fifty frenchmen can't be wrong (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
some_stars) wrote2011-09-09 02:48 am
some_stars) wrote2011-09-09 02:48 am
(no subject)
I've been continuing my for-no-reason rewatch of Psych, or rather it is for the following reasons: I own the DVDs and haven't seen it in two years and want something mindless to do, and most of all, anything I can watch not in a computer chair seems like an A++++ idea these days. And I've actually just reached the point (4x09) where it stops being a rewatch and becomes a watch, since I quit mid-S4.
The thing is, while I'm obviously still delighted enough to keep watching, I've been having more and more dark thoughts about how making the male star the showrunner never ends well, like never once has it resulted in better writing and clear-eyed characterization, NEVER ONCE--and about the steadily growing sexism (and a dash of surprise racism, wtf) that helped drive me off the first time, and BASICALLY about once or twice an episode I stop and imagine the alternate universe where Psych is the exact same show but with Shannon and Carla instead. And possibly Julian but that's not to fix sexism, it's just because that character would hit some kinks of mine that TV almost never hits, and make me so very happy. But mostly Shannon and Carla. Especially Shannon, god, that would be SO AWESOME. I would ship her with everyone. I would be way more interested in her relationship with her dad, and in her dad period for that matter. I feel less of an urgent need to genderswap Gus, but if I did she would still be called Gus and her relationship with Shannon would be exactly the same and she would be so hot I would burst into flames just watching her. And while I would totally still ship dude!Gus with Shannon, like I would ship them PASSIONATELY, I find myself entirely unable to deal with how hard I'd ship them as femslash. It is kind of destroying my brain, I'm just going to take a minute.
Okay, back. Anyway, there are deep thoughts to be had about this, how it would change the structure of the show, or what it would mean to not let it change the structure of the show and how FREAKING REVOLUTIONARY that would be. But I stayed up way too late watching more episodes so I'm not having those thoughts right now. The thoughts I am having are much less dissatisfied, namely that I've been thinking for about a season and a half (ie, about four days) that, if I'm stuck with this all-dudes-all-the-time version of the show, I wish it would at least cater to my male-specific kinks and have Shawn get kidnapped and tied up and tortured. And then that happened! Well, sort of almost. No torture per se, but he was in great pain and I'm never going to look that particular gift horse in the mouth. I still remember the thrill of unholy glee I felt the first time he got pistol-whipped, back when I was watching regularly. That was a really good evening for me.
(The rest of the episode fell down a lot on the execution of my dream version of this plot, primarily in that there was nowhere NEAR enough of Gus having huge emotions and helping to save the day and getting Shawn's last phone call with all the coded clues, seriously, how was that not him? It was MEANT to be him. There was no actual plot reason it needed to be Juliet. OH WELL, focusing on the positive, and on all the luscious h/c I will be unspooling in my head as I fall asleep the next few nights. And if I'm being honest, it's going to be mostly "h.")
The thing is, while I'm obviously still delighted enough to keep watching, I've been having more and more dark thoughts about how making the male star the showrunner never ends well, like never once has it resulted in better writing and clear-eyed characterization, NEVER ONCE--and about the steadily growing sexism (and a dash of surprise racism, wtf) that helped drive me off the first time, and BASICALLY about once or twice an episode I stop and imagine the alternate universe where Psych is the exact same show but with Shannon and Carla instead. And possibly Julian but that's not to fix sexism, it's just because that character would hit some kinks of mine that TV almost never hits, and make me so very happy. But mostly Shannon and Carla. Especially Shannon, god, that would be SO AWESOME. I would ship her with everyone. I would be way more interested in her relationship with her dad, and in her dad period for that matter. I feel less of an urgent need to genderswap Gus, but if I did she would still be called Gus and her relationship with Shannon would be exactly the same and she would be so hot I would burst into flames just watching her. And while I would totally still ship dude!Gus with Shannon, like I would ship them PASSIONATELY, I find myself entirely unable to deal with how hard I'd ship them as femslash. It is kind of destroying my brain, I'm just going to take a minute.
Okay, back. Anyway, there are deep thoughts to be had about this, how it would change the structure of the show, or what it would mean to not let it change the structure of the show and how FREAKING REVOLUTIONARY that would be. But I stayed up way too late watching more episodes so I'm not having those thoughts right now. The thoughts I am having are much less dissatisfied, namely that I've been thinking for about a season and a half (ie, about four days) that, if I'm stuck with this all-dudes-all-the-time version of the show, I wish it would at least cater to my male-specific kinks and have Shawn get kidnapped and tied up and tortured. And then that happened! Well, sort of almost. No torture per se, but he was in great pain and I'm never going to look that particular gift horse in the mouth. I still remember the thrill of unholy glee I felt the first time he got pistol-whipped, back when I was watching regularly. That was a really good evening for me.
(The rest of the episode fell down a lot on the execution of my dream version of this plot, primarily in that there was nowhere NEAR enough of Gus having huge emotions and helping to save the day and getting Shawn's last phone call with all the coded clues, seriously, how was that not him? It was MEANT to be him. There was no actual plot reason it needed to be Juliet. OH WELL, focusing on the positive, and on all the luscious h/c I will be unspooling in my head as I fall asleep the next few nights. And if I'm being honest, it's going to be mostly "h.")