I have no Supernatural tonight due to a delayed baseball game, and if anybody says one word along the lines of, "OMG, it's so gooooood, I can't wait for you to see it lol" I will fucking kick them. In a metaphorical, non-violent fashion. But seriously, I'm so pissed. I just... rawr.
Here are my thoughts on the Open Source Boob Project, since I've been not-commenting about it for the last couple of days in other people's journals, just taking things in. (And y'all, this thing has generated more posts on my f-list than HP7. That's really impressive.)
1. There's a huge difference between how the world should be and how it is, and we cannot change it from one to the other by sheer force of will. I wish that my self-esteem didn't suck, and that my reasons for letting other people touch me were always as simple as "Touching can be nice." That would be SWEET. BUT, my self-esteem does suck, and I've let myself get into more than one questionable situation because saying no would have made me feel uncool. I can't just make that go away by deciding I won't feel bad anymore, and you can't make it go away by telling me not to feel bad anymore, and if you think anything about human psychology is that simple, I'm really glad it works for you. It doesn't work for me.
2. I don't think
theferrett ever intended his idea to be universal, and I think that attacking it as a universal principle proves you didn't read the original post. Which is never a good way to enter a discussion, particularly one as vitriolic and widespread as this one now is. (Note: I'm not saying I agree with the sentiments of the original post in any case.) He was suggesting it as an isolated thing that could happen in small groups in lots of places, where participation could be controlled. There are still plenty of reasons why this is a bad idea to my way of thinking (see point 1), but "OMG, how dare you suggest doing this to strangers on the street?!" is not one of them.
3. Using "anti-feminist" to mean "taking a position different from mine" invalidates the meaning of the word. It should not be a catch-all for things you don't like. I don't like oregano. Oregano is not anti-feminist. Just fucking stop it.
4. Anybody can be creepy and disrespectful of the bodies of others. You are not excused because you are a woman. It is not less disrespectful because you have boobs too. (I would make a really bad radical feminist because I rarely notice the gender of the people around me, unless I'm actively thinking about it. And I take this piece of gender equality really seriously.)
I'm definitely liking s2 more than s1. It feels like a better show, somehow, but I'm not sure how.
Ianto is so awesome this season I almost feel like it's too much awesome for one character. Like, he's witty, and smart, and unbelievably competent, and pretty, and getting laid. I'm a little worried it's going to get too OTT for me, but for right now, I likes it I does. And I wouldn't mind someone rec'ing me some really "innovative, bordering on avant-garde" Jack/Ianto porn. Really, just porn. Filthy, if possible.
I'm still not seeing why such a large segment of the fandom hates Gwen. Although I do wish she treated Rhys better because Rhys is clearly almost as awesome as Ianto. I think I'm still having my s1 problem with her letting men fuck her up more than they should, but I think it's getting better. She's not a simple character by any stretch, and it seems like she's growing into her role at Torchwood, which is good.
I love Tosh. Nothing more needs to be said on that score.
The plot of "Dead Man Walking" did not do it for me as a TW plotline. Part of it is the aesthetic similarities to SPN's demons: the smoke, the black eyes, the distorted voice, the random internet research leading to weird but openly recorded historical event, which threw me off. Part of it is the fact that everyone assumes the gloves were a pair despite their completely different properties (and that nobody brought up that unlike Suzy feeding off Gwen, Jack can't die, and we cannot think that a glove with similar properties to the first would work the same with him). But mostly it's just that it wasn't a plotline about aliens. It wasn't about something that came from some other planet, or even some other time. It was a paranormal storyline, but it wasn't one that felt like it belonged to this show. (It's like when the Queller showed up on Buffy, and everyone was like, "WTF? Aliens?!" only backwards.) I am bummed for Owen, as he was showing signs of being human in s2.
I've resigned myself to never liking Jack on TW as much as I like him on DW. I think he really works better when he's not in charge, when he's a character with a secondary role. I'm wondering if this has largely to do with John Barrowman's acting style, which is very theatrical, grand gestures and whatnot, and never quite real, even in deeply emotional scenes (the flashbacks in "Adam," for example). I dunno.
Of course no one's going to read this because you're all watching Supernatural. I AM SO OPPRESSED.
xoxo,
B&z