just venting/rambling

[rusty_halo]

http://rusty-halo.com/wordpress/?p=3538

The other day I was so upset by this example of misogyny in Supernatural fandom that I thought I might quit watching the show. Not really in protest, because my watching or not makes no difference whatsoever, but because things like this make me feel so sick that it kills my ability to enjoy the aspects of the show that I do love. (Link via cofax7; more discussion in comments.)

Then today I saw the raging cesspit of homophobia in many of the comments to this doctorwho entry and was reminded that it’s not just SPN fandom that has problems. *sigh* (How can people say “they erased the queer because it’s a family show” and not realize how grotesquely homophobic that statement is?)

I’m almost tempted to watch when Torchwood returns, even though I freaking hate that show. They’re bringing Gwen back and not catering to their fandom misogynists–see SPN? It can be done!

(I want Russell T Davies to run every show ever. *misses him*)

I've been reading a lot about the Avatar: The Last Airbender activism and boycott, and struggling with the fact that I started watching US television again after a couple of years of giving up on it completely. I'm thinking a lot about how/whether to watch problematic TV/movies, because just about everything is problematic, and where's the line? I thought the Star Trek reboot and The Dark Knight were both too sexist for me to enjoy no matter what else about them was good, but then I find myself watching SPN and White Collar which are both pretty awful on gender and race, and yet I find the good parts appealing enough that I keep watching despite the failures. Is that something I should feel guilty about? Everything's problematic to some degree, but is there a line where you can definitively say, "This is too offensive to watch"? Is it about how bad the offense is? Or about how much pleasure you get from the good aspects, that make up for having to tolerate the flaws? I suppose it's personal for everyone. It was easier when I tried to justify how everything my show did was FINE YOU GUY STOP COMPLAINING, but now I understand how wrong that is. (Like, BtVS was way racist and we should've recognized that back then, y'know? It doesn't mean we still couldn't love the good parts, but it contributes to the offense to deny obvious failures.)

Anyway. It makes sense to me to boycott Avatar, because you're actually making an economic statement and if no one goes to see the damn thing maybe the studios will think twice about putting out such blatantly racist crap, but what about watching a problematic TV show? If you're not a Nielsen family (or if you torrent) it really doesn't matter economically. Although if you talk about the show and promote it to your friends, you're still supporting it, right? Is it better to watch problematic stuff and keep silent about it? Or promote it with caveats, as a way to educate people about the bad parts while still sharing squee over the good?

What about the "personal purity" aspect? Because I really do see that the stuff I put into my head has an impact on how I view the world. (For example, a big part of the pleasure of watching British TV was seeing older, fuller-figured women portrayed as attractive and desirable. It honestly did made me hate myself less when I looked in the mirror.) This is part of why I find myself insisting on deconstructing the problematic aspects of what I watch, as a sort of self-protective mechanism to try to keep those problematic ideas from worming their way into my subconscious. I don't know, but how much good does it do to talk in our DWs and LJs about problematic stuff, while Hollywood just keeps churning it out? Is there anything we can do to change it? We could write protest letters or whatever, but Hollywood is driven by money, and racism and misogyny sell. I guess then it's about trying to educate the public at large? Man, I don't know. I'm tempted to turn off my TV and hide and go hide in a cave, but that's not really useful either.

(I've also been thinking about it relation to veganism. Ethical veganism draws a somewhat arbitrary line [is it worse to eat locally-grown oysters than to eat chemically-processed tofu shipped from halfway around the world?] but it basically functions as a way to say that modern animal agriculture is unacceptably cruel and environmentally destructive, so focus your energy on a positive alternative instead of haggling over every possible exception. I don't really know if there's a fandom alternative, though--what pings your fannish radar is so personal, and is entirely about pleasure, not about sustenance. Still, fannish tastes can change just as taste tastes can change--after fifteen years as a vegan, my palate has certainly transformed. I try to do the same thing in terms of questioning my fannish preferences--I'm far more likely to give female characters the benefit of the doubt now than I was ten years ago, for example. I truly do adore Rose Tyler, but would that love have developed without me consciously forcing myself to get past all kinds of internalized misogyny first? I doubt it.)

Originally published at rusty-halo.com. You can comment here or there.