Yes! It's the girls who whump!
Mar. 16th, 2003 06:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ravenIf anyone has a Stargate plot bunny they can't handle, lemme have it. I'm serious. Have spent the afternoon reading Stargate fic - *stares pointedly at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
minkboylove* - and am really in the mood to try writing for an old(er) fandom. Although not, obviously, post season five stuff. I'm in post-Meridian Denial where Stargate is concerned, and I always will be.
While reading, was turning stuff over and over in my head, and eventually came back to one of my favourite topics, the one I may eventually write a thesis about. That is.... why do we whump? Why? Why do we feel some insane need to put our characters through such terrible, sometimes positively sadistic, ordeals, and why do we enjoy it? And, most mysterious of all, why do we only hurt the ones we love? Why do we love them and then have to hurt them? And everyone does it. Absolutely everyone. And I would like to know why.
Various theories that have been put to me over the years.... we like to see them vulnerable. We like to have some kind of control over them. We want to see them deal with pain. It all comes back to the fact we love them.
Anyway. In the pursuit of academic curiosity (of course) I have been making a comparison. It was going to be tabulated, but I'm not in the mood for coding. Anyway... I picked the two most whumped fictional characters I could think of, namely Daniel Jackson and Hawkeye Pierce.
Stuff they have in common
a) Traumatic childhood
Well, kinda. Daniel's parents died when he was how old? Eight? And Hawkeye's mother died, but we don't know when that was. Anyway. Yes, traumatic childhood for both of 'em.
b)Intelligence
Self-explanatory. They're both smart cookies. Although, Hawkeye isn't a certified genius like Daniel is, but it's varying degrees of the same thing.
c)Unwilling involvement with the military
Yep. This is an odd link. Hawkeye's a drafted doctor, and very unhappy about that fact. Daniel, on the other hand, is a civilian - but he does wear fatigues and dogtags (which we never see - howl) and he does live 'n' work with people who are very much In The Air Force. So it's a link. Makes no sense when compared to the whumping, but it is one. And it certainly speaks volumes about my involvement with both fandoms.
d)Incurable liberalism
Does rather carry on from the previous point, but what the hell. The fact Hawk's a liberal might be the worst-kept secret of the twentieth century, but Daniel is, too - "Jack, just because they're small naked aliens with white paint stripes doesn't mean they don't have rights!"
e)Canon whumping
Now we're getting somewhere. Daniel, died seven times, was commited once, attempted to commit suicide once, his parents died, his wife died, his ex-girlfriend was infested with a Goa'uld (Goa'uld. Goa'uld. It's been so long since I've typed that word) and so was Sha're. And while Hawkeye wasn't so flamboyantly whumped, he was whumped. The death of Tommy Gillis comes to mind. And then there's the constant angst he gets in just about every episode. And then there was Trapper leaving. Sigh.
f)Occasional bouts of insanity
Oh, yes. Definitely. Both of them. Several times. That's all lovely. Mmm. I've not seen all M*A*S*H episodes, so I haven't seen some of Hawk's flirting with the straitjacket, but Daniel in Legacy.... um, wow. He even gets his own padded cell and they take away his glasses in case he hurts himself. Miaow.
g)Prettiness
In the pilots of both shows, yes. Later on... mmm, not so sure, but they both have their moments. Daniel particularly. Why did he lose that long hair?! Why?
Yes, I will stop here. What have I achieved? Nothing at all.
minkboylove* - and am really in the mood to try writing for an old(er) fandom. Although not, obviously, post season five stuff. I'm in post-Meridian Denial where Stargate is concerned, and I always will be. While reading, was turning stuff over and over in my head, and eventually came back to one of my favourite topics, the one I may eventually write a thesis about. That is.... why do we whump? Why? Why do we feel some insane need to put our characters through such terrible, sometimes positively sadistic, ordeals, and why do we enjoy it? And, most mysterious of all, why do we only hurt the ones we love? Why do we love them and then have to hurt them? And everyone does it. Absolutely everyone. And I would like to know why.
Various theories that have been put to me over the years.... we like to see them vulnerable. We like to have some kind of control over them. We want to see them deal with pain. It all comes back to the fact we love them.
Anyway. In the pursuit of academic curiosity (of course) I have been making a comparison. It was going to be tabulated, but I'm not in the mood for coding. Anyway... I picked the two most whumped fictional characters I could think of, namely Daniel Jackson and Hawkeye Pierce.
Stuff they have in common
a) Traumatic childhood
Well, kinda. Daniel's parents died when he was how old? Eight? And Hawkeye's mother died, but we don't know when that was. Anyway. Yes, traumatic childhood for both of 'em.
b)Intelligence
Self-explanatory. They're both smart cookies. Although, Hawkeye isn't a certified genius like Daniel is, but it's varying degrees of the same thing.
c)Unwilling involvement with the military
Yep. This is an odd link. Hawkeye's a drafted doctor, and very unhappy about that fact. Daniel, on the other hand, is a civilian - but he does wear fatigues and dogtags (which we never see - howl) and he does live 'n' work with people who are very much In The Air Force. So it's a link. Makes no sense when compared to the whumping, but it is one. And it certainly speaks volumes about my involvement with both fandoms.
d)Incurable liberalism
Does rather carry on from the previous point, but what the hell. The fact Hawk's a liberal might be the worst-kept secret of the twentieth century, but Daniel is, too - "Jack, just because they're small naked aliens with white paint stripes doesn't mean they don't have rights!"
e)Canon whumping
Now we're getting somewhere. Daniel, died seven times, was commited once, attempted to commit suicide once, his parents died, his wife died, his ex-girlfriend was infested with a Goa'uld (Goa'uld. Goa'uld. It's been so long since I've typed that word) and so was Sha're. And while Hawkeye wasn't so flamboyantly whumped, he was whumped. The death of Tommy Gillis comes to mind. And then there's the constant angst he gets in just about every episode. And then there was Trapper leaving. Sigh.
f)Occasional bouts of insanity
Oh, yes. Definitely. Both of them. Several times. That's all lovely. Mmm. I've not seen all M*A*S*H episodes, so I haven't seen some of Hawk's flirting with the straitjacket, but Daniel in Legacy.... um, wow. He even gets his own padded cell and they take away his glasses in case he hurts himself. Miaow.
g)Prettiness
In the pilots of both shows, yes. Later on... mmm, not so sure, but they both have their moments. Daniel particularly. Why did he lose that long hair?! Why?
Yes, I will stop here. What have I achieved? Nothing at all.
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no subject
on 2003-03-17 02:41 am (UTC)Whoo for the Figure A stuff!