Of awkward writing, loved/hated characters and double standards interpretations
aka I’m tired of this wave of “How can you even write about Richard or R/M? He’s an abuser… blablabla…”
I know it’s bad to disturb the wedding bliss and all, but some overenthusiastic M/M fans seem to take some delight in provoking the very rare Richard fans and writers on Tumblr and FFnet…
I’ve been asked (anonymously, of course) “How can anybody ship Mary/Carlisle?” Well, here are some answers…
1. I prefer Iain Glen to Dan Stevens as an actor. And this woman really fancy the Scot dude whereas she doesn't care a bit for the young Oxbridge. Totally personal and subjective.
2. Matthew, as a character, lost me partially early in season 1, when he’s rude to Moseley (the exchange, and Matthew’s line, if you take into account that it’s a period piece, can be interpreted as Matthew questioning Moseley’s virility, since he doesn’t have a “real man” work). Then, the character totally lost me during the funeral scene (the “we are cursed” convo).
3. As far as I remember, I’ve always been a fan of the “dark horse ensemble”, aka the cool antagonist / the dark side-kick / the heroic villain or the bad hero / the magnificent bastard, which Richard is. I like complexity, and knights in shining armors bore me to tears in my distractions (comics, movies, books, everything… my nickname comes from this kind of character, and my favorite character of all time is Askeladd from the manga Vinland saga, compared to which Richard is a SAINT, trust me, but less magnificent as well).
Then, speaking about the “but he’s an aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabuser”
1. I don’t deny s2e6 scene, I try to explain it in my fics, and put it into perspective (frustration and humiliation can make people do questionable things - men and women).
2. If you think of it, every and each male character had behaved in an abusing (emotionally or physically) / chauvinistic / patronizing way: Matthew and his mother (“It’s an order” s1 / “Don’t cause trouble” s3), Matthew who forces his guilt on Mary again and again (Isn’t Mary authorized not to hear about how Matthew broke Lavinia’s heart the day before the wedding? Personally, I would have slapped him and let him ponder a bit at the church), Robert who literally forces himself on Jane for the first kiss, Robert telling to his wife “Do you realize the absurdity of what’s coming out of your mouth?”, Branson and his jealousy (plus “Don’t disappoint me”), Richard, of course, Carson who is absolutely heinous when speaking to Ethel… Actually, that’s a quite realistic panorama of male behavior of late 19th and early 20th (if that’s what intended, that’s genius, if not, well…) A neutral observation of the male characters show that none is a model of modernity, they’re 1910’s males, a period when virility was the quintessence of European societies (as a sign of strength and wisdom… WWI is a sign of that) and feminity was perceived like the devil that could destroy society (that’s why women couldn’t vote, they weren’t rational creatures).
3. Paradoxically, from this last point of view, Richard is at the same time the worst of them (manhandling of Mary - normal, he’s a viiiiiiiiiiiillain) and the most modern (in his own way, he gives Mary a huge amount of power over him, and offers her opportunities).
4. But at the same time, those characters, except Richard, are considered as heroes/good guys/romantic leads. There are two way of interpreting the recurrence of these awkward (sweet euphemism) moments. First, the viewer is supposed to forgive these lapse in judgment, forget them even, because they’re the good guys, which is quite disturbing. Or, very simply, the writing is uneven and over the top, aiming for the most spectacular scenes (Guilt! Anger! Disgust! Fighting! Jealousy!) to the cost of coherent characterization (that’s my hypothesis).
5. As a result, I take down my first impression of a scene a few notches (from Matthew is an emotional bully and a self-centered jerk to Matthew doesn’t deal with loss and grief, from Richard is an abuser to Richard is an impulsive dude, from Carson is an ass to Carson is just an aging man in a changing world) and everything is alright again (well, s3e1 is giving me much work to do right now).
6. To conclude, I might add there’s a last, most important, parameter: prejudice. A beloved character doing bad things will be pardoned indefinitely (Matthew’s got a free pass, literally) whereas a hated character doing more or less the same thing will hanged in public. It’s natural, but it would be cool to take a deep breath and wonder: is this character really x or y or z or do I want him to be this way because it comforts MY vision of the story I read/watch/listen to? Social psychology had demonstrated that the use of stereotypes was natural and almost vital (it helps the brain to deal with all the information it receives). They become a problem when people stop questioning them, and let them guide their thinking process, which leads to prejudice and intolerance.
So, yes, with a little bit of distance and curiosity, it’s easy to ship R/M, especially when you’re an old fan of grey characters…
Askeladd for the win
