@stephantom replied to your post:
omg Rowdy as “manic pixie dream girl”–I hadn’t thought of it in those terms but that is a very interesting and good way to put it
The trope fits weirdly well because the job of the manic pixie is to sweep the grim, grey leader// important man and show him what fun spontaneity and doing things right is while also taking his shit a lot of the time and just dealing with his emotional neuroses.
I feel like the emotional labour probably manifests differently in an older time period m/m dynamic but I feel like the fantasy is still kinda there…that sense of loyalty Rowdy has that you describe even though Favor treats him like shit and then Rowdy is happy with the emotional scraps Favor gives him because he’s ~tough~ and ~was hurt~ (either by tough trail boss work or possibly by loss of his wife?).
Idk I’ve been fascinated by the manic pixie dynamic ever since I saw Ruby Sparks which is a neat film that critiques the trope in an interesting way. But when I read your commentary it’s also possible they have more of a classic narcissist (Favor) accidental abuse dynamic? would have to look into it myself.
anyways this is all bullshit from gifs, chatter and fic, but take this as a promise that when I finish the cudvac fic I will watch some rawhide and maybe make an actual meta post about it (or hell, take the idea and run with it, the world I’m sure can always use many Rawhide metas :D)
For someone who hasn’t seen an episode, I think you do a great analysis of the characters! I hope you do watch it someday and write more meta—and fic!
Wonderful exchange that clears things up in my mind as well. I haven’t got an ep guide with me, but would recommend the following:
Eps where they are almost equal
The Race
Incident of the Red Wind
Incident of the Widowed Dove
Incident of the Devil and his Due
Eps where Favor acts stupidly and Rowdy takes him up on it
A Man Called Mushy
(to some extent) The Lost Herd
Eps where F treats R patronisingly and thoughtlessly
Incident of the Reluctant Bridegroom
Incident of the Rawhiders (IF that is the one with the mock wedding)
There are patronising/thoughtless moments in almost all eps
However, i am still not clear, and somewhat concerned, about fitting het romance tropes to a same-sex couple. I am scared at the thought that the “pixie” character may end up feminized and sweetened. In my view, Rowdy is a tough young man, not a sassy lassie whoeventually sees the light and marries the humanised hero.The thing is, I think, the “Magical Pixie Dream-Girl” trope feminizes and sweetens the female half of a het romance to begin with, in a dehumanizing and unrealistic way. Women aren’t really like that. When people use that trope, it’s pretty much always to identify and articulate some flaws about the way a het romance was portrayed in fiction. So here we’re talking about the possibility that a fictional m/m relationship might have some common-ground with a flawed het romance.
Thanks, @stephantom, for these reflections, esp. the ones about R having some traits usually coded as “feminine”. (Does F? I can’t find any, his kindness and protectiveness are still sort of stern and in-charge).
I just thought of one more ep, where there isn’t a lot of F/R dynamics, except for one moment where R makes a successful joke at F’s expense. In “The Peddler” F and R are almost equal because they are outwitted and outclassed by a foreigner who at first looks and sounds like the Real Idiot of the Plains, but who turns out to be intelligent, wise, and a born strategist. And who cannot shoot or fight.
More eps, anyone?
mici's campfire 