Starbucking the Trends

Katee Sackhoff’s career in television is one of unfortunate typecasting. Her first major role was that of Starbuck on Ron Moore’s reboot of the series Battlestar Galactica. Her work on the series was brilliant, representing a hardened, strong female character that can equal the strength, toughness, and masculinity of her male-dominated society. Yet Sackhoff’s personality is the furthest from that, which perfectly reflects her brilliance of an actor, in her ability to create such a complex character from little personal influence.

When Battlestar Galactica’s reboot first aired, people were shocked by the decision to make the lead character of Starbuck a woman. The character, once played by Dirk Benedict in the original series, had to maintain the character’s traits of being a gambler, talented leader, and seducer while incorporating all of those assets into a female character. The result of Sackhoff’s ability to capture the persona of Starbuck in a woman’s body is a perfect representation of a feminist reversal on a character, yet brings out gender bias that exists in viewers of the series.

Starbuck in the original Galactica was seen as a womanizer, and was prided on his ability to seduce women. Sackhoff’s Starbuck was regarded as a “slut” by many viewers, though her character possessed the exact same trait. Ron Moore originally cast her not to bring out any of these gender biases, but instead to avoid the stereotype of the rouge pilot with a heart of gold, yet when the series aired, and the initial backlash settled, Sackhoff was able to create Starbuck into one the staples of feminist icons in television. Her character was emotional, complex, and, to be brash, completely badass.

Even Moore himself was challenge by gender stereotypes when he was casting the role. Sackhoff’s real life personality is nowhere near to that of Starbuck, she came in as a very feminine 23 year old, and while Moore and Executive Producer David Eick were both very impressed by her acting abilities, they both said she was too feminine for the 30-something tough woman they envisioned. They both sat back and continued watching audition tapes, concerned by the fact they couldn’t find a Starbuck that fit their role, and it wasn’t until Eick’s wife entered the room and said “What’s wrong with you? She’s right there!” that they both realized that Sackhoff was perfect for the role.

Sackhoff herself admitted that she played the role to fit the criteria of a man playing a woman’s role initially, and it wasn’t until she matured and began to take grasp of her own character the Starbuck stood out as one of the most rich and rounded characters of the series. Her role, while becoming a tough obstacle in Sackhoff’s career, has ultimately created a character which is not only a perfect argument against gender bias, but has become a feminist television icon that will be regarded and used to create strong female roles for generations of television to follow.