FREAKING AWESOME essay (and thanks for the rec!!!) I was just commenting on my LJ to elynross about how Jeremiah has this thing/kink about being needed, and how that's an angle that slashers could really work, so your comments about him taking sex really seriously really stood out. And it's true, he doesn't sleep with anyone in the series unless they proposition him first. We NEVER see him trying to get into ANYONE's pants. Your point about the possibility that "My gate doesn't swing that way" is a cover/ learned response/ defense mechanism in that post apocalyptic environment is fascinating.
Also, the drag queen character in Ring of Truth actually asks Jeremiah outright if he's gay or not, and Jeremiah only responds by hooking up with one of the bordello babes. Rather grimly, I might add. How the drag queen smirks and says "Pity!" after that is probably one of the best line readings of the whole series. ;)
He's also a delicately-built guy who was extremely pretty when he was younger, living in a post-apocalyptic anarchy where race hatred is canonically common and homosexuality is very likely to get you killed.
Dude. I don't know how I've worked out how homosexuality would go down in the world of Jeremiah, but I think you make a reeeeally thought-provoking case for your conclusions. In that Theo-centric story I've been babbling about working on in my LJ, I've been pondering taking a different tack because of something Luke Perry said on the DVD commentary - that ALL norms of the former society are out the window and that "everybody would constantly be... like rabbits."
As far as we know, only the appearance of weakness (femininity?) could get you killed. I think that's why all the women on this series are so... unconventional in their sexual markers. The ones who ARE conventionally feminine (the girl in To Sail Beyond The Stars) wisely tend to keep to themselves, or they have a boatload of backup and constantly get in deep shit anyway (Elizabeth).
It's interesting (telling? admission by omission?), however, that JMS acknowledges the regular existence of homosexuality in the world of Jeremiah but includes only ONE openly gay character in the entire series (the drag queen) in a show filled with graphic sexuality in almost every episode. It's also interesting that Jeremiah thought nothing of Simon apparently propositioning him in the pilot, in what appears to be a straight club where girls are running around topless. In the Theo story I'm working on, I'm making a case that the act of homosexuality itself isn't what's taboo in their world, it's the appearance of effeminacy and weakness, which is definitely something that Jeremiah had to struggle with, and something totally alien to Kurdy. I think that, too, is an angle that slashers could work.
Anyway, your essay kicks at LEAST as much ass as Theo *g* I don't know why there's not scads and scads of fanfic written about this show, and especially this pairing. I'm downloading your vid now. *off to rec essay and vid*
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Date: 2004-10-18 10:17 am (UTC)Aaaahahahaha perfect.
FREAKING AWESOME essay (and thanks for the rec!!!) I was just commenting on my LJ to
Also, the drag queen character in Ring of Truth actually asks Jeremiah outright if he's gay or not, and Jeremiah only responds by hooking up with one of the bordello babes. Rather grimly, I might add. How the drag queen smirks and says "Pity!" after that is probably one of the best line readings of the whole series. ;)
He's also a delicately-built guy who was extremely pretty when he was younger, living in a post-apocalyptic anarchy where race hatred is canonically common and homosexuality is very likely to get you killed.
Dude. I don't know how I've worked out how homosexuality would go down in the world of Jeremiah, but I think you make a reeeeally thought-provoking case for your conclusions. In that Theo-centric story I've been babbling about working on in my LJ, I've been pondering taking a different tack because of something Luke Perry said on the DVD commentary - that ALL norms of the former society are out the window and that "everybody would constantly be... like rabbits."
As far as we know, only the appearance of weakness (femininity?) could get you killed. I think that's why all the women on this series are so... unconventional in their sexual markers. The ones who ARE conventionally feminine (the girl in To Sail Beyond The Stars) wisely tend to keep to themselves, or they have a boatload of backup and constantly get in deep shit anyway (Elizabeth).
It's interesting (telling? admission by omission?), however, that JMS acknowledges the regular existence of homosexuality in the world of Jeremiah but includes only ONE openly gay character in the entire series (the drag queen) in a show filled with graphic sexuality in almost every episode. It's also interesting that Jeremiah thought nothing of Simon apparently propositioning him in the pilot, in what appears to be a straight club where girls are running around topless. In the Theo story I'm working on, I'm making a case that the act of homosexuality itself isn't what's taboo in their world, it's the appearance of effeminacy and weakness, which is definitely something that Jeremiah had to struggle with, and something totally alien to Kurdy. I think that, too, is an angle that slashers could work.
Anyway, your essay kicks at LEAST as much ass as Theo *g* I don't know why there's not scads and scads of fanfic written about this show, and especially this pairing. I'm downloading your vid now. *off to rec essay and vid*