Monday Meditation: Why I Love that Alec Loves His Orange Soda

[enitharmonwept]

...or How I Learned to Embrace All of Me

This post by rawles so eloquently and succinctly clarified so many things I've been feeling but hadn't articulated about the discussions surrounding Uhura's characterization in ST:TOS and ST:XI that I felt compelled to add a bit of my own thinking on one of my new fandom favorites: Leverage's Alec Hardison.

Comments

[persiflage_1]

I don't know Leverage (it's not available over here), but Alec sounds like an interesting guy!

Next time: My thoughts on Martha Jones. Really. I've actually written them, although I must warn you that they appear to be inextricably bound up with my thoughts on Rose Tyler. And Mickey Smith. And maybe even Donna Noble.

Given the way Rusty's written all four of those characters, it's actually pretty hard NOT to talk about the other three when talking about Martha Jones.

[fourzoas]

I don't know Leverage (it's not available over here), but Alec sounds like an interesting guy!

The show itself is great fun--four master criminals (grifter, hacker, hitter, thief) led by a "good man" turned criminal mastermind pull elaborate cons to rob the rich and give to the needy/wronged. It's not the most realistic show, but it's got great style, the pacing is good, and the chemistry between the characters is awesome. If you get a chance to catch it in any fashion, I recommend highly.

As for Alec, he's just awesome fun and reminds me, actually, a bit of what Mickey could have been had we not needed to be told how unsuitable he was for Rose. And he's a DW fan (regularly used the names of actors who played the Doctor when constructing aliases for the cons), which makes him even dearer to my heart!

Given the way Rusty's written all four of those characters, it's actually pretty hard NOT to talk about the other three when talking about Martha Jones.This is what I keep discovering; the text compares them to one another/the Doctor

[persiflage_1]

Oh man! I love Alec even more!

This is what I keep discovering; the text compares them to one another/the Doctor in explicit and implicit ways, so you can't really write about them as solo players. I have to say, actually, that I kind of like that; there's a depth to the new companions that you really didn't get with many of the television older ones.

Times have changed. Nowadays companions come with emotional baggage in the form of families and friends. The vast majority of the classic Who companions are orphans (sometimes they're orphaned to make them travel with the Doctor - which is kinda freaky for a show that's always supposed to have been family-oriented!)

[fourzoas]

Oh man! I love Alec even more!

He's really a fun character; on a recent episode, he was trying to use Star Trek movies as code during one of the cons. Whoever is writing him LOVES to wear the geek-badge!

Times have changed. Nowadays companions come with emotional baggage in the form of families and friends. The vast majority of the classic Who companions are orphans (sometimes they're orphaned to make them travel with the Doctor - which is kinda freaky for a show that's always supposed to have been family-oriented!)

Very true, and I must say that I like it because it's easier to invest in the characters; I think the real thing that's troubling is that the Doctor also has this emotional baggage (understandable with Gallifrey going splodey) and that has led to these overt comparisons among these people that overthrow the old way of relating in some uncomfortable ways.

[gorengal]

I enjoyed this very much, and I most likely will comment later at greater length...but I wanted to take a quick minute now to say that Parker also has moments of self-doubt. The whole 'Alice White on jury duty' plot was full of self-doubt.

[fourzoas]

Oooo--thanks for the reminder (I still have to rewatch that one to write that prompt from that meme...)--I'd forgotten Parker's insecurities, as well as the ones Nate sometimes displays. I think, though, that what strikes me about some of Hardison's insecure moments is that they are directly tied to his area of expertise; for Parker, that fear is related to doing something she's not a pro at, where there are moments where Hardison is afraid/concerned that he can't do what he's supposed to be best at doing (like the solution in The Mile High Job). Still, food for thought!

[gorengal]

You're right: Hardison's insecurities always manifest as doubt in his abilities. But, I believe insecurities almost always stem from self-doubt, regardless of how they manifest

WordyZoas are Wordy, pt. 1

[fourzoas]

Hardison's insecurities: yes, I do think that in general they manifest from the self-doubt that we have, and that doubt may come from many quarters. When I look at his self doubts, though, against the other characters', it strikes me that his come from a place of doubting his abilities to do the job he's supposed to be great at, not from a sense of doubt about something he's clearly not good at (like Parker making friends). That's where that whole affirmative action thing kinda kicked in for me--not that I'm suggesting that he's brought into the group for that reason, but that as a black woman who lives in a world where that exists, self-doubt about that which I'm meant to be good at is a tacit part of the trade-off for the AA policies. It's not unusual to doubt your abilities, but the existence of AA compounds the reasons for that doubt

[abstruse_fangrl]

This was really interesting.

Particularly (for no reason of any actual substance - just me being silly) that Alec Hardison likes orange soda. My friends & I have a running joke about the stereotypical black person liking what we refer to as "grape drink." I think it may have come from a Dave Chappelle bit.

But anywho, I've not yet had the chance to watch Leverage, but I'm seriously thinking this will have to be added to my d-load queue before the new season starts & I'm even further behind.

I suppose that seeing ten minutes of the first episode doesn't really count...

Living in a community that openly embraces affirmative action policies tends to make you wonder sometimes whether or not you really ARE good enough in a way that I don't think folks not subject to it can fully understand.

I wholeheartedly concur. Your thoughts have gotten me thinking about a great many things...

I'm really looking forward to your think thoughts on Martha Jones & the rest of the Whoniverse.

[fourzoas]

Particularly (for no reason of any actual substance - just me being silly) that Alec Hardison likes orange soda.

Actually, I should have written more about the soda business, because that's what got me thinking about this character in the first place. When I first saw the appearance of the beverage on the show in connection to him, I must admit I cringed a bit and groaned because I immediately thought "seriously? We have to go down this road?" Then, though, as I thought about it in relation to his backstory and character, it just felt like what Alec does--a part of him that you could point to as sterotypical if you only look at him through the lens of some stereotypes of blackness, but if you look through that sort of lens, he defies the stereotypes as much as he confirms them.

I'm seriously thinking this will have to be added to my d-load queue before the new season starts & I'm even further behind.Hate to say it, but the new season has started--still, you should check it out because it's really so much fun. You can always catch up

[syien_island]

That bit with the orange drink makes me laugh every time I hear it.

[syien_island]

Hmmmm...Me thinks I shall check out Leverage to watch Alec Hardison you are so enamored with.

Reading your story, I'm reminded of a time in my life when I was a teen and my Dad was really pounding it into our heads that we're Filipino and should be acting more Filipino (whatever the hell that meant) My brothers would gang up on me for reading books like Madame Bovary and watching foreign films on cable. They would also call me a coconut (white on the inside, brown on the outside) and make fun of the way I spoke.

[fourzoas]

Me thinks I shall check out Leverage to watch Alec Hardison you are so enamored with.

He's lovely and totally worth watching for, although the whole ensemble makes for great television. It's like a little mini-movie each episode.

On growing up: I can relate to it all, although the word I heard was "Oreo." My parents didn't seem to measure me by some standard of "blackness," but there were implicit racial expectations that I felt strongly, particularly from my father.

[syien_island]

Oreo. Ouch.
Wellllll, we're adults now. Making our own money, reading whatever we want, and just being awesome the way we are.

[mojitochica]

I can relate to random people associated with your department stereotyping your area of study. If I had a dollar for every time a random person asked me about the voice or education program while I was in school... It was like a black flutist was the equivalent of goddamn unicorn.

Anyways, you've reminded me that I need to finish watching Leverage :o) I'm only seen the first two episodes; you've renewed my interest!

[fourzoas]

Usually the stereotypers were new TAs who were interested in teaching the Multi sections of our comp program and were either sent to me by people who should have known better or just assumed from my appearance that I was a good person to ask. What made it even funnier was that one of my office mates, a white woman, WAS a person who had taught the class, but of course she wasn't the person they were looking for. Sigh.

Hurray for re-interesting you in Leverage--it really is a fun show!