Reading Lord John & The Private Matter
Jul. 20th, 2009 06:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rabid1stHere I must freely admit...I am not a fan of the Outlander series. I tried but the whole time travel premise left me cold. Odd, I know considering how much I enjoy time traveling television and films. I mean, I loved Somewhere in Time in its day...and Time and Again...and Quantum Leap and Voyager and, you know, that show with the weirdly dressed fellow blipping about in a 1960's Police Box.
Eleventh Doctor in Costume...Spoiler Link...ARTICLE CONTAINS FURTHER SPOILERS THAN PICTURE...http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/2545761/Suits-Who-Sir.html
But the time traveling romances...nah!
Still, I thought I might give Galbadon another try with something shorter...so I picked up this little volume.
First, I should admit, I'm not a fan of the slash. That is, I do not slash every series or couple I stumble across because I get a little zing of the heartstrings over slashiness. My views of coupledom have less to do with sexual preferences and more to do with how good the two characters might be for each other long term. I don't like relationships that are, in my opinion, hopeless or that require me to radically rewrite a character to have the relationship follow a particular pattern. So...I could slash House/Wilson...because I can believe in them as couple...they could make a go of it, in my opinion. But I couldn't slash Xander/Spike because I don't believe in them. The Martha/Doctor pairing falls into the same non-sexual realm for me...I simply could not work their characters around to a point where I could see them as a couple. Ianto/Jack...I can believe WERE written as a couple...but I never invested in them, because I didn't think Ianto was going to work out long term. I loved him, I just felt he would be doomed in some way...at some point.
But, with all the furious commentary the last few weeks on how slash couples and homosexual heroes are not getting their due in modern storytelling, I felt I might chime in about my surprise over the Lord John series, which, coincidentally, I have just discovered. And how sad it is that Lord John strikes me as radical and groundbreaking. The stories are set in the 1700's and, our hero, Lord John Gray, has been outed in some way...embarrassed but not disgraced to the point of taking his own life (as so many gay characters do in historical fiction). To begin with, I assumed he'd been misjudged. As I came to understand that he was openly gay...I thought...oh, neat! Then, I wondered if Galbadon had endured any backlash over this. Literally, that was my second thought...did she catch any flack?
Aware that I had never accidentally stumbled across an openly gay hero in a mainstream mystery before, I began to see that a whole lot of people have a real point about how much their tastes are neglected. Where, oh, where are the slashy Cinderella stories? And why can't most of us enjoy them even if our own tastes don't run in that general direction? It is very like everyone being "flesh" toned (also known as beige) on TV. I remember my stepfather (a world class bigot...but, sadly, not ashamed) going on about how some black people were okay on television if they didn't get too upfront about it. In other words, they should stay to their place in the background. I imagine there are patrons who will pick up this volume and be openly shocked that Lord John has come out of the background and is having gay adventures. But I think a lot of my generation, and later ones, don't particularly care if the sex scenes feature pretty boys or (as this book does) a fourteen year old prostitute.
This set me to pondering the fact that there is no pressing reason why we can't have a few gay or lesbian or bisexual leads in books or movies or television shows. But we don't have them, as a rule. At least not in American mainstream fiction. The gay action hero is a very rare bird. Which is why Captain Jack Harkness was a beacon of normality to so many disenfranchised people. Sure, he lived a life that wasn't particularly safe...so he was likely to suffer losses. But his sexually uninhibited attitude spoke to a host of people without much representation.
We do have a few characters, like House or Angel, who COULD be gay or bisexual, characters that wink at the camera and avoid all commitment. But, as a rule, the gay character is in the background, playing the best friend or comic relief. And if you want to read about a character who is clearly NOT heterosexual...you have to read one of the niche publishers. And niche publishing carries with it the stigma of "agenda." It is by definition...not mainstream. Christian Fiction is also a niche market and we could just as easily say that openly faith-based stories are not acceptable in the mainstream. Christian characters are often left in the background as friendly ministers or priests or are exposed as hypocrites. But, at least, we've had Highway to Heaven, Seventh Heaven and Touched by an Angel on mainstream television.
What I'm saying is...maybe Captain Jack Harkness had to be taken down a peg, due to his character flaws and his personal reality. But there is something to be said for rare birds getting some sort of endangered species protection, too.
Eleventh Doctor in Costume...Spoiler Link...ARTICLE CONTAINS FURTHER SPOILERS THAN PICTURE...http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/2545761/Suits-Who-Sir.html
But the time traveling romances...nah!
Still, I thought I might give Galbadon another try with something shorter...so I picked up this little volume.
First, I should admit, I'm not a fan of the slash. That is, I do not slash every series or couple I stumble across because I get a little zing of the heartstrings over slashiness. My views of coupledom have less to do with sexual preferences and more to do with how good the two characters might be for each other long term. I don't like relationships that are, in my opinion, hopeless or that require me to radically rewrite a character to have the relationship follow a particular pattern. So...I could slash House/Wilson...because I can believe in them as couple...they could make a go of it, in my opinion. But I couldn't slash Xander/Spike because I don't believe in them. The Martha/Doctor pairing falls into the same non-sexual realm for me...I simply could not work their characters around to a point where I could see them as a couple. Ianto/Jack...I can believe WERE written as a couple...but I never invested in them, because I didn't think Ianto was going to work out long term. I loved him, I just felt he would be doomed in some way...at some point.
But, with all the furious commentary the last few weeks on how slash couples and homosexual heroes are not getting their due in modern storytelling, I felt I might chime in about my surprise over the Lord John series, which, coincidentally, I have just discovered. And how sad it is that Lord John strikes me as radical and groundbreaking. The stories are set in the 1700's and, our hero, Lord John Gray, has been outed in some way...embarrassed but not disgraced to the point of taking his own life (as so many gay characters do in historical fiction). To begin with, I assumed he'd been misjudged. As I came to understand that he was openly gay...I thought...oh, neat! Then, I wondered if Galbadon had endured any backlash over this. Literally, that was my second thought...did she catch any flack?
Aware that I had never accidentally stumbled across an openly gay hero in a mainstream mystery before, I began to see that a whole lot of people have a real point about how much their tastes are neglected. Where, oh, where are the slashy Cinderella stories? And why can't most of us enjoy them even if our own tastes don't run in that general direction? It is very like everyone being "flesh" toned (also known as beige) on TV. I remember my stepfather (a world class bigot...but, sadly, not ashamed) going on about how some black people were okay on television if they didn't get too upfront about it. In other words, they should stay to their place in the background. I imagine there are patrons who will pick up this volume and be openly shocked that Lord John has come out of the background and is having gay adventures. But I think a lot of my generation, and later ones, don't particularly care if the sex scenes feature pretty boys or (as this book does) a fourteen year old prostitute.
This set me to pondering the fact that there is no pressing reason why we can't have a few gay or lesbian or bisexual leads in books or movies or television shows. But we don't have them, as a rule. At least not in American mainstream fiction. The gay action hero is a very rare bird. Which is why Captain Jack Harkness was a beacon of normality to so many disenfranchised people. Sure, he lived a life that wasn't particularly safe...so he was likely to suffer losses. But his sexually uninhibited attitude spoke to a host of people without much representation.
We do have a few characters, like House or Angel, who COULD be gay or bisexual, characters that wink at the camera and avoid all commitment. But, as a rule, the gay character is in the background, playing the best friend or comic relief. And if you want to read about a character who is clearly NOT heterosexual...you have to read one of the niche publishers. And niche publishing carries with it the stigma of "agenda." It is by definition...not mainstream. Christian Fiction is also a niche market and we could just as easily say that openly faith-based stories are not acceptable in the mainstream. Christian characters are often left in the background as friendly ministers or priests or are exposed as hypocrites. But, at least, we've had Highway to Heaven, Seventh Heaven and Touched by an Angel on mainstream television.
What I'm saying is...maybe Captain Jack Harkness had to be taken down a peg, due to his character flaws and his personal reality. But there is something to be said for rare birds getting some sort of endangered species protection, too.
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-21 12:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-21 12:18 am (UTC)I am trying not to develop the burning hatred for him. I am waiting to see what happens with Ten/Rose. But the costume department is not really helping his case.
Rae
(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-21 11:01 pm (UTC)strike'd to protect the unspoiled
Date: 2009-07-21 11:12 am (UTC)But the link in your post gives casting spoilers in addition to the companion. And here are pictures to prove that spoiler
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
CASTING SPOILERS FOR MATT SMITH
On one hand, we could say, as with the companion, that said person has appeared in New Who before. But the odds of them playing a different character are... slim.
I did not read the article
Date: 2009-07-21 03:39 pm (UTC)