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sara_m_martins 's review for:
Queerbaiting and Fandom: Teasing Fans through Homoerotic Possibilities
by Joseph Brennan
This collection of essays explores the theme of queerbaiting (enticing queer representation without delivering) in media.
The text was overall comprehensible, but at times too academic, with entire sentences composed of unattainable words to the lay man. I could see it being valuable to people in social or media studies, and to a lesser extent to people like me, fans who are interested in diving deeper into these topics.
Overall, I enjoyed the information presented and the way in which it was argued. However, as someone who was present in tumblr/fandom forums while the conversations of queerbaiting become more and more prevalent, not a lot was new information. But i did get a lot of new great information (e.g. assimilationist vs radical reading practices).
Some topics (Nick Jonas, shipping of real people) and particularly their presentation as queerbaiting was slightly weird - i do see where the author(s) was coming from but it seemed " a reach", for lack of a better term. The equalization of queerbaiting relating to Wincest and then to Destiel seemed... off.
There was some repetition with the same contextualization being made over and over, which is comprehensible since it is an anthology, but could've been edited better. upside: you can put this down and then pick it up whenever you wish. downside: you start skimming fast when you read it in one go.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC.
PS. There's one essay arguing how the previous roles of the actors influence how their characters are read and the effects that has on the show/movie and consequent societal repercussions of it. The Sherlock movies and the role of Stephen Fry in them are mentioned. Within the referenced argument, they mention his role as Wilde, and his defense of LGBTQ rights,, but not the fact that he is a gay man?? and very out for many years?? anyways that seemed ridiculous to exclude from that narrative.
The text was overall comprehensible, but at times too academic, with entire sentences composed of unattainable words to the lay man. I could see it being valuable to people in social or media studies, and to a lesser extent to people like me, fans who are interested in diving deeper into these topics.
Overall, I enjoyed the information presented and the way in which it was argued. However, as someone who was present in tumblr/fandom forums while the conversations of queerbaiting become more and more prevalent, not a lot was new information. But i did get a lot of new great information (e.g. assimilationist vs radical reading practices).
Some topics (Nick Jonas, shipping of real people) and particularly their presentation as queerbaiting was slightly weird - i do see where the author(s) was coming from but it seemed " a reach", for lack of a better term. The equalization of queerbaiting relating to Wincest and then to Destiel seemed... off.
There was some repetition with the same contextualization being made over and over, which is comprehensible since it is an anthology, but could've been edited better. upside: you can put this down and then pick it up whenever you wish. downside: you start skimming fast when you read it in one go.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC.
PS. There's one essay arguing how the previous roles of the actors influence how their characters are read and the effects that has on the show/movie and consequent societal repercussions of it. The Sherlock movies and the role of Stephen Fry in them are mentioned. Within the referenced argument, they mention his role as Wilde, and his defense of LGBTQ rights,, but not the fact that he is a gay man?? and very out for many years?? anyways that seemed ridiculous to exclude from that narrative.