(no subject)
Several conversations I've had in the past few days have been marinating in my head and gotten me thinking about some trends I've seen in fandom and how they relate to that world outside of fandom.
merelyn and I were talking about the divide between shows that have actual gay/lesbian/bi/trans characters and relationships, and shows that have the best online slash fan communities. By best I mean, size of membership, amount of fanworks produced, and even, although this is obviously subjective, the quality of fanworks produced. This is not to say that there aren't smaller fandoms that do produce amazing stories and art, but there still is a divide from shows with canonically well developed (No, SPN, a woman who kills her girlfriend with her demonic powers and then dies does not count) queer characters, and those that do not.
Let's look at Torchwood. The lead of the show is omnisexual, almost everyone in the show has displayed physical or romantic attraction to people of both genders during the past two seasons. How excited was I when I heard about the show and how sexuality was treated on it? Very. Finally, I thought, a sci-fi show that has aliens and space gadgets, and adorable men kissing! It was like peanut butter and chocolate. But although I've watched every episode of that show, and read and written reviews, I've never had a desire to write fanfic, or even read it. I went through the motions. I found Jack/Ianto communities, but I always lost interest. There wasn't much really; mainly episode tags that didn't progress beyond the end of the end of the episode. The ones that did attempt to have a longer storyline didn't feel real to me. Looking through all of it, it seemed like fandom was holding its collective breath, afraid to imagine farther then where the next episode would lead for Jack and Ianto. I was too. I realized, with some horror, that I was just a fan of Torchwood. Not a fandom-y fan. But a fan. One of those normal fans, that didn't scour the internet for stories, and have a desire to know every single thing about the show, its actors, and their partners and pets. I think most Torchwood fans from slash fandom are feeling similarly, which is why we aren't seeing a huge creative fandom building up around Torchwood.
Now take Grey's Anatomy. I was really excited about the relationship developing between Erica and Callie. Once again, I visited the main Callica community, but I left with nothing more to show for it than a few icons (see above). A part of me is content to sit back and see where the writers are going to take their relationship. But a part of me is also nervous about watching the show, because if it is actual canon, then the writers could destroy the relationship past a point where a good writer could write around it.
I'm nervous because I've been burned by this before with As The World Turns. At first the storyline between Luke and Noah was pretty well done. The writers attempted, through the limited scope of their genre, to address the political reality behind sexuality. I was impressed, and invested in the Nuke drama. And then conservative backlash poured in and suddenly Luke and Noah weren't kissing on screen, and then a convenient plot device developed that stalled out their entire relationship. This is unfortunately not surprising, but what was to me, was that although fans expressed frustration at Proctor and Gamble for caving into this pressure, not a lot of creative energy was put into typical fan works to subvert it. Many people called the hotline (and pushed P&G to grow some spine) but a majority of the postings on Nuke community are clips from episodes, or icons and banners from those clips. And its no wonder.
We are at an interesting point in TV where gay relationships are just starting to appear on mainstream TV, but it's still "edgy" and the writers are unable to really back up these relationships. They end up existing, but getting less screen time, being more dysfunctional, or not being well developed. And although there are differences between the creative authority that creates shows like SGA where non-heterosexual relationships don't exist, and the ones like ATWT, Torchwood and Grey's that at least try to give visibility to these relationships, the pressures that they have to face from network executives and sponsors are the same. We can't trust the relationships that are on non-LOGO TV to be well developed, non-stereotypical and believable. Sometimes we can't even trust LOGO. And for fandom at least, these almost but not quite relationships are worse than none at all. They limit canon based story lines. It is a lot harder to ignore Noah's canonical fake wife that gets in the way of Luke and Noah having an actual relationship, then it is to ignore Katie Brown, who wasn't in that many episodes, and wasn't well developed. They stifle creative fandom for me, because for some reason I have more respect for the authority of these canons. Even though they are a different manifestation of the same problem.
What I am really curious about is what this will mean for future fandom. Once these relationships become more common, and move from edgy to mundane, will slash fandom still exist? Let's say, for instance, that Stargate Atlantis went on for about 10 more years, and during that time mainstream culture grew much more comfortable with non-heterosexual sexuality. Suddenly SGA could develop a romantic relationship between John and Rodney and still retain its viewership and sponsors. And so they did. We got to see, interspersed throughout space battles and missions, some innuendo, then longing glances, a kiss, maybe a fade to black sex scene! And eventually a fight, a breakup, a rebound relationship between Rodney and Radek, and then a makeup at the end of the last season. I am pretty convinced that the SGA creative fandom would have faded out long before this happened.
These are the questions I'm left with about the whole issue:
If slash fandom exists as a taboo, boundary pushing critique of mainstream culture, then what happens when gay relationships become mainstream? We become stuck writing AUs? People start flocking to relationships that are even more taboo?
Should the Callica/ATWT model of an online fan community be what slash fandom is working towards? Just posting episode reviews, clips, and information; mobilizing when necessary to preserve our pairings? And eventually not even mobilizing?
I know some people showed up to this party for the gay porn. But what is it about the porn in slash fandom that is so hot? How much of it is because of slash fandom's relationship with the canon authority as being subversive?
As fans, how can we keep being critical of mainstream media while applauding the steps forward they take? And, just as important, how can we maintain our communities, as public opinion changes and major parts of our identities and sexualities change with it?
merelyn and I were talking about the divide between shows that have actual gay/lesbian/bi/trans characters and relationships, and shows that have the best online slash fan communities. By best I mean, size of membership, amount of fanworks produced, and even, although this is obviously subjective, the quality of fanworks produced. This is not to say that there aren't smaller fandoms that do produce amazing stories and art, but there still is a divide from shows with canonically well developed (No, SPN, a woman who kills her girlfriend with her demonic powers and then dies does not count) queer characters, and those that do not.
Let's look at Torchwood. The lead of the show is omnisexual, almost everyone in the show has displayed physical or romantic attraction to people of both genders during the past two seasons. How excited was I when I heard about the show and how sexuality was treated on it? Very. Finally, I thought, a sci-fi show that has aliens and space gadgets, and adorable men kissing! It was like peanut butter and chocolate. But although I've watched every episode of that show, and read and written reviews, I've never had a desire to write fanfic, or even read it. I went through the motions. I found Jack/Ianto communities, but I always lost interest. There wasn't much really; mainly episode tags that didn't progress beyond the end of the end of the episode. The ones that did attempt to have a longer storyline didn't feel real to me. Looking through all of it, it seemed like fandom was holding its collective breath, afraid to imagine farther then where the next episode would lead for Jack and Ianto. I was too. I realized, with some horror, that I was just a fan of Torchwood. Not a fandom-y fan. But a fan. One of those normal fans, that didn't scour the internet for stories, and have a desire to know every single thing about the show, its actors, and their partners and pets. I think most Torchwood fans from slash fandom are feeling similarly, which is why we aren't seeing a huge creative fandom building up around Torchwood.
Now take Grey's Anatomy. I was really excited about the relationship developing between Erica and Callie. Once again, I visited the main Callica community, but I left with nothing more to show for it than a few icons (see above). A part of me is content to sit back and see where the writers are going to take their relationship. But a part of me is also nervous about watching the show, because if it is actual canon, then the writers could destroy the relationship past a point where a good writer could write around it.
I'm nervous because I've been burned by this before with As The World Turns. At first the storyline between Luke and Noah was pretty well done. The writers attempted, through the limited scope of their genre, to address the political reality behind sexuality. I was impressed, and invested in the Nuke drama. And then conservative backlash poured in and suddenly Luke and Noah weren't kissing on screen, and then a convenient plot device developed that stalled out their entire relationship. This is unfortunately not surprising, but what was to me, was that although fans expressed frustration at Proctor and Gamble for caving into this pressure, not a lot of creative energy was put into typical fan works to subvert it. Many people called the hotline (and pushed P&G to grow some spine) but a majority of the postings on Nuke community are clips from episodes, or icons and banners from those clips. And its no wonder.
We are at an interesting point in TV where gay relationships are just starting to appear on mainstream TV, but it's still "edgy" and the writers are unable to really back up these relationships. They end up existing, but getting less screen time, being more dysfunctional, or not being well developed. And although there are differences between the creative authority that creates shows like SGA where non-heterosexual relationships don't exist, and the ones like ATWT, Torchwood and Grey's that at least try to give visibility to these relationships, the pressures that they have to face from network executives and sponsors are the same. We can't trust the relationships that are on non-LOGO TV to be well developed, non-stereotypical and believable. Sometimes we can't even trust LOGO. And for fandom at least, these almost but not quite relationships are worse than none at all. They limit canon based story lines. It is a lot harder to ignore Noah's canonical fake wife that gets in the way of Luke and Noah having an actual relationship, then it is to ignore Katie Brown, who wasn't in that many episodes, and wasn't well developed. They stifle creative fandom for me, because for some reason I have more respect for the authority of these canons. Even though they are a different manifestation of the same problem.
What I am really curious about is what this will mean for future fandom. Once these relationships become more common, and move from edgy to mundane, will slash fandom still exist? Let's say, for instance, that Stargate Atlantis went on for about 10 more years, and during that time mainstream culture grew much more comfortable with non-heterosexual sexuality. Suddenly SGA could develop a romantic relationship between John and Rodney and still retain its viewership and sponsors. And so they did. We got to see, interspersed throughout space battles and missions, some innuendo, then longing glances, a kiss, maybe a fade to black sex scene! And eventually a fight, a breakup, a rebound relationship between Rodney and Radek, and then a makeup at the end of the last season. I am pretty convinced that the SGA creative fandom would have faded out long before this happened.
These are the questions I'm left with about the whole issue:
If slash fandom exists as a taboo, boundary pushing critique of mainstream culture, then what happens when gay relationships become mainstream? We become stuck writing AUs? People start flocking to relationships that are even more taboo?
Should the Callica/ATWT model of an online fan community be what slash fandom is working towards? Just posting episode reviews, clips, and information; mobilizing when necessary to preserve our pairings? And eventually not even mobilizing?
I know some people showed up to this party for the gay porn. But what is it about the porn in slash fandom that is so hot? How much of it is because of slash fandom's relationship with the canon authority as being subversive?
As fans, how can we keep being critical of mainstream media while applauding the steps forward they take? And, just as important, how can we maintain our communities, as public opinion changes and major parts of our identities and sexualities change with it?