Mostly fannish

[rivkat]

1. Deep fannish thought of the day: Nobody ever inquires into the identificatory position of the guy watching lesbian (quote unquote) porn—we don’t talk about him as torn between the positions “do I want to do her or do I want to be her?”  (Are we that uncomfortable with women in the subject position "director"?)

2. Just saw a Chuck spoiler that didn’t make me happy, but probably worse is that nobody knows when the show is coming back! Not until sometime in 2010, it appears, but at least NBC ordered six more episodes, making a 19-episode season (hunh?). And yet they still have the actors doing NBC promos—guys, if you have them working, why not show their work? Also, PSA to new-minted White Collar fans: Matthew Bomer is a recurring guest star in S1&2 of Chuck; yet another reason to watch the show!

3. For someone who didn’t notice the credits, surprise Charisma Carpenter was surprising! So, like the other actors, I guess she concluded that given how bad the dialogue is, the best bet was just to deliver it in the flattest way possible, eh?

4. Coffee and Consent: From Until Someone Wakes Up, a play written by Carolyn Levy and a group of Macalester College students:

Waiter: Would you like some coffee?
Woman: Yes, please.
Waiter: Just say when. (Starts to pour.)
Woman: There. (He keeps pouring.) That's fine. (He pours.) Stop! (She grabs the pot; there is coffee everywhere.)
Waiter: Yes, ma'am.
Woman: Well, why didn't you stop pouring?
Waiter: Oh, I wasn't sure you meant it.
Woman: Look, of course I meant it! I have coffee all over my lap! You nearly burned me!
Waiter: Forgive me, ma'am, but you certainly looked thirsty. I thought you wanted more.
Woman: But -
Waiter: And you must admit, you did let me start to pour.

Comments

[cathexys]

I think that was the entire problem with the male gaze theory, wasn't it?

Otoh, looking how real man treat real women when they perform...I'm not sure there's a whole lot of being and instead there's not much more than having the girl :)

[rivkat]

Well, I want to contrast the thought/expectation that women are identifying with one or more of the men in slash with the baseline assumption that men are just watching two women--where does that difference come from? Is it inability to imagine men identifying "down," as challenged by Carol Clover in Men, Women and Chainsaws?

[cathexys]

Nono, I get that. I wasn't trying to be flip about it. I think it's a really important question. i was more gut-level responding...

I do think there may be identification going on, but in the end, I think it's a matter of presentation and yes, identifying down maybe?

I think you can totally film two men in a way that there's no identificatory place left, so to speak? (As in, of course, there's always a place left, but it's made very difficult when the camera is pretty much an aggressive, cutting instrument rather than an entry into another poerson's identity...)

[flourish]

That is a great fannish thought. Concisely puts something that I've been thinking about for awhile.

[rivkat]

Thank you!

[on_verra]

I have nothing more coherent to say about this post than:

Wow, the thinky! It inspires me to more thinky! :)

[jcalanthe]

Re: #1, at least some of it is I think the "identifying down" you mention in your comment to cathexys, and how gender mobility works (at least in the US). We as a society are way more disturbed by feminine men than masculine women, so a theory that men watching lesbian porn might want to be women wouldn't get a lot of traction, even if it were out there.

& also, there's the "man" includes "woman" thing - girls are raised to identify with male protagonists (well, not too much, but enough that all the male-dominated media is sufficiently engaging), while one of the arguments that gets trucked out for not making female-protagonist media is that boys *can't* identify with female protagonists.

[amalthia]

Yeah Legend of the Seeker is kind of inconsistent sometimes. But I find it strangely entertaining. :)

[rivkat]

See, I wouldn't even say inconsistent, just--modular, I guess. Pretty = consistent 10. Cracky = consistent 7. Dialogue = consistent 2. If that.

[amalthia]

lol, yeah this show has some good crack. :) And it is very pretty! :)

I'm looking forward to how season 2 will unfold. :) The Stone of Tears was one of my favorite books in the series. And this show is not following the books at all so really at this point I don't know what to expect!

[ciaan]

Of course he didn't stop pouring! She said a lot of other things, but she never said "when".

.....Yeah.