Reflection and Analysis

Romantic Subtext - Is It Really There? (7/28/21)

"This, coupled with my previous frustrations from never-to-be-realized queer subtext in other sports anime like Free! Iwatobi Swim Club..."

I discovered this line on an article written for GLAAD called "Yuri!!! On Ice" and the importance of positive LGBTQ representation written by Palmer Haasch and I find myself rather miffed when I see statements from this, because when people start talking about "subtext" they're honestly talking about what they personally have chosen to interpret as such "subtext" rather than something which was meant to contain such subtext.

The problem is, as Anthony Gramuglia points out in their article, "Fandom, PLEASE Stop Misusing the Term 'Queerbaiting'" in regards to the matter, "This latter is often referred to as "queerbaiting," but as a concept, it is often misunderstood by fans." The definition they give is that "queerbaiting is when the creative minds behind a piece of media tease LGBTQ representation -- in interviews, on social media, or in conversations with fans -- but there is no actual canon representation."

Notice how their definition involves what happens OUTSIDE of the canon material and not what happens INSIDE of the canon material. In other words...

It does NOT involve having characters you think are hot and thus should be the LGBT couple.

It does NOT involve having characters have strong relationships which are otherwise platonic in nature that you're choosing to interpret as a "queer subtext".

It does NOT involve refusing to admit that some of the behaviors people are claiming indicate a romance and wouldn't show up in a platonic relationship are in fact platonic.

The closest thing we've come to supposed "queer baiting" for Free is a line fans of a certain ship love to claim is proof that a certain staff member wants to pair the two up and yet having read the line, there is absolutely no mention of the two characters being queer in said quote and in reality the quote can easily be interpreted as being about a platonic relationship or a bromance rather than a romantic one between the two.

Also, while representation is important, not getting it isn't some form of phobia, in this case homophobia, but why would anyone want to create such representation if you're labeling everything else they do as homophobic when it's not? For example, as of writing this reflection, based on my AO3 stats, based on this logical fallacy, 97.8% of my work is homophobic because only 2.2% of my work contains any LGBT content.

Of course, some individuals may argue back, "But your work can't possibly count as an example given the fact there is absolutely no way anybody would read something you wrote and think a slash ship was end game."

Except, it's happened. It happened in regards to a very popular ship and it happened simply because the two have a strong friendship in the series, so by this logic people aren't allowed to show anybody having close friendships anymore lest people suddenly get the idea that they're going to be in a ship.

Funny how that's bad writing, isn't it?

By bad writing I mean not having the characters be in strong platonic relationships with each other just because someone might come to the conclusion that the platonic is actually shipping subtext. Because lets be honest, it doesn't just go for slash this interpretation of platonic relationships as being something more.

Even I'm not immune to placing romantic subtext onto a platonic context, but lets stop pretending its anything but that. Lets stop pretending that the romantic subtext should in some way invalidate the platonic context, that if the platonic context doesn't become romantic context there is something nefarious about the whole thing.

Like, no, there isn't.

Well, sometimes there is, I admit, but you need to base your accusations on something more than "that's the way I wanted the canon material to go", but if that's your argument - well, you're wrong and guilty of fallacy of logic. What I said applies to het and slash ships.