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Due South
In cases such as these, I believe the common expression is, "Fandom, why did you not tell me?"
However, in this instance, I believe to express such a sentiment would be unfair, because fandom did tell me. Due South wasn't the hugest show to ever hit America, but I've been hearing about it since I've been a part of fandom--or at least since I got a livejournal.
It's not even the case that fandom did not adequately express the unadulterated joy that this show is. It's just that fandom expresses joy quite often and with such exuberance, it really is difficult to tell whether it is a joy in which I will share, or to which I will react with general bemusement. Regarding Due South--fandom, I share the joy.
I often feel like books, movies, tv, and other assorted media have the discussions I want to have better than most people; they discuss morality and existence and the difficulty of relationships between people. Finding a new one that you like is like meeting a life-long friend who will never, not once, recognize that you exist.
Fandom, of course, is the answer. Fandom is the life-long friend who recognizes you. Canon is the absent third between you, who instead of being conspicuous in absence, is merely more deeply loved. And yet, I feel like I am bad at fandom. I'm bad at being friends with the wonderful, lovely people I know when we don't share a canon between us in the bed, and I'm bad at meeting people in a fandom that's new to me.
...This was supposed to be a post where I said, "OMG DUE SOUTH! Anyone? Can someone look at my fic and talk about it with me? Anyone?" But then I got obsessed with feeling sorry for myself.
However, in this instance, I believe to express such a sentiment would be unfair, because fandom did tell me. Due South wasn't the hugest show to ever hit America, but I've been hearing about it since I've been a part of fandom--or at least since I got a livejournal.
It's not even the case that fandom did not adequately express the unadulterated joy that this show is. It's just that fandom expresses joy quite often and with such exuberance, it really is difficult to tell whether it is a joy in which I will share, or to which I will react with general bemusement. Regarding Due South--fandom, I share the joy.
I often feel like books, movies, tv, and other assorted media have the discussions I want to have better than most people; they discuss morality and existence and the difficulty of relationships between people. Finding a new one that you like is like meeting a life-long friend who will never, not once, recognize that you exist.
Fandom, of course, is the answer. Fandom is the life-long friend who recognizes you. Canon is the absent third between you, who instead of being conspicuous in absence, is merely more deeply loved. And yet, I feel like I am bad at fandom. I'm bad at being friends with the wonderful, lovely people I know when we don't share a canon between us in the bed, and I'm bad at meeting people in a fandom that's new to me.
...This was supposed to be a post where I said, "OMG DUE SOUTH! Anyone? Can someone look at my fic and talk about it with me? Anyone?" But then I got obsessed with feeling sorry for myself.
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I have a question for you, which is by no means meant as judgment; it's just a point of interest. Would there be a way to have a gleeful show about an RCMP character? I often think this about westerns. I know it is possible to do a serious western in which the treatment of Native Americans is addressed. But is it possible to have fun ass-kicking ones that a) don't gloss over the issue and b) aren't offensive? I'm not sure. Does that mean we shouldn't have fun, ass-kicking westerns? I'm not sure. Do I get to decide? I'm not sure. It's a conundrum; that's pretty much all I'm certain of.
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Because really, the thing that's really setting my nerves twanging lately is... the Canadian government worked really studiously for a hundred years (well into Fraser's childhood) to obliterate aboriginal language and culture. The job of the RCMP was often to separate aboriginal children from their families and take them to residential schools. But now here we have Fraser, who grew up with a thorough knowledge of Inuktitut and Inuit culture. Hence the "dancing on graves" feeling.
At the same time... can I ask Due South to be any different? Can I ask it not to exist? Can I ask it to only reflect some alternate world where there isn't this tension? Because that such a person with such an upbringing would have that knowledge is not impossible or even improbable.
And Due South did address these issues, as much as it can. It gives the culture visibility and makes it relatable. It's sensitive to the problems (even though I don't know that non-Canadian viewers would pick up on that). Heck, the entire original reason Fraser is in the States is because he exposed, ahem, a massive RCMP cover-up of a plan to totally fuck aboriginal people over.
So maybe I think it's not something wrong with the show. It's something wrong with reality, that the show reminds me of in really painful ways. And I can't expect a show to fix the reality. While no, I don't want people to be hella racist, when it's like this, when the problem is my inability to move past the kind of trauma I deal with in my job, into a place where I realize that the world can also be full of goodness and laughter? Then, I think it's my problem to deal with, not the show's problem for existing.
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Yes. I think there's a lot to be said for Fraser being magical. Other Mounties are quite often not portrayed in a positive light (you mentioned the cover-up plan for the premise, but Thatcher and Turnbull are also played for ridicule--and while it's often for silly reasons, they make a great big point of the fact that Thatcher is power hungry, and that she and her superiors don't care who they stomp on to get what they want). I didn't feel this way when I started watching, but I've felt this way as they added more Mountie characters--I view Fraser as both an ideal and a reprimand. This is what you should be. This is what you should have been.
It gives the culture visibility
I was going to mention this. Of course, plenty of things that give visibility are also exploitive.
So maybe I think it's not something wrong with the show
Well, in my ideal world, genre doesn't exist. In my ideal world, a show like this could fluidly engage you with all that delight and laughter, then use that power to draw back and show a little of the truth, then move in again to delight you, and back and forth. I'm not sure that's possible, though. We take delight in certain things because they are frivolous and meaningless, and once you give them depth, you can experience a different kind of joy within, but you may not be able to do so without bittersweetness.
So, I mean, I'm glad genre exists, but giving things passes just due to genre isn't cool either. And that's not what you're doing; it's not what I'm doing either--what needs something in a certain genre fulfills for whom is important! But so is the void it leaves in its wake.
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