I agree with all of this. I really am annoyed with the lack of direction in the writing that would leave room for the idea that Jack would actually treat anybody like that in the current phase of his life. I could maybe see him doing that at some point when he might have been so caught up in his own anger and selfishness that he didn't care, but he has eschewed that, now. (Besides, we are shown his care for the murdered Blowfish in 'Fragments,' where he's really miserable and bitter, so I'm not even sure about his ever allowing himself to treat a subordinate with so little consideration.) Frankly, I think he's far more likely to whore himself out to the highest bidder than to demand that someone do that for him.
I've been tearing my hair out over the whole idea that just because Jack is extremely open to sexual experiences of all sorts, and certainly enjoys talking about them, it must mean that he's out trolling for things with holes every other night. Frankly, I think that he's looking for belonging and love. Belonging and love do not have to mean a monogamous, forever relationship, though it seems clear that Jack can do that, if he needs to. I think that he actually can be an annoyingly needy person, in certain ways, which is why I really can't see him getting together with Gwen on a long-term basis. (They'd kill each other. A lot!) More to the point, though, I think that it's very important to him, at least at this point in his punishingly long life, to be a good man. I think that seeing what's worth saving, what's worth living for, is what keeps him sane through the most impossible of times, and you can't do that and be the sort of person who would knowingly harass a coworker, let alone a subordinate, without their express consent.
There is also the fact that Jack has for some time been patterning his behaviour off that of a World War II British officer, and that code of conduct expressly forbade any such abuse. Jack has clearly modified the code for acceptable contemporary use, of course, and has cheerfully ignored the strictures against homosexual acts all along, but he's kept the important stuff intact.
Given everything that we've seen of both of these characters, I'm not going to be able to view their relationship as one in which Jack is taking callous advantage of Ianto. It just doesn't fit. I'm really angry at the writers for not showing us critical moments anywhere but in the Captain's Blog on BBCA, such as the one you and I and so many others would have liked to see after 'Exit Wounds,' but given the way they have written Jack so far, and the way JB has portrayed him, I simply would not find such an interpretation of him credible at this point, even if the PTB wrote that in in series 3.
Thank you for this post, and for tolerating my rambling. I'll be looking for your poll on the subject. :)
no subject
I've been tearing my hair out over the whole idea that just because Jack is extremely open to sexual experiences of all sorts, and certainly enjoys talking about them, it must mean that he's out trolling for things with holes every other night. Frankly, I think that he's looking for belonging and love. Belonging and love do not have to mean a monogamous, forever relationship, though it seems clear that Jack can do that, if he needs to. I think that he actually can be an annoyingly needy person, in certain ways, which is why I really can't see him getting together with Gwen on a long-term basis. (They'd kill each other. A lot!) More to the point, though, I think that it's very important to him, at least at this point in his punishingly long life, to be a good man. I think that seeing what's worth saving, what's worth living for, is what keeps him sane through the most impossible of times, and you can't do that and be the sort of person who would knowingly harass a coworker, let alone a subordinate, without their express consent.
There is also the fact that Jack has for some time been patterning his behaviour off that of a World War II British officer, and that code of conduct expressly forbade any such abuse. Jack has clearly modified the code for acceptable contemporary use, of course, and has cheerfully ignored the strictures against homosexual acts all along, but he's kept the important stuff intact.
Given everything that we've seen of both of these characters, I'm not going to be able to view their relationship as one in which Jack is taking callous advantage of Ianto. It just doesn't fit. I'm really angry at the writers for not showing us critical moments anywhere but in the Captain's Blog on BBCA, such as the one you and I and so many others would have liked to see after 'Exit Wounds,' but given the way they have written Jack so far, and the way JB has portrayed him, I simply would not find such an interpretation of him credible at this point, even if the PTB wrote that in in series 3.
Thank you for this post, and for tolerating my rambling. I'll be looking for your poll on the subject. :)
Catherine