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xparrotSaw the new X-files movie last night. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gnine told me it was random about two dozen times. This was not enough to convince me of how random it really was. If you're wondering how random was it? Just so you know, it was RANDOM.
The plot - plots - plot and a half - what the heck did Scully's storyline have to do with the price of fish, or two-headed dogs, as it were? - they weren't even X-files, hardly. Stem cell research, modern Frankenstein - ummm, not really, no. Sorry.
But who cares?
Battle!Scully and her mad surgical skillz! CKR as a crazy gay Russian!Caldwell Skinner snuggling drugged!Mulder to keep him warm! Sunflower seeds and pencils in the ceiling! And most importantly, Mulder and Scully curled up together in a big bed calling each other by their last names and discussing icky pseudoscience! Oh you crazy kids and your spooky pillow-talk! ♥♥♥
Sometimes, it's really, really nice to have a het OTP.
And speaking of het...
In SGA - this came up in the comments on my post on "Tracker", but it's a thought I've had before, concerning Rodney, and Rodney/Keller, and romance in SGA in general. Putting aside my other feelings on the McKeller pairing - does anyone see sexual chemistry there? Because I don't. And I've kind of got a problem with that.
I had the same problem with Rodney/Katie Brown - more so, really, because they were both adults, pushing middle age, who supposedly had been dating on and off for a couple years. Yet they seemed awkward even holding hands; they were oddly adverse to touching even in private, and the only kiss we saw between them was when Cadman was in control, and was totally camp besides. Likewise, in "The Last Man," the McKeller kiss is sweet, but terribly chaste, and when Jennifer is on her deathbed they only hold hands.
It's not like Rodney doesn't have a sex drive - there's him and Sam, obviously; also he's openly attracted to the Wraith in "Aurora" and the scientist in "Inferno." And it's not that DH can't do sexual chemistry - he and Amanda Tapping are pretty crackling in "Grace Under Pressure" (not to mention various other performances; he heats it up underwater in Boa vs Python, about the only convincing thing in that entire movie; and he's pretty damn hot with the gay making out in Century Hotel) And Jewel Staite had no problems being both cute and sexual in Firefly. But together I don't get a sense of physical attraction. (It's almost to the point that I wonder if David and Jewel are uncomfortable playing it for some reason, perhaps the age difference? Or else it's the directors' choices.)
Especially with Rodney, it annoys me because (and I admit I might be oversensitive here, but) I get the impression the writers have a difficult time conceiving of Rodney as being sexually desirable. Both him being attracted to women, and women being attracted to him physically, are played more for laughs than anything else; while he's allowed awkward flirting and occasional obnoxiously sexist drooling, his actual sex life is purely theoretical and a matter of cheap jokes. The writers seem able to understand Keller liking Rodney's vulnerable woobie side, but struggle to imagine her or any woman actually wanting him physically. (In spite of much evidence to the contrary out here in the real world!) (Rodney's one of the few adult characters on TV who I could see as being a virgin; I don't think he's intended to be seen that way, but it's not that difficult to so interpret his inexperience and juvenile confusion with relationships.)
I'd be more offended on Rodney/DH's behalf if it weren't that the writers/directors have trouble portraying sexual chemistry, period. While Rodney gets it the worst (he's never actually kissed anyone in this timeline while in his right mind), no one's got much of an active or believable sex life. The weirdly uncomfortable hesitancy with most of Sheppard's hook-ups is partly how JFlan plays them, but partly the writing. With Ronon they've neatly skirted the issue (though his flashbacks of Melena are about the most explicitly sexual scene in the show), and for all Teyla's belly and cleavage shots, she managed to get pregnant entirely off-screen. Carson's had the most active love-life, but that's been mostly off-screen as well.
This wasn't an issue for me before (as I've said many times, I am quite happy with sex staying totally behind the scenes in SGA; it's not what I'm watching for) but now, when they're trying to write "romance," it's all confessions of love and statements of intentions, bizarrely separate from sexual desire, like they're all living in a Rogers & Hammerstein musical.
It also causes confusion when there is more of a physical (if platonic) connection between, say, John and Rodney (in "The Shrine") or the sparring between John, Teyla, and Ronon (any combination has quite sexually charged matches.) The romance comes across as less believable and meaningful
than the other relationships when it's missing the physical component that is essential to any adult romantic relationship.
gnine told me it was random about two dozen times. This was not enough to convince me of how random it really was. If you're wondering how random was it? Just so you know, it was RANDOM.The plot - plots - plot and a half - what the heck did Scully's storyline have to do with the price of fish, or two-headed dogs, as it were? - they weren't even X-files, hardly. Stem cell research, modern Frankenstein - ummm, not really, no. Sorry.
But who cares?
Battle!Scully and her mad surgical skillz! CKR as a crazy gay Russian!
Sometimes, it's really, really nice to have a het OTP.
And speaking of het...
In SGA - this came up in the comments on my post on "Tracker", but it's a thought I've had before, concerning Rodney, and Rodney/Keller, and romance in SGA in general. Putting aside my other feelings on the McKeller pairing - does anyone see sexual chemistry there? Because I don't. And I've kind of got a problem with that.
I had the same problem with Rodney/Katie Brown - more so, really, because they were both adults, pushing middle age, who supposedly had been dating on and off for a couple years. Yet they seemed awkward even holding hands; they were oddly adverse to touching even in private, and the only kiss we saw between them was when Cadman was in control, and was totally camp besides. Likewise, in "The Last Man," the McKeller kiss is sweet, but terribly chaste, and when Jennifer is on her deathbed they only hold hands.
It's not like Rodney doesn't have a sex drive - there's him and Sam, obviously; also he's openly attracted to the Wraith in "Aurora" and the scientist in "Inferno." And it's not that DH can't do sexual chemistry - he and Amanda Tapping are pretty crackling in "Grace Under Pressure" (not to mention various other performances; he heats it up underwater in Boa vs Python, about the only convincing thing in that entire movie; and he's pretty damn hot with the gay making out in Century Hotel) And Jewel Staite had no problems being both cute and sexual in Firefly. But together I don't get a sense of physical attraction. (It's almost to the point that I wonder if David and Jewel are uncomfortable playing it for some reason, perhaps the age difference? Or else it's the directors' choices.)
Especially with Rodney, it annoys me because (and I admit I might be oversensitive here, but) I get the impression the writers have a difficult time conceiving of Rodney as being sexually desirable. Both him being attracted to women, and women being attracted to him physically, are played more for laughs than anything else; while he's allowed awkward flirting and occasional obnoxiously sexist drooling, his actual sex life is purely theoretical and a matter of cheap jokes. The writers seem able to understand Keller liking Rodney's vulnerable woobie side, but struggle to imagine her or any woman actually wanting him physically. (In spite of much evidence to the contrary out here in the real world!) (Rodney's one of the few adult characters on TV who I could see as being a virgin; I don't think he's intended to be seen that way, but it's not that difficult to so interpret his inexperience and juvenile confusion with relationships.)
I'd be more offended on Rodney/DH's behalf if it weren't that the writers/directors have trouble portraying sexual chemistry, period. While Rodney gets it the worst (he's never actually kissed anyone in this timeline while in his right mind), no one's got much of an active or believable sex life. The weirdly uncomfortable hesitancy with most of Sheppard's hook-ups is partly how JFlan plays them, but partly the writing. With Ronon they've neatly skirted the issue (though his flashbacks of Melena are about the most explicitly sexual scene in the show), and for all Teyla's belly and cleavage shots, she managed to get pregnant entirely off-screen. Carson's had the most active love-life, but that's been mostly off-screen as well.
This wasn't an issue for me before (as I've said many times, I am quite happy with sex staying totally behind the scenes in SGA; it's not what I'm watching for) but now, when they're trying to write "romance," it's all confessions of love and statements of intentions, bizarrely separate from sexual desire, like they're all living in a Rogers & Hammerstein musical.
It also causes confusion when there is more of a physical (if platonic) connection between, say, John and Rodney (in "The Shrine") or the sparring between John, Teyla, and Ronon (any combination has quite sexually charged matches.) The romance comes across as less believable and meaningful
than the other relationships when it's missing the physical component that is essential to any adult romantic relationship.
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Date: 2008-09-23 05:45 am (UTC)I admit that it's not just the romance - all the chars are unusually non-physical compared to most people; I mean, look at how uncomfortable John is with hugs! And Rodney's not much better. But it's most glaringly obvious when it comes to romance.
I'd like to say that maybe they're trying to make some big statement with showing distance between people, and using a visual metaphor to emphasize Rodney's loneliness and isolation...
Well, in the case of "The Last Man," Martin Wood was directing, and judging by the commentaries he really does think things out like this, always considering how a shoot will affect the emotional feel of a scene. But the problem is it's not just this ep, it's all of them, and I don't know why.
Martin Gero actually pointed out this issue to the actors when directing the Rodney and Katie's scene in "Sunday". Somehow, that scene still came off horribly awkward to me. (Actually, with the exception of "Tabula Rasa", all of the Rodney/Katie scenes come off this way to me)
Ditto about "Sunday" - and even in "Tabula Rasa," he only holds her hand when she wakes up at the end. Admittedly it fades out, he might've leaned forward for a kiss afterwards, but still - they could've shown more, but didn't, and I want to know why!