I totally get why Rodney being told, "I love you," would be a high point in his life. I adored in Tao when Elizabeth said that they all loved him and Rodney's little, "Really? All of you?" about killed me. I also get why the next logical step in his mind would be to be told that by a romantic partner.
I even get why being told that by Keller would make him light up because she is everything that he's ever wanted in a woman. Or, at least, that he's been upfront about wanting in a woman. She's smart, courageous, capable, beautiful, blond, etc. She can also 'handle' him and his cantankerous moods, which he knows by experience that many people, especially girlfriends, can't or won't.
However, I really don't like the fact that the times when we've seen her most attracted to him he's not been himself. I find Rodney wanting to better himself admirable. I find Rodney wanting to better himself just to get a girl sad. I find Keller knowingly enabling this behavior as potentially disastrous.
Rodney's, 'I love you,' to her before we ever really saw them alone together for any length of time was waaaaaaay too farfetched for me to handle, as is Keller's, 'I love you,' to him in this episode.
If it had been Rodney saying, "I really like you and I've been hoping for a while that we could be something more," and if they had ended this episode with Rodney saving her, hugging her (maybe, possibly a kiss) and then them sleeping next to each other on the plane, her head nestled on his shoulder, I would have bought it.
But for some reason they keep wanting to fast forward through the relationship parts, the building of the friendship and the move into something more, and those are the parts we (or maybe just I) like the best. Those are the parts that make me squirm in my seat and delight with a huge grin on my face. Often times, admittedly, I end up yelling at the screen, "JUST KISS HIM!" but I don't need the kiss because the small show of love is many times more poignant than the grand gesture. I do, however, need the small gesture. I need to know that something's there beyond the fact that she's a pretty girl and he's a hot guy and it's possible that they have some chemistry.
And I think that's one of the reasons why I like slash so much because with the slash couples I like, it's all those parts. It's the big gestures and the small ones, the happiness and the sadness and the things in between and it's so easy to say, "Okay, so they have this great relationship, let me see if I can build on that."
And it all goes back to the basic writer's tool: show don't tell. We're told that Rodney and Keller are in love, but we've only been shown that they have the potential for a lasting friendship. We were shown that Rodney was loved unconditionally by his friends for three and a half seasons before we were ever told it, and then we were continuously shown afterwards as well.
The answer to why the second one is more believable is ludicrously simple.
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winterfish
no subject
Date: 2008-11-25 07:51 am (UTC)I even get why being told that by Keller would make him light up because she is everything that he's ever wanted in a woman. Or, at least, that he's been upfront about wanting in a woman. She's smart, courageous, capable, beautiful, blond, etc. She can also 'handle' him and his cantankerous moods, which he knows by experience that many people, especially girlfriends, can't or won't.
However, I really don't like the fact that the times when we've seen her most attracted to him he's not been himself. I find Rodney wanting to better himself admirable. I find Rodney wanting to better himself just to get a girl sad. I find Keller knowingly enabling this behavior as potentially disastrous.
Rodney's, 'I love you,' to her before we ever really saw them alone together for any length of time was waaaaaaay too farfetched for me to handle, as is Keller's, 'I love you,' to him in this episode.
If it had been Rodney saying, "I really like you and I've been hoping for a while that we could be something more," and if they had ended this episode with Rodney saving her, hugging her (maybe, possibly a kiss) and then them sleeping next to each other on the plane, her head nestled on his shoulder, I would have bought it.
But for some reason they keep wanting to fast forward through the relationship parts, the building of the friendship and the move into something more, and those are the parts we (or maybe just I) like the best. Those are the parts that make me squirm in my seat and delight with a huge grin on my face. Often times, admittedly, I end up yelling at the screen, "JUST KISS HIM!" but I don't need the kiss because the small show of love is many times more poignant than the grand gesture. I do, however, need the small gesture. I need to know that something's there beyond the fact that she's a pretty girl and he's a hot guy and it's possible that they have some chemistry.
And I think that's one of the reasons why I like slash so much because with the slash couples I like, it's all those parts. It's the big gestures and the small ones, the happiness and the sadness and the things in between and it's so easy to say, "Okay, so they have this great relationship, let me see if I can build on that."
And it all goes back to the basic writer's tool: show don't tell. We're told that Rodney and Keller are in love, but we've only been shown that they have the potential for a lasting friendship. We were shown that Rodney was loved unconditionally by his friends for three and a half seasons before we were ever told it, and then we were continuously shown afterwards as well.
The answer to why the second one is more believable is ludicrously simple.