What It All Boils Down To...

[moonshayde]

I'm talking about ships.

I've noticed that in multiple fandoms (Smallville, Stargate, X-Files, and Harry Potter for example) there may be discussions about plot, character, themes, and story, but in the end it all seems to boil down to ship. (Defining ship here in the broad sense - het or slash.) Sure, there are people in fandom that are there just for characters and plot. But those that are mainly focused on shipping is by far the majority. Once you weed through the hearty discussion of character arcs and plot, you'll see that people are arguing for "who ends up with who." Out of everything, this becomes the main focus and the most passionate for fans.

Take a look at any forum or discussion area. Doesn't matter which fandom. Most of them mirror each other.

So, I ask why? Why do we (in general) abandon everything else about the story, making it secondary to the ship? Why is it so vital to have the end goal be "so and so ends up with Clark" or "so and so ends up with Mulder" or "so and so ends up with Jack?" Why does that becoming the most defining attribute of the story or the characters? Why are we defining them by their romantic entanglements? Why are we defining them by their prize at the end of the day?

And is it the woman who is the prize in the end? Or the man? I've seen this go back and forth and it may depend on the fandom.

It happens across fandoms. I've noticed it a lot lately. As stargazercmc mentioned, is this something inate or does fandom perpetuate it? I wonder does this feed some basic human need or is something else going on here?

Comments

[captain-tiv.livejournal.com]

I think part of it is a reaction to the "everyone needs to get married, have kids, etc" way of thinking that has permeated movies and tv shows for the last almost 100 years.

Go back further. Even Pride and Prejudice was obsessed in areas about finding the right husband. Jane Eyre was about getting Jane and Rochester together.

I don't think it's fandom per se. I think it's a way of thinking that gets repeated, revisited and reinvented generation after generation. At a very young age, kids are seeing tv shows and movies where the leading man and leading lady getting together. It's an easy plot device to use. It becomes something "normal" in the every day way of thinking. It finally becomes THE plot point to discover because it's the "natural" one to gravitate to because it's everywhere. Why would anyone look for other things when this particular part of the story just HAS to be there or you just don't have a story worth watching/reading? I mean, if it isn't there, isn't that a sign of the Apocalypse?

It's conditioning and brainwashing. :)

That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. *g*

[betacandy.livejournal.com]

I agree with this (and no, I didn't just stop with this comment). I think there's a longterm cultural obsession with romance and that filters into fandom. Plus, I think TV, movies and novels have developed this really stock form of romance* and think they can just replicate it a billion times and we'll keep coming back, so it's a vicious cycle.

*There is such a thing as well-written, fascinating romance... but it's about as rare as having a show kill off its lead. :~D

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I'm sure that's a huge part of it. I just find it really interesting how with some people the whole story gets boiled down to the pairing of choice. Everything is een through that lens. I've done it before myself so it's not a value judgement here. i'm just curious.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

That's a very good point. I'm really thinking about and trying to understand the spychology of this pattern and why there is so much passion, both sheer joy and utter hatred that can be connected with funnel a show/story down to a single pair. I find it fascinating.

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

Great points, Tiv. I didn't read your post earlier because Kerri's question/post hit a nerve with me. But you're right. Even Dickens had it as a major plot-point in a lot of his books, as did Dumas. Heck, the overriding "plot" in Odysseus was his having to get back to his wife Penelope (all the while dicking around with Circe and other lovelies) and the Kingship.

Inanna was all about retrieving her husband from the underworld.

HOWever...taking *one* type of plot above all others and elevating it to Obsessive status is beyond all frustration, whether it's shorthand or not for "and it all happened happily".

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Hit a nerve? More like I jackhammered it ;)

But GAH. THANK YOU *random caps* You finally said the right thing for me to concisely vocalize (or type) what I meant. I obviously didn't make sense last night because not too many people understood what I was trying to say.

It boils down to the question of why people would take a story where the romance or possibility of romance is a subplot and make it the MAIN plot when obviously that is the the end game for the story?

Does that make more sense? The theme of Lord of the Rings is not the story of Aragorn and Arwen finally becoming a couple. It's primarily Frodo's journey and the struggle within himself.

That is not the best example because LOTR has many themes. But do I make any sense at all? LOL