Comments | dangermousie: Family Values

dangermousie

Family Values

Jul 01, 2006 20:33

This post is all about family values. Sounds grandiose, doesn't it? But since I am not a politician out campagning, this post is actually about how interesting I find the non-romantic, famly relationships in TV shows which deal with them at length or show them as important ( Read more... )

farscape, serenity, supernatural, firefly, bsg

Comments 18

crumpeteer July 2 2006, 00:57:02 UTC

With Supernatural, while the main issue is between brothers, when John shows up again it becomes all about the family dynamic. John KNOWS he wasn't a good father and that he demanded far too much out of Dean and was far too controlling with Sam, but in spite of that, you still end up liking John because he's only human. He loves his sons more than anything, but he's also fighting addiction in his need to kill the demon that killed Mary. It's a complicated relationship, with snarky, tough Dean not being able to stand up to his father while it's Sam who can ( ... )

dangermousie July 2 2006, 01:10:28 UTC

And I went off on a tangent.

You should go off on tangents more often. This was brilliant and I haven't even seen the eps you talk about (though I am watching more tomorrow). I just love shows (or books or movies) that show family relationships in their all-too-complex glory.

And Dean cries? You are kidding. *melts preemtively*

Btw, where can I get some good SPN icons?

crumpeteer July 2 2006, 01:27:14 UTC

While he doesn't break down sobbing, Dean does get teary quite frequently mainly when trying to deal with emotional issues. You get the feeling that he's been holding it back for so long that if he lets much out he'll totally go to pieces.

supernatu_icons is the best icon site for the show, but you have to join. The fandom has some of the most incredible icon makers out there. Also try carmendove's icon journal.

raincitygirl July 2 2006, 03:36:42 UTC

I would also add that in BSG, Adama's relationship with his surrogate daughter Starbuck is also one that is pretty important to the show ( ... )

dangermousie July 2 2006, 06:51:06 UTC

That's true, re: BSG.

I agree with you on River and Simon. River is as crazy as a bug, so I can see her doing anything. I just can't see Simon reciprocating in any way.

koalathebear July 2 2006, 04:38:53 UTC

Thanks for this post. It's fabulous. I agree with your comments.

I'd also like to throw Numb3rs into the mix here because that's a sensational series that focuses on father / son relationships and also fraternal love. Unfortunately all the fan fic is incest but the show is wonderful and very touching.

I'm also a huge sucker for the fraternal relationship in Supernatural as well - but again most of the fic is incesty :P

dangermousie July 2 2006, 06:50:09 UTC

I haven't sen Numb3rs but I've heard good things about it.

I've noticed it too. If relationships are familial, then the fic is incesty. I guess the shipping desire is pretty deeply ingrained.

shadowserenity July 2 2006, 05:05:13 UTC

I'm just commenting to say that I loved this post :).

dangermousie July 2 2006, 06:35:31 UTC

Thank you!

thelana July 2 2006, 07:47:55 UTC

One thing I really like about sibling shows like Supernatural is that I run across a lot of people that go "Wow, I'm a slasher, but for the first time, I find myself reading/writing Gen fic, OMG; what has happened to me ( ... )

raincitygirl July 2 2006, 22:43:17 UTC

I found that especially in sibling fandoms a good Gen story can sometimes be at least as emotionally satisfying than any incest story, if not more. Sigh, which reminds me that I wanted to post this long ramby meta about how in incest heavy fandoms Gen probably fills the same emotional need as romance (as opposed to porn, basically any non NC17 shippy fic), because in the end it too is about love and relationships.

Yup. Mind you, I would say incest fics aren't satisfying exactly, because, well, society generally thinks of incest as a bad thing for a REASON. And you get into issues of exploitation and other such tricky concepts, and it's a little difficult to focus on "this is hot" when you're worrying about the mental health of characters who really need to start looking outside their family circle for sexual partners.

thelana July 2 2006, 23:44:07 UTC

Well, the average Supernatural writer's attitude towards it seems to be (1) they have chemistry (2) there are no other characters as potential love interests on the show and off the writing goes. Plus, plenty of writers seem to be ok with the dysfunction of writing incest couples (at least I got the impression that people who were writing Duncan/Lilly weren't really writing it to be romantic or cute, but to be dark).

=> somebody
s Sam/Dean shipper manifesto

dangermousie July 3 2006, 05:22:38 UTC

Yes, I admit incest fic creeps me out. So not my thing...