----- Original Message ----- From: Steve Rogerson steve.rogerson@mcr1.poptel.org.uk
Fiona said: "But some people on this lyst have been trying to claim a
canonical
basis for slash."
I think the point is that, while none of the main characters are openly
gay, some
of the scenes can be interpreted in that way. It is clear that you and
some others
who've contributed to this thread don't interpret them that way, but, as
I've said
before, that doesn't make you right and them wrong or vice versa. There is
no
right and wrong here, it's just different fans' interpretations of
different
scenes.
I wasn't the one talking in terms of right *or* wrong. I was pointing out that one side has hard, onscreen evidence to back up their position, whereas all the other side has is "a bit of a feeling," and the fact that nothing occurs to directly contradict that feeling (Look, what would it take to convince you? Blake saying "you may have heard of me, my name's Blake and I'm a heterosexual?" Travis saying "His name... *was* Blake, and by the way he was straight?" Avon saying "I've located Blake on Gauda Prime, and he's still straight?"Good grief.)
And no, it's not just "different fans' interpretations of different scenes." It's also what the characters' creators have said about their intentions for the characters (again, Steve, are you suggesting that Chris Boucher's vision of Avon is invalid? Terry Nation's? David Maloney's? In which case they may as well give up writing, editing and directing entirely, as it's plain that their efforts at characterisation have been wasted).
It's also the fact that the scenes which have been "interpreted" as showing Avon/Blake affection have been shown to have been misremembered or grossly misconstrued (see Dana's post in which says that Avon has his hand in Blake's lap in The Web, which turns out to be inaccurate when watched back), whereas, while the same can be said of *some* scenes brought up to support the heterosexual position (e.g. Hostage), is definitely not the case for all (see my Blake/Jenna post if you like).
Furthermore, your argument as I understand it runs: "Oh, yes, there's evidence for heterosexuality, but because there's no explicit denial of homosexuality, bisexuality can't be ruled out." I think it's worth pointing out that there *is* a definite visual grammar within the series for conveying bisexuality. Take the cases of Carnell and Dorian, both intended to be bisexual, and both of whom convey this through giving a man a "cruisy look." Now, given that a character's bisexuality can be conveyed through such cues when the character *is* intended to be bisexual, the fact that other characters do *not* perform such cues is pretty strong evidence that the characters are *not* bisexual.
I'll further spell it out for you. Carnell has a total screen-time of about one-quarter of an episode. Dorian has a total screen-time of about a third of an episode. In that time, both characters--who *do* also give strong indications that they like women--manage to convey their bisexuality through brief glances and, in one case, suggestive dialogue. Avon and Blake's total screen time, together *and* apart, over the course of the series is easily twenty times that of Carnell and Dorian put together. In *all that time,* neither of them gives such an unambiguous visual or dialogue cue that they fancy men (I'd point out too that Avon does give a similarly cruisy look in "Gold"--to a woman-- which suggests that it's not a lack of ability in the cruise department). If somebody, somewhere in the production team, had wanted the characters to show a hint of bisexuality, they had ample opportunities to do so. But they didn't.
See also my post to Betty, sent a few minutes ago, on the subject of why there *cannot be* a major relationship between principals on B7.
I feel, actually, that it's a little insulting that I've gone back and watched all the Avon/Blake scenes that people have been citing, and on top of that watched a whole bunch of Blake/Jenna, Avon/Cally, Carnell/officer etc., scenes, and still you insist that my views have as much validity as if I had suggested that Avon likes ballroom dancing.
Fiona
The Posthumous Memoirs of Secretary Rontane Available for public perusal at http://nyder.r67.net
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