Sisko/Russell

[ussacclaim 0]

I don't understand the thing with Benny Russell. Is he supposed to be writing DS9? That would mean that the series was just his imagination right? I would appreciate an explanation.

 

VBG could probably help with this one since you seem to enjoy this particular series the most but whoever has a good explanation I'm happy to hear it.

[Mike 5]

Interesting question that they pose..Don't you think ? So which is it...Is Benny and his world something Sisko dreamed of or is Sisko and DS9 something that Benny dreamed about ? :P

[gul_nodrog 2]

Just another example of why DS9 was so cool, but really not made for the casual viewer. I think you just about have to watch the entire run of the series from beginning to end to really get your mind around it.

 

We don't know which is real ... Benny or Ben. I like it that way.

[gdog243 0]

Watch the end of Far Beyond the Stars. That will help explain all your questions.

 

I'll just start by the comment, "You are the dream, and the dreamer."

 

Another thing I loved about this episode is something people don't mention very much. Benny made Sisko realize how good he had it, and that he should keep going with his job. At the beginning, he was depressed about the pressure that was put on him because of the death of his friend. At the end, he is rejuvinized and has even a more pressing reason why the federation should win the war.

[mj 7]

This is not a new theme in Star Trek...they kind of hinted at the idea by referring to "Row, row, row your boat" in one of the Star Trek movies. There were a couple of jokes about it, but didn't Spock comment that the line "life is

but a dream" is profound. Or am I dreaming about this?

 

Far Beyond the Stars also challenges the viewer to be thoughful about his own viewing. Benny was trying to write a story about a black space station commander at a time when the science fiction audience would never accept such an idea, nor even accept black or women writers.

 

It invites us to consider that, and to consider for ourselves what we ourselves would not accept today. We are still selective about the stories we read. This story also asks us to consider our own biases as an audience who still reads and views scifi!

[VaBeachGuy 12]

Benny Russell was originally a "mental diversion" given to Sisko by the prophets as a way to show him that there was meaning in what he was doing and that he should continue to follow the path that they have set out for him.

 

I think that the question of "who is the dream and who is the dreamer?" was answered at the beginning of season 7 though in "Shadows and Symbols" when Sisko finds the Orb of the Emissary and has to struggle with the decision to open it or not. He flashes back to Benny Russell in a mental hospital, which was a "false vision" by the Pah Wraiths as an attempt to prevent him from opening the orb and thereby preventing the wormhole from being re-opened. Once Benny begins to write the story on the wall again it flashes back to Sisko who then opens the orb and the rest is history.

 

It still does leave the question open though as to whether or not we are looking into a story written by a 1950's sci-fi writer named Benny Russell or are we seeing the happenings on the Bajoran space station named DS9? I think you have to conclude that we are seeing the happenings on the Space Station simply because we have TOS, TNG and Voyager (and now Enterprise) as "contemporary evidence" that it is Sisko that exists and not Benny Russell.

 

So to answer your question. Benny Russell is a figment of Ben Sisko's imagination and in his imagination Benny is writing Sisko's life story.

 

Another episode that touches on this kind of topic is TNG's "Ship in a Bottle", which was a follow-up of TNG's season 2 episode "Elementary Dear Data"

[Matt 0]

I really didn't like the Sisko/Russell idea, don't think it should've been made. i thought it kind of insulted Star Trek in a way.