redbrunja: (pt | princesses have found emancipation)
redbrunja ([personal profile] redbrunja) wrote2011-07-17 02:07 pm
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There Is A Turbulent, Moon-Ridden Girl – But She Is Not Kind

This rant is kind of all over the place: bear with me.

So lately I've noticed that I am less and less into fanon couples*. By which I mean, the less canon interaction a pair has (especially if there is a canon love interest) the less invested I am in them. Which might be partially due to exhaustion - I am damn sick of getting super-invested in something I know won't happen and then watching it, you know, not happen.

In the same vein, there was a quote from the writers(?) of NCIS: LA about how season two really explored Kensi and Deek's relationship and it made me ridiculously happy. I'm not sure if in the back of my mind I thought all the conversations about their relationship partnership and that 'thing' they have were accidental or what, but hearing that there was deliberate thought put into their relationship (romantic or not) made me super-happy. As did this cute little article where the comparison is made to Bones and Daniella Ruah (Kensi) says that the comparison is flattering but that she wants to make sure that the relationship between Kensi and Deeks stays unique and its own thing. To which I snorted mentally and went, 'in that case, how about you just have lots and lots of sex while using birth control like rational human beings?!?!?!'

Which brings us to Bones. My mom watched the finale last night and I finally got to bitch about that pregnancy storyline to her (seriously, I have been holding that in for months). She was much forgiving of that plot twist, given that she still has a lot of fondness for Booth and Brennan and likes the idea of them having a kid. But even she was like, 'really? is that the ONLY plot twist writers know how to do with a female character who's been on for a couple of seasons?'

Honestly, at this point I think pregnancy in a show might be a straight-up dealbreaker for me. Because I hate it. I hate how it limits the storylines of these female characters I love and I hate how none of these women get abortions, ever. And you know what? The actress getting knocked up is no fucking excuse for writing a baby into a show. PLENTY of pregnant actresses have avoided getting their characters in the family way as well and it's not like the costuming department and the camera isn't going to be working around the baby bump for episode after episodes even if they do write the baby into the show.

Basically, I hate fictional babies and I want them to stop showing up in shows I watch (or have watched and am still kind of invested in). Because god knows, I really like IPS but have no desire whatsoever to get caught up on the last three episodes I haven't watched. Chances of me watching Bones next season? Less than zero. Do I care about the upcoming half of DW's season? Eh.

*This is in no way a statement about which is better - this is my own personal preference at this point in time.
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[identity profile] littlepunkryo.livejournal.com 2011-07-17 09:18 pm (UTC)(link)
I think I agree on both counts. It depresses me how couples on TV can never just be HAPPY - there has to constantly be drama and they always end up broken up, so why should I care if they get together? They're just gonna break up. And as for babies - yeesh.

[identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/brokenrecord__/ 2011-07-17 09:35 pm (UTC)(link)
I have totally become the same way recently when it comes to canon vs. fanon couples. These days, I pretty much always ship either canon or nothing because it's just not as satisfying to me to ship a couple that never becomes canon. Fic alone just isn't enough to satisfy me when it comes to ships getting together.

And totally agreed about Bones. I saw a lot of Booth/Brennan shippers on my flist thrilled with that plot twist after it happened, and I was just like, "...really? Because I think this is kind of awful." Amy's pregnancy on Doctor Who was similarly pretty awful. There's a pretty good chance I'll end up giving up Bones this coming season, which is saying something for me, since I pretty much never give up shows.

[identity profile] mollivanders.livejournal.com 2011-07-17 11:58 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm seriously considering not bothering with IPS for the rest of the season. The baby storyline is really, really bothering me. Women get pregnant; yes, that happens. All the time. And I think I could be more forgiving of a pregnancy that had nothing to do with an actress' pregnancy; like if the woman wanted a kid, for example, instead of ~finding out she's pregnant and having to deal with it. It's old and tiring and you're right, nobody ever gets an abortion. Disturbing.

[identity profile] nimblnymph.livejournal.com 2011-07-18 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
I stopped watching Bones awhile ago, right about when it was revealed that Bones and Boothe had a brief thing before becoming partners. I hated that. It completely trivialized all the UST that the writers had been building up to that point and contradicted EVERYTHING about their dynamic and relationship. It pissed me off.

So, I didn't know about this whole Bones/Boothe baby thing, and in a way I'm very glad I DID stop watching before this went down because that sounds like th stupidest, most absurd, supremely overused plot twist ever. Ever. There are ways to change character dynamics without knocking up your lead female character. Fucking use some of that creativity writers are supposedly blessed with and come up with something.

Furthermore, I completely, 100% agree with you that actress getting pregnant should NOT equal character getting pregnant. I mean, hi, Mariska Hargitay on Law & Order? The media made a big, huge, massive to-do about her being pregnant and all the careful wardrobe and staging and camera angles they were doing to cover that bump. You do not need to resort to equally pregnant female character to carry on the storyline -- especially with a show like Bones where there are like five MILLION ways to disguise that through scenery and props alone. Hello? She works in a lab. That requires baggy, unflattering lab coats, lots of tables, charts to carry around, bending over things.

*sighs* I am so frustrated with television right now.

[identity profile] whisperingwasp.livejournal.com 2011-07-18 11:33 am (UTC)(link)
So lately I've noticed that I am less and less into fanon couples*. By which I mean, the less canon interaction a pair has (especially if there is a canon love interest) the less invested I am in them. Which might be partially due to exhaustion - I am damn sick of getting super-invested in something I know won't happen and then watching it, you know, not happen.

I agree that fanon shipping can be seriously depressing, especially if the pairing has lots of potential compared to what we're actually offered by the writers. I still happily ship fanon couples if I don't like the canon couple or like the subtext behind the pairing but it can bum you out knowing that their potential shall never be tapped into outside fanfiction.

Honestly, at this point I think pregnancy in a show might be a straight-up dealbreaker for me. Because I hate it. I hate how it limits the storylines of these female characters I love and I hate how none of these women get abortions, ever. And you know what? The actress getting knocked up is no fucking excuse for writing a baby into a show. PLENTY of pregnant actresses have avoided getting their characters in the family way as well and it's not like the costuming department and the camera isn't going to be working around the baby bump for episode after episodes even if they do write the baby into the show.

I agree with all of this. Especially if the female character herself is TOO young to have even contemplated the idea of motherhood. It's ridiculous how many fictional young adults or teenagers end up getting pregnant these days.

[identity profile] ivy-chan.livejournal.com 2011-07-18 01:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, this. partially because of what you said about the limitations of a pregnant character, partly because they treat pregnancy so horribly and the woman's reaction is almost always the same, and also because I am afraid that the baby will subsume the mother's storyline. It's all a bundle of concerns that, too often, are shown to be valid. I do feel like the babies subsume the mom's storyline- especially in the case of Amy Pond, where it was almost like the whole point of the character was to pop out River. Which, gross. What a waste of Amy Pond.

[identity profile] meitah.livejournal.com 2011-07-19 05:16 pm (UTC)(link)
I dislike the way babies completely derail female characters. And I really don't buy the way Brennan decided to have a kid. To be frank, it was an asspull.

But, that said, pregnancy can be handled really, really well.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0587.html

Like there.

[identity profile] lady-with-cats.livejournal.com 2011-07-20 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
As much as I think the odd baby episode can be spun interestingly, we've already seen that on Bones. And tbh, putting a pregnancy in there before they've even talked about their very, very new relationship upgrade feels rushed. Especially considering the buildup.

(and I agree with one of the commenters above. I think they don't know where or how to go from s6, so they dropped the baby into the mix to add 'drama'. Which, just... *sigh*)
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