This week’s shipping news is dedicated to the turbulent teen years
and all the crazy idealistic crap that comes along with it. Let’s talk the
problem with teenage proposals and the magical powers of virginity. Also Sam
Winchester gets a visit from the past, it’s my turn to pen The
Backlot’s slash column and Mark Ruffalo thinks Science Bro’s is cute.
Spoiler Warning: Glee, New Girl, Supernatural and Teen Wolf.
Shipping
Tid-Bits:
 |
| (Source) |
- Supernatural sees a blast from Sam’s past. Sarah Blake (Taylor Cole), who shared a kiss with baby Sam way back in Season 1, is set to return in Episode 22. Shipper’s hearts have started tingling already but this is Supernatural guys, you know she’s probably going to end up dead, if she isn’t already.
- Remember a little while ago when I talked about how bad I was shipping a Pitch Perfect femslash couple. Well good news, or bad depending on how you look at it, they’re getting a sequel. No word as to which cast members will return but original writer Kay Cannon is back and the film is set of release in 2015.
- AfterElton is now TheBacklot! And it was my week to talk slash, so head over there to hear all about Destiel triumphant win, Merlin’s Perwaine and firefighter AU’s.
- In Teen Wolf news: Tyler Posey told EW.com that Scott is getting zero loving this season (so far anyway): “[Scott hasn't] had sex this season yet. I got some last season. This season I got a motorcycle instead, which is pretty much like sex. It rumbles. It is between your legs. This season has death, near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, bullet wounds, twins, [and] sex between a new character and an old character that isn’t me.” (x)
- According to a recent Vulture interview Mark Ruffalo ship’s Science Bro’s after he was allowed to browse the Tumblr tag. Seriously I can’t do this justice you should just read it for yourself here.
 |
| (Source) |
This week’s discussion comes curtsey of two different sources. The
first is the episode of New Girl titled “Virgins” which
guest stars fan favourite (and soon
to be movie star) Dylan O’Brien
and is all about you guessed it, the dreaded “first time”. The second is a
rather large Glee spoiler: that in the season finale,
Blaine is considering proposing to on again, off again boyfriend Kurt (to the
extent that he’s looking for a ring). It’s not the first high school couple to
take this path, and it’s not surprising as it fits with Glee’s need to cash in on every popular “issue”.
While these stories aren’t directly related to each other they both
made me think about the ridiculousness of teenage romance and why we all love
to relive it.
A lot of the stories we love are about teenagers – part of this is
because it’s something we can all relate to but it’s also because everything is
so much more intense during adolescence. Everything is now or nothing, life or
death – which is strange considering most teenagers think themselves
invincible. Everything is new and that’s why all the firsts are so important,
whether it’s first love or first sexual encounter.
Logically we know that teenage romances aren’t going to work out in
the end. That people grow and change A LOT once they leave high school and as a
result most couples drift apart (both physically and emotionally). We know it’s
not forever but that doesn’t stop us from shipping it like it is.
When I was younger I had an excuse, I thought Pacey and Joey should
be together forever because I was too inexperienced to know any different. You
would think I’d know better now (after years of love and heartbreak), but I
still treat these teen romances like there is some kind of forever endgame,
which is kind of absurd when you think about it.
Yes, yes I know it’s all fiction but I can’t help but think that we
are the ones perpetuating this myth that you must find your one and only at the
age of sixteen. This mentality is exemplified in the two examples I gave above
– the importance of losing your virginity to the right person and the trend of
teenage marriage proposals (or promise rings).
The virginity one I get to a certain extent. I mean there is a great
deal of trust involved in that moment, which lends itself to the idea of
picking someone important. What I don’t like is the trend in fiction that whomever
a female character (it’s different for male characters) loses their virginity
to will be the one they end up with.
No seriously think about your favourite stories about teenagers. Think
about the emphasis placed on the “first time” and then think about who that
girl was paired with at the end of the series. There are exceptions of course,
Buffy is a good example of this (none of the main cast ended up with the person
they lost their virginity to). But most of the time they stick to the
assumption that whoever the lady gives the precious gift of virginity to is the
only one worthy of her love in the long run. They might stray on the way but in
the end they find their way back to each other.
Think about Glee – they
made a big deal out of Kurt and Rachel’s first time and both those
relationships headed the way of a teenage proposal. I mentioned a Dawson’s Creek above with Pacey and Joey
and although I shudder to mention it Gossip
Girl’s Blair and Chuck fit this profile as well. The OC’s Seth and Summer is another example.
What does this have to do with shipping you ask? Well apart from the
fact that endgame is pretty much the ultimate goal of shippers (sex is the
reward) there are also a bunch of shippers that have very adamant ideas about
their OTP’s first time… especially who it should be with. I have witnessed a
number of massive shipper arguments about the importance of virginity… and unfortunately slash and femslash pairings
often fall into the same trap as het couples in that one member of the pairing
is given the title of virgin (aka the girl) and as a result is not allowed to
touch or be touched by anyone else.
For those couples that have already done the deed – the taking of
virginity is often used to argue the couple’s endgame credentials. This just
perpetuates the idea that virginity is a precious gift that must only be given
to the person you are going to spend the rest of your life with.
It is also shippers demand for some kind of reassurance of happily
ever after that results in teenage proposals. If there is anything worse that
feeding the myth of virginity it’s spreading the idea that proposing to someone
at the age of eighteen is an excellent life choice. Even if that couple is
meant to be, and they do actually make it, it’s probably better to hold off on
the marriage thing until they have grown up a little more.
For me personally, I am happy to have my OTP kiss and ride off into
the sunset together keeping things slightly ambiguous. It satisfies my shipping
desires but leaves enough leeway for some excellent future fic. I want to
reserve the right to believe they lived happily ever after but I don’t want it
to be unrealistically easy.
And so ends this week’s rant.
What do you guys think about the depiction of “the first time” in
fiction? What about Glee’s trend of teenage
proposals?
