I think there is a lot to agree with here, in both the post and everyone's comments; having said that, though, I do wonder whether gender and orientation, as it were, would be quite such an issue if Gwen was kick-ass (at least as kick-ass as Ianto) or if anyone liked her even a little bit. Had Gwen many of the awesome characteristics that Ianto posses -- gorgeous and smart, funny as hell, impeccable work attire, efficiency in action (I really like how he wields that stun gun: "Tell me what I need to know.... Thanks. ZAP. Next?!" ) -- then I don't think people would have a problem with it. The core issue is that there is no earthly reason I can think of for Jack's feelings; they've given us no montage of Gwack building something together or training for a big match with Night Ranger playing in the background (that's how people really fall in love, right?), nor is she awesome enough to inspire love from afar.
Or, you might think about it this way: If in his next incarnation the Doctor were to be a woman, and retain all the awesome sauce of the doctors before, would it really be awful for Jack to carry on loving the Doctor exactly as he does now? I don't think so. Nor would I be upset if his feelings for the Doctor were to take a larger plot role, should such a gender switch happen.
By the same token, if Ianto were all self-righteous and whiny, I don't think the audience would be clamoring for a healthy same-sex portrayal. (Buffy-verse analogy here: I love me some Buffy + Angel, but I also LOVE me some Buffy + Spike because Spike owns, period. On the other hand, Angel + Cordelia = GROSS because she is stupid and boring. So, if Jack is Buff, Gwen is like Cordy and Ianto is Spike-like hotness.)
Bottom line: Jack + Gwen = Timeless Love does not add up, regardless of the couple's orientation, because Gwen being the object of all that timeless adoration is just unbelievable at the most fundamental level.
On the other issue, of Jack's treatment of Ianto, the more I think about the conference room retconning scene, the more uncomfortable I feel about their relationship. For me, the defining moment of Janto's shift toward ick was when Ianto thinks about the devastation he felt at Lisa's death and says to Jack, "You gave me meaning again."
At this point, Ianto clearly adores -- worships, even -- Jack in an unconditional sort of way, and deeply enough that brains don't enter in to the scenario. I like to think of myself as a damn smart woman -- damn smart -- and haven't I fallen madly for someone that I KNOW does not feel the same way, who clearly only used me as a substitute girlfriend? Uh... hello. Yes. Did I know what was happening the whole time? Yes. Did it make a difference to the way I felt? No. I did what I could to protect myself, as Ianto appeared to be doing in the first half of the season, but it takes a lot for a person to wean themselves off the delusions of the love crack (hello, Martha at the end of DW season 3?).
Anyway, I think Jack is a tool because there is an obvious power inequity here, and he knows it but takes advantage anyway. Obviously, he's Ianto's boss, and there's definitely repercussions there. But, also, after a statement like "You give me meaning," he should know by persisting with Ianto he's just shamelessly exploiting those feelings. (In a recent fic I wrote that to Jack, their escapades are "a creative form of self-congratulation and masturbation" and it rings true more than ever.) "Doing pizza and Ianto" in this context is just... ew. Guh, like he doesn't even respect Ianto enough to afford him some privacy (like some prototypical jock who talks about the girl he banged in his car last night).
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Or, you might think about it this way: If in his next incarnation the Doctor were to be a woman, and retain all the awesome sauce of the doctors before, would it really be awful for Jack to carry on loving the Doctor exactly as he does now? I don't think so. Nor would I be upset if his feelings for the Doctor were to take a larger plot role, should such a gender switch happen.
By the same token, if Ianto were all self-righteous and whiny, I don't think the audience would be clamoring for a healthy same-sex portrayal. (Buffy-verse analogy here: I love me some Buffy + Angel, but I also LOVE me some Buffy + Spike because Spike owns, period. On the other hand, Angel + Cordelia = GROSS because she is stupid and boring. So, if Jack is Buff, Gwen is like Cordy and Ianto is Spike-like hotness.)
Bottom line: Jack + Gwen = Timeless Love does not add up, regardless of the couple's orientation, because Gwen being the object of all that timeless adoration is just unbelievable at the most fundamental level.
On the other issue, of Jack's treatment of Ianto, the more I think about the conference room retconning scene, the more uncomfortable I feel about their relationship. For me, the defining moment of Janto's shift toward ick was when Ianto thinks about the devastation he felt at Lisa's death and says to Jack, "You gave me meaning again."
At this point, Ianto clearly adores -- worships, even -- Jack in an unconditional sort of way, and deeply enough that brains don't enter in to the scenario. I like to think of myself as a damn smart woman -- damn smart -- and haven't I fallen madly for someone that I KNOW does not feel the same way, who clearly only used me as a substitute girlfriend? Uh... hello. Yes. Did I know what was happening the whole time? Yes. Did it make a difference to the way I felt? No. I did what I could to protect myself, as Ianto appeared to be doing in the first half of the season, but it takes a lot for a person to wean themselves off the delusions of the love crack (hello, Martha at the end of DW season 3?).
Anyway, I think Jack is a tool because there is an obvious power inequity here, and he knows it but takes advantage anyway. Obviously, he's Ianto's boss, and there's definitely repercussions there. But, also, after a statement like "You give me meaning," he should know by persisting with Ianto he's just shamelessly exploiting those feelings. (In a recent fic I wrote that to Jack, their escapades are "a creative form of self-congratulation and masturbation" and it rings true more than ever.) "Doing pizza and Ianto" in this context is just... ew. Guh, like he doesn't even respect Ianto enough to afford him some privacy (like some prototypical jock who talks about the girl he banged in his car last night).
And that's pretty damn unforgivable.