Some Trojan notices + Rimmer's class background

[saylee.livejournal.com]

I was rewatching Trojan the other night, and caught a few things I hadn't noticed before and that I don't think I've seen mentioned here. First off, when Rimmer's complaining about the lateral thinking questions, Lister asking him to lay a question on him seems like a genuine offer to help, at least until he hears about the moose and can't resist taking the smeg. Then, when Rimmer has the resentment attack, it's Lister (not, say, Kryten) who protests that they shouldn't draw on him. Okay. he caves to temptation, but still, he tried. Last, when Crawford fires on Lister, is it just me, or in the split second before Howard jumps in front of the blast, does Rimmer look terrified?

Oh a completely unrelated note, I'm having a difficult time trying to figure out Rimmer's class background. On the one hand, in the 1st series he complains about not having the right parents and the right nobby background, and about how someone like Todhunter would have been raised on gazpacho soup and champagne. On the other hand, in The Beginning, the Rimmers are apparently decended from princes (do I have that right? I can't check right now), and they're clearly well-off and have what seems to be a full-time gardener. I admit I'm not familiar with the nuances of the British class system, so I appreciate any clarification. I also wonder if the colonization of the solar system has any effect on this. Thoughts?

Comments

[saylee.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard that about being one of the first families to settle on Io, but then I haven't quite worked up the emotional fortitude to try to tackle either Backwards or Last Human.

Your explanation makes a lot of sense. I'm curious though about how that plays out on Io. What's the distribution of working class miners, etc. to families like the Rimmers? For instance, if Io is mainly working class, then would the Rimmers, who are only middle class in the general social hierarchy, be closer to being the elite on Io (if there aren't many upper class people)? Rimmer's classmates at Io house seem to come from similar backgrounds, and presumably all come from Io as well. Someplace like the Academy, where his brothers go might be off Io and have more actually upper class students.

[hazeltea.livejournal.com]

I assume that the only real difference of opinion. The Rimmers aren't 'better' than other families, they just perceive themselves to be. I think that it's less a matter of class than one of rank. He feels like he is not elite because his father didn't pay for him to go to public school to be groomed for the Space Corps, while his brothers all went. Again, I don't remember which novel it was, but he complained about his brothers having an edge over him because his father paid for them to have what is basically Google installed in their brains, so that they didn't have to be naturally intelligent to seem like they knew a lot. Presumably this is common in people going to good schools in this time period.

[hazeltea.livejournal.com]

Also, since Io is basically a shithole full of volcanoes where one can only live under a bubble, having the 'best' bit of it is laughable. Perception, again.