2) What are you longing for that these pirates have?
Blackbeard's beard? (I described it on Twitter as my beard goal--possibly achievable in about 2030. Le sigh.)
More seriously, and barely half formulated, but: to be loved because of one's secret shames and not despite them? A big part of what Ed loves in Stede are the things Stede has always been taught to be ashamed of: his gentleness, his pleasure in things like a fine fabric and a good lavender soap, his sheer over-the-top extra-ness. And Stede loves Ed's secret self too, the one who wants to care about fashion and go to parties and maybe not kill people so much. That's not the whole story--Stede loves Ed's swashbuckling boldness and brilliance, and so do we as audience, and Ed loves the courage the Stede doesn't even know he has. It's the courage to leave his marriage or stand up to a bunch of rich bullies at a party, rather than physical courage, but I think that may make it all the more valuable to Ed, who's seen physical courage aplenty.
The way they treasure each other's weakness and weirdness is a beautiful thing. I don't think the desire to be loved like that is specific to queer people, but I think all too many of us still experience hiding whole aspects of ourselves, maybe being ashamed of them, so it's likely to speak more to us than to a cishet audience.
As for the other characters: there's a culture of acceptance/affirmation among Stede's crew despite clashing personalities. It comes through in regards to sexuality and gender, but I also think of things like Buttons's friendship with Carl, and how everyone reacted to Carl's death. It's a very big deal to Buttons, so it's a big deal to them too. Nobody says, "Oh, come on, it was just a bird, why do you care?" I'd say it was like a nerdy online space, except that nerdy online spaces are usually full of gatekeeping and the tyranny of small differences. And "the queer community," if that's even a useful term, is divided in all kinds of ways.
Both of these, I guess, are examples of the way the show explicitly values that which is often dismissed as valueless. I'm thinking especially of feminine-coded things here, from decorative objects to stories to skills like sewing to personality traits like Lucius's emotional insight and supportiveness.
. . . wow, I guess I had a lot more thoughts about this show than I realized. I may come back and comment more another time.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2022-04-06 02:34 am (UTC)Blackbeard's beard? (I described it on Twitter as my beard goal--possibly achievable in about 2030. Le sigh.)
More seriously, and barely half formulated, but: to be loved because of one's secret shames and not despite them? A big part of what Ed loves in Stede are the things Stede has always been taught to be ashamed of: his gentleness, his pleasure in things like a fine fabric and a good lavender soap, his sheer over-the-top extra-ness. And Stede loves Ed's secret self too, the one who wants to care about fashion and go to parties and maybe not kill people so much. That's not the whole story--Stede loves Ed's swashbuckling boldness and brilliance, and so do we as audience, and Ed loves the courage the Stede doesn't even know he has. It's the courage to leave his marriage or stand up to a bunch of rich bullies at a party, rather than physical courage, but I think that may make it all the more valuable to Ed, who's seen physical courage aplenty.
The way they treasure each other's weakness and weirdness is a beautiful thing. I don't think the desire to be loved like that is specific to queer people, but I think all too many of us still experience hiding whole aspects of ourselves, maybe being ashamed of them, so it's likely to speak more to us than to a cishet audience.
As for the other characters: there's a culture of acceptance/affirmation among Stede's crew despite clashing personalities. It comes through in regards to sexuality and gender, but I also think of things like Buttons's friendship with Carl, and how everyone reacted to Carl's death. It's a very big deal to Buttons, so it's a big deal to them too. Nobody says, "Oh, come on, it was just a bird, why do you care?" I'd say it was like a nerdy online space, except that nerdy online spaces are usually full of gatekeeping and the tyranny of small differences. And "the queer community," if that's even a useful term, is divided in all kinds of ways.
Both of these, I guess, are examples of the way the show explicitly values that which is often dismissed as valueless. I'm thinking especially of feminine-coded things here, from decorative objects to stories to skills like sewing to personality traits like Lucius's emotional insight and supportiveness.
. . . wow, I guess I had a lot more thoughts about this show than I realized. I may come back and comment more another time.