siren (freeform) 2x01
Jan. 26th, 2019 04:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mswyrrStrong start to the season! It’s heartbreaking, how the story gives the ecological catastrophe going on right now a voice through the mermaids… there isn’t anything, really, a little tv show can do about that irl, and they don’t go so far that it feels like just pummeling the audience, but they don’t turn away either.
Connected with that, I love the way they continue to be committed to mermaids having their own distinct biology along with social and cultural practices. The recognition of Ryn’s leadership and then her keeping watch over Donna’s daughter… ;___;
I’m excited to see how things develop with Xander. They’re really pushing at themes that are so huge, in terms of ecological devastation, but what happened with Xander is a very *personal* story. How are they going to resolve that? His moment with Ryn, particularly considering that Donna’s child is here now, is definitely not the end. What will he choose to do to make amends?
Maddie’s mom and the issues with the siren song and Ben are being set up well. I’m not quite sure where they’re taking it, but they’re intentionally raising similar questions about illness, culpability, and addiction.
Maddie and Ben are Ryn’s people now <3 She loves them and misses them. Oh, man. The poly here is set up in such a deeply romantic way?
She’s the little poly mermaid who loves her human couple very, very much and has no context for the fact that love working the way it does–being for BOTH of them individually but as a unit she wants to be part of–is unusual in human society. LOL the way she approaches the kissing couple at the store and gets all up close to them, longing for being close to her couple the way she wants…
Oh, sweetie <3 It’s so great how they use mermaid culture to just be like: yeah, for Ryn loving a couple is normal. She’s sad and they’re struggling relating to each other, but she’s not confused about the nature of her caring and attraction to them. There’s no guilt or second guessing. It’s completely natural to her.
And, in that way, they’re centering a genuinely heartfelt *queer* perspective on relationships. Just tossing out or de-centering the old assumptions about male power (since Ryn’s people have female leaders and no assumption of male privilege) or about the healthy/normal nature of monogamy (I’m pretty sure mermaids commit long-term to their kin, but kin probably isn’t exclusively about sexual pairings, and I doubt monogamy is the default). Ben isn’t the sexist stereotype of the dude banging two women here: they’re all vulnerable and sensitive to each other and their hearts are aching for each other. It’s lovely!
Re: this promo
The fact that mermaid sexual culture is the opposite of the default patriarchal US human culture–so females are expected to be more sexually assertive and pursue mates they want–IS SO FUN.
And explains so much about Ryn’s behavior with Maddie and Ben, individually and as a couple: she’s been doing what’s natural in her culture, which is to pursue people/couples she wants to be with and hope they are receptive to her desire.
That’s why she kisses both of them, tells them both they “are love/family” to her, why she gets into bed to cuddle with both of them. She’s not familiar with the idea of putting out signals that she wants to be pursued, so she just commences to pursue, earnestly and sweetly :DD
They’re confused because it’s so different than the default US culture in so many ways, but I think Ryn literally doesn’t know how to be any clearer about what she wants! LOL. From her perspective, she’s given them both a very direct proposal and she’s awaiting their decision.
In most film/tv, well written romances that are actually centered need conflict. That conflict can be well done or badly done, but the conflict itself is just actually centering the idea that loving people is wonderful but also hard work. It’s actually a rejection of the way traditionally male-aimed narratives treat romance as if it’s just an extra, “getting the girl” on top of the real victory of your hero’s journey or whatever.
(Romance without conflict in male-centric stories is a byproduct of the straight male expectation that a woman will do all the relationship work. That there’s no need to pull his weight or think deeply about the inherent work involved.)
And I think the way the conflict and love with Ryn, Maddie, and Ben is being written is really good stuff. It’s grounded in who they are and their histories, both personal and with each other. It doesn’t invalidate the depth of their feelings. It doesn’t fall into cheap tropes about how gender dynamics should work or rely on cheap misunderstandings.
They’re struggling because loving each other is going to be hard: because it won’t fit the norms of human or mermaid society. Because they have pain and struggles to death with. But it’s going to be worth it too <33
IMO this conflict? The way it’s written? Depicts polyamory with *dignity*. As a real love story on par with more traditional love stories. It has BOTH internal conflict and external conflict wherein this OT3 represents the hope for union and healing between humans and mermaids.
The symbolic potential to bring healing to a broken world told through the capacity to love across differences belongs to a poly triad in this story. It’s not a side thing; it’s not a fetish. It’s at the very thematic core of the story.
It really is touching my heart to see it.
Connected with that, I love the way they continue to be committed to mermaids having their own distinct biology along with social and cultural practices. The recognition of Ryn’s leadership and then her keeping watch over Donna’s daughter… ;___;
I’m excited to see how things develop with Xander. They’re really pushing at themes that are so huge, in terms of ecological devastation, but what happened with Xander is a very *personal* story. How are they going to resolve that? His moment with Ryn, particularly considering that Donna’s child is here now, is definitely not the end. What will he choose to do to make amends?
Maddie’s mom and the issues with the siren song and Ben are being set up well. I’m not quite sure where they’re taking it, but they’re intentionally raising similar questions about illness, culpability, and addiction.
Maddie and Ben are Ryn’s people now <3 She loves them and misses them. Oh, man. The poly here is set up in such a deeply romantic way?
She’s the little poly mermaid who loves her human couple very, very much and has no context for the fact that love working the way it does–being for BOTH of them individually but as a unit she wants to be part of–is unusual in human society. LOL the way she approaches the kissing couple at the store and gets all up close to them, longing for being close to her couple the way she wants…
Oh, sweetie <3 It’s so great how they use mermaid culture to just be like: yeah, for Ryn loving a couple is normal. She’s sad and they’re struggling relating to each other, but she’s not confused about the nature of her caring and attraction to them. There’s no guilt or second guessing. It’s completely natural to her.
And, in that way, they’re centering a genuinely heartfelt *queer* perspective on relationships. Just tossing out or de-centering the old assumptions about male power (since Ryn’s people have female leaders and no assumption of male privilege) or about the healthy/normal nature of monogamy (I’m pretty sure mermaids commit long-term to their kin, but kin probably isn’t exclusively about sexual pairings, and I doubt monogamy is the default). Ben isn’t the sexist stereotype of the dude banging two women here: they’re all vulnerable and sensitive to each other and their hearts are aching for each other. It’s lovely!
Re: this promo
The fact that mermaid sexual culture is the opposite of the default patriarchal US human culture–so females are expected to be more sexually assertive and pursue mates they want–IS SO FUN.
And explains so much about Ryn’s behavior with Maddie and Ben, individually and as a couple: she’s been doing what’s natural in her culture, which is to pursue people/couples she wants to be with and hope they are receptive to her desire.
That’s why she kisses both of them, tells them both they “are love/family” to her, why she gets into bed to cuddle with both of them. She’s not familiar with the idea of putting out signals that she wants to be pursued, so she just commences to pursue, earnestly and sweetly :DD
They’re confused because it’s so different than the default US culture in so many ways, but I think Ryn literally doesn’t know how to be any clearer about what she wants! LOL. From her perspective, she’s given them both a very direct proposal and she’s awaiting their decision.
In most film/tv, well written romances that are actually centered need conflict. That conflict can be well done or badly done, but the conflict itself is just actually centering the idea that loving people is wonderful but also hard work. It’s actually a rejection of the way traditionally male-aimed narratives treat romance as if it’s just an extra, “getting the girl” on top of the real victory of your hero’s journey or whatever.
(Romance without conflict in male-centric stories is a byproduct of the straight male expectation that a woman will do all the relationship work. That there’s no need to pull his weight or think deeply about the inherent work involved.)
And I think the way the conflict and love with Ryn, Maddie, and Ben is being written is really good stuff. It’s grounded in who they are and their histories, both personal and with each other. It doesn’t invalidate the depth of their feelings. It doesn’t fall into cheap tropes about how gender dynamics should work or rely on cheap misunderstandings.
They’re struggling because loving each other is going to be hard: because it won’t fit the norms of human or mermaid society. Because they have pain and struggles to death with. But it’s going to be worth it too <33
IMO this conflict? The way it’s written? Depicts polyamory with *dignity*. As a real love story on par with more traditional love stories. It has BOTH internal conflict and external conflict wherein this OT3 represents the hope for union and healing between humans and mermaids.
The symbolic potential to bring healing to a broken world told through the capacity to love across differences belongs to a poly triad in this story. It’s not a side thing; it’s not a fetish. It’s at the very thematic core of the story.
It really is touching my heart to see it.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-27 01:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-27 04:25 am (UTC)It's also cool that they let the mermaids be physically intense and scary predators! And their culture has its own alien rules that the writers stick to. But those strengths all, again, tie into why the romance is so well done.
The writers follow through on how female-driven and group-centered they've envisioned the mermaid culture to be, which makes Ryn's "alien" poly pov an expression of her own desire and cultural values...
There's backstories of violence and misunderstanding between humans and mermaids, which Ben's family is complicit in, so there's, like... the thing where the younger generation represents the potential to repair the sins of the past through romance. And in this case that means a romance that incorporates mermaid values and kin group structures.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-27 04:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-27 04:31 am (UTC)It has its weaknesses, but they've really succeeded in committing to mermaid culture and what it means for the leads - that their dynamic is not designed around sexist/heteronormative/etc human culture. Not that the human leads are particularly into those things themselves!
But the writers really aren't shying away from depicting Ryn as a person from a culture with female-centered and polyamorous kin group structures. And the fact that Maddie and Ben are humans who are fluid/open to that is presented as a positive thing: maybe this time human/mermaid interaction can come from a place of love and healing and hope instead of fear and violence.