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kindkitI finished season 1 tonight.
So, the inevitable heterosexual backstory for Finch has arrived. *sigh* I knew it was inevitable, because for a US network to allow a lead character in a prime time show other than a soap or sitcom to seem gay is about as unlikely as for them to let said character be actually canonically gay. And Finch seemed gay. Not just for stereotypical reasons, although there were those, but because of his lack of any known heterosexual interest, his intense relationship with Nathan Ingram, and his intense relationship with Reese.
I knew it was inevitable, but that doesn't help, and in fact part of my disappointment comes from knowing it was inevitable. It shouldn't be inevitable. Sometimes queer subtext should actually pan out into queer text. *lots more sighing*
The other thing is that the introduction of Finch's Compulsory Heterosexuality wasn't even good storytelling. If the show wanted to demonstrate the human cost to Finch himself of making the machine, it was right there already, in the death of Nathan Ingram. We've seen how much Finch loved Nathan, and I'd say still does love him. Besides all the melting-eyed looks Finch gives Nathan in their scenes together, there was also that moment in "Identity Crisis" when Finch, high on Ecstasy, calls Reese "Nathan." What that says to me is that all the feelings of an ecstasy trip, such as (I'm told) intense happiness, connectedness, openness, the joy of loving and being loved--those are feelings Finch associates with being with Nathan and nothing else in his life. All the groundwork for that storyline had already been laid. But instead, thanks to the need to demonstrate that Finch is Absolute Not Gay Oh No, we get five minutes out of nowhere with a woman we've never seen before, and whom we've never seen interact with Finch, and are told this is the great loss and heartbreak Finch has had to endure. To which I respond: meh. And seriously, this is such an obvious "pull heterosexuality out of a magic hat" move that I wonder if the showrunners actually meant for Finch to be in love with Nathan and then the network said OH HELL NO. Or else, and this is the sadder but perhaps more likely explanation, heteronormativity is still such a powerful and invisible force that nobody among the showrunners noticed how emotionally vapid and implausible the storyline was, because of course Finch must have loved a woman and of course we must all be moved to our hearts that he had to give her up.
*sighing x1000*
Before anyone jumps in with "but FANFIC": yes, I know. I know fanfic can make Finch and Reese and Carter and Fusco and the whole damn show queer. That's not the point. Fanfic is a handy dissolver of heterosexual master narratives, and I love that, but fanfic is always unofficial, marginalized, provisional, unreal. The heterosexual master narrative is still the storyline with the official imprimatur, the one we see onscreen, and the only one most people will ever know exists. (ETA: It could be argued that text-queering fanfic is a classic example of the limitations of subversion as a tactic of resistance. It's not empty or meaningless, but subversion is very much a tactic of the powerless. It doesn't dislodge or even much disturb the dominant ideology, and in fact it can itself be subverted, recuperated into the dominant to some extent. Witness the Deliberate Queer Tease in many sources and the way it brings us--people who want queer characters and queer stories--into the fold as consumers of narratives that are explicitly and exclusively heterosexual. /I was an academic once, let me show you it.)
Like I said, I knew this would happen, but the fact that I knew makes it worse, not better.
I am nevertheless attempting to cheer myself up with "but FANFIC." In my head I can see a couple of easy ways around the fiancée issue, in part because I'm willing to see Finch's love for Nathan as unrequited. Maybe Finch fell genuinely in love with Grace despite a pre-existing unrequited love for Nathan, or maybe he had a relationship with her out of friendship and his own loneliness, knowing he could never have the person he really loved (which is not a nice thing for him to do, but it happens). I will cling to these scenarios until/unless canon makes them impossible.
Speaking of tragic heterosexual backstory, Reese and Jessica. There was more than a hint of classic fridging there, and it was even more unnecessary than that sort of thing usually is because Reese's motives for going underground were already pretty clear and compelling. I was momentarily intrigued by the idea of Reese being so dark that he would kill Peter and Jennings in cold blood (and actually why wouldn't he be, considering his CIA work?), but then that was averted to try to hand Reese back some moral high ground. I guess we're supposed to assume that Peter is in the Mexican prison too, and perhaps also the serial rapist from 1x04?
Moving on to more pleasant things: Reese'sstalking investigation of Finch is just a little too obsessive to be purely professional, isn't it? Which would explain why Reese was unwilling to ask him questions when he was high: I can see how in Reese's mind that would be taking advantage and breaking Finch's trust, whereas anything he can find out through his own methods is fair game. If Reese just felt that for his own safety he needed to know more about Finch, I doubt he'd have such scruples. (Has someone made a Reese vid to the Police's Every Breath You Take? Surely they must have done, unless it's so obvious that no one has bothered.)
And then there's "Happy birthday, I bought you an apartment!" Yeah, that's totally normal. What do you want to bet that Finch bought Nathan slightly over-elaborate birthday and Christmas presents every year? Not apartments, because Nathan was rich, but always things were just a little too perfect and too generous. *cuddles unrequited!Finch* And is this episode the first time Finch calls Reese "John"? I don't remember it happening before this point.
To conclude with the season finale: I hate cliffhangers and I want to know NOW how Reese and Carter and Fusco will save Finch. I actually have season 2 on my shelf at this moment, because a used copy showed up at the store where I work and after my employee discount it was only $12. But I will not watch it yet, because I toldhalotolerant that I'd wait until she had her copy and then we could both watch and discuss it. Anyway, the plot of the finale was way over the top but satisfying, and it was fun to see Amy Acker's trademark vulnerable-little-girl persona subverted so that she turned out to be stone cold villain.
I can, however, ease my frustration with fanfic. It occurred to me that I can read fanfic and yet protect myself from spoilers so long as I only read fics that were posted before S2 started to air. I, er, also have a ficathon story to finish writing and a long-neglected chapter of the Regency romance to finish and post, so I should be able to keep busy enough that my head doesn't explode before I can start watching S2.
Oh, one last thing. Those of you who have POI icons, where did you get them? I want one.
So, the inevitable heterosexual backstory for Finch has arrived. *sigh* I knew it was inevitable, because for a US network to allow a lead character in a prime time show other than a soap or sitcom to seem gay is about as unlikely as for them to let said character be actually canonically gay. And Finch seemed gay. Not just for stereotypical reasons, although there were those, but because of his lack of any known heterosexual interest, his intense relationship with Nathan Ingram, and his intense relationship with Reese.
I knew it was inevitable, but that doesn't help, and in fact part of my disappointment comes from knowing it was inevitable. It shouldn't be inevitable. Sometimes queer subtext should actually pan out into queer text. *lots more sighing*
The other thing is that the introduction of Finch's Compulsory Heterosexuality wasn't even good storytelling. If the show wanted to demonstrate the human cost to Finch himself of making the machine, it was right there already, in the death of Nathan Ingram. We've seen how much Finch loved Nathan, and I'd say still does love him. Besides all the melting-eyed looks Finch gives Nathan in their scenes together, there was also that moment in "Identity Crisis" when Finch, high on Ecstasy, calls Reese "Nathan." What that says to me is that all the feelings of an ecstasy trip, such as (I'm told) intense happiness, connectedness, openness, the joy of loving and being loved--those are feelings Finch associates with being with Nathan and nothing else in his life. All the groundwork for that storyline had already been laid. But instead, thanks to the need to demonstrate that Finch is Absolute Not Gay Oh No, we get five minutes out of nowhere with a woman we've never seen before, and whom we've never seen interact with Finch, and are told this is the great loss and heartbreak Finch has had to endure. To which I respond: meh. And seriously, this is such an obvious "pull heterosexuality out of a magic hat" move that I wonder if the showrunners actually meant for Finch to be in love with Nathan and then the network said OH HELL NO. Or else, and this is the sadder but perhaps more likely explanation, heteronormativity is still such a powerful and invisible force that nobody among the showrunners noticed how emotionally vapid and implausible the storyline was, because of course Finch must have loved a woman and of course we must all be moved to our hearts that he had to give her up.
*sighing x1000*
Before anyone jumps in with "but FANFIC": yes, I know. I know fanfic can make Finch and Reese and Carter and Fusco and the whole damn show queer. That's not the point. Fanfic is a handy dissolver of heterosexual master narratives, and I love that, but fanfic is always unofficial, marginalized, provisional, unreal. The heterosexual master narrative is still the storyline with the official imprimatur, the one we see onscreen, and the only one most people will ever know exists. (ETA: It could be argued that text-queering fanfic is a classic example of the limitations of subversion as a tactic of resistance. It's not empty or meaningless, but subversion is very much a tactic of the powerless. It doesn't dislodge or even much disturb the dominant ideology, and in fact it can itself be subverted, recuperated into the dominant to some extent. Witness the Deliberate Queer Tease in many sources and the way it brings us--people who want queer characters and queer stories--into the fold as consumers of narratives that are explicitly and exclusively heterosexual. /I was an academic once, let me show you it.)
Like I said, I knew this would happen, but the fact that I knew makes it worse, not better.
I am nevertheless attempting to cheer myself up with "but FANFIC." In my head I can see a couple of easy ways around the fiancée issue, in part because I'm willing to see Finch's love for Nathan as unrequited. Maybe Finch fell genuinely in love with Grace despite a pre-existing unrequited love for Nathan, or maybe he had a relationship with her out of friendship and his own loneliness, knowing he could never have the person he really loved (which is not a nice thing for him to do, but it happens). I will cling to these scenarios until/unless canon makes them impossible.
Speaking of tragic heterosexual backstory, Reese and Jessica. There was more than a hint of classic fridging there, and it was even more unnecessary than that sort of thing usually is because Reese's motives for going underground were already pretty clear and compelling. I was momentarily intrigued by the idea of Reese being so dark that he would kill Peter and Jennings in cold blood (and actually why wouldn't he be, considering his CIA work?), but then that was averted to try to hand Reese back some moral high ground. I guess we're supposed to assume that Peter is in the Mexican prison too, and perhaps also the serial rapist from 1x04?
Moving on to more pleasant things: Reese's
And then there's "Happy birthday, I bought you an apartment!" Yeah, that's totally normal. What do you want to bet that Finch bought Nathan slightly over-elaborate birthday and Christmas presents every year? Not apartments, because Nathan was rich, but always things were just a little too perfect and too generous. *cuddles unrequited!Finch* And is this episode the first time Finch calls Reese "John"? I don't remember it happening before this point.
To conclude with the season finale: I hate cliffhangers and I want to know NOW how Reese and Carter and Fusco will save Finch. I actually have season 2 on my shelf at this moment, because a used copy showed up at the store where I work and after my employee discount it was only $12. But I will not watch it yet, because I told
halotolerant that I'd wait until she had her copy and then we could both watch and discuss it. Anyway, the plot of the finale was way over the top but satisfying, and it was fun to see Amy Acker's trademark vulnerable-little-girl persona subverted so that she turned out to be stone cold villain.I can, however, ease my frustration with fanfic. It occurred to me that I can read fanfic and yet protect myself from spoilers so long as I only read fics that were posted before S2 started to air. I, er, also have a ficathon story to finish writing and a long-neglected chapter of the Regency romance to finish and post, so I should be able to keep busy enough that my head doesn't explode before I can start watching S2.
Oh, one last thing. Those of you who have POI icons, where did you get them? I want one.
no subject
Date: 2014-03-18 07:27 pm (UTC)If Root annoys you, it won't be for being fragile. :-)