Man from UNCLE, not ACLU
So, in an attempt to distract myself from my upcoming Master's degree defense (AAAAGH), I am swimming in a vast saltwater pool of fandom.
Currently I am: reading Aubreyad Book 7 (and writing drabbles! gasp!), watching Psych Season 3, watching vids for Atlantis, and reading fic for Man from U.N.C.L.E.
That last item is entirely xparrot's fault. Also Psych's fault for being a tiny tiny fandom where I've read all the fic already.
I'm not hugely fanning on Man from UNCLE yet, more just casually browsing, mainly because I haven't seen any of the episodes. But I've read a bit of the fic, and my general impression is favorable...
...except for one thing. I know the show is from the 1960's; I am not expecting much in terms of gender or racial politics. But the fics I've been reading do not have that excuse. For example, I'm pretty sure that even in the 1960's the term "Negro" had fallen out of favor. Also, referring to interracial relationships as "cross-breeding"? Not cool. (And as for the one fic about how Napoleon was in trouble for sexual harassment at work (imagine James Bond being sued by Moneypenny) -- even if you have a female character say it, "girls today don't remember how to have fun" is pretty damn sexist.
It just caught me by surprise. I'm used to my fandoms' RaceFail being the subtle, showing-your-ass kind.
I'm still reading though, because (a) it was only a few fics, most of the others are pretty innocuous so far, and (b) I'm hopeful that the show isn't this bad. And okay, Napoleon and Illya are sort of adorable. And the fic is the sort of gen, action/adventure, they would do anything for each other partner-bonding that I cannot resist. I may attempt to track down some eps, and see how it goes.
Currently I am: reading Aubreyad Book 7 (and writing drabbles! gasp!), watching Psych Season 3, watching vids for Atlantis, and reading fic for Man from U.N.C.L.E.
That last item is entirely xparrot's fault. Also Psych's fault for being a tiny tiny fandom where I've read all the fic already.
I'm not hugely fanning on Man from UNCLE yet, more just casually browsing, mainly because I haven't seen any of the episodes. But I've read a bit of the fic, and my general impression is favorable...
...except for one thing. I know the show is from the 1960's; I am not expecting much in terms of gender or racial politics. But the fics I've been reading do not have that excuse. For example, I'm pretty sure that even in the 1960's the term "Negro" had fallen out of favor. Also, referring to interracial relationships as "cross-breeding"? Not cool. (And as for the one fic about how Napoleon was in trouble for sexual harassment at work (imagine James Bond being sued by Moneypenny) -- even if you have a female character say it, "girls today don't remember how to have fun" is pretty damn sexist.
It just caught me by surprise. I'm used to my fandoms' RaceFail being the subtle, showing-your-ass kind.
I'm still reading though, because (a) it was only a few fics, most of the others are pretty innocuous so far, and (b) I'm hopeful that the show isn't this bad. And okay, Napoleon and Illya are sort of adorable. And the fic is the sort of gen, action/adventure, they would do anything for each other partner-bonding that I cannot resist. I may attempt to track down some eps, and see how it goes.