Round Table - The Friendship

[glennagirl]

This post is also on Dreamwidth, and considering the potential comments on this subject I think we would do well to hold our conversation over there.  You can follow this link: DWS7

Last week we had a rousing conversation concerning Illya and his women, and his attitude towards them.  Out of that came a comment from vmccooley that had a promise of more

Comments

[fiorenza_a]

I haven't sorted out DW yet.

But this is a brilliant discussion topic - hope you guys enjoy.

[glennagirl]

I think if you follow the link you'll be fine to join in.

[alynwa]

I just posted in DW. Will it automatically crosspost here?

[glennagirl]

No, crossposting only applies to personal journals.

[vmccooley]

Though I tend to see them through slash goggles, as I said in the previous post it's not necessarily in a sexual way. In the nature of spy shows - and "buddy" shows in general - women come and go, but the partnership remains the bedrock.

I know a lot of fans don't consider the return movie as "canon" - I'm 50/50 about it myself - but one thing about it felt true to me: neither man had married or maintained a lasting relationship. Despite the ridiculous reunion movie trope about "breaking partners up so we can have a dramatic reunion," they fell back into rhythm with ease.

"I will if you will" is a great line to me. They don't even need to say the words; they know each other so well. In the end, they decide to remain together. Whether friends or lovers, it is still their bedrock.

I'm not on Dreamwidth and they wouldn't let me post this anonymously, so I posted it here.

[glennagirl]

I hope you'll consider DW, just for the sake of the 'what if' nature of LJ. I felt like this conversation might get too much attention since it is inclusive of the slash genre. As it is I was informed we have one of the top 25 entries today.
I think the buddy/partner scenario is the bedrock of so much great literature. Alexander Dumas made it classic with The Three Muskateers, perhaps the greatest buddy adventure of all time.
I personally accept the Return Movie, if for no other reason that the actors involved did it. I think Illya as the designer was the right way to go, and certainly he played that part on more than one occasion in the original series. Illya was the creative, the musician, the man most likely to go against the grain when he decided UNCLE wasn't going to rule his life. But that's for the stories, and I agree with you that in the second half of their lives they are much the same as in the first half. Single, still game for the adventure as long as it includes the other guy.

[vmccooley]

Thanks, I'll look into it.

I've watched a number of reunion movies - I Spy Returns, Wild Wild West Revisited - and like MFU, there are pros and cons. Despite the flaws, I'm glad we have it.

I think the main thing is that they love each other, however one sees the nature of it.

[fiorenza_a]

Slash isn't verboten - but there is an indication in the T&C's that it should be 'adult'. The approach seems to come from the same mindset that passed the reviled and heinous 'clause 28' into UK law. I.E. that 'gayness' corrupts the youth - like it was catching (and by implication, presumably a disease).

Since I can't do much about this mindset, I have decided to mark anything that might elicit any suggestion of romance, whether gay or otherwise, as adult. The Russians upped the rating on the live action Beauty and the Beast because of its gay content - but they did release the film.

So my thinking is, if Illya and Napoleon holding hands is adult, then so is Illya and Gaby (or, for that matter, Belle and the Beast) holding hands.

I couldn't do much about 'clause 28', but I boycott Russian vodka.

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[glennagirl]

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