very good leader. To his credit, he doesn't really claim to be, but he has by default assumed a position of authority after Star One, and cannot really evade the converse: responsibility; although he frequently tries to. He wants to give orders without bearing the consequences, be detached from the crew while having them do as he wants when it suits him. I really do like Avon. But more and more I feel that to understand Avon, you have at least to appreciate Blake. Not like him, necessarily, but accept his importance to Avon, as an antagonist/friend. I hate to see Blake knocked just because he isn't supposed to be as smart as Avon. If you look at the series, Blake had the upper hand on Avon all the way to Star One. Avon is a very important character, without whom the series would be much the poorer. But it's still called 'Blake's'7, isn't it?
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