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trenchkamenThere's been a lot of chatter in the internet overhead re: Game of Shadows and the overt fanservice/bromance in conjunction with furious "NO HOMO" spattered throughout the movie. I admit, I did enjoy the fanservice. I squeed like the braindead fangirl I am and just ate it up. But that's all it is, ultimately--subtext. You can take it or leave it. That's all Hollywood seems to tolerate, and they seem very self-righteous about it. Like that's enough progress. Like they're really making a difference.
Except, not really. It's the same old cowardly shit calculated to make a buck by not REALLY offending anybody, other than fringe fundies.
I've been meaning to write a thesis on my feelings regarding the heightened acceptance of fanservice even in Hollywood movies--but it's only okay so long as it's played up in such a way that you can CHOOSE whether or not you have to accept homosexuality. You can laugh it off with your bros as an awkward "NO HOMO" moment, because, seriously, actually making a mainstream hero gay, in a movie that isn't explicitly a homo rag? Would just ruin the whole thing.
This post, which has gotten the link run-around, perfectly sums up my feelings on the matter, and I applaud the author. As does this little ditty on tumblr.
Does this mean I'm angry at this once instance, in which Holmes and Watson did not explicitly come out? No. A deep, platonic friendship is just as valid an interpretation as homosexuality/bisexuality (keeping in mind our modern concepts of sexual orientation did not exist in the 1890s). But I'm fucking sick of seeing this always done halfway, with an out for anybody who wants to keep in denial. Decisions do not take place in a vacuum, and it's hard to condemn one person's artistic decisions without infringing upon their rights as an individual. But we must acknowledge the patterns. And we must acknowledge the platitudes thrown at slashers/gay audiences as half-measures. It's the same argument made against the Racebenders: clearly, YOU are the racist ones for not being color blind. Which can be true in individual instances.
But, the trends are made up of individual instances.
So, what do we do?
If we protest individual instances, we are accused of being heterophobic, slash-obsessed, myopic, and hysterical. But protesting a trend doesn't do much. People maintain their personal biases, and their right to choose how to write stories. But we keep doing it, because we hope new authors, and filmmakers, will be influenced by the movement, and choose to integrate alternate sexualities, racial diversity, etc, into their works of their own volition. So that's how it effects individuals. But corporations (who back and publish most works) focus on large, mass-consumption products, and therefore, on trends. So we're back to trends controlling individuals. There are always excellent niche market publishers and film-producers who will take on unconventional products, but there they remain--niche, and often critically-acclaimed, but ignored by the majority of society. The society that votes, and makes decisions that effect us all.
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Anime LA was pretty rad again this year. I worked prog ops, so I spent a lot of time in a back room, but I got to get out and see things. It's nice not to worry about costumes and meetups and stuff, sometimes. Past month I've been finishing up graduate school applications, writing, reading, etc, not the sort of thing to write The Net about unless something gets really interesting. Still need to watch the new Sherlock and finish Mawaru Penguindrum. Working on Persona 2: Innocent Sin.
Except, not really. It's the same old cowardly shit calculated to make a buck by not REALLY offending anybody, other than fringe fundies.
I've been meaning to write a thesis on my feelings regarding the heightened acceptance of fanservice even in Hollywood movies--but it's only okay so long as it's played up in such a way that you can CHOOSE whether or not you have to accept homosexuality. You can laugh it off with your bros as an awkward "NO HOMO" moment, because, seriously, actually making a mainstream hero gay, in a movie that isn't explicitly a homo rag? Would just ruin the whole thing.
This post, which has gotten the link run-around, perfectly sums up my feelings on the matter, and I applaud the author. As does this little ditty on tumblr.
Does this mean I'm angry at this once instance, in which Holmes and Watson did not explicitly come out? No. A deep, platonic friendship is just as valid an interpretation as homosexuality/bisexuality (keeping in mind our modern concepts of sexual orientation did not exist in the 1890s). But I'm fucking sick of seeing this always done halfway, with an out for anybody who wants to keep in denial. Decisions do not take place in a vacuum, and it's hard to condemn one person's artistic decisions without infringing upon their rights as an individual. But we must acknowledge the patterns. And we must acknowledge the platitudes thrown at slashers/gay audiences as half-measures. It's the same argument made against the Racebenders: clearly, YOU are the racist ones for not being color blind. Which can be true in individual instances.
But, the trends are made up of individual instances.
So, what do we do?
If we protest individual instances, we are accused of being heterophobic, slash-obsessed, myopic, and hysterical. But protesting a trend doesn't do much. People maintain their personal biases, and their right to choose how to write stories. But we keep doing it, because we hope new authors, and filmmakers, will be influenced by the movement, and choose to integrate alternate sexualities, racial diversity, etc, into their works of their own volition. So that's how it effects individuals. But corporations (who back and publish most works) focus on large, mass-consumption products, and therefore, on trends. So we're back to trends controlling individuals. There are always excellent niche market publishers and film-producers who will take on unconventional products, but there they remain--niche, and often critically-acclaimed, but ignored by the majority of society. The society that votes, and makes decisions that effect us all.
-----------------------------
Anime LA was pretty rad again this year. I worked prog ops, so I spent a lot of time in a back room, but I got to get out and see things. It's nice not to worry about costumes and meetups and stuff, sometimes. Past month I've been finishing up graduate school applications, writing, reading, etc, not the sort of thing to write The Net about unless something gets really interesting. Still need to watch the new Sherlock and finish Mawaru Penguindrum. Working on Persona 2: Innocent Sin.
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Date: 2012-01-14 03:43 am (UTC)Same way anybody can relate to white people, but only minorities can relate to other minorities, and everybody can relate to men, but only women can relate with women, and women really want to watch romantic comedies that end in marriage. Female protagonists are okay as long as they're sexed up for the men. Feminism, or women who don't exist for the male gaze, are too threatening. Men might have to evaluate their privilege, or relate to women without the sex object angle, and that's just lame.