the women of due South

[izzybeth]

You know who are pretty cool? The women of due South.

[WARNING: cut tag may contain Unpopular Fannish Opinions (tm). consider "IMHO" to be included throughout.]

A very long time ago, I saw a semi-offhand comment in joandarck's journal (I think it was hers?) saying something to the effect of "due South is NOT about women." Which I agree with, at a very

Comments

[liviapenn]

Was Fraser's grandmother strict? Funny? All we know is that she was a traveling librarian.

Actually, we do get to see Fraser's grandmother very briefly in "Letting Go," although she's either a hallucination of his hallucination, or a ghost haunting his ghost, and presumably either way not *quite* the same grandmother that he knew in life...

Still, she seems pretty strict to me. :)

Fraser's grandmother

[keerawa]

Unless I am going off on some insane fanon here, we also know that Fraser's grandmother and her husband spent time in China before the revolution, and that she was burned while helping a group a Native children escape from a fire through a river.

Please do tell me if I'm insane there, because I can't find the reference for the life of me, and she keeps showing up in a fic I'm writing.

Re: Fraser's grandmother

[scifigirl]

The bit about the getting burned while helping the children escape was in the episode where Fraser goes to the city council meeting to save his apartment building and Ray fills the room by giving away the insurance money from the Riv. At least I'm pretty sure that's the ep it's from. I do know that you're not insane, it's just that I watched the entire series in like 2.5 weeks so it's all blurring together.

[vienna_waits]

Ooh, I have much love for this post. F/T is a pairing I'd like to see more of, and Frannie is such a wonderful character. I agree she really got shafted, especially with that ridiculous ending.

[izzybeth]

thank you! yes yes YES, i want to see more Thatcher/Fraser! and more cop!Frannie fic, too.

[sdwolfpup]

*applause* Fantastic post! I agree almost entirely with it, especially regarding Frannie (the six kids thing was a crime against her characterization), Stella (I love Stella, actually, even as we see her in canon), and Elaine (come back, Elaine!). I liked Meg most when she wasn't impressed by Fraser, but I really started to love her in "We Are the Eggmen," when she got to be competent and smart and help save the day. I was wildly disappointed by the end of AtQH when Fraser rode to her rescue. She's more than just a damsel in distress and I was upset that she'd been relegated to that, especially since she'd fallen into the typical love interest role in a lot of that episode, IMO

[izzybeth]

I was wildly disappointed by the end of AtQH when Fraser rode to her rescue.

ME TOO. i couldn't believe they just did that to her. it felt so out of the blue to me. i mean, ok, hairpin and kissing and sexual tension like whoa, but to have her need to be rescued? Meg Thatcher doesn't need rescuing. argh.

I feel like we get a good sense of WHY Angie and Ray divorced.

oh, i definitely believe money had something to do with it, if it wasn't the main reason for the divorce. buying the Riv was totally a selfish move on Ray's part, and maybe i can see Angie getting past it if it was a one time thing, but not if he kept on being irresponsible with their finances (and we all know how he loves his clothes).

I love Cortez waaaaaaay out of proportion.

::basks with you in disproportionate Cortez love:: i love the spark she had with Vecchio. i love them snarking at each other, and then i love her Hawk story and them trusting each other, and just-- yay Cortez! :D

[ifreet]

In regards to both Thatcher and Frannie, I ended up with the impression that the writers weren't sure what to do with them, once they'd decided against pairing them romantically with Fraser. Both of them start strong, but.... after awhile the romantic interest itself starts to get played for laughs, rather than just Fraser's reaction to it. And the effect is to flatten these potentially really interesting characters into attraction-driven caricatures.

My initial reaction to watching Call of the Wild was, in part, "And the main character LIES LIKE A DOG. He is COMPULSIVE. It is HYSTERICAL." Because the 'neat' endings? Did not make any sense. Frannie's immaculate conceptions. Stella and Ray running off to open a bowling alley. (Dating, absolutely. Marrying, maybe. Bowling, no.) Thatcher leaving the political side of things to become a spy. I have a hard time taking them seriously, though I've seen some lovely fics written by people trying to make them work.

[izzybeth]

the romantic interest itself starts to get played for laughs

exactly. Frannie had been ridiculous but still adorable (see jadelennox's Xander theory above), but Thatcher portrayed as ridiculous/humorous just... isn't. i just found it sad.

"And the main character LIES LIKE A DOG. He is COMPULSIVE. It is HYSTERICAL."

ha! i love that. and you're right-- the women's endings (and Ray Vecchio's by attachment) don't make sense, whereas Welsh's and Turnbull's endings are more realistic.

[nos4a2no9]

Ugh, I hate my poor excuse for a memory. There is an amazing (and all-too-short) Stella fic out there that rewrites every single piece of information we have about her, and reminds us that everything we know about Stella we learned from Ray. It looks again at issues like why they broke up, if Ray was strictly heterosexual, and if she was really as career-driven as everyone seems to think. It's a fantastic bit of almost-meta that should be required reading for anyone who attempts to turn Stella into a less-than-likeable character in their fic.

And I can't for the life of me remember who wrote it or what it was called.

As to your other points, I can't agree enough. Women on the show got the shaft on a number of levels, and it's a little defeating to come across so little resistence to their characterizations and ultimate fates in a fandom composed almost entirely of women. I want to read more stories that deal with Frannie's post-CotW fate. I want more good, grounded, realistic portraits of Stella. I want some good Victoria fic that

[izzybeth]

And I can't for the life of me remember who wrote it or what it was called.

if you ever find this, i would LOVE to read it. (and god, that sounds like me: "things happen in it, and i don't remember who wrote it, what it was called, or where i found it." ::wins::)

it's a little defeating to come across so little resistence to their characterizations and ultimate fates in a fandom composed almost entirely of women.

now i'm almost tempted to start a summer challenge or something focused on our girls. i know there's been a "get Frannie laid" challenge; maybe we need one for Stella, or one for Thatcher. there are so many amazing authors in this fandom; i want to see more portrayals of awesome women by awesome women.

says me, who has failed to write anything other than Fraser/Kowalski.

ha, guilty. i've hardly written any of the female characters even in secondary roles.

[tealc_spoo]

I would totally back up a girls of summer challenge. I think that's a great idea.

[nos4a2no9]

now i'm almost tempted to start a summer challenge or something focused on our girls.

Yes! I would totally support this. I might even write something other than F/K!

I'll keep hunting around for that fantastic Stella fic, and if it turns up I'll definitely let you know.