FREE-FOR-ALL META COMMENT-A-THON
Old news: lj is dead. Everyone is crazy busy, or they have other reasons not to be here. No one has time to read those huge meta posts we used to write once upon a time. But maybe we can all find ten minutes to do this:
FREE-FOR-ALL META COMMENT-A-THON!
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FREE-FOR-ALL META COMMENT-A-THON!
( Read more... )
On Community, I ship Jeff/Annie which a lot of people object to on the basis of age and I can definitely understand how a big age difference would be problematic. I think, for me, Jeff/Annie is acceptable (despite the age difference of between 12 - 19 years) because the power differentials between the two are actually minimized considerably. Jeff and Annie have both "screwed up" and thus, are at Greendale Community College (presented as the lowest of the low). Yes, Jeff is older but he's not necessarily more mature or more put together.
He isn't even necessarily more experienced. He's more experienced sexually, yes, that's pretty clear. But Annie has struggled to overcome a drug addiction, she's been kicked out of her home, cut off financially, and faced rehab, starting her post-secondary education, and living on her own in a terrible neighbourhood in quick succession. At the start of the series, they're at different places in their lives but as that first season progresses, they're both on a similar journey of self-discovery. That similarity lends a sense of parity that minimizes the impact of their age difference.
tl;dr - Power dynamics and power differentials matter. If a relationship has a vast gulf in equality, it needs to be addressed somehow. If it's ignored or that power difference plays a significant role in the attraction/progression of the relationship, it makes it more uncomfortable and less... Shippable. If the relationship is acknowledged as toxic but the character chemistry and genuine feeling is present, I think that can also help mitigate the toxicity. I didn't ship Spike and Buffy but a lot of people, from what I understand, did so because they connected as adults on a more honest, if unhappy, level than Buffy's previous lovers. The darkness and discomfort in their relationship was part of the reason their relationship existed in the first place - may be it was unhealthy but it was real.
I do think this is only one aspect of it - it's a really interesting question with multiple layers and it's something I've thought a lot about in the context of Community.
EDIT: I would love to address rape culture and how this impacts the acceptability of 'problematic' relationships in fandom but while I think it could tie in to Community, there are probably better fandoms to frame it within, so I'll try to think on it!
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