Still reading the Mark Does Stuff stuff

[moonshadowmagic]

....And the comments are still much much fun (Fakir putting tu and tu together, Mr. Cat's School of Love as a spinoff series beyond the DVD extra, etc. etc.) People are noticing things I hadn't, which is educational. Mr. Cat has had his anti- flea collar remark, and tomorrow comes my very favorite Mr. Cat moment during his Sunday morning practice

Comments

[haleysings]

I'm a little lost...where are the commentors making everything about sex?

[gladdecease]

Respectfully, I disagree. Primarily because I don't think they're seeing everything in terms of sex - rather, they're looking at what is canonically friendship and seeing a less platonic emotion instead. And there's nothing wrong with that, nor is seeing the text through a queer perspective, or even just (for example) thinking Ahiru's admiration of Rue might be a crush, what I would call rude. Mark and a lot of his regular commenters are queer themselves, and it's only natural to seek out characters and interpretations you can relate to.

Even if that weren't the case, non-canonical interpretations of relationships are always valid ways to interact with a narrative, especially within fandom. We may not share the same interpretations or opinions, but no one ever said we need to agree on anything in fandom, much less everything, and having a different opinion doesn't make them rude.

(If I've misunderstood what you're referring to, I apologize, but the impressions I got from your last paragraph bothered me.)

[starherd]

Halloo! I apologize for butting in; moonshadowmagic is my sister and we were talking on the phone about this, so I figured I'd have a look. ^_^;

I think what she means is that there's more to a person (or character) than their sexuality, and that their sexuality isn't necessarily the root of all their relationships (teacher/student, rivals, friends, classmates, enemies, etc.).

For example, in the area that I live in, I frequently experience being seen as a mother, an artist, someone struggling to make ends meet - but the minute it comes up that I'm gay, that's all people see about me. And that really is terribly rude and hurtful. Who I'm sexually attracted to has nothing to do with who I talk to, who I make friends with, what I do for a living, and how I raise my kid. If I published an autobiography and all anyone got out of it was the romantic aspects of my life, I'd be pretty angry; I wasted a lot of effort talking about everything else if that's all they got out of it. I know people who get this kind of reduction-to-one-aspect treatment

[gladdecease]

Oooh, I see. The concern is that characters are being reduced to just a sexuality. I totally understand that, it happens to me in some fandoms too! I haven't really come across it in Princess Tutu/on the Mark Does Stuff sites, but I guess that's just luck on my part. c:

Sorry for the misunderstanding!

[insaneladybug]

This is exactly what I thought was being expressed when I read the original post. :) I have been annoyed by the same things in other fandoms, and what Moon Shadow was saying instantly made sense to me and rang true. I wish I'd had the time to comment when I first read it.

[moonshadowmagic]

And finally I, personally, can get back here.... Thanks to my sister for weighing in when I couldn't. I can't reply (and a lot of the time I can't comment) from home, and my hometown library and its internet is only open three days a week, and my work schedule went nuts due to school closings because of the storm last week. Not that we got any snow beyond some stuff to mess up Friday afternoon driving.

Anyways, yeah. It bugs me when well- rounded characters and well- thought- out everything else's are reduced to oh- they're- hot (or for that matter, "pretty," "brainy," ugly," "stoopid," etc.) Yes, it takes all kinds, but it's like spending tens of thousands on a good college and flunking out because academics cut into party time. I'm glad things seem to have gotten cleared up, anyhow.

"Ace?" Didn't know that one....

And they've gotten through the first season. JUST YOU'NS WAIT.