Questions for panel discussion

[sassyinkpen.livejournal.com]

HI!!

I'm going to be attenting Zcon next week, and as part of that, I'm on a panel discussing why we love to slash men in the military.

We'll be disscussing Tour of Duty, Combat, The A-Team, some others I don't know about, and of course...M*A*S*H.

I would love to hear some thoughts, ideas and general squee from those of you who, like me, are fans of the show.

Some things I'd like to hear bout:

What's your favorite pairing and why?
Who could you never slash on the show?
Do you get a lot of flack for slashing what so many seem to view as a 'family' show?
How do you feel about that?
What attracted you to the slash component of the show?
What attracts you to a military fandom?
What would you like fans of other military shows to know about this one?
What, if any, do you think are "issues" in this fandom?

Answer any of them, all of them or toss in your own thoughts...any thing you'd like to add is great. Thanks so much!

Comments

[smithy161.livejournal.com]

What's your favorite pairing and why?

B.J./Hawkeye, probably because there's more angst potential than Hawkeye/Trapper (which I don't mind, since B.J. and Trapper aren't contempories, so the pairings can co-exist, as it were).

Who could you never slash on the show?
Frank, because he seems rather homophobic ("degenerates!"), and the Father, because he's just too innocent for that sort of shenannigans.

Do you get a lot of flack for slashing what so many seem to view as a 'family' show?
Well I don't really talk about it with anyone except other slashers. So no. I don't see why a 'family show' should have homosexual relationships featured in it if it has heterosexual ones anyway.

How do you feel about that?
If I ever got flack, I'd stand my ground. If there's het, why not slash?

What attracted you to the slash component of the show?
The slash just kind of leaps out at you. A bunch of guys cooped up together far from home with plenty of angst and fluff potential sloshing about? Yum. I also like the het angles present too, mind you.

What attracts you to a military fandom?
Nothing specifically. I don't particularly go for military shows, just sit-coms which are well written and acted, and are funny. Anyway, M*A*S*H is going for sort of the opposite of military, in a way.

What would you like fans of other military shows to know about this one?
M*A*S*H is the show that clears up after war shows. There's very little violence (*points at rating guide on back of DVD case* see?) and much more irony and generalised satire directed at the military. And yet, somehow, it's still good for a decent war story.

What, if any, do you think are "issues" in this fandom?
Got issues? Go tissues!
*Ahem*
I'm wondering if you could expand on this question a bit? 'Issues' is a bit wide. Every episode has its own issues. But of course, the all-encompassing issue is how stupid war can be.

[sassyinkpen.livejournal.com]

Let's see...

(by "issues" I sort of left ir broad to see what people came up with.)

However, in general...a lot of fandoms have stuff that comes up, either with canon or the fans or whatever. One issue of the Harry Potter fandom is the segement of underage sex situations. An issue in the House fandom is how his drug use and leg injury are portrayed both in canon and in fanfiction, and how true to life it is.

Could be anything that you see as worth bringing up, I guess.

Thanks for your help, this is great stuff.

[smithy161.livejournal.com]

I've just re-read my post and realised I made a typo which changes what I was trying to say drastically.
"I don't see why a 'family show' should have homosexual relationships featured in it if it has heterosexual ones anyway.
That 'should' ought to be 'shouldn't. Looks like I'm saying homosexual pairings aren't necessary, when I was really trying to say they shouldn't be shyed away from any more than het, in a gender shouldn't make a difference! sort of way.

I'm done now.