Queering the text
Jun. 29th, 2005 07:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ivyfic...or thoughts on the Xena episode Prometheus
A brief recap: Hera chains Prometheus, and mankind loses its ability to heal. Xena goes to free Prometheus and runs into Hercules and Iolaus, on the same task. There is some oh-so-misleading animosity between Hercules and Xena before they reveal that whoever frees Prometheus will be killed. Iolaus gets cut in a brawl, and Gabrielle nurses him as he slowly dies. Xena and Hercules free Prometheus without, you know, dying, and Iolaus gets to suck face with Gabrielle.
First and foremost, I have a few nits to pick.
-Once Xena and Hercules are on their own on their quest, Herc has some expository dialogue to the effect of "I do trust you, Xena. That's why I told you what Oracle to see if Prometheus was ever bound."
?!?
When did this come up?
Xena: I'm afraid of dying without ever telling you how I feel. You unchained my heart, Hercules
Hercules: Yeah, that's great. Look, if Hera ever happens to chain Prometheus and all mankind starts losing the ability to heal, go see the oracle at Plinth.
Xena: ?
Great pillow talk, Herc.
-Part of the charm of these shows is the low production values. Pretty much any time you’re not looking at the actors’ faces, you’re looking at doubles. And the doubles are not very similar. The doubles for both Hercules and Iolaus have horrid wigs and are not nearly as muscular as Kevin Sorbo and Michael Hurst. Iolaus’ pants practically hang off of his double. Anyway. In Prometheus there’s an inset shot of Iolaus in the barn looking at the blood on his fingers. About the third time I saw this, I realized that we are not looking at Michael Hurst’s hand. Why? Because the chest shown in the shot, though robed in the proper attire, is covered in hair. And Michael Hurst is pretty much body hair-less. It’s pretty damn funny, actually.
On to the real point of this post.
Prometheus turns what was already a strange little love triangle into an incestuous mess. Xena first seduced Iolaus. Then she turned good and declared her undying love for Hercules. In this installment she reiterates that, while Gabrielle goes after Iolaus. Given that Xena and Gabrielle eventually hook up, that means that the only pairs in the foursome that have not canonically hooked up are Hercules/Iolaus and Hercules/Gabrielle. Now, I know real life groups of friends that have gone through just as much date-swapping, but not many.
Add to this the respective ages of the characters. Judging by the ages of the actors, which line up pretty well with canon, Michael Hurst (Iolaus) was born in 1957, which makes him 38 at the time of this episode. Kevin Sorbo (Hercules) is two years younger, so 36. Lucy Lawless, on the other hand, was born in 1968, which makes her only 27. If we go by canon, Xena would have to be a little older than this, I’d guess early thirties. Renee O’Connor (Gabrielle) is only 24.
So let’s look at this Gabrielle/Iolaus pairing. Iolaus was a thief, trained as a warrior, has fought in quite a few wars, has spent decades adventuring with Hercules, has been married, and if we go by the official episode guide, has had two sons, both of which, along with his wife, have died. That’s quite a lot of life experience. Gabrielle, on the other hand, has spent her whole sheltered life living in a village. Plucky she may be, but at this point she doesn’t have a clue how to fight and takes it fine when Xena tells her to stay out of danger. She’s even canonically a virgin. Iolaus has “so many notches on his belt, it’s surprising it stays up.” Again, I know 24-year-olds who date 38-year-olds, but it’s such an unequal pairing. All they have in common is that they’re short, blond and sidekicks.
This episode makes a big fuss over “soul-mates,” etc., etc. But the explicitly heterosexual pairings of the episode (Xena/Hercules, Gabrielle/Iolaus) are completely undercut. Gabrielle tells Iolaus a story of how the Gods split humans in half so each human spends their life searching for the other half of their soul. At this point, she’s stroking Iolaus’ head cradled in her lap – a very tender moment. But she’s staring off into space as she relates the tale, clearly upset. Because of the plot of the episode, she could be worried about Iolaus, lying near death’s door – or Xena, going on a suicide mission. And I didn’t even have to squint to get that slashiness.
At the end of the episode, Iolaus asks Hercules if he thinks the talk about soul-mates is true. Hercules stares at Xena and says he knows it is. All you’d have to do is change one shot for that to go from straight-up hetyay to the slashiest declaration of love ever. And you don’t even really need that shot! Look at who’s having the conversation – Iolaus and Hercules have said goodbye to their respective honeys, but they only talk about soul-mates with each other. And in the end, Xena goes off with Gabrielle, and Iolaus with Hercules.
The writers, by creating a plot where three characters were in mortal danger, created an episode where it is impossible to take any declaration of heterosexual love at face value. It’s possible that any of the declarations are not being directed at the supposed object of their affection but at their partner. It’s too bad only Xena lasted long enough to walk through that tantalizing door.
And on a somewhat unrelated note…
Both Xena and Hercules feature a central hero/sidekick relationship. In both, the partners openly and repeatedly call each other best friends, or refer to the other as their heart, or conscience, or family, or some other such cloying endearment. But the partnerships are completely different.
Hercules and Iolaus have “spent more time together than [they] have apart,” according to Hercules. You believe them when they call each other best friends – that’s been true for their entire adult lives.
Xena, on the other hand, is calling Gabrielle her best friend within weeks of meeting her. It goes from “go away little girl, you annoy me” to best friend in the space of an episode. At first that seems forced and unrealistic, but it’s actually true. Gabrielle is Xena’s best friend. Because nobody else wants to be around Xena. The only other person that has shown Xena this much kindness is Hercules, and he’s already taken, as it were. Xena and Gabrielle in the first season are both lonely people trying to find their way. They become each other’s best friends by sheer force of will – they say it often enough and eventually it becomes true.
It’s interesting looking back at the first season of Xena now – it was a lot grittier then. Tons of action, tons of darkness, no goofy episodes, no goofy characters (save for one appearance by Joxer) – straight-up adventure story-telling. I like what Xena turned into later on, but it certainly changed.
*sigh* I’ve been meaning to finish this post for weeks. I feel so much better now.
And check out the new icon! Made it myself, thanks to Lisa's adobe software.
A brief recap: Hera chains Prometheus, and mankind loses its ability to heal. Xena goes to free Prometheus and runs into Hercules and Iolaus, on the same task. There is some oh-so-misleading animosity between Hercules and Xena before they reveal that whoever frees Prometheus will be killed. Iolaus gets cut in a brawl, and Gabrielle nurses him as he slowly dies. Xena and Hercules free Prometheus without, you know, dying, and Iolaus gets to suck face with Gabrielle.
First and foremost, I have a few nits to pick.
-Once Xena and Hercules are on their own on their quest, Herc has some expository dialogue to the effect of "I do trust you, Xena. That's why I told you what Oracle to see if Prometheus was ever bound."
?!?
When did this come up?
Xena: I'm afraid of dying without ever telling you how I feel. You unchained my heart, Hercules
Hercules: Yeah, that's great. Look, if Hera ever happens to chain Prometheus and all mankind starts losing the ability to heal, go see the oracle at Plinth.
Xena: ?
Great pillow talk, Herc.
-Part of the charm of these shows is the low production values. Pretty much any time you’re not looking at the actors’ faces, you’re looking at doubles. And the doubles are not very similar. The doubles for both Hercules and Iolaus have horrid wigs and are not nearly as muscular as Kevin Sorbo and Michael Hurst. Iolaus’ pants practically hang off of his double. Anyway. In Prometheus there’s an inset shot of Iolaus in the barn looking at the blood on his fingers. About the third time I saw this, I realized that we are not looking at Michael Hurst’s hand. Why? Because the chest shown in the shot, though robed in the proper attire, is covered in hair. And Michael Hurst is pretty much body hair-less. It’s pretty damn funny, actually.
On to the real point of this post.
Prometheus turns what was already a strange little love triangle into an incestuous mess. Xena first seduced Iolaus. Then she turned good and declared her undying love for Hercules. In this installment she reiterates that, while Gabrielle goes after Iolaus. Given that Xena and Gabrielle eventually hook up, that means that the only pairs in the foursome that have not canonically hooked up are Hercules/Iolaus and Hercules/Gabrielle. Now, I know real life groups of friends that have gone through just as much date-swapping, but not many.
Add to this the respective ages of the characters. Judging by the ages of the actors, which line up pretty well with canon, Michael Hurst (Iolaus) was born in 1957, which makes him 38 at the time of this episode. Kevin Sorbo (Hercules) is two years younger, so 36. Lucy Lawless, on the other hand, was born in 1968, which makes her only 27. If we go by canon, Xena would have to be a little older than this, I’d guess early thirties. Renee O’Connor (Gabrielle) is only 24.
So let’s look at this Gabrielle/Iolaus pairing. Iolaus was a thief, trained as a warrior, has fought in quite a few wars, has spent decades adventuring with Hercules, has been married, and if we go by the official episode guide, has had two sons, both of which, along with his wife, have died. That’s quite a lot of life experience. Gabrielle, on the other hand, has spent her whole sheltered life living in a village. Plucky she may be, but at this point she doesn’t have a clue how to fight and takes it fine when Xena tells her to stay out of danger. She’s even canonically a virgin. Iolaus has “so many notches on his belt, it’s surprising it stays up.” Again, I know 24-year-olds who date 38-year-olds, but it’s such an unequal pairing. All they have in common is that they’re short, blond and sidekicks.
This episode makes a big fuss over “soul-mates,” etc., etc. But the explicitly heterosexual pairings of the episode (Xena/Hercules, Gabrielle/Iolaus) are completely undercut. Gabrielle tells Iolaus a story of how the Gods split humans in half so each human spends their life searching for the other half of their soul. At this point, she’s stroking Iolaus’ head cradled in her lap – a very tender moment. But she’s staring off into space as she relates the tale, clearly upset. Because of the plot of the episode, she could be worried about Iolaus, lying near death’s door – or Xena, going on a suicide mission. And I didn’t even have to squint to get that slashiness.
At the end of the episode, Iolaus asks Hercules if he thinks the talk about soul-mates is true. Hercules stares at Xena and says he knows it is. All you’d have to do is change one shot for that to go from straight-up hetyay to the slashiest declaration of love ever. And you don’t even really need that shot! Look at who’s having the conversation – Iolaus and Hercules have said goodbye to their respective honeys, but they only talk about soul-mates with each other. And in the end, Xena goes off with Gabrielle, and Iolaus with Hercules.
The writers, by creating a plot where three characters were in mortal danger, created an episode where it is impossible to take any declaration of heterosexual love at face value. It’s possible that any of the declarations are not being directed at the supposed object of their affection but at their partner. It’s too bad only Xena lasted long enough to walk through that tantalizing door.
And on a somewhat unrelated note…
Both Xena and Hercules feature a central hero/sidekick relationship. In both, the partners openly and repeatedly call each other best friends, or refer to the other as their heart, or conscience, or family, or some other such cloying endearment. But the partnerships are completely different.
Hercules and Iolaus have “spent more time together than [they] have apart,” according to Hercules. You believe them when they call each other best friends – that’s been true for their entire adult lives.
Xena, on the other hand, is calling Gabrielle her best friend within weeks of meeting her. It goes from “go away little girl, you annoy me” to best friend in the space of an episode. At first that seems forced and unrealistic, but it’s actually true. Gabrielle is Xena’s best friend. Because nobody else wants to be around Xena. The only other person that has shown Xena this much kindness is Hercules, and he’s already taken, as it were. Xena and Gabrielle in the first season are both lonely people trying to find their way. They become each other’s best friends by sheer force of will – they say it often enough and eventually it becomes true.
It’s interesting looking back at the first season of Xena now – it was a lot grittier then. Tons of action, tons of darkness, no goofy episodes, no goofy characters (save for one appearance by Joxer) – straight-up adventure story-telling. I like what Xena turned into later on, but it certainly changed.
*sigh* I’ve been meaning to finish this post for weeks. I feel so much better now.
And check out the new icon! Made it myself, thanks to Lisa's adobe software.