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Warrior Princess
May. 13th, 2005 12:58 pmI feel I need to preface this post to avoid accusations of "reading too much" into things.
The way I see it, there are two types of couples in media that people slash. There are those where the UST is not so much subtext as text, where it is clear from actions and dialogue that the two are either involved off-screen or lusting after each other. Examples of this, I would say, are Xena/Gabriel, Fraser/RayK, even Clark/Lex.
The other type is where the two are very emotionally close - best friends, brothers, comrades-in-arms, and the slash is just a way to exagerate that intimacy. Examples of this would be Frodo/Sam, Jeeves/Wooster, Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan.
(Actually, there's a third category, where the two characters have no or very little interaction with each other in canon, or that interaction is in no way sexual or intimate. Examples would be Jason/Billy (Power Rangers), Lucas/Krieg, Simon/Jayne. In this case the slashing is purely for the fun of it.)
I have no problem with any of these types of pairings, and will argue quite fervently in favor of slashing any of them, but since my argument here is based on homoeroticism in canon, I felt the need to clarify.
Hercules and Iolaus fall squarely into the second category for most of the series. Iolaus calls Hercules brother in "Mother of All Monsters," and throughout the series they refer to each other as best friends, partners. This is an intimacy born out of long friendship. It's clear that they tell each other pretty much everything (both seem to know events in episodes where they were absent) and trust each other completely.
So keep that in mind while I address:
( Homoeroticism in the episode )
Edited to correct a few misquotes after rewatching the ep.
The way I see it, there are two types of couples in media that people slash. There are those where the UST is not so much subtext as text, where it is clear from actions and dialogue that the two are either involved off-screen or lusting after each other. Examples of this, I would say, are Xena/Gabriel, Fraser/RayK, even Clark/Lex.
The other type is where the two are very emotionally close - best friends, brothers, comrades-in-arms, and the slash is just a way to exagerate that intimacy. Examples of this would be Frodo/Sam, Jeeves/Wooster, Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan.
(Actually, there's a third category, where the two characters have no or very little interaction with each other in canon, or that interaction is in no way sexual or intimate. Examples would be Jason/Billy (Power Rangers), Lucas/Krieg, Simon/Jayne. In this case the slashing is purely for the fun of it.)
I have no problem with any of these types of pairings, and will argue quite fervently in favor of slashing any of them, but since my argument here is based on homoeroticism in canon, I felt the need to clarify.
Hercules and Iolaus fall squarely into the second category for most of the series. Iolaus calls Hercules brother in "Mother of All Monsters," and throughout the series they refer to each other as best friends, partners. This is an intimacy born out of long friendship. It's clear that they tell each other pretty much everything (both seem to know events in episodes where they were absent) and trust each other completely.
So keep that in mind while I address:
( Homoeroticism in the episode )Edited to correct a few misquotes after rewatching the ep.
