The Poster Boy for *what* now?

[krossero]

Okay, I just read another story that has Jim as the poster boy for 'gay America'.  What has me cracking up is that just an hour ago, I read one that calls him the poster boy for straight America.

So, question #1:  Which do you think is more accurate to call Jim a poster boy of, gay, or straight America?

Question #2:  Does it bug you when a theme or a phrase like this is re-used in fanfiction?  Personally, I love to see everybody's take on different things.

Question #3: What other repeated things like this have you noticed (I can think of a few), and do they annoy you, or do you like it?

Comments

[aprilvalentine.livejournal.com]

I find that "big guy" or, worse, "Big Guy" really bothers me. There are so many other things Blair can call Jim and since it's never used in canon, I find it just a really lazy way to write them. It doesn't make me think a whole story is bad or anything if I'm reading along, but if someone sends me a story for a zine, and it's in there, I sort of insist they think of something to replace it.

I can see Jim as a poster boy (man?) for a gay man in a straight job. However, when Blair says to him in "Cypher" that he's "clearly labeled 'cop'" it seems to indicate otherwise (at least to Blair). It can be an over-used phrase to say Jim's a poster boy for anything, even for the Rangers.

I don't care for the expression "his very male lover/roommate" -- unless the character has had lovers or roommates who weren't completely male, which they haven't canonically. It's like modifying the word "unique" -- you can't do that since if it's unique, there isn't anything that can be "more unique" than that thing, or that something can be "very unique" for that matter. I know what "very male" is supposed to mean, but again, the writer could stand to think a little more before using that type of expression which is so often over-used and doesn't really say what they are trying to indicate.

Recently, I've started to get a bit bothered by Caroline being referred to as "Caro" -- huh? Where did this come from? It must just be fanon because nobody refers to her as "Caro" in the episodes, or by any other nickname. Come on, use her whole name, writers, it doesn't take that much more to type the whole word. She's not a type of syrup.

And for me, I don't care for the MC group "betting" on when Jim and Blair would become lovers. It's just too "everybody's gay" for me. Do het partners have their co-workers betting on when they'll have sex? I doubt it. Unless everybody is totally cool with everybody being non-hetero, I guess I could see it, but the real world isn't that accepting and even if everybody is accepting, I think at least someone in MC would be saying "it's none of our business" or "Jim would kill you if he knew you were placing bets." I feel the same about characters trying to get the two OTP characters into bed together. Just a cliched type of plot to me.

I don't mind "Blair Jacob Sandburg" -- I know Blair wasn't given a canonical middle name but if the author wants to use one, I see no reason not to use the accepted fanon one. Or to make one up, either.

Cool discussion!

[krossero.livejournal.com]

I agree that the whole betting thing probably wouldn't happen in real life, unless it was maybe between two friends who thought the guys should get together, or something like that. If I was reading it in a serious story, I wouldn't believe it for a minute. But when it's in something light 'n fluffy, I think it's fun.

And heck, yeah this is a cool discussion--there've been way more responses than I expected. It's brought up another question--what does eveyone think about the capitalization of sentinel/guide?

[janedavitt.livejournal.com]

In the official script 'Sentinel' is capitalized and I do it that way sometimes, sometimes not...you wouldn't use a capital letter for 'soldier' or 'cop' after all. 'Guide' with a capital letter I don't use as I'm not wedded to the idea of 'guide' being as much a defined role as a sentinel. I do enjoy fics, usually futuristic, where it's accepted that Sentinels and Guides are genetically special, and it's okay there, but I can't see canon Jim in his head thinking of Blair as 'my Guide'.

'Shaman' is more likely; it's what Jim called Incacha and it's how Blair referred to himself. Brackett's the only one who (obliquely) put that label on Blair.