What Happens Next: A Gallimaufry

melancholic romantic comic cynic. bi & genderqueer. fantasy writer. sysrae on ao3.

a things that bears explanation

Here’s why, sometimes, shows & stories with comparatively few problematic elements and a whole lot to recommend them otherwise end up being the subject of as much, if not occasionally more, angry deconstruction than shows & stories which are problematic all over:

Imagine a friend invites you to go swimming with sharks. Straight away, it’s obvious this is a dangerous activity, but sharks are majestic and beautiful, and it would be a hell of an experience - plus, it’s something your friend really loves, and it’d give you something special to share with them. Nonetheless, there are risks. You’ll be in a steel cage, at sea, underwater, breathing tank oxygen, surrounded by wild carnivores - there’s a lot that can go wrong. But the point is, if you agree to do this thing, it’ll be in full knowledge of the danger. You’ll have time to back out, time to prepare yourself. It might still end up being more than you can handle, but that’s OK - you’ve braced for the possibility. You understand the risks. And then the day comes, and it’s terrifying, but also sort of awesome. The steel cage protects you, and as soon as it gets overwhelming, you’re able to go home again, safe and sound.

Now imagine the same friend asks you to babysit their new dog. They tell you it’s a gorgeous, harmless puppy; they tell you how sweet and friendly it is. You say sure, bring it over! And your friend does so, and you’ve got this sweet-looking, roly-poly dog in your home, and you’re all geared up to relax, to play with it, to have a good time. But then the dog turns nasty with no provocation. It bites you, hard enough to draw blood. And you’re shocked, a little frightened, angry and betrayed. Sure, it’s a puppy, and puppies can be a little unpredictable, but now you’re injured, and your friend swore blind the dog was safe. 

One of these incidents is potentially life-threatening, but under controlled circumstances and with proper preparation, it becomes an adventure. The other is potentially life-affirming, but under bad circumstances and with false advertising, it becomes a betrayal. 

Or, to put it another way: some shows, like Supernatural, are shark tanks - there’s so much that’s potentially wrong and damaging there that, if someone just came and dropped us in without any warning, we’d be at a very high risk of injury. But when we know beforehand about the danger - if we accept the risk before watching - then we can just get on with enjoying what’s there to be enjoyed. Other shows, like Sleepy Hollow, are puppies - there’s so much about them to love and cuddle and cling to that we invite them into our homes, into the spaces of ourselves nominally reserved for intimacy and trust and self-care, so that when they turn and snap at us, the betrayal cuts to the quick.

The problem with shark tanks, in terms of critical analysis, is that we become so used to their dangers that sometimes, we forget to even discuss them, preferring to focus on the positive elements. After all, you can only point out the predatory nature of sharks, their ripping teeth and fearsome jaws so many times before the exercise starts to feel redundant - because sharks will always be sharks. You can build stronger cages, put up more signs warning about their presence and do everything in your power to make swimming with them a safe, friendly experience, but at the end of the day, they’re still killers. Puppies, however, can be trained. They’re young, still learning; so when they turn on us, there’s a real preventative value in decrying the failure, assessing the damage, examining how it happened. And it’s also very necessary, because these are creatures that live with us, that can hit us when we’re vulnerable - why wouldn’t we want them to be as safe, respectful and well-trained as possible?

This isn’t a perfect analogy. I’m implying a straight binary when it’s really a continuum, all types of stories surround us rather than existing at a remove, and of course narratives can change radically over time, whether for better or worse. Nor am I trying to excuse the horrendously deep-seated and pervasive problems inherent to various narratives under the guise of ‘it’s an adventure, and it’s OK if you’re properly prepared’. What I’m trying to say - clumsily, because it’s late and I’m hella tired - is that there’s a reason why we vehemently call out the stories we love, even when they’re already miles ahead of the competition, and an explanation - though not necessarily a justification - for why we sometimes neglect to get similarly outraged about more problematic material. 

Because sometimes, there’s so much wrong with a thing that even the possibility of trying to deconstruct it all feels exhausting and futile; it’d be like yelling at a mountain and expecting it to fall, or tremble, or do anything other than just sit there, absorbing our words without change or comment. And so we make a choice: to either abandon it altogether, or just accept the problems as background noise and focus primarily on the things it does right. The thing is, though, that the ability to make the latter choice is a form of privilege: something we can only do if we’re not the ones being targeted, or if our mental/emotional security net is strong enough to take up the slack if we are. Expecting everyone to be able to just set these issues aside and go with the flow is like shoving them into a shark tank without any preparation and telling them to have an adventure, and that’s something we need to be aware of when making recommendations.

Anyway. I think that made sense? I hope that made sense.

I need to sleep. 

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    “ And so we make a choice: to either abandon it altogether, or just accept the problems as background noise and focus...
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    Read this, it’s important.
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