META on Simon/Alisha... oh the randomness
Oh, look. Meta.
So, I wrote this in reply to this awesome discussion on Simon/Alisha by goddess09807 and I thought I'd post it here in my journal just so I remember it. Also it got too long, I proceeded to delete it by mistake because I am an idiot, and now I'm adding rambles on Alisha's feelings for future!Simon so yeah. Onwards.
[.... imagine epic comments about the couple here....]
AGREE WITH ALL OF YOU, THEY ARE EPIC and I'll quit the caps now.
I think I was into the Simon and Alisha relationship, it's possibilities, the minute I realized that of the five, they were the two who almost immediately displayed the tendency/inclination to abuse their powers [eta: or at least be incredibly reckless, invasive with them].
There’s that awesome opening scene to 1.03 with Alisha touching strangers’ bodies in the club and inciting a mass frenzy of lust, and using those people for sex. I think she's always used her sexuality as a weapon though, which is interesting and not a bad thing *shrug*. And then she uses her power on Curtis against his will (one of her most controversial scenes, imo, because it leaps over the edge of sexual consent in a big way). I can't talk about how problematic her whole power is in the FIRST PLACE, it's such a shit power, curse, whatever and all the problems of women self-blame and punishment for their sexuality (not promiscuity) and that galls me to no end so in some part of my head, I applauded her even taking ownership of her power in that episode because what the hell else is she supposed to do? It better develop into more because it's really crappy. I wonder if the writers care much about the level of crappiness? Somehow doubt that the politicalness of it all is on anyone's mind with the show and that's fine, it is what it is, but seriously. /end rant.
Similarly, it’s Simon who started sneaking about with his powers most obviously to spy on Sally, and that was creepy, and then he has his lunch beside her corpse each day and stares limpidly at it and it's ew. But we saw even before that when he’s spying on Alisha and Kelly in the bathroom and clearly … um… extraordinarily fascinated by girl parts in general, and, in particular: Alisha’s bottom. It wasn't 'cute' it was creepy. We also saw him sitting invisibly amongst strangers, experiencing a slice of their lives without their permission or awareness, being creepily voyeuristic. Simon’s camera is kind of another manifestation of this. I won’t even talk about him getting ready to molest Kelly while she was unconscious, he’s clearly a disturbed/disturbing guy in many ways (note: one thing I love about the show is that it doesn't shy away from presenting despicable characters like this, there's no moralistic message, there's no desperate attempt to make a lesson out of everyone, it's just like, 'Bam, look at these miserable individuals' and each of them is incredibly human in her/his way.).
So we have two characters that couldn’t be more different externally, and yet there’s this mirroring in their behavior, a tendency to violate the privacy/personal will/etc. of the people around them for any number of reasons (e.g. loneliness, the need for connection; selfish reasons; gratification (sexual and otherwise); generally being freaked out by their powers or incapable of controlling them; emotional breakdowns; or actual just being twisted, complex individuals who get off on that sort of thing etc.).
I don’t think the show intends for us to disregard these similarities anymore than we should forget that actually, these two, have been/are quite messed-up individuals and that this little ASBO community they’re now a part of, this surrogate family, has changed and somewhat improved them [eta: or grounded them, tempered some of their more questionable traits without erasing them entirely? what would you say? interesting that kelly, who probably has the most invasive power of the lot doesn't display any desire to do so unless it's to help them and she has no control over it yet so the point is moot; curtis has no control either; and well, nathan's doesn't count yet since it affects primarily himself and no one else around him].
It’s also significant that these two are outsiders because of whom and what they are, what they appear to be. Alisha may be the most beautiful girl in the room but there’s a downside to it that Simon articulated so brilliantly in 2.03 - people don’t see beyond her beautiful face, they don’t see her. Simon is more obviously an outsider (they all are now for different reasons), but people don’t see beyond his weirdness and odd behavior to the person he really is and can be.
Of the Misfits, Kelly’s probably come the closest to seeing beyond Simon’s outward self (although it’s possible that she might see him as quite defenseless much of the time and in need of a protector and that’s not really the inner ‘hero’ that Simon clearly has in spades).
I think there’s proof in this particular episode (2.03) that Alisha sees him too - or appreciates this side of Simon more than one would imagine. Even before the epic table scene (I don’t give a fuck, that scene was epic to me), at the beginning of the episode Alisha approaches Simon to ask about Super-Hoodie. She could have asked someone else --- Curtis is arguably the most sensible of the group; Kelly’s a HBIC and anyone would kill to have her on their side; Nathan is… well, there’s a reason she didn’t ask Nathan for anything --- but she didn’t. She asked Simon. I’m not going to read masses into this because it’s not a HUGE thing but in the pattern of things, it’s quite significant. Bottom line, it’s pretty important that she DID ask Simon. She may act like she’s a brainless airhead some of the time but she DOES notice things, and she noticed that there is more to Simon than meets the eye i.e. he’s intelligent, generally knows what’s going on, has protected the gang before --- I love her irritation when he doesn’t come up with an answer. And, obviously, we KNOW that Simon knows there’s more to her than the obvious physical beauty because, as has been pointed out, HE KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT IT MEANS TO BE OVERLOOKED BECAUSE OF YOUR EXTERNAL SELF AND HIS EXPERIENCE IS HERS BUT INVERTED AND IT’S AWESOME.
Alisha's Feelings/non-feelings for Super!Simon because I think that they are really the ones that matter most right now....
As to Alisha's feelings for Future!Simon. I think that these are so complicated. Mainly because I think her immediate attachment to him, while romantic and sexy, is based more on her need for connection, the isolation and loneliness that comes with having her kind of power, that shit with Curtis and the fact that Super!Simon doesn't make her feel guilty for being what she is (he can afford to do that since he can touch her.... just sayin'). There's a sense of gratitude there I think, for more than the fact that he's saved her life repeatedly, and some hero worship and awe etc. etc. It's a very human and relatable reaction to the situation she's found herself in and I think she does have very deep feelings for Future!Simon but for me, it's almost imperative that we see her fall TRULY IN LOVE with Present!Simon and we see every step, exactly why, and that while Future!Simon's intervention was a catalyst of sorts --- it's the fact that these two have their own connection outside of Future shenanigans that brings them together in the end.
I honestly hope and believe that the show will let that be true. Future!Simon understands exactly how selfish he's being by getting involved with her, it's dangerous is what it is, and what a mind-fuck for Alisha and one that's thoroughly unpleasant when I think too hard on it (and it's really putting thoughts in my head about whether these kids are in a temporal loop or if there are alternate future realities all over the place, like parallel universes. Ugh, time travel sucks, I won't even try to unravel it at this point).
But yes, I think I can bask in the awesome that F!Simon/Alisha is but at the end of the day, the TRUE love story that we'll get to see, is that between her and Present!Simon --- at least that's what I'm hoping, and from their moments in 2.03, I feel like it's already begun, even before this episode as I saw this stuff in season one like many other simisha lovers (again, those moments were my FAVORITES, I love my porn, but the awkwardness and awesomeness of that table scene is forever ingrained in my head for exactly what it revealed about Simon and the way he sees her, and about Alisha and what she needs).
.... Okay, that's the end of it. It's probably total bollocks, and there is so much wank in my comment, but I wanted to remember it for personal purposes so here it is.
So, I wrote this in reply to this awesome discussion on Simon/Alisha by goddess09807 and I thought I'd post it here in my journal just so I remember it. Also it got too long, I proceeded to delete it by mistake because I am an idiot, and now I'm adding rambles on Alisha's feelings for future!Simon so yeah. Onwards.
[.... imagine epic comments about the couple here....]
AGREE WITH ALL OF YOU, THEY ARE EPIC and I'll quit the caps now.
I think I was into the Simon and Alisha relationship, it's possibilities, the minute I realized that of the five, they were the two who almost immediately displayed the tendency/inclination to abuse their powers [eta: or at least be incredibly reckless, invasive with them].
There’s that awesome opening scene to 1.03 with Alisha touching strangers’ bodies in the club and inciting a mass frenzy of lust, and using those people for sex. I think she's always used her sexuality as a weapon though, which is interesting and not a bad thing *shrug*. And then she uses her power on Curtis against his will (one of her most controversial scenes, imo, because it leaps over the edge of sexual consent in a big way). I can't talk about how problematic her whole power is in the FIRST PLACE, it's such a shit power, curse, whatever and all the problems of women self-blame and punishment for their sexuality (not promiscuity) and that galls me to no end so in some part of my head, I applauded her even taking ownership of her power in that episode because what the hell else is she supposed to do? It better develop into more because it's really crappy. I wonder if the writers care much about the level of crappiness? Somehow doubt that the politicalness of it all is on anyone's mind with the show and that's fine, it is what it is, but seriously. /end rant.
Similarly, it’s Simon who started sneaking about with his powers most obviously to spy on Sally, and that was creepy, and then he has his lunch beside her corpse each day and stares limpidly at it and it's ew. But we saw even before that when he’s spying on Alisha and Kelly in the bathroom and clearly … um… extraordinarily fascinated by girl parts in general, and, in particular: Alisha’s bottom. It wasn't 'cute' it was creepy. We also saw him sitting invisibly amongst strangers, experiencing a slice of their lives without their permission or awareness, being creepily voyeuristic. Simon’s camera is kind of another manifestation of this. I won’t even talk about him getting ready to molest Kelly while she was unconscious, he’s clearly a disturbed/disturbing guy in many ways (note: one thing I love about the show is that it doesn't shy away from presenting despicable characters like this, there's no moralistic message, there's no desperate attempt to make a lesson out of everyone, it's just like, 'Bam, look at these miserable individuals' and each of them is incredibly human in her/his way.).
So we have two characters that couldn’t be more different externally, and yet there’s this mirroring in their behavior, a tendency to violate the privacy/personal will/etc. of the people around them for any number of reasons (e.g. loneliness, the need for connection; selfish reasons; gratification (sexual and otherwise); generally being freaked out by their powers or incapable of controlling them; emotional breakdowns; or actual just being twisted, complex individuals who get off on that sort of thing etc.).
I don’t think the show intends for us to disregard these similarities anymore than we should forget that actually, these two, have been/are quite messed-up individuals and that this little ASBO community they’re now a part of, this surrogate family, has changed and somewhat improved them [eta: or grounded them, tempered some of their more questionable traits without erasing them entirely? what would you say? interesting that kelly, who probably has the most invasive power of the lot doesn't display any desire to do so unless it's to help them and she has no control over it yet so the point is moot; curtis has no control either; and well, nathan's doesn't count yet since it affects primarily himself and no one else around him].
It’s also significant that these two are outsiders because of whom and what they are, what they appear to be. Alisha may be the most beautiful girl in the room but there’s a downside to it that Simon articulated so brilliantly in 2.03 - people don’t see beyond her beautiful face, they don’t see her. Simon is more obviously an outsider (they all are now for different reasons), but people don’t see beyond his weirdness and odd behavior to the person he really is and can be.
Of the Misfits, Kelly’s probably come the closest to seeing beyond Simon’s outward self (although it’s possible that she might see him as quite defenseless much of the time and in need of a protector and that’s not really the inner ‘hero’ that Simon clearly has in spades).
I think there’s proof in this particular episode (2.03) that Alisha sees him too - or appreciates this side of Simon more than one would imagine. Even before the epic table scene (I don’t give a fuck, that scene was epic to me), at the beginning of the episode Alisha approaches Simon to ask about Super-Hoodie. She could have asked someone else --- Curtis is arguably the most sensible of the group; Kelly’s a HBIC and anyone would kill to have her on their side; Nathan is… well, there’s a reason she didn’t ask Nathan for anything --- but she didn’t. She asked Simon. I’m not going to read masses into this because it’s not a HUGE thing but in the pattern of things, it’s quite significant. Bottom line, it’s pretty important that she DID ask Simon. She may act like she’s a brainless airhead some of the time but she DOES notice things, and she noticed that there is more to Simon than meets the eye i.e. he’s intelligent, generally knows what’s going on, has protected the gang before --- I love her irritation when he doesn’t come up with an answer. And, obviously, we KNOW that Simon knows there’s more to her than the obvious physical beauty because, as has been pointed out, HE KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT IT MEANS TO BE OVERLOOKED BECAUSE OF YOUR EXTERNAL SELF AND HIS EXPERIENCE IS HERS BUT INVERTED AND IT’S AWESOME.
Alisha's Feelings/non-feelings for Super!Simon because I think that they are really the ones that matter most right now....
As to Alisha's feelings for Future!Simon. I think that these are so complicated. Mainly because I think her immediate attachment to him, while romantic and sexy, is based more on her need for connection, the isolation and loneliness that comes with having her kind of power, that shit with Curtis and the fact that Super!Simon doesn't make her feel guilty for being what she is (he can afford to do that since he can touch her.... just sayin'). There's a sense of gratitude there I think, for more than the fact that he's saved her life repeatedly, and some hero worship and awe etc. etc. It's a very human and relatable reaction to the situation she's found herself in and I think she does have very deep feelings for Future!Simon but for me, it's almost imperative that we see her fall TRULY IN LOVE with Present!Simon and we see every step, exactly why, and that while Future!Simon's intervention was a catalyst of sorts --- it's the fact that these two have their own connection outside of Future shenanigans that brings them together in the end.
I honestly hope and believe that the show will let that be true. Future!Simon understands exactly how selfish he's being by getting involved with her, it's dangerous is what it is, and what a mind-fuck for Alisha and one that's thoroughly unpleasant when I think too hard on it (and it's really putting thoughts in my head about whether these kids are in a temporal loop or if there are alternate future realities all over the place, like parallel universes. Ugh, time travel sucks, I won't even try to unravel it at this point).
But yes, I think I can bask in the awesome that F!Simon/Alisha is but at the end of the day, the TRUE love story that we'll get to see, is that between her and Present!Simon --- at least that's what I'm hoping, and from their moments in 2.03, I feel like it's already begun, even before this episode as I saw this stuff in season one like many other simisha lovers (again, those moments were my FAVORITES, I love my porn, but the awkwardness and awesomeness of that table scene is forever ingrained in my head for exactly what it revealed about Simon and the way he sees her, and about Alisha and what she needs).
.... Okay, that's the end of it. It's probably total bollocks, and there is so much wank in my comment, but I wanted to remember it for personal purposes so here it is.