remindmeofthe | (no subject)

Current Mood: less sick than before

Entry tags:

(no subject)

GYAGH. I got sick on Wednesday and stayed that way until - uh, well, until now, technically. But at the moment I merely feel as though I have a severe cold, which beats the living hell out of whatever was going on until about mid-day yesterday. All I could do was watch TV. I couldn't focus my brain long enough to use the Internets much, which, you know you're sick when. But I had DVDs to go through. I watched some of my Everwood set (which, and I will brag about this for the rest of my life, I found used for FOURTEEN DOLLARS in like August), and then I got three discs at once from Netflix, and Netflix is a godsend when you are sick, man. Especially when you're using it more for TV shows than movies - more runtime!

And then I spent the whole of yesterday finally, finally catching up on Torchwood, which I had skipped until crucial plot elements from the second series premiere involving John Barrowman and James Marsters were brought to my attention. I mean, damn, guys, why didn't any of you TELL me that the slash in this show is NOT JUST FANCIFUL SUBTEXT? Fired. You are all fired. Well, suspended, but only because I'm nice. So, yes, I then decided, armed with that knowledge, to investigate the rest of the series, and it was fun, even when I was rolling my eyeballs so hard they about popped out. (I'm sorry, there was a giant DEMON imprisoned under the RIFT? I completely lost track of what I was watching. Torchwood? Buffy? Supernatural? Anyone's guess, really!)

Wait, I think there was a point to this entry. Oh yes! It was that I am not dead. I was just too sick to concentrate long enough to post a message explaining why I'd dropped off the face of the earth.

. . . okay, okay, sickness is relative. I missed two days of classes (sort of; the second was cancelled for weather anyway, yay) and every single shift at work because even if I had felt well enough to work for a few hours, the very thought of the mile-long walk made my chest threaten to explode. Of course, I'm not used to being sick either, being one of those obnoxious people who only ever really gets colds. Plus, my insurance is kaput and I've run out of my Adderall, so I suspect that the withdrawal? Not helping. And I also got my period. What the fuck, man. At least I got it all over with at once.

I'm still not entirely well, but I did go out for lunch and a movie with Mom today, and should be fine to resume school tomorrow as long as I remember to leave early and take my time walking to the bus stop. I also think that I'm not completely back to making sense yet, so I'll spare myself the effort of proofreading and you all the effort of trying to follow my thought process any longer.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I mean, damn, guys, why didn't any of you TELL me that the slash in this show is NOT JUST FANCIFUL SUBTEXT?
I thought you knew... Or rather, I less specifically assumed everyone knew. Sorry...

But yeah, it's pretty damn obvious. Seen the latest episode?

Yes! Jack/Ianto OTP.

Here's the thing, though. I don't know how familiar you are with American TV, but it's pretty damn prudish. Stuff like Queer as Folk US and Dexter air on premium channels that you have to pay for, with much more relaxed standards. Something like Torchwood, that would air on a major channel accessible to the general public, would not be allowed to show male/male kissing. (Lesbian kissing, yes, a little bit, on some channels, and don't get me started on the double standard there.) Hell, from what I've heard, they do chop Torchwood episodes up pretty badly before they air them here. My dad was astounded when I mentioned the scene in the series two premiere, because he watches it on American TV, and I watch pirated copies of the eps that air on the BBC. I explain all this because I haven't seen very much British TV that deals with homosexual relationships in any form, so I've been assuming that Captain Jack's omnisexual approach to life was portrayed the way it would be on American TV - showing him with women and only mentioning him with men. And, being a slasher, I further assumed that what everyone was squeeing over was just lots of officially sanctioned subtext. I would have signed on a LOT earlier if someone had told me that there was ACTUAL boykissing going on. XD

So very. XD

Heh. I have some notion of how it works with U.S. telly, yes. The FCC regularly confuses me and makes me happy to have Dutch TV.
But since in my head, it's lumped with the BBC (and ABC and CBC) as English Language Telly and any American TV we get is mixed up with either BBC stuff or Dutch telly (which, while quite liberal, actually seems to largely ignore, outside of soaps occasionally, anything not straight, oddly enough), it's not as obvious to me.

But yeah, Torchwood is very clear about the omnisexual thing, and not just with Jack, either.

Chopped Torchwood sounds absolutely horrid.
A few days ago I watched the pre-watershed slightly chopped family-friendly version of Torchwood's most recent ep, which still contained every kiss.

Doctor Who, though less over about sex, still has plenty of mentions of gayness. SJA not so much, IIRC.

Yeah, Doctor Who is meant to be "family friendly," which has a different meaning for British TV than it does for American - I'd wager that DW's content is about as strong as content that you'd find at nine or so at night on a network channel (one you don't have to pay anything for, so they have the strictest "decency" standards) in the US. And really, even the kiss that Jack gives Nine in one of the episodes is going a bit farther than network TV would - if it were allowed at all, the network would probably put up a warning for content at the beginning of the ep, and some of the more conservative areas of the country would probably refuse to air it at all. God, I love my country. (I actually just finished watching the "Empty Child" two-parter, which scared me so badly the first time I watched it that I had to cut the first episode short by a minute or so and skip to the next, and I was TWENTY-FOUR at the time, so I'd argue that the concept of "family friendly" is highly subjective anyway.) SJA, on the other hand, is a kids' show. I haven't seen it, but it doesn't seem like sexuality of any kind would have much place in children's programming beyond the most vanilla stuff, because the target audience doesn't care. And parents get uptight about these things no matter what country you're in, as far as I can tell.

I loved that two-parter. But you're right, Doctor Who can be seriously scary. I spent a good while being slightly freaked out when near statues after a particular episode.

Even that Jack/Nine kiss would be too much? Wow. And that one was supposed to be more-or-less platonic...

Even in SJA, you could still sneak something in. Some kid with two mums, or two guys walking hand-in-hand in the background, and have everyone be cool about it. Make it part of normal, like.
I don't remember them actually doing that, though.

My kiddie TV occasionally had nudity and mention of gayness...

And that one was supposed to be more-or-less platonic...

Okay, A: Pfft. ;)

And B, dude, it wouldn't matter. Men do not kiss to show affection in America. Women can do it, though it's pretty rare among women who aren't related, but men can't. Men show affection by hitting each other, basically. They can hug, but it's generally brief and accompanied by a good strong clap on the shoulder. A platonic kiss between American men is absolutely out of the question. Obviously, there are exceptions, but overall, any sort of overtly affectionate contact between men is interpreted as gay in the US, and straight men do not want to be thought of as gay (even if they personally don't care, there is always the possibility that the wrong person could get the wrong impression and then a guy could get in trouble in a lot of different ways). Somehow, this means that men kissing on TV is a big scary thing relegated to premium channels and "gay" programming like QaF. So, yeah, that Jack/Nine kiss would be way too much. I bet it got edited out when it aired here, even if it didn't actually break the rules, just to avoid controversy.

The sad thing is, for all the progress we've made on all things sexual in the last thirty years, we're still a pretty fucked up, homophobic, misogynistic society. (There could be and probably are books and books on America's incredibly uncomfortable relationship with sex and sexuality. 'Swhat happens when you're founded by freaking Puritans.) There may be a lot more places where it's not immediately life-threatening to be gay anymore, and even a few places where you can get a civil union, but homophobia is still so pervasive that sometimes I don't even notice it until I stop to think about it. (I mean, my assumptions about Torchwood tell a pretty clear story right there, don't they?) And these days it has to be a lot more subtle, too.

Wow, you... didn't know about Torchwood? I've never even seen the show, and I knew XD The captain guy is just all kinds of sexual, isn't he?

I'm glad you're feeling better, at least! : ) Even if a bunch of stuff is totally piling on you at once, too >.> Suck, man.

Heh. I explained (http://catslash.livejournal.com/354746.html?thread=971706#t971706) in the comment above to

tijmetje. It's a pretty in-depth explanation, since she's from Norway. But, yeah, American TV just has me conditioned to expect subtext and not much else. When Captains Jack and John started going at it in the second series premiere, my face did this: O_O

'Sthe way it goes, man. And of course I missed the Praelitis move entirely, so this morning I woke up to a mod e-mail inquiring politely as to the status of my continued existence and/or interest in the game. So I'm trying to get settled on the new server, too.

I read the comment thread, yeah XD I actually heard from someone in England who watched them, so I got it right from the source :: snickers :: Gosh, that was ages ago... British TV is so much more interesting than American TV. I remember watching Whose Line Is It Anyway, the British version? Soooo much funnier. And crasser, but hey.

Oh, they're emailing people? Well, that's good. Cuz Bird missed the move, too, and I'm all biting my nails as to whether she's even coming. She hasn't posted anywhere in forever.... >.>

Yes! I loved the British Whose Line. I watched it all the time on Comedy Central when I was a teenager. It was the best. I've never had much interest in the US version. It just wasn't the same. And Drew Carey is no freaking Clive Anderson. Clive Anderson for the win!

Yeah, Bird was on the list of names that got e-mailed.

Well, the people who actually got to be funny were still the same, which was what mattered to me. They just weren't allowed to be as funny. And I'm... totally blanking on, like, all of their names D= I am such a bad fan, but it's literally been years since I've seen the show.

:: crosses fingers for Bird still being involved :: Heather is getting discouraged, and she at least has me and Jeanne :/ Bird isn't scening at all.

Oh, also? I saw the preview for what I think is that new JDM movie you were saying you got a poster for XD The one where he's a fireman and he marries Uma Therman via hacking a computer, or somesuch? Yeah, totally forgot the name >.> But I was all "dude... wait... is that JDM? it so totally is! Cathryn would be squealing right now!" XD

Yup, that's the one! I have the poster, which is adorable. And I've seen clips, and I'm pretty sure that the movie sucks. But that's okay, because: Jeffrey Dean Morgan!

Bah, it has Colin Firth, so I have a friend already determined to see it XD And I really need to see the man in something, since I haven't yet.

Totally off topic, but I've been waiting for you to post so that I could tell you that I was sorry about Morgan. :(

I accidently posted that to

isiscaughey, who immediately asked me who Morgan was. Ooops.

Still *hugs* about Morgan. You must be crushed.

Aside from you just scaring the living hell out of me in regards to JDM (and no, it wouldn't make any sense for you to be using just his last name, but I have this THING about celebrities dying on me ever since Kevin Smith's death in 2002, not your fault!), I'm not quite sure what you're referring to either. Mind you, I've been quite sick and not online much in the last few days, so I could just not be up to speed on something. What's up?

Sorry. I didn't realize you didn't know. :(

Morgan Ensberg signed with the MFNYY. First base.

And I didn't realize...it's a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.

Edited 2008-02-04 06:09 (UTC)

. . . yeah, they always seem to end up in pinstripes, at least for a while. I'm practically used to it by now. Especially with guys like Morgan, who aren't exactly getting smothered in offers. They take what they can get and I hope for a trade. ;)

Plus, nobody's dead. Bonus! XD

The entire team is bisexual! :D The show is pretty much what you would get if slashers made a show. And stuff like... plot and storylines and minor things like that are bad, but Barrowman pretty much evens that out. :D

If you haven't already, watch Captain Jack Harkness, the episode. Most romantic thing ever and it isn't ickily so. Yes I'm biased.

Oh, HELLS yes. That was the only season one episode I kept on my computer. So beautifully executed and intensely romantic without overdoing it the way I hate so much. I looooved it.

But... you watched that and didn't think the slash was more than subtext? Or... hadn't you watched it before?

*doesn't, actually, OTP Jack/anyone though*

Edited 2008-02-10 10:06 (UTC)

I hadn't! I hadn't seen a single second of Torchwood until I watched the second series premiere a few days after it came out.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only