On Sat, Mar 24, 2001 at 08:59:54AM -0800, Mistral wrote:
Neil Faulkner wrote:
But to reiterate the question I put at Redemption: Surely there are worse things than two characters having gay sex? Suppose defenceless civilians were massacred by Federation troops - would that upset you just as much if it happened in a (gen) story? Suppose two original characters in a story were having a relationship (gay, or unmarried straight)? Is it what gets done that squicks you, or who does it?
Just a guess, but ISTM that if there are two actions that one sees as wrong, then it is less disturbing to see one that is clearly presented as wrong (massacre) than something that one believes is wrong being presented as desirable (slash).
IOW, the bad guys get to be bad; it's a convention of fiction.
What she said. Who does it.
If characters I respect and like are made by the author to do something very wrong, and it is treated as something right, then I hate what the author has done to the characters. It's character assassination at the least. (*)
If Travis massacres civilians, that just shows he's a bad guy. If Avon massacres civilians, and the author treats it as normal and not bad, then I'd get durned annoyed at that author.
Just like the UltraViolence in _A Clockwork Orange_ would upset me -- because the violence is not treated as bad.
And before you start saying "what about all the people Blake et al have killed?" -- that's different because they're killing military soldiers in a war. And even that is treated with ambiguity -- remember Blake's second thoughts before Star One? That if they don't win, then all they've done before is just senseless killing and destruction.
(*) Oddly enough, Avon's bisexuality in _The Log Of The Hellhound_ didn't upset me (though I would have preferred it wasn't there), because I figured he was psychologically forced into it by all the sexual torture that Servalan put him through, and he was just on the rebound, so to speak. i.e. he wasn't "really" bi... (poor tormented Avon... (sigh))
I am really annoyed with the creators of the Buffyverse for making Willow a lesbian.
Kathryn Andersen -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "There isn't a volcano alive that would dare to swallow Avon... he's cold enough to put out the fire anyway." -- Vila Restal (Blake's 7: Volcano [C3])