(*Yeah, right!)
And now for something completely frivolous!
Xena fans have expended an astonishing amount of effort on analysis of lesbian subtext. Is it really there? How intentional is it? How much of it is there? Let’s make a complete list of every possible subtext moment in every single episode! Let’s make subtext the whole point of the show, and interpret every single phrase out of context! Let’s declare that that scene/line/episode never happened, because we don’t like the implications it has on X&G’s relationship!
Now, don’t get me wrong – there is nothing wrong with any of this. In fact, it’s amazing what we have accomplished – the fan fiction alone is absolutely amazing. And I certainly appreciate the need to re-imagine something in order to identify with it. But in the end, I like to think that the authors’ story is, well, the real story! Call it artistic integrity, if you will. (I’m guessing that my classical music background has a lot to do with my opinions on this subject – ‘composer’s original intent’ and all that.)
Anyway, I’m going to try and write something that I haven’t seen yet – an analysis of Xena subtext that is completely canon. (Excepting, of course, the intentionally out-of-character comic moments.) It will consider all of the relationships, and try and ‘connect the dots’ in a reasonable way. In other words, it’s the story, told as I would have wanted to see it, without ignoring what was actually written. And as a bonus, it’s yet another take on the Xena chronology; I make no claims as to accuracy.
So, here goes!
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