are you familiar with Angry Puppy? it's a blog for gay geeks. in their video blog, the two guys who run the site, discuss TW on a weekly basis. a few weeks ago, they revealed their theory of janto. they think that jack is basically straight and falls in love with women (estelle, gwen, his unnamed wife) and has shags with men (ianto, various men decsribed in anecdotes). they think that if he hadn't grown up in such a liberal time and had the experience of time travel in disparate cultures that jack would essentially be a straight guy.
that was an interpretation that i had never considered, btu one that is born out by the evidence. jack does tend to mention men as shags, and seems to view women as love objects. the only man that we know he loved was the doctor and the doctor is always a special case.
my point is this: the janto ship is ridiculous. to have any sense of them as a couple, you have to watch the show in order, then go back and rewatch season one after viewing fragments, read the captains blog, and analyze every lingering look to death.
that's essentially what you have to do to sustain a SLASH 'ship, not a canonical gay relationship. maybe that's the source of your frustration. i'll walk five miles in a blizzard to interpret and sustain my slash pairing, but canonical 'ships, even gay 'ships should be right there on the screen.
i think i understand the jack/ianto relationship. from reading your blog, i think we have similar views, but the idea that jack uses ianto is very understandable. jack "cheated" on ianto in captain jack harkness, made googly eyes at Gwen throught season 2 and seemed to have a special bond with her in season 1. then you have ianto, who is a confirmed fool for love (cybewoman) sniffing jack's coat and crying in end of days. that gives one the sense that ianto loves more and the person who loves more is always in an inferior position. it's not that jacks a bastard, but the sense is that jack has affection for ianto, while ianto deeply loves jack.
my hope for season 3? that jack and ianto break up. seriously. that'll give them a chance to re-build somethjing onscreen, so then we'll see why they care for each other.
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Date: 2008-05-14 06:34 am (UTC)that was an interpretation that i had never considered, btu one that is born out by the evidence. jack does tend to mention men as shags, and seems to view women as love objects. the only man that we know he loved was the doctor and the doctor is always a special case.
my point is this: the janto ship is ridiculous. to have any sense of them as a couple, you have to watch the show in order, then go back and rewatch season one after viewing fragments, read the captains blog, and analyze every lingering look to death.
that's essentially what you have to do to sustain a SLASH 'ship, not a canonical gay relationship. maybe that's the source of your frustration. i'll walk five miles in a blizzard to interpret and sustain my slash pairing, but canonical 'ships, even gay 'ships should be right there on the screen.
i think i understand the jack/ianto relationship. from reading your blog, i think we have similar views, but the idea that jack uses ianto is very understandable. jack "cheated" on ianto in captain jack harkness, made googly eyes at Gwen throught season 2 and seemed to have a special bond with her in season 1. then you have ianto, who is a confirmed fool for love (cybewoman) sniffing jack's coat and crying in end of days. that gives one the sense that ianto loves more and the person who loves more is always in an inferior position. it's not that jacks a bastard, but the sense is that jack has affection for ianto, while ianto deeply loves jack.
my hope for season 3? that jack and ianto break up. seriously. that'll give them a chance to re-build somethjing onscreen, so then we'll see why they care for each other.