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Old 04-15-2017, 03:10 PM
  #62
PetiteFleur
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelfling (View Post)
you have such a man crush, it's cute
Yeah, that was unexpected but the guy is cute, what's wrong with that? (don't tell me I'm alone in this?)
I actually do wonder if it's the actor or the character Probably both, because Thomas is a sweet angel (and their love is most pure and it's the only thing that can save the world
Spoiler:

OK I'll shut up now), and RPJ is a perfect casting choice.
Btw, I like this post about Thomas, kinda what I thought about when I saw some people calling him a "bland character".

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelfling (View Post)
Just because you deluded yourself into thinking it was a dude show that was going to fulfill your alpha make fantasies doesn't make it true.
But... but... it's a pirate show!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelfling (View Post)
Because they just don't grasp Flint for who he is. ALL he is. They just think of him as a tragic hero who would rather die than keep living after victory eluded him. They don't see who he is. And they don't get what his motivations were. And worse of all, they don't get his love for Thomas was the driving force behind everything else. Worst part is, I don't even think they would get it if Thomas was a woman.
But that's the thing, he doesn't even die willingly because he lost everything, if we go along with this theory, he's just killed by a person whom he trusted the most, so that this person can get his chance to stop the war and live peacefully with the woman he loves. What's so honorable in that?!
And IGN called reuniting with Thomas a consolation prize for Flint.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelfling (View Post)
Yeah it was totally the other way around. But she's a woman so she can't use sex to make a point, can she? Women are soft
They kinda agreed in the end that it was intentional on her part, but still thought it was a bad thing to do.

To be fair, I quite like this podcast, and really recommend it, because there're a lot of great insights there, they really understand the show's themes much better than most of the reviewers, and that's what make it worse when they miss the point.
Another thing that annoyed me is their interpretation of the iconic straightbaiting scene in S1. Their take on it is that it was a conscious decision on Flint's part not to go 'there' despite his attraction to Eleanor at that moment, as it would complicate things between them. And that is heteronormativity at its finest for you, because they started their podcast after they had watched the first three seasons, so they knew both Flint's backstory and the way their relationship developed over the course of the show.
I can understand that you can see the scene this way when you first watch it (although I didn't), because it was deliberately made to look like some typical *sexual tension* scene in order to play with viewers expectations. But upon rewatch? Nah.
Full disclosure: I personally read Flint as gay, not bi (and you've probably already guessed as I always call him a gay character just wanted to clarify that I don't use 'gay' as an umbrella term as some people do), even though I understand the concern re: bi erasure, but this is not the case here. Human sexuality is not as cut and dry as some people want it to be, and his relationship with Miranda post-London is about comforting more than anything. I'm head-banging against my desk every time I read that their miserable sex scene is a confirmation of Flint's sexual attraction to women. Like, did you even see his face there? As for their time in London, again, it's not like gay people never have sexual relationships with the people of opposite sex (even when not forced), and societal norms and expectations along with the ability (or lack thereof) to discover oneself should always be kept in mind. It's 1700s we're talking about, people!
It's kinda the same with Anne, actually. Her arc in s2 is her realizing she's gay, not bi.
Anyway, the creators called them both gay a few times, so it's not even an argument, it's just irritating sometimes to read comments that if a person had previously have relationships with the opposite sex that are meaningful then they're not gay. Way to oversimplify things.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelfling (View Post)
but yeah, to answer your question, he certainly would have. In fact, Jesus was as lefty as they come. He was against organized religion and the oppression of religious structures on the people. He was for hating the sin and loving the sinner, and he was always on the side of the disenfranchised.
And every time I read something about him, it's making my head spin what a glaring gap there is between what he taught people and what religion is about now.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelfling (View Post)
I know, right? I once got blocked by a homophobe on twitter after I asked him "do you usually think about two people ****ing when you see them in the street? And you don't think maybe the problem is with you, not them?"
I've said the same to a few people myself, and it's always amusing to watch their reaction, as if their brain fails to process what I mean and at the same time they're deeply offended by it.

But seriously, I don't get what's their problem with James/Thomas relationship, their scenes were the most chaste in the whole show, and the show is actually criticized for that, considering that the main conflict revolves around the love between them, along with the lack of other mlm characters (with some people going as far as declaring the show an utter failure for "telling, not showing" while having "Know no shame" as a main theme).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelfling (View Post)
Yeah I saw that. Sometimes you have to wonder what the UN is for.
I'm not even sure that they really can change anything in this situation, especially in that region. I mean, all the economic sanctions imposed against our government officials over the past few years don't seem to bother them that much (there was a law passed recently that exempt them from taxes ), it's only regular folks who suffer, and who cares about them, eh?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelfling (View Post)
But I'm with you. Things are and will keep getting better. They can't put the toothpaste back in the tube now. The flaring of homophobic oppression is further proof that things are getting better. It's a last ditch effort by people who know their time is past.
I personally don't think I'll be a witness of this change for the better in our country, not in my lifetime (hell, I don't even know what to expect in the near future economically and politically, and that's actually one of the reasons I've been depressed), but I can't stand the thought that it will always be this way, so yeah, someday people will live and love freely and openly even here. Someday.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelfling (View Post)
Talk about people living out of the norm. It's like it's harder for a modern audience to accept that two people can be just as close as lovers without being lovers.
Let me just quote Jon Steinberg:
Quote:
In terms of Rackham and Bonny, I think that was another thing that I assumed for a long time could never go away. That they were essentially, you know, that they were married. You know not legally, but they were functionally married. And then this story happened in Season 2 with Bonny, that I think with like with a gun to my head of things that I’m proud of with the show, probably at the top is this story of this woman coming out and understanding that she’s gay. Especially given the life she’s led, that was something we had to fight for. I think it was something that people were really weirded out by like “wait a minute, she kicks ass and she’s awesome why is she in a dress?” And so when we got to a point where it was like… I think she’s gay? Like I don’t think this is something we want to be wishy-washy about. It required getting over that hump with Rackham of Well like what am I going to do with this relationship? I don’t want to split them up? And I think it became something way more interesting, it became I think what they probably…yeah they’re twins essentially. I mean I think they are in the mythological sense they’re the twins in the story who are essentially two halves of the same person.
It's from his previous interview for Fathoms Deep (someone else transcribed it, it's not me to be thankful to )

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelfling (View Post)
nah, you just need a rewatch
I persuaded a friend of mine to start watching it, so I'm rewatching some episodes as well and then we're discussing it, she started S2 yesterday and already guessed that Thomas might be gay because of that other officer's comment that Thomas probably wouldn't mind if James slept with Miranda, I'm shocked!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelfling (View Post)
Heh, hence the rewatch! Seriously though, don't you love a show that has real meaning, beyond the words, that reveals itself over time?
It's killing me, and I don't even mind (I don't know what to do with my life anyway )
Can you believe Flint said this in 2x08??
‘I always thought this journey would end in battle. A fight to preserve the things we held dear. I understood that. I was ready for that. Now, as it turns out, something else lies at the end of this road. Judgment. Not of Nassau, but of me and the man that I’ve become.
They knew it all along!
I love this comment from tumblr:
Spoiler:


There are of course other shows that have great long arcs and require your attention to lots of little details (off the top of my head, Person of Interest), but with Black Sails it's "entirely something else". And it affects you so profoundly on an emotional level, that rare shows are able to do.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelfling (View Post)
Don't! Come here and discuss!
I honestly don't know what else I can say about it, someone posted a gifset on tumblr with the quotes from Hamilton over the screenshots from Black Sails (btw, having characters with the same last name helps as well ), and I was just floored with the awesomeness of it.
Like you have these two people (granted, one historical figure, one fictional) who struggle with the society judging them for being of 'low birth' and who work their asses off to succeed in life, who have amazing rhetorical skills and who are ultimately pursuing the same goal, i.e. the independence from England, a chance of starting fresh in the New World, and then you have this theme of power of storytelling, and what history will make of you (and who will tell your story), and I'm just at a loss for words.

Aaaaand I'm dead:

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