Character musings

[nebari_rebel]

Thanks to damnedscientist 's latest thought-provoking post on Terra Firma, I inadvertently wrote an essay about Chiana this morning and thought I'd share it here as well, in case anyone was interested.

It's not the most well thought out piece, and I missed some points I wanted to touch on, but it's the most writing I've done of any sort in awhile.  Thanks,

Comments

[dargai]

I think the problem is who Jothee is in relation to D'argo. Sleeping with his newly rediscovered son seems a little inappropriate. Of course, the clearest foreshadowing to Chiana/Jothee is that D'argo speaks to them both like they're children, essentially making them both allies and equals. Frustrate and scare Chiana enough and yeah, she'll fall back on the single sure way she knows to connect, manipulate and be in control.

TBH, I'm a lot more squicked by Jothee's behaviour. Who finds their Dad and then decides to sleep with his girlfriend?

Apropos of nothing, as progressive as it was in some ways, Farscape wasn't when it came to sexual relationships. Aeryn, who grows up in a culture that encourages frequent sex, is never shown to have sex except with John (not counting that flashback). John, who appears to embody the mainstream idea of sex having emotional meaning has sex with other women while in love with Aeryn. And some of the responses at TF (not this thread, just threads I read when I was still an active member) have indicated that some fans don't like sexually active women. So Chiana is automatically the worst of the worst for sleeping with Jothee.

[nebari_rebel]

I think the problem is who Jothee is in relation to D'argo. Sleeping with his newly rediscovered son seems a little inappropriate.

Well, yes ;) It's horribly inappropriate, on purpose. I'm fairly certain D'Argo would have forgiven her for sleeping with anyone else; he tells Aeryn in SIW that he can almost forgive her for this. And as Chiana says at the end of SAL, she had to do something he couldn't forgive.

Don't get me wrong - I think what Chiana did was awful, and inexcusable. I'm not making excuses, I'm explaining what drove her to it. The way I see it anyway.

TBH, I'm a lot more squicked by Jothee's behaviour. Who finds their Dad and then decides to sleep with his girlfriend?

Someone who likely witnessed their father's hyperrage towards their mother, whose mother was killed, who was taken from his father, who was sold into slavery, who has had a hellish life and has been thoroughly hardened and hates his Luxan side enough to mutilate himself, and yet still wants his father's love and approval...and who is then treated like a child and sneered at when he finds him. D'Argo doesn't recognize the man Jothee is - I don't think he wants to recognize it. It's too painful for him. But it's more painful for Jothee not to have his father see what's been done to him, and what he's probably had to do in his life.

I think it's perfectly possible that Jothee knows, on a logical, rational level, that D'Argo wasn't to blame for what happened to their family and to him, but on an emotional one? He literally cut his father out of him. Any hesitation he had over Chiana was brief.

I love this storyline because it is so fucked up - because both Chiana and Jothee love D'Argo and want him in their lives, and yet they're both trying to hurt him as badly as they can. And D'Argo is utterly, willfully blind until it all comes crashing down around him. My heart breaks for all three.

Apropos of nothing, as progressive as it was in some ways, Farscape wasn't when it came to sexual relationships. Aeryn, who grows up in a culture that encourages frequent sex, is never shown to have sex except with John (not counting that flashback). John, who appears to embody the mainstream idea of sex having emotional meaning has sex with other women while in love with Aeryn.

I agree, and it's really, really frustrating. Aeryn could personally just not have a high sex drive, or many partners in the past, for personal reasons, but that's not the way it comes across. It's more like she must remain pure for John, but the same standard doesn't apply to him.

And some of the responses at TF (not this thread, just threads I read when I was still an active member) have indicated that some fans don't like sexually active women. So Chiana is automatically the worst of the worst for sleeping with Jothee.

A lot of people aren't sex-positive, especially female sex-positive (not that one should really be positive about Chiana's actions here, but it seems to apply to her character, and characters like her, in general). It's fairly disappointing, but it doesn't seem specific to Farscape.