(no subject)
So. Teen Wolf. Over the past year or so, I have seen it slowly infiltrate my friendslist and dashboard. I assumed it was a guilty pleasure. Something trashy but fun. Plus there seemed to be a lot of fic for one pairing, which, well, a good pairing can make anything entertaining. But lately I started hearing whispers about the show being kind of unexpectedly subversive, and that people liked it for reasons beyond just the content of the show itself. So hey, I figured, I might as well check it out, right? I'm not generally a fan of trashy fun but whatever, there's gotta be something that makes people watch it.
These are my initial reactions throughout the first season:
1) yeah okay I really don't care about this romance
2) that annoying girl seems to have much more personality than the actual female lead
3) is Stiles one of the ones in the pairing? because he's actually kind of annoying
4) is that the other guy in the pairing?
5) so what's Derek up to
6) why aren't they asking Derek for help
7) why don't they just have Derek around all the time
8) WHY IS NOBODY CONCERNED ABOUT DEREK JESUS CHRIST
9) derek derek derek
10) FOR FUCK'S SAKE, DEREK, THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T HAVE FRIENDS
11) dereeeeeek
Sooooo maybe you have guessed that there is something I do like about this show, yes.
Oh and also actually this show has the best portrayal of homosexuality on any TV show I have ever seen. So there's that!
I am not even kidding here. There's plenty of meta to be found on the subject, but it boils down to this: the creator has been directly quoted as saying the show takes place in a universe where homophobia does not exist. A male supporting character being gay is a non-issue. The male supporting character being gay while on a high school athletic team is a non-issue. His straight friends and teammates are utterly unconcerned by it. The male lead, when joked about as being interested in him, just shrugs it off. Because it doesn't matter! For the first time in any American TV show ever, being gay doesn't matter!
This is pretty awesome in and of itself, but add to it the unbelievable fact that the creator, when linked to a ship manifesto, called it "beautiful"; the actors in the ship did a video of themselves on a ship, joking about being "on a ship, pun intended" and leaning into each other while asking the audience to vote for the show in the Teen Choice Awards; and--there's just so much of it, I can't even say it all. But, when all put together, it adds up to the disconcerting notion that--due to the people behind the show being so ridiculously encouraging of its slashy fanbase, and not even just in a jokey matter--there is a not nonexistent chance of the primary slash ship becoming canon. More than "not nonexistent", really. And I just--the show itself can be mostly described as "not as terrible as it should be", it is a tiny show with a tiny audience, it's about as off-the-radar as you can get while still being on a known network. But for fandom, and for anyone who wants positive representation of homosexuality on TV, it is arguably one of the most significant shows I've ever seen.
And it features a scene where a carved-out-of-marble male character has to repeatedly try on and take off shirts that are too small for him, so there's that.
These are my initial reactions throughout the first season:
1) yeah okay I really don't care about this romance
2) that annoying girl seems to have much more personality than the actual female lead
3) is Stiles one of the ones in the pairing? because he's actually kind of annoying
4) is that the other guy in the pairing?
5) so what's Derek up to
6) why aren't they asking Derek for help
7) why don't they just have Derek around all the time
8) WHY IS NOBODY CONCERNED ABOUT DEREK JESUS CHRIST
9) derek derek derek
10) FOR FUCK'S SAKE, DEREK, THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T HAVE FRIENDS
11) dereeeeeek
Sooooo maybe you have guessed that there is something I do like about this show, yes.
Oh and also actually this show has the best portrayal of homosexuality on any TV show I have ever seen. So there's that!
I am not even kidding here. There's plenty of meta to be found on the subject, but it boils down to this: the creator has been directly quoted as saying the show takes place in a universe where homophobia does not exist. A male supporting character being gay is a non-issue. The male supporting character being gay while on a high school athletic team is a non-issue. His straight friends and teammates are utterly unconcerned by it. The male lead, when joked about as being interested in him, just shrugs it off. Because it doesn't matter! For the first time in any American TV show ever, being gay doesn't matter!
This is pretty awesome in and of itself, but add to it the unbelievable fact that the creator, when linked to a ship manifesto, called it "beautiful"; the actors in the ship did a video of themselves on a ship, joking about being "on a ship, pun intended" and leaning into each other while asking the audience to vote for the show in the Teen Choice Awards; and--there's just so much of it, I can't even say it all. But, when all put together, it adds up to the disconcerting notion that--due to the people behind the show being so ridiculously encouraging of its slashy fanbase, and not even just in a jokey matter--there is a not nonexistent chance of the primary slash ship becoming canon. More than "not nonexistent", really. And I just--the show itself can be mostly described as "not as terrible as it should be", it is a tiny show with a tiny audience, it's about as off-the-radar as you can get while still being on a known network. But for fandom, and for anyone who wants positive representation of homosexuality on TV, it is arguably one of the most significant shows I've ever seen.
And it features a scene where a carved-out-of-marble male character has to repeatedly try on and take off shirts that are too small for him, so there's that.