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Culture Clash...diverse characters get along - Farscape Meta.
Balmy day not helped by the air conditioning going off in a portion of our office - I gave up finally and pulled out the fan. Was going to sleep. Now debating whether want to work on editing this week's church newsletter today or tomorrow - thinking tomorrow would be best. Burnt out. And all I want to do is write in lj about Farscape. Watching Momster's and my soap, which has taken an odd turn in that about 80% of the characters are starting to feel well irredeemable comes to mind, and gotten a bit dull. Note: James Franco is highly overrated. Maybe I've just read and seen too many of these things, but serial killer story lines on tv are becoming cliche.
Farscape. Which, if you haven't figured it out yet, has managed to replace Buffy, finally, as my current cultural obsession. I finally got burnt out on Buffy and all things Whedon - it only took ten years. Not that anyone is counting or anything. We'll see how long it lasts.
The interesting thing about Farscape is that they threw together a group of characters from diverse backgrounds and cultures - who do not appear to have much in common outside of the fact that they are all stuck on ship and fleeing from an insane military commander. This isn't necessarily a new set up. LOST is also about a bunch of people thrown together - but they are more or less from the same culture and language and species. The writer, Rockne S. O'Bannion - is fascinated by culture clash and alienation themes - which he focused on heavily in the tv series Alien Nation. He is equally interested in what people do in a pressure cooker situations. As stated in previous post on Farscape - the series actually has more in common with Frank L. Baum's Wizard of OZ novels than it does with sci-fi serials. OZ in many ways is a tale about the loss of innocence and how violence can inform and change you. It is also about culture clash. Other series have tried to play with this theme - but don't quite manage it - Star Trek was almost too optimistic, Bab 5 too political, and BSG too bleak.
In Farscape, we have the following characters thrust together:
1. John Crichton - the protagonist. And he is an odd protagonist. He's not super-powered and not a fighter. He's an astronaut. He is trained to work with people in close confines and in space for long periods. Astronauts are put through a pretty rigorous training program, not everyone can cut it. He also has a doctorate or ph.d in cosmic theory - which means he's an areonautical engineer. (PK Tech Girl) He can fix things, wraps his head around abstract concepts, and due to his training, able to negotiate and handle conflict. Crichton, though, is not a fighter. Note - astronaut, not fighter pilot. He's not a James T. Kirk or even a Luke Skywalker, when he's thrust into space he's clearly out of his depth and as he states - more Abbott or Costello than Kirk or Spock - he's the son of a Neil Armstrong. Who dreams of space. Of visiting the moon, possibly Mars. But as he tells his father in the Premiere - we no longer even visit the moon. This is in 1999, the US space program was barely slugging along, the space shuttles barely went up after the Challenger exploded. He's a man with an impossible dream, much like poor Dorothy Gale stuck on a farm in Kansas, unable to go up in that big beautiful balloon and see the stars. He is also a man who much like his father before him - really has no experience with violence. He may have gone hunting once or twice - although I doubt it - Jack Crichton isn't that type and we're told he's rarely home. So the closest John Crichton got to a gun may be a video game. He's never played with guns. He's not a fighter, he's a negotiator, a peacemaker. His father's creed is we should all get along, that space should be everyone's playground. This is 1999 after all. The way he gets transported to this new world - is through the Farscape project, a project that he is working on closely with a group of scientists and aeronautics, including his own father. They've clearly been working together for quite some time, guessing six years. Living together. His childhood friend DK has worked with him in coming up with a new means of propulsion - a way to fuel a craft and push it further - by using the earth's gravitational pull. Breaking the rules of space travel, pushing the envelope. Thinking outside the box. Crichton is testing this theory for the first time, when it goes haywire - a solar flare causes the creation of a wormhole or spacial twister that shoots Crichton out of his world and into another. He's ill-prepared for this new world. A trusting soul, taught to feel compassion, despise violence, negotiate, and keep an open mind. He's a bit of a naif. Dressed in white. And as Zhan states - innocent of the ills the universe holds.
2. Aeryn Sun - Aeryn is the opposite of John Crichton. Normally, the girl is the anti-violence, naif, in the Dorothy role. But here Aeryn is in the role of Tin Man. She's the Tin Man to John Crichton's Dorothy. The conflict between the two characters is in part a culture clash. Aeryn is breed to be a solider or Peace Keeper. She is not human, although her physiology is compatible with Crichton's and humanoid based. When Crichton tells her to feel some compassion for the escaping prisoners - her immediate response is that she's been taught not to, "compassion is a weakness". She's been taught not to need others. To be self-reliant. To need no one. Later when he asks what she dreamed her life would be - she states, to serve, to pilot, to get promoted, to die. Love and children are not options. She's been bred to be a solider, a thug, and her love is flying in space. Needing others or trusting others is against her creed. She follows order and rules. Aeryn has been taught not to break rules, not think outside the box. To see her emotions as a weakness. She's the hardened career marine to Crichton's nurturing astronaut. Aeryn was born with a gun in her hand. Was trained to resist torture. To lie. To use force before negotiation. She doesn't understand Crichton, any more than he truly understands her. He's from Venus and she's from Mars. And that's the fun of it. He wants to discuss everything, she would prefer not to talk at all. At one point, he tells her - "look we need each other, we need to learn to work together to survive." To which she retorts - "What could I possibly need you for?"
3. Zoltar Zhan - a 800 year old priestess, who also happens to be, a plant. (A surprise in late season 1). Another surprise - she's in prison for murdering her mentor and lover, during an act of love. She is described as anarchist priest. (Note the actress has to leave the show and is written out earlier than they may have intended because the blue paint she wears from head to bust line almost kills her. It's beautiful makeup. And detailed. Took five-six hours a day. But it also killed her immune system - after about six months. The way they write her out is rather brilliant and best that I've seen. And her asbsence actually works and furthers the series themes.) She doesn't really trust anyone either. And looks down her nose at John. But she also loves his innocence. Zhan may well be the cowardly lion. She fears her own power. She fears what she is capable of. And she is as foreign as it gets. Mystical. John is logic, Zhan thinks in mysticism. She's feels compassion, yet also is selfish. She's a healer, not really a scientist - who believes in religion and the goddess.
4. Ka D'Argo - a Luxan Warrior, who had been a farmer and prefers to be a farmer. He like Zhan has his secrets, and like Zhan trusts no one. He's been a prisoner, as Zhan has, for quite a while. And like Zhan he is used to giving orders. Not taking them. He rages. And violence, as with Zhan, has always been part of his life. IT is central to it. IT informs it. We learn that he is in prison for killing his wife and has lost his son. D'Argo is actually younger than Crichton - or so we're told. But he's fought in two battles, and seen people die. He's been framed for murder. And suffered the loss of his entire family. Then spent at least six years in prison, tortured and chained. He has rings implanted in his flesh for the chains. And he trusts no one.
5. Rygel the Sixteenth - a Domina, or King, deposed by his cousin and exiled in prison for over 400 years. He's amphibious and small. Think Yoda, but with a bad temper and more character. Rygel has seen wars, battles, been tortured and imprisoned. He is amoral, self-absorbed, and self-reliant. Manipulative. And a great negotiator. Unlike Crichton and Aeryn and the others - Rygel is used to giving orders, not taking them, of having slaves, people waiting on him. On Moya he has no power, no control.
6. Pilot and Moya - the pilot and the living ship or leviathan, which is a bit like a whale that lives in space. Moya is non-violent, taken prisoner by the Peacekeepers and impregnated with a war ship by the insane military commander they are all fleeing. Moya and Crichton are connected - both are innately peaceful, but are thrust into violence and war - forced to embrace them with great damage to their souls and mentality. Pilot and Aeryn are equally connected - both come from Peacekeeper routes, both hurt others to get their dreams, and both learn compassion and love, they fall in love with their opposites. Pilot with Moya, Aeryn with John. Pilot dreams of the stars and too soon, sells his soul to be melded with a living ship - his elders have forbade him but he makes the devil's own bargain with a Peace-keeper to get on one. And Aeryn, equally, makes the devil's own bargain to get proller duty - to fly. (The Way We Weren't).
7. Chiana - introduced in the 15th episode - Durka Returns, Chiana is a 16 year old Nebari, from Orwellian world. Amoral, sexual, bisexual, and aggressive. She is far from innocent.
And is almost all instinct, she does what she wants. A thief. She's the opposite of Ka Dargo, the honorable warrior, or John Crichton, the compassionate astronaut. She manipulates through her sexuality. And she fears being cleansed.
The culture clashes between each character are fascinating to watch. And through these clashes, the writers explore how we handle those who are different from us. Language issues are dealt with - Crichton clearly doesn't always understand what the other characters are saying and they similarily don't understand Crichton. At one point, Ka D'Argo asks Zhan if she understood Crichton and Zhan shrugs and says, "he's Crichton." There's a hilarious bit where Crichton is teaching D'Argo rock, paper, scissors and D'Argo just does not understand how paper can defeat rock - isn't rock stronger. No, Crichton patiently explains, we've been over this - paper covers rock - it's just how the game is played. At another point, Crichton tells a villian that he's Lou Costello. D'ARgo pulls him aside, after Crichton has explained his plan to him outside the villain's hearing. "I only have one question, Crichton. Who is Lou Costello?" It's little bits. Such as Aeryn's statement in one episode about an hostess on an alien planet - "she's gives me a woody." Crichton gives her a hard stare. Then says, "uh, what?" "She gives me a woody. You know its a human saying that I've heard you use when someone makes you feel weird or creepy." Crichton - "willies. She gives you the willies!" It's a hilarious scene and a perfect depiction of how words can be misunderstood. They all have translator microbes which instantly translate things - but not everything can be translated. Some alien words aren't such as Yost,
Frell, Dren, etc. And many English words and slang terms aren't.
Even food and behavior can create misunderstandings. What Rygel loves, Crichton may find disgusting. Or the dentel's that D'Argo insists Crichton use - it's a worm or parasite that you put in your mouth and eats all the bacteria on your teeth - just make sure you never swallow it.
When the characters are starving - Crichton attempts to fry the dentels and eat them - to which Aeryn says, no, you can't eat dentel's and Crichton finds out that she is right, the hard way.
When D'Argo bleeds - he tells Crichton you have to punch me until the blood runs clear - you can stifle the blood or soak it up. Aeryn's blood is black, as is Dargo's. Crichton's red.
And Chiana's blue. Zhan when she gets ill - blooms and spores - which the other characters are allergic to. It's these small details that show in order to survive the characters have to learn about one another, think outside their own perspective, and experience. To understand a culture completely alien to their own.
Crichton starts out - with everyone arguing with him, not trusting him, treating him as a problem or weakness or something holding them back. But as time progresses, he becomes their leader - they follow his plans, and will do just about anything to help him. He earns their trust and it isn't immediate - and it fluctuates, they often argue or do the opposite.
Like Dorothy Gale in the Wizard of OZ, Crichton changes as he interacts with these different species. Over time, he'll pick up a gun and name it, Winona, and be a crack shot. He'll
merge with Zhan. And stop D'ARgo's bleeding. Over time they become an odd and dysfunctional family of sorts. Over time, Crichton bends towards Aeryn's world-view, as Aeryn bends towards his. She becomes lighter, more compassionate, more caring, more open, more trusting he becomes more closed, less optimistic, darker, and less trusting. By the fourth season - Crichton has shut himself off emotionally, he is not talking to people, and Aeryn is all vulnerable emotion,
open, and pleading. Their back and forth is fascinating to watch and provides a depth that you don't often see in the star-crossed lovers relationship. Their issues with one another, all the characters, derive from cultural clashes and backgrounds that could not be any more different.
Chiana and D'ARgo are opposites, he's honorable, she's amoral. They aren't even compatible - children would be impossible. But as Chiana states - who cares about the rules? The writers through these relationships examine how we relate to one another, how different cultures, languages, races communicate and get along under pressure. The series is rather positive in that respect - and optimistic, in some ways even more so than the Trek series, in that each of the characters grow to respect and appreciate one another. They would clearly die for each other. And they grow to see one another as true equals. Each person gets a chance to Captain Moya and they vote on who should.
The series is in part about finding ways to get along, to get past our innate differences whether they be cultural or racial or gender. That these are just generalizations. People are unique individuals, the writers seem to suggest, they aren't alike, you can't judge them by race or culture. And people can change, they can grow, and evolve. Our experiences influence how we view the world. Our interactions with others and our choices. Crichton changes everyone he comes into contact with. As Stark states in PeaceKeeper Wars - I'm always transformed whenever I encounter you John Crichton. Or as Aeryn states - you ruined and gave me my life.
This is true for Crichton as well - each of the people he meets changes and influences him.
His desire to understand, to learn, serves him well and ill. Much like Dorothy in OZ, he innocently attempts to negotiate with his enemies, to seek a way past the violence. And like Dorothy, he doesn't always succeed, but the attempt may be all that matters.
Off to get dinner.
Farscape. Which, if you haven't figured it out yet, has managed to replace Buffy, finally, as my current cultural obsession. I finally got burnt out on Buffy and all things Whedon - it only took ten years. Not that anyone is counting or anything. We'll see how long it lasts.
The interesting thing about Farscape is that they threw together a group of characters from diverse backgrounds and cultures - who do not appear to have much in common outside of the fact that they are all stuck on ship and fleeing from an insane military commander. This isn't necessarily a new set up. LOST is also about a bunch of people thrown together - but they are more or less from the same culture and language and species. The writer, Rockne S. O'Bannion - is fascinated by culture clash and alienation themes - which he focused on heavily in the tv series Alien Nation. He is equally interested in what people do in a pressure cooker situations. As stated in previous post on Farscape - the series actually has more in common with Frank L. Baum's Wizard of OZ novels than it does with sci-fi serials. OZ in many ways is a tale about the loss of innocence and how violence can inform and change you. It is also about culture clash. Other series have tried to play with this theme - but don't quite manage it - Star Trek was almost too optimistic, Bab 5 too political, and BSG too bleak.
In Farscape, we have the following characters thrust together:
1. John Crichton - the protagonist. And he is an odd protagonist. He's not super-powered and not a fighter. He's an astronaut. He is trained to work with people in close confines and in space for long periods. Astronauts are put through a pretty rigorous training program, not everyone can cut it. He also has a doctorate or ph.d in cosmic theory - which means he's an areonautical engineer. (PK Tech Girl) He can fix things, wraps his head around abstract concepts, and due to his training, able to negotiate and handle conflict. Crichton, though, is not a fighter. Note - astronaut, not fighter pilot. He's not a James T. Kirk or even a Luke Skywalker, when he's thrust into space he's clearly out of his depth and as he states - more Abbott or Costello than Kirk or Spock - he's the son of a Neil Armstrong. Who dreams of space. Of visiting the moon, possibly Mars. But as he tells his father in the Premiere - we no longer even visit the moon. This is in 1999, the US space program was barely slugging along, the space shuttles barely went up after the Challenger exploded. He's a man with an impossible dream, much like poor Dorothy Gale stuck on a farm in Kansas, unable to go up in that big beautiful balloon and see the stars. He is also a man who much like his father before him - really has no experience with violence. He may have gone hunting once or twice - although I doubt it - Jack Crichton isn't that type and we're told he's rarely home. So the closest John Crichton got to a gun may be a video game. He's never played with guns. He's not a fighter, he's a negotiator, a peacemaker. His father's creed is we should all get along, that space should be everyone's playground. This is 1999 after all. The way he gets transported to this new world - is through the Farscape project, a project that he is working on closely with a group of scientists and aeronautics, including his own father. They've clearly been working together for quite some time, guessing six years. Living together. His childhood friend DK has worked with him in coming up with a new means of propulsion - a way to fuel a craft and push it further - by using the earth's gravitational pull. Breaking the rules of space travel, pushing the envelope. Thinking outside the box. Crichton is testing this theory for the first time, when it goes haywire - a solar flare causes the creation of a wormhole or spacial twister that shoots Crichton out of his world and into another. He's ill-prepared for this new world. A trusting soul, taught to feel compassion, despise violence, negotiate, and keep an open mind. He's a bit of a naif. Dressed in white. And as Zhan states - innocent of the ills the universe holds.
2. Aeryn Sun - Aeryn is the opposite of John Crichton. Normally, the girl is the anti-violence, naif, in the Dorothy role. But here Aeryn is in the role of Tin Man. She's the Tin Man to John Crichton's Dorothy. The conflict between the two characters is in part a culture clash. Aeryn is breed to be a solider or Peace Keeper. She is not human, although her physiology is compatible with Crichton's and humanoid based. When Crichton tells her to feel some compassion for the escaping prisoners - her immediate response is that she's been taught not to, "compassion is a weakness". She's been taught not to need others. To be self-reliant. To need no one. Later when he asks what she dreamed her life would be - she states, to serve, to pilot, to get promoted, to die. Love and children are not options. She's been bred to be a solider, a thug, and her love is flying in space. Needing others or trusting others is against her creed. She follows order and rules. Aeryn has been taught not to break rules, not think outside the box. To see her emotions as a weakness. She's the hardened career marine to Crichton's nurturing astronaut. Aeryn was born with a gun in her hand. Was trained to resist torture. To lie. To use force before negotiation. She doesn't understand Crichton, any more than he truly understands her. He's from Venus and she's from Mars. And that's the fun of it. He wants to discuss everything, she would prefer not to talk at all. At one point, he tells her - "look we need each other, we need to learn to work together to survive." To which she retorts - "What could I possibly need you for?"
3. Zoltar Zhan - a 800 year old priestess, who also happens to be, a plant. (A surprise in late season 1). Another surprise - she's in prison for murdering her mentor and lover, during an act of love. She is described as anarchist priest. (Note the actress has to leave the show and is written out earlier than they may have intended because the blue paint she wears from head to bust line almost kills her. It's beautiful makeup. And detailed. Took five-six hours a day. But it also killed her immune system - after about six months. The way they write her out is rather brilliant and best that I've seen. And her asbsence actually works and furthers the series themes.) She doesn't really trust anyone either. And looks down her nose at John. But she also loves his innocence. Zhan may well be the cowardly lion. She fears her own power. She fears what she is capable of. And she is as foreign as it gets. Mystical. John is logic, Zhan thinks in mysticism. She's feels compassion, yet also is selfish. She's a healer, not really a scientist - who believes in religion and the goddess.
4. Ka D'Argo - a Luxan Warrior, who had been a farmer and prefers to be a farmer. He like Zhan has his secrets, and like Zhan trusts no one. He's been a prisoner, as Zhan has, for quite a while. And like Zhan he is used to giving orders. Not taking them. He rages. And violence, as with Zhan, has always been part of his life. IT is central to it. IT informs it. We learn that he is in prison for killing his wife and has lost his son. D'Argo is actually younger than Crichton - or so we're told. But he's fought in two battles, and seen people die. He's been framed for murder. And suffered the loss of his entire family. Then spent at least six years in prison, tortured and chained. He has rings implanted in his flesh for the chains. And he trusts no one.
5. Rygel the Sixteenth - a Domina, or King, deposed by his cousin and exiled in prison for over 400 years. He's amphibious and small. Think Yoda, but with a bad temper and more character. Rygel has seen wars, battles, been tortured and imprisoned. He is amoral, self-absorbed, and self-reliant. Manipulative. And a great negotiator. Unlike Crichton and Aeryn and the others - Rygel is used to giving orders, not taking them, of having slaves, people waiting on him. On Moya he has no power, no control.
6. Pilot and Moya - the pilot and the living ship or leviathan, which is a bit like a whale that lives in space. Moya is non-violent, taken prisoner by the Peacekeepers and impregnated with a war ship by the insane military commander they are all fleeing. Moya and Crichton are connected - both are innately peaceful, but are thrust into violence and war - forced to embrace them with great damage to their souls and mentality. Pilot and Aeryn are equally connected - both come from Peacekeeper routes, both hurt others to get their dreams, and both learn compassion and love, they fall in love with their opposites. Pilot with Moya, Aeryn with John. Pilot dreams of the stars and too soon, sells his soul to be melded with a living ship - his elders have forbade him but he makes the devil's own bargain with a Peace-keeper to get on one. And Aeryn, equally, makes the devil's own bargain to get proller duty - to fly. (The Way We Weren't).
7. Chiana - introduced in the 15th episode - Durka Returns, Chiana is a 16 year old Nebari, from Orwellian world. Amoral, sexual, bisexual, and aggressive. She is far from innocent.
And is almost all instinct, she does what she wants. A thief. She's the opposite of Ka Dargo, the honorable warrior, or John Crichton, the compassionate astronaut. She manipulates through her sexuality. And she fears being cleansed.
The culture clashes between each character are fascinating to watch. And through these clashes, the writers explore how we handle those who are different from us. Language issues are dealt with - Crichton clearly doesn't always understand what the other characters are saying and they similarily don't understand Crichton. At one point, Ka D'Argo asks Zhan if she understood Crichton and Zhan shrugs and says, "he's Crichton." There's a hilarious bit where Crichton is teaching D'Argo rock, paper, scissors and D'Argo just does not understand how paper can defeat rock - isn't rock stronger. No, Crichton patiently explains, we've been over this - paper covers rock - it's just how the game is played. At another point, Crichton tells a villian that he's Lou Costello. D'ARgo pulls him aside, after Crichton has explained his plan to him outside the villain's hearing. "I only have one question, Crichton. Who is Lou Costello?" It's little bits. Such as Aeryn's statement in one episode about an hostess on an alien planet - "she's gives me a woody." Crichton gives her a hard stare. Then says, "uh, what?" "She gives me a woody. You know its a human saying that I've heard you use when someone makes you feel weird or creepy." Crichton - "willies. She gives you the willies!" It's a hilarious scene and a perfect depiction of how words can be misunderstood. They all have translator microbes which instantly translate things - but not everything can be translated. Some alien words aren't such as Yost,
Frell, Dren, etc. And many English words and slang terms aren't.
Even food and behavior can create misunderstandings. What Rygel loves, Crichton may find disgusting. Or the dentel's that D'Argo insists Crichton use - it's a worm or parasite that you put in your mouth and eats all the bacteria on your teeth - just make sure you never swallow it.
When the characters are starving - Crichton attempts to fry the dentels and eat them - to which Aeryn says, no, you can't eat dentel's and Crichton finds out that she is right, the hard way.
When D'Argo bleeds - he tells Crichton you have to punch me until the blood runs clear - you can stifle the blood or soak it up. Aeryn's blood is black, as is Dargo's. Crichton's red.
And Chiana's blue. Zhan when she gets ill - blooms and spores - which the other characters are allergic to. It's these small details that show in order to survive the characters have to learn about one another, think outside their own perspective, and experience. To understand a culture completely alien to their own.
Crichton starts out - with everyone arguing with him, not trusting him, treating him as a problem or weakness or something holding them back. But as time progresses, he becomes their leader - they follow his plans, and will do just about anything to help him. He earns their trust and it isn't immediate - and it fluctuates, they often argue or do the opposite.
Like Dorothy Gale in the Wizard of OZ, Crichton changes as he interacts with these different species. Over time, he'll pick up a gun and name it, Winona, and be a crack shot. He'll
merge with Zhan. And stop D'ARgo's bleeding. Over time they become an odd and dysfunctional family of sorts. Over time, Crichton bends towards Aeryn's world-view, as Aeryn bends towards his. She becomes lighter, more compassionate, more caring, more open, more trusting he becomes more closed, less optimistic, darker, and less trusting. By the fourth season - Crichton has shut himself off emotionally, he is not talking to people, and Aeryn is all vulnerable emotion,
open, and pleading. Their back and forth is fascinating to watch and provides a depth that you don't often see in the star-crossed lovers relationship. Their issues with one another, all the characters, derive from cultural clashes and backgrounds that could not be any more different.
Chiana and D'ARgo are opposites, he's honorable, she's amoral. They aren't even compatible - children would be impossible. But as Chiana states - who cares about the rules? The writers through these relationships examine how we relate to one another, how different cultures, languages, races communicate and get along under pressure. The series is rather positive in that respect - and optimistic, in some ways even more so than the Trek series, in that each of the characters grow to respect and appreciate one another. They would clearly die for each other. And they grow to see one another as true equals. Each person gets a chance to Captain Moya and they vote on who should.
The series is in part about finding ways to get along, to get past our innate differences whether they be cultural or racial or gender. That these are just generalizations. People are unique individuals, the writers seem to suggest, they aren't alike, you can't judge them by race or culture. And people can change, they can grow, and evolve. Our experiences influence how we view the world. Our interactions with others and our choices. Crichton changes everyone he comes into contact with. As Stark states in PeaceKeeper Wars - I'm always transformed whenever I encounter you John Crichton. Or as Aeryn states - you ruined and gave me my life.
This is true for Crichton as well - each of the people he meets changes and influences him.
His desire to understand, to learn, serves him well and ill. Much like Dorothy in OZ, he innocently attempts to negotiate with his enemies, to seek a way past the violence. And like Dorothy, he doesn't always succeed, but the attempt may be all that matters.
Off to get dinner.