IBARW

[rivkat]

Okay, so let’s take my white liberal guilt and sense of presumptuousness as read. Here are two topics I’ve been thinking about:

First, I’ve been rewatching Life on Mars, and thinking about the intersection of basic stories and racial narratives. I learned that there were only two basic stories: A stranger comes to town, and a guy gets nailed to a tree. What These People Need Is a Honky is a variant of at least one of those. In a lot of ways, therefore, Life on Mars is “What These People Need Is a Honky with Sensitivity Training,” even when Sam Tyler is just interacting with other white folks. 2007 is a better place for many individual people of color than 1973, and Sam has the privilege of believing that it’s completely different. I don’t know that I have anywhere to go with this; just something I’ve been thinking about.

Second, I haven’t seen this cross the fandom radar, but it’s of interest to me for the related intellectual property issues: Fox is promoting The Simpsons Movie by, among other things, transforming 7-11s into Qwik-E-Marts. Even the 7-11 PR spokesperson had to admit that some Indian-American franchisees were upset by being associated with Apu. Discussion by other bloggers, some of whom are unbothered, though the “they’re all stereotypes” response made me itch to get out my antiracism bingo card. When parody becomes 7-11’s corporate policy, the “it’s just entertainment” response is even less convincing. The very entertainment value of the Simpsons makes Apu a useful heuristic for people, as shown by the reports of racist use of “thank you come again” discussed at some of the above links. Of course it’s likely that the racist response would just have been different if The Simpsons didn’t exist. But it’s worth taking humor seriously.

Comments

[cryptoxin.livejournal.com]

These are all great points. I agree that the show was quite a bit more complicated than I portrayed it in my comment above. For me as a viewer, I experienced a certain ambivalence or oscillation between a contemporary point of view critical of the past, and a more conservative nostalgia for the good old days. I found the tension between the two really challenging and stimulating. At the same time, I think the show leaves itself open to a viewing that solely engages through the pleasures of conservative nostalgia. And I'm not sure I can call that a flaw so much as an inevitable risk -- I don't know how they could have gotten to the tension I appreciated without inviting a reading focused on conservative nostalgia and invoking those pleasures. It would be a much weaker and less challenging show to me if it solely took a critical stance.

It was Maya that ended things with Sam though, there was no choice there. Sam actually spend an episode struggling with her decision, and needing some form of closure.

Thanks for pointing that out -- I didn't remember that at all, and even now have only a hazy recollection, which maybe supports my argument for selective viewing practices!

The biggest unresolved question for me is why Sam ultimately chose 1973. I'm okay with the show leaving that an open question, and I can see various ways of answering it. But it felt like they also stacked the deck by their portrayal of modern-day Manchester as cold, sterile, passionless, bloodless, colorless. And in my mind (which may not at all reflect the creators' intentions), I connect that kind of portrayal with a certain argument -- linked to conservative nostalgia -- that if we eliminate all differences and distinctions of race & gender, we'll end up in a very boring and stultifying world.

Now of course I'm not trusting my memory, and wonder if I'm projecting things onto the show that wouldn't be borne out if I rewatched it!

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

As you say, one of the show's strengths was its openness to interpretation. I found modern Manchester much more appealing, even with (or perhaps because of) its grey rigidity, which means, I think, that I didn't fully identify with Sam. I was willing to see it as a personal choice in large part because all that greyness comes after his two seasons in 1973, where he has built a life that constantly pressures him to accept it as reality and as wonderful. Having made that wrenching adjustment once, I'm not surprised that he doesn't want to switch again. It's one thing to betray your time, but to betray it and then go back and willingly stay smacks of an unformed character.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

Yep, Maya's voice comes through as her saying goodbye to Sam, which makes him extra emo over the current 1973 case. And then in the end he realises it's time to let go, so he er says goodbye to her fetus *g*


The biggest unresolved question for me is why Sam ultimately chose 1973...it felt like they also stacked the deck by their portrayal of modern-day Manchester as cold, sterile, passionless, bloodless, colorless. And in my mind (which may not at all reflect the creators' intentions), I connect that kind of portrayal with a certain argument -- linked to conservative nostalgia -- that if we eliminate all differences and distinctions of race & gender, we'll end up in a very boring and stultifying world.

I guess I took the final message as the modern day world just wasn't a good place for Sam himself. It brought out all of his most irritating personality traits, to be tightly buttened up and detached, unable to form an emotional connection, and I think he needed the side of him that 1973 brought out. I know that originally the ending was going to be along the lines of Sam bringing Gene's tactics into the modern day world, but still actually staying in 2006. But perhaps by that point the writers had become too attached to the 1973 characters, and the bonds that had formed, so they couldn't ultimately envision a satisfying ending with Sam choosing to walk away from Gene, Annie, and the rest?

Modern Manchester's portrayal in LOM did seem to be a bit of an attack on "being PC" though, and playing by the rules. Sam is shown to need to escape from that, into a past where characters do all let their feelings out, and Gene will say what he likes, and insult whom he likes. Sam may do the token frowning over Gene's various homophobic comments in their final scene together, but he still ultimately chooses that world as an escape for himself..