Shipper tendencies

[gategrrl]

Can someone explain to me why there's such a compelling need to sexualize and Romantic-ize characters? I've been there myself, but I seem to have gone past that as a "serious" endeavor. I'll *play* with characters and their sexuality -- but the *need* to pair them up romantically just isn't a priority, and it seems so unnecessary, and somewhat Mary Sueish, especially if it's certain types of het and slash writing.

It's not so much the sexualizing -- that I get, it's fun to imagine your favorite characters whupping it up with the whipped cream and cherries, and get down and dirty and sweaty. But at the same time, what I'm puzzled more about is the need to Harlequinnize decent characters who already have complex, nonsexual relationships with each other, that get totally boring when they DO get together.

Anyone?

Comments

[crazymadjo.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I just don't get what you're asking. It's been a long day! From here it sounds like you're saying, "What's wrong with those silly people who have different tastes than me!" which I seriously doubt is what you're really asking.

:soaks head:

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I sorta think what she is trying to say is that why do we necessarily have to ship? Every show, every movie, every book (it seems) has this compulsion to take great character chemistry and translate that into something sexual.

What compells us to do this? Can we have something that doesn't ship (or slash) and still enjoy that same chemistry?

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Moonshayde.

I used to enjoy shipping, too, and to an extent, I still do, though not nearly so much. I enjoy a silly romantic comedy (esp those old screwballs with the masterful timing and ridiculous stories you couldn't help but laugh with the premise, etc) and there are stories that include couples or couples-to-be in them that are just da bomb, too. Have you ever read Dianna Wynne Jones' book "Dogsbody"? It involves a love story of a sort, between a girl and her dog/celestial being, and I can totally squee over that ... and she's also written other books with cock-eyed romances, of a sort, going on in them, that are simply marvelous... so I'm not completely anti-ship. (Oh! Oh! Oh! "Deep Secret" is another of her books with a great romance in it that sneaks up on the reader, and then you go...OH!)

But yeah, back to your point: What compells us to do this? Can we have something that doesn't ship (or slash) and still enjoy that same chemistry?

Is it the added dangerousness of the liasons? It is that adventure and discovery aren't enough? Are the current dynamics lacking? Does love/sex add a mysterious *zing* that titillates and teases? Does it go back to wanting a fantasy stand-in? Do the added complications put the reader/viewer on the edge of their seat and pump the adreline to a new high?

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I think a good example is the unexpectedness factor. When a romance comes across as fresh, new, envigorating, but also unexpected, then it seems more real and excited.

It's the pairs that reek of "oh, I knew they would get together" that bother me. The type of pairing that is in a movie or a book or a tv show. We just know it's going to happen. Something tells me that if it's that predictible, then there are underlying problems.

That didn't answer any of your questions, but I felt like saying it.

[graculus.livejournal.com]

Is it the added dangerousness of the liasons? It is that adventure and discovery aren't enough? Are the current dynamics lacking? Does love/sex add a mysterious *zing* that titillates and teases? Does it go back to wanting a fantasy stand-in? Do the added complications put the reader/viewer on the edge of their seat and pump the adreline to a new high?

It could also be argued that injecting a romantic element into a story gives you an obvious set-up for h/c - forget whumping someone to within an inch of their life when you can psychologically and emotionally torture them by making their most loved one forget their birthday! Oh, the humanity! :P

On a more serious note, I don't think the problem is often the concept of getting two characters involved so much as that the *execution* of that concept onscreen is lacking, or ham-fisted, or requires the characters to have a lobotomy first.

Take SamJack as your example here - Sam is in her 40's and she's acting like a pining adolescent; Jack is surly and dismissive and fails to deal with the implications of the piny one; Sam gets to stalk him even when she's supposedly involved with someone else and it affects her professional judgement and behaviour; it goes on *forever* with no consequences for either of them despite increasing nausea among the audience; it gets almost-dealt-with and then not. And so on and so forth.

That's why, in some cases, off-screen stuff in fanfic can work much better because it allows for more subtlety and a greater dose of reality to kick in. Or not, in which case you ignore the webpages with hearts and flowers all over them, where Sam is pining because Jack hasn't asked her to go with him to the prom... ;)

[nialla]

I sorta think what she is trying to say is that why do we necessarily have to ship? Every show, every movie, every book (it seems) has this compulsion to take great character chemistry and translate that into something sexual.

Turn that question around and ask this, "Why not?" The romance genre may be derided, but it outsells every other genre -- and those genres often include romantic elements too. Romance, and the inherent thoughts of sex even if it's not detailed on the page or screen, are mainstays of storytelling.

What compells us to do this? Can we have something that doesn't ship (or slash) and still enjoy that same chemistry?

I have a split mentality regarding ship/slash/gen. I prefer to watch gen onscreen, because if TPTB try to show unresolved sexual tension, they have to drag it out for ages and when they finally do resolve it, I don't care anymore. But I can also discuss shippy/slashy moments with ease, and enjoy fic with those elements. Though I tend to read mostly slash, and I think that has something to do with the fact that it's not something that will happen on the show. Gen and ship can, so I'm not as interesting in them.