2) I suspect people’s theories about incest being the new slash in the sense that people need taboos for their pairing to break and same-sex relationships don’t really cut it for them anymore are probably true for some of the writers, but I’m always hesitant to sweepingly ascribe motives to lots of people I don’t know, not even in the sense of knowing their writing.
I think that may be a legitimate reason for many people (possibly also why fanfic, where smut and slash are routine, is also the playground for far more explicit kink than pretty much any other written medium). But you know, really, I think that the reason that there's been such an upswing in people writing incest in fanfic is just that there's been more inspiration for it. Back in the 90s, watching Buffy, I wondered just why the heck every single character was an only child. Out of everyone in the Buffyverse, only Angel, Gunn, and Buffy herself have siblings -- two of them died with barely another reference, and Dawn only came about in the fifth season. There's kind of a family renaissance going on right now, where TV is just as interested in portraying family relationships as romances and friendships (if not more).
And, of course, it also doesn't hurt that you have examples like the movie Blades of Glory where Will Arnett and Amy Poehler (real life spouses) play siblings who lunge in for a kiss at the end of the movie before being stopped, or High School Musical which (from everything I've heard) featured fraternal twins who are seeking the leads for Romeo and Juliet.
Otoh, I started to get an inkling of where the Petrellicesters in Heroes were coming from around episode 1.07 and somewhere between 1.10 and 1.13, I thought, fine, yes, there is deliberate subtext.
I can't quite remember when I was corrupted, but there's no denying that the writers intend for us to think something is not quite right with the Petrellis. Mob connections, megalomania, whatever, it doesn't really matter. The feel of the family is deliberately off. And, of course, the fact that they enjoy taunting the fans with lines about how "there's a dark secret in the Petrelli family" just convinces me more that they love messing with us.
do I get the impression the incest is just there because the writer couldn’t think of anything else and wanted to be daring/deep/dark?
I think that's both the most common one where people go wrong, and also the one that circles back to point #1. Because, for a very long time, if you wanted to show that a character was eviiiiil and deviant, you made them gay or kinky. Now people make them incestuous. Which has the plus of actually being illegal and abusive, in addition to being taboo.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2008-01-17 11:11 am (UTC)I think that may be a legitimate reason for many people (possibly also why fanfic, where smut and slash are routine, is also the playground for far more explicit kink than pretty much any other written medium). But you know, really, I think that the reason that there's been such an upswing in people writing incest in fanfic is just that there's been more inspiration for it. Back in the 90s, watching Buffy, I wondered just why the heck every single character was an only child. Out of everyone in the Buffyverse, only Angel, Gunn, and Buffy herself have siblings -- two of them died with barely another reference, and Dawn only came about in the fifth season. There's kind of a family renaissance going on right now, where TV is just as interested in portraying family relationships as romances and friendships (if not more).
And, of course, it also doesn't hurt that you have examples like the movie Blades of Glory where Will Arnett and Amy Poehler (real life spouses) play siblings who lunge in for a kiss at the end of the movie before being stopped, or High School Musical which (from everything I've heard) featured fraternal twins who are seeking the leads for Romeo and Juliet.
Otoh, I started to get an inkling of where the Petrellicesters in Heroes were coming from around episode 1.07 and somewhere between 1.10 and 1.13, I thought, fine, yes, there is deliberate subtext.
I can't quite remember when I was corrupted, but there's no denying that the writers intend for us to think something is not quite right with the Petrellis. Mob connections, megalomania, whatever, it doesn't really matter. The feel of the family is deliberately off. And, of course, the fact that they enjoy taunting the fans with lines about how "there's a dark secret in the Petrelli family" just convinces me more that they love messing with us.
do I get the impression the incest is just there because the writer couldn’t think of anything else and wanted to be daring/deep/dark?
I think that's both the most common one where people go wrong, and also the one that circles back to point #1. Because, for a very long time, if you wanted to show that a character was eviiiiil and deviant, you made them gay or kinky. Now people make them incestuous. Which has the plus of actually being illegal and abusive, in addition to being taboo.