Queerbaiting / Slashbaiting
Sep. 12th, 2012 08:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
erilynYo, what are some good examples of queerbaiting / slashbaiting fans (eg shows/TPTB try to have their cake and eat it too, by appealing to fans who want to see non-heterosexual characters/couples/storylines, but without actually, you know, making it canon)?
Looking for both specific stuff within narrative or external (interviews/cons/promos etc), any help appreciated :)
Looking for both specific stuff within narrative or external (interviews/cons/promos etc), any help appreciated :)
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Date: 2012-09-12 11:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-12 11:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-12 12:12 pm (UTC)Well, moviewise there's TF&F - the scene after the first race, the shirtless-sunbathing DVD extra, the bit where they're driving down the coast, the bit where Brian gives Dom his keys
also Toy Story - the bit where Woody says "not in front of Buzz!" when Bo Peep is trying to kiss him
Sentinel - there's gag reel footage of them kissing, plus the pet names, the melding animal spirits, the mouth-to-mouth recuscitation (both rumored antics behind the scenes and the actual scene itself as filmed)
X-Files - the Mulder-Krycek kiss
Merlin - Arthur drinking the poison to save Merlin, Merlin tossing and moaning while sweat-soaked in bed, magically aiding Arthur with a glowing ball of light held in his hand, Merlin getting jealous when Arthur is enchanted by a Seelie (and then again when he's enchanted by a troll)
Burn Notice - s03e04 when Michael and Sam are holding hands and sighing at each other and Fiona comes in and says "I leave you two alone for a moment..." (they don't let go of their hands, although they do deny it)
Psych - the episode where Shawn is shot and after he beats up the bad guy, he spasms and writhes and clings to Gus who is clutching him desperately and Juliet is saying to Gus "you've got this, right?" and leaving, the episode where Gus is in a bank that's taken hostage and Shawn tries to bolt inside after him, the episode where Shawn has an epiphany and tells Gus that of all the relationships in his life, theirs is the most solid and the longest-lasting, the episode where...okay, ALL THE EPISODES
Being Human - the pilot especially, when the real estate agent mistook them for a couple
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Date: 2012-09-14 10:12 am (UTC)I've been much more focused on more recent media, I hadn't thought about XF, hmmm.
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Date: 2012-09-12 11:51 am (UTC)- in episode 1x20, Danny signs 'I love you' to Steve, i.e. finger pointing at himself, air heart, finger pointing at Steve. There was no further mention of this by any character.
- in episode 2x01, Danny and Steve have a conversation that is ostensibly about Danny wanting and failing to get his ex-wife back. But it's filmed in such a way - with extreme close ups of facial expressions in the car's rearview mirror - that it's hard to read as Steve just being a supportive platonic friend.
- and, from memory, the end of the S1 gag reel involves the two main actors (Alex and Scott) holding hands and running along a beach away from the camera!
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Date: 2012-09-14 10:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-14 10:38 am (UTC)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
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Date: 2012-09-14 10:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-12 11:46 am (UTC)Bullet Proof - queer baiting.
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Date: 2012-09-14 10:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-12 12:05 pm (UTC)- the pilot has Jane staying in the spare room at Maura's place; when Maura comes in to find Jane not sleeping, she lies down with her and Jane makes a joke about it being a lesbian come-on. They do share the bed that night, presumably platonically.
- episode 1x06 takes place within a lesbian bar and has epic not-very-subtext. There's a big discussion between Jane and Maura - in bed! - over what would make Jane turn gay (season tickets to some sports team were mentioned) and which of them would be 'the man'. And then there's an actualfax undercover-in-a-lesbian-bar scene with both of them involved. Amusing recap here, with that in-bed dialogue quoted on p.3: http://www.afterellen.com/TV/2010-08-
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Date: 2012-09-14 10:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-12 12:20 pm (UTC)If you're open to movies, then I felt about half of the last RDJ Sherlock Holmes movie was slashbait, which was one of the reasons I disliked it so much. I can't remember that many specifics, though the several-minute-long conversation that they have whilst Holmes is in a dress and lipstick and Watson is lying between his upraised legs would be one of them.
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Date: 2012-09-12 12:29 pm (UTC)Maybe it's just me, but since it was SO OBVIOUSLY SLASHBAIT, SLASHBAIT EVERYWHERE, OMG JUST LOOK AT TEH AWESOME GAY...I didn't mind it so much? I guess I mind it when it feels manipulative, like a secret that the producers only want a certain group of people to know--a dog whistle, maybe, where they want the viewing numbers of the women who are into slash as a trope, but they don't want to admit it and make it obvious or into "a gay show" so they make it as subtle and coded as possible. TS comes to mind as an example, they HATED the fact that all those women watched the show and it was pretty much for the interpersonal dynamic so they "fed the need" as little as they possibly could and still get away with it. The whole thing felt forced and unwilling. It means they want the viewers, but with plausible deniability.
As opposed to RDJ asking Jude to dance, or wearing full drag and wrestling around on the ground. RDJ and Jude Law are many things, but they are pretty obviously not interested in deniability. :) That whole movie was like GAY LOOK! WHEE! and big and open and unashamed and not afraid to actually *turn off* the viewers who *weren't* into slash.
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Date: 2012-09-13 01:55 am (UTC)And I'm afraid I have to disagree that the film is some kind of big middle finger to homophobes. The gayness is played for laughs or pathos. Have one of them try to kiss the other and then we can talk about the film being progressive.
I don't know, I get kind of emotional about this stuff. I feel like a lot of media gives queer-friendly viewers these teases of homosexuality because they want us to be into what they're making (and thus give them money), but god forbid they actually show a romantic relationship between two people of the same gender because OMG GAY. It's like the way there's often one black character in a group of television or movie friends. But only one. And that should be enough for you, viewers of colour. You want to make a movie that appeals to a queer-friendly audience? Make a movie with an actual LGBT character or two in it. Otherwise, I feel what they're doing is kind of a co-opting of queerness, a cultural appropriation, and it's increasingly something that makes me uncomfortable.
To loop this back around to slashbaiting in general, it's for these reasons I'm not keen on what Teen Wolf is doing with Derek and Stiles. They get a big pass from me, though, because the show has an actual gay character in Danny who has been shown (albiet briefly) to be in a gay relationship, and he's about as rounded as every other secondary character, and they've had scenes set in gay bars and gay dudes making out in the background of party scenes and whatnot. They treat homosexuality as normal on that show, and they never use gay panic humour. That's far more progressive to me than the shenanigans of having a paralysed Stiles fall on top of a paralysed Derek.
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Date: 2012-09-13 12:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-14 10:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-14 11:45 am (UTC)"Gay" is gaining the same kind of acceptance as a descriptor as "geeky" or "neat freak" or "strong and silent type" or, I don't know, "smart alec" as a way to describe (and have fun with/poke fun at) a character's presentation on a show. I don't think that's GOOD, absolutely not. But in the grand scheme of things, I do think it's BETTER. It's a step in the right direction. And when it comes to civil rights and these sorts of media depictions reflecting the culture that created them, I hate it but I'm an incrementalist. In ten years, twenty years, thirty years, gay has already gone from taboo to subtext to minor characters to major characters to entire shows to major storylines. In another ten, twenty, thirty years there will be more and more Real Gay People Leading Real Complex Gay Lives and less and less slashbaiting (or, to put it a slightly different and somewhat more positive way, Look How Harmless Gay Is! And How Hilarious! Do You REALLY Have A Problem With It? Didn't Think So).
To sum: do I like that RDJ and JL played the drag scene for laughs? Not really. Although I'm somewhat mollified by a) they played the dance scene absolutely [cough] straightfaced, and b) so did the entire rest of the ballroom. But do I like a drag scene played for laughs more than Starsky and Hutch-levels of emotional constipation where the homoerotic subtext was treated by TPTB as a rather shameful reason that people watched the show, where TPTB couldn't afford to lose it but they couldn't bear to openly acknowledge it? Yes. Definitely.
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Date: 2012-09-13 03:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-14 11:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-14 10:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-12 03:54 pm (UTC)Supernatural...with, surprisingly, a lot the Wincest, which just makes it extra special?
"Do they know we're brothers?" "I don't think they CARE!" When talking about Wincest fic, in the show...cause oh SPN, when you do meta, you do it with that extra special dose of CRACK!
All times they check into motels and people assume they're a couple.
And Misha Collins, at numerous conventions, often goes out of his way to bring stuff up. With him and Dean, him and Balthazar.
They have Crowley and Bobby actually kiss for a contract.
I'm sure I'm missing a million examples cause SPN, you be rather nuts! ^__-
SG-1 and SGA very occasionally did. SG-1, in ep 200, which had tons of meta references, included the bit with Jack and Daniel standing at the alter, waiting for Sam and Daniel going "y'know, if she doesn't show up, they're gonna think you and I are..."
SGA had the kiss between Rodney and Carson.
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Date: 2012-09-14 10:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-12 04:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-14 10:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-14 10:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-14 11:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-12 09:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-12 09:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-14 10:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-14 10:33 am (UTC)I'd say it was probably easier to get the subtext on screen, not harder, because the community was still pretty underground and they could get away with more. A lot of stuff is played for laughs, but it's still there regardless.
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Date: 2012-09-14 10:40 am (UTC)My viewing of S&H is patchy - was there much gay panic-style humour in their subtext?
Actually, a major piece of queerbait that pisses me off occurred to me - Ryan from High School Musical.
Date: 2012-09-14 10:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-14 10:22 am (UTC)David McCullum was not allowed female companions in MUNCLE due to it upsetting female fans, but he was allowed interaction with Nappy.
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Date: 2012-09-14 10:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-09-14 11:09 am (UTC)An argument could be made for the first Star Trek movie - this simple feeling - but Due South was done tongue in cheek and deliberately.