You people and your quaint little categories: Torchwood, Castle, Psych and modern male sexuality

[pocochina]

Ummm...mild spoilers for Torchwood, Castle, and Psych.  I've only seen S1-2 of Torchwood, so please don't spoil any of DW or Children of Earth for me.  Or be scary canon-picking pedants.  No pedanting on my journal, my frail nerves can't take it.

Female sexuality on TV, for its myriad problems, has come a long way, baby - male sexuality not so

Comments

[gabrielleabelle]

Huh. Interesting. You've given me stuff to think about. :)

[pocochina]

:)

[avengangle]

Oh! :-D This is awesome. I haven't watched much Psych, as it never really piqued my interest despite the presence of Dule Hill, but I suspect the next time USA marathons it (which will be . . . next week sometime) I'll find an episode or two.

I love Castle -- have loved it since the first episode, and yeah, I totally watched it because Nathan Fillion is really hot -- and a lot of what you mention I'd noticed, albeit not necessarily consciously. I was pissed for the first season or so, because I thought there was NO chemistry between Castle and Beckett, but the interaction between Castle and Ryan and Esposito and the interaction between Castle and Alexis and Martha was all worth it. I love Martha with every ounce of my soul.

The Castle-Beckett chemistry has gotten better, though. Less forced.

Damn. Now I want to write Castle fanfiction.

(I don't have anything trenchant to say about Torchwood, except, oh, I love that clip.)

[pocochina]

Torchwood actually set off the whole thing. Because I'm not so wild about aliens, or shows that are very unsubtle about telling me just how Dark And Edgy they are (which at least early Torchwood does oh, every five minutes). And Captain Jack does get interesting, but not for those first few episodes. But I still watched them all, because I loved the character, and then when I figured out why it was kind of a click moment.

Dude, Dule Hill is fucking hilarious. Especially in racecar pajamas. If that doesn't get you into Psych, I do not know what will.

I love Martha with every ounce of my soul

I KNOW. I would say I will be just like her in forty years. But that would imply I do not behave that way now, and I would be fooling NO ONE.

[jadeserenity]

I would only add that the thing I like about Barney Stinson is that I have always read him (being played by an openly gay man) as an unabashed parody of stereotypical male heterosexuality. But, if the audience doesn't know anything about NPH then the character probably falls more into the "making misogyny sort of ok actually through laughing at it!" trope. Or possibly not, because Ted Mosby is just as bad but on the other end of the stereotypical male heterosexual spectrum, and so they sort of play off each other to show how douchey these representations/ideas are/can be.

[pocochina]

Hmm. That's an interesting way to look at Barney specifically through NPH (who I adore). I think maybe Barney and definitely Draper can work as an indictment of traditional masculinity if you're already in on the workings of gender inequality. But they're protagonists, and they're meant to be either likable or sympathetic, and that combined with the subtlety of the critique is what worries me. People straightforwardly think that Draper is a stand-up guy (or that his cheating is as bad as his sexually abusive behavior and views on women, which I'd dispute) or at least a guy who lives a desirable lifestyle, and that Barney is legendary. This particular behavior is played for laughs, as you say, and not a mark against him, and that's what really concerns me.

[firynze]

Here via redstapler.

*applauds*

All very, very well-said, and all wonderful. I would add, too, that White Collar, to a lesser degree, shows some of these same positive male-sexuality attributes, in both Neil and Peter.

[pocochina]

Thanks!

You're actually not the first to note that about White Collar. I didn't exclude it purposely, I just haven't seen it yet. (Which is strange, because the call of Bryce Larkin is strong indeed. ;))It's for sure on the list now, though!

[firynze]

Oooh, thanks for that link!

And yes, definitely add White Collar to the queue. It's worth it, if only for the hats. :-D

[moominmuppet]

This really captures why these are three of my favorite shows, but I wouldn't have put the pieces together this coherently and well; thank you!

[pocochina]

Thanks! :)