In this episode Shawn and I spend some talking about the two characters I’ve already begun to define for Danebury Hill: Matthew the footman and Josiah the groom.
I argued for giving my characters more of a happy ending, partly because I want to solve the puzzle of how two servant class men in the early 19th century could manage to live together. I have a great idea for that.
The bigger reason, as I say in the episode, is that LGBTQ people in the fiction, fandom, and fanfic communities in places like Tumblr and Twitter, would love it if mainstream media would end the trope of “bury your gays.”
This is the longstanding tendency (notably in TV series) to “daringly” introduce a queer character, only to kill that character off before their queerness becomes a “problem” for non-queer viewers.
Brokeback Mountain itself uses this trope. It was revolutionary in its day–especially the movie version. As Shawn has said more than once on the podcast, it changed minds and hearts–but in the 20 years since, it has come to seem a little bit problematic, at least to some queer theory and literature critics.
Did the story and the movie influence the tide of social change in the US? Is it an instance of a good story changing the world? Probably.
But the world has changed. There’s more to do, of course–it’s not as though homophobia has disappeared. But is a cis white woman the right person to be doing it?
I don’t have a definitive answer.
Anne,
Thank you for taking on this challenge. I’ll be following along closely.
I had a thought I wanted to share. You talked about it being difficult to get the two characters out together because of their disparate jobs. I really don’t know much about Regency England, but was thinking that maybe twice a year the family move from the “Winter house” to the “Summar house.” Your two characters could be the two people sent ahead of time to get the place ready. One to prep the indoors and one to prep the stalls/barns/horses. That puts them by themselves, for an extended period (two weeks?). Hope it helps, if not, just toss.
Denise
You’re right on my wavelength, Denise. This is the just direction I’ve decided to take. I’ve consulted with a greater Regency expert than myself, and we have Found A Way!
Thank you so much for listening to the show and subscribing to my list. Great to hear from you.
I’m looking forward to reading this and I would love it if you gave them an HEA. There are still way too many “bury your gays” stories out there! Loved Restraint btw.
The way things are shaping up, I’m going to have to write a tragic ending for the experiment. It’s a really problematic assignment! But I did agree to it. I have the HEA one already mapped out in my mind, but of course there’s more to the change than just tacking on one ending or the other. The choice of ending changes so much of the whole story, right down to specific word choices.
Thank you for weighing in–and thank you for reading Restraint! So glad you enjoyed it.