Am still watching The Magicians.
Jan. 3rd, 2019 09:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cathywYes. And I have gone from 'want to slap Eliot' to 'want to wrap him in a fluffy blankie and give him cocoa until he stops being sad'.
And I was just... blown away... by a thing that happened in 1x10 ("Homecoming"), where they did a thing I don't think I've ever seen on my teevee before (and almost definitely not on basic cable). I know I am approximately three years late to this party but I want to gush.
I mean, I already linked to the Twitter thread involving Sera Gamble complaining that she was being asked to trim content including female characters actively participating in sex (as opposed to passively having sex done to them). And she was pushing on that right from the outset - the first on-screen sex we saw was initiated (essentially, there was mindreading involved) by the woman expressing interest in the man, and she was definitely enthusiastic about the proceedings...
Those who have seen the show may recall, and those who haven't seen the show may like to know, that this particular episode is the comic relief between two very dark, very tense episodes, with the ensuing hilarity involving a sex ritual where the participants (namely Quentin and Alice, who are already sleeping together, so that's not a barrier to consent) have to climax simultaneously.
Person explaining the ritual: "Will that be a problem?"
Quentin: "Nope, we're good."
Alice: "Umm."
This led to... healthy, if somewhat awkward, communication about sex? That resulted in both of them learning from and about each other? In ways that will result in them having genuinely better sex in the future, because they are both learning to advocate for their own desires, and because Quentin genuinely wants Alice to be a partner rather than a warm body to stick his penis into? (ed note: at this point I have not seen past the end of 1x11 which is certainly throwing a monkeywrench into this but we'll see...)
And then... as they were getting ready to actually do the ritual... we're getting what seems to be a conventional TV sex scene. Lots of kissing. Clothes come off. He lays her down on the bed. He reaches for her... (chest? neck? don't recall...)... and Alice took his hand, moved it down towards as much of her crotch as they could show us on basic cable, and said "There."
I do not recall any other instance where I have seen a female character display that much agency in pursuit of an orgasm, or any suggestion that said orgasm might result from some process other than penis-thrusting-into-vagina-maybe-while-kissing; even that first very enthusiastic sex scene mostly involved rocking back and forth. In Game of Thrones there was the implication that Ygritte had taught Jon Snow to perform cunnilingus but it was a) implied and b) off-screen; maybe in Sense8?
BUT IMAGINE IF THAT WAS NORMAL. Imagine if every sex scene involved that kind of communication. Imagine if wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am sex was depicted as unsatisfying to the ma'am involved. Imagine if pop culture routinely showed us that PIV was not the end-all-and-be-all of heterosexual pleasure.
Horrors. Straight women might get to have better sex... can't have that.
While I'm gushing, I'd like to say that I'm pleased with the level of representation in the show. THEY CAST A TRANS ACTRESS FOR A RECURRING PART WHERE BEING TRANS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CHARACTER, is that allowed? Eliot is clearly queer (unclear whether he's bi or gay) but the only impact it's had on his story is that his lover was a man rather than a woman. Out of the seven characters I'd describe as the main cast, at most four are played by white actors??? The character who became disabled was not given a magic fix? most of the characters are mentally ill, traumatized, you name it, and that matters?
Good job, y'all.
And I was just... blown away... by a thing that happened in 1x10 ("Homecoming"), where they did a thing I don't think I've ever seen on my teevee before (and almost definitely not on basic cable). I know I am approximately three years late to this party but I want to gush.
I mean, I already linked to the Twitter thread involving Sera Gamble complaining that she was being asked to trim content including female characters actively participating in sex (as opposed to passively having sex done to them). And she was pushing on that right from the outset - the first on-screen sex we saw was initiated (essentially, there was mindreading involved) by the woman expressing interest in the man, and she was definitely enthusiastic about the proceedings...
Those who have seen the show may recall, and those who haven't seen the show may like to know, that this particular episode is the comic relief between two very dark, very tense episodes, with the ensuing hilarity involving a sex ritual where the participants (namely Quentin and Alice, who are already sleeping together, so that's not a barrier to consent) have to climax simultaneously.
Person explaining the ritual: "Will that be a problem?"
Quentin: "Nope, we're good."
Alice: "Umm."
This led to... healthy, if somewhat awkward, communication about sex? That resulted in both of them learning from and about each other? In ways that will result in them having genuinely better sex in the future, because they are both learning to advocate for their own desires, and because Quentin genuinely wants Alice to be a partner rather than a warm body to stick his penis into? (ed note: at this point I have not seen past the end of 1x11 which is certainly throwing a monkeywrench into this but we'll see...)
And then... as they were getting ready to actually do the ritual... we're getting what seems to be a conventional TV sex scene. Lots of kissing. Clothes come off. He lays her down on the bed. He reaches for her... (chest? neck? don't recall...)... and Alice took his hand, moved it down towards as much of her crotch as they could show us on basic cable, and said "There."
I do not recall any other instance where I have seen a female character display that much agency in pursuit of an orgasm, or any suggestion that said orgasm might result from some process other than penis-thrusting-into-vagina-maybe-while-kissing; even that first very enthusiastic sex scene mostly involved rocking back and forth. In Game of Thrones there was the implication that Ygritte had taught Jon Snow to perform cunnilingus but it was a) implied and b) off-screen; maybe in Sense8?
BUT IMAGINE IF THAT WAS NORMAL. Imagine if every sex scene involved that kind of communication. Imagine if wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am sex was depicted as unsatisfying to the ma'am involved. Imagine if pop culture routinely showed us that PIV was not the end-all-and-be-all of heterosexual pleasure.
Horrors. Straight women might get to have better sex... can't have that.
While I'm gushing, I'd like to say that I'm pleased with the level of representation in the show. THEY CAST A TRANS ACTRESS FOR A RECURRING PART WHERE BEING TRANS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CHARACTER, is that allowed? Eliot is clearly queer (unclear whether he's bi or gay) but the only impact it's had on his story is that his lover was a man rather than a woman. Out of the seven characters I'd describe as the main cast, at most four are played by white actors??? The character who became disabled was not given a magic fix? most of the characters are mentally ill, traumatized, you name it, and that matters?
Good job, y'all.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-05 09:45 am (UTC)And I have gone from 'want to slap Eliot' to 'want to wrap him in a fluffy blankie and give him cocoa until he stops being sad'.
Welcome! Everyone ends up here.
(My bff is watching now finally--her husband is already caught up--and is like "OMG I LOVE THIS", ME: I TOLD YOU LIKE A YEAR AGO.)
no subject
Date: 2019-01-05 03:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-05 10:54 pm (UTC)