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c&p this into single meta post bc MOTHERFUCKING YES
hannibal is lit. the last show i expected to find deliberate queerbaiting
and yet
here
we are
*
lmao i’m like torn between laughing derisively and just being flat-out pissed off. like 1) WOW HOW NOVEL TWO CIS WHITE MEN HAVE A UNIQUE AND POWERFUL EMOTIONAL CONNECTION W/ EACH OTHER THAT NO ONE ELSE CAN EXPERIENCE and 2) even if the show did follow thru w/ it, WOW HOW NOVEL THE QUEER PERSON IS A SERIAL KILLER
perfect
thanks
it’s everything i could have ever wanted and more
*
"lmfao and have u seen the official tumblr for the show??? they're encouraging the ship like... they tag shit w "hannigram" and it makes me want to gouge my eyes out"
oh man all i really needed to see was bryan fuller tweeting about a STEAMY KISS (AND SADLY IT’S NOT WILL/HANNIBAL) and then when someone tweeted back all “whaaaaaat, why not!” he replied with “IKR.”
I
K
R
really. you, the man co-writing every fucking episode of this show. that’s your contribution. “IKR.” that’s literally the commentary you have re: the deliberate queerbaiting that you yourself are writing within the show and perpetuating in discussions outside of the show. “i know, right?” like, WOW, HOW RIDICULOUS THAT WILL AND HANNIBAL AREN’T KISSING! —THE MAN WRITING??? THE SHOW??? AND CREATIVELY LEADING IT????????????? oh my god just. don’t. don’t words. don’t acronyms. put the letters away and then put yourself away. shh shhhh. that’s it. that’s enough. you’re done
*
All right, so, if you’re a fan of Abigail and Hannibal’s relationship in Hannibal, you might not want to read this post, and I do want to stress that if you ‘ship Abigail/Hannibal for whatever reason, with any interpretation, that’s fine. You do what you do.
I am extremely uncomfortable with people presenting Abigail’s relationship with Hannibal as in any way positive or healthy for her. She is psychologically and emotionally vulnerable — she did not want to kill Danny Boyle, she doesn’t want to kill anyone, her father’s legacy of murder is hurting her, it is wearing her down, she is breaking down out of guilt — and Hannibal is explicitly and undeniably manipulating her through those vulnerabilities so as to control her. He tells Abigail that he “deserves better” from her than for Abigail to expose his culpability in the disposal of Boyle’s body. He exploits her isolation, her fear, and her longing for some sort of approval, some companionship, so that he can subjugate and control her and so that he can use her as a tool in his ongoing game to subjugate and control Will.
Right now, yes, Abigail feels as if Hannibal is her only true protector, but that does not make it true. She is afraid. She is alone. She is not gaining strength or power or independence through Hannibal. She is not ~reclaiming~ herself or violence in society or whatever. She has very little agency if any, and what agency she does possess is being carefully taken from her by Hannibal through his emotional manipulation and abuse. He is using what she did to emotionally blackmail and control her, like her father used her. She is, to him, a possession, an object, a tool.
Abigail deserves better than Hannibal’s “protection.”
http://genebeanbelcher.tumblr.com/tagged/h-h-hannibal-l-l
eta:
i would argue very strongly against that “doesn’t sexualize crimes committed against women” point. the corpses of women, brutally murdered, are frequently used as “canvases” for “art,” with murder consistently presented within the narrative as an artistic endeavour as opposed to MURDER. in the very first episode will graham, our hero, characterizes a serial killer who specifically targets young women as acting out of love.
women are additionally present only in the narrative as tools, objects for the growth or struggles of the men. bella crawford’s struggle with cancer and her own mortality is ultimately narratively about jack’s pain, HIS struggle with her mortality, his case load, etc. alana bloom’s relationship with abigail is a thinly sketched thing, subservient in terms of narrative importance to hannibal and will’s respective relationships with abigail, and while abigail has been granted a surprising amount of almost agency by the show, it is being systematically stripped from her by hannibal and by will “for her own good” or so that she can be used, by hannibal, as an object in his ongoing chess game with will. abigail’s importance is still defined by her relationships with the men who seek to control her. alana’s rejection of will is presented within the narrative as once more being all about will: who he is, what his struggles are, etc.
hannibal is an incredibly sexist and virulently misogynist show, and it is not only harmful but i think purposefully ignorant to characterize it as anything but. additionally, many sexist, misogynist works pass the bechdel test; the test is not in and of itself proof that any given work is feminist or progressive.
i'm gonna stop hating on this show at some point in the next two or so weeks and it's gonna be great, i have faith.
and yet
here
we are
*
lmao i’m like torn between laughing derisively and just being flat-out pissed off. like 1) WOW HOW NOVEL TWO CIS WHITE MEN HAVE A UNIQUE AND POWERFUL EMOTIONAL CONNECTION W/ EACH OTHER THAT NO ONE ELSE CAN EXPERIENCE and 2) even if the show did follow thru w/ it, WOW HOW NOVEL THE QUEER PERSON IS A SERIAL KILLER
perfect
thanks
it’s everything i could have ever wanted and more
*
"lmfao and have u seen the official tumblr for the show??? they're encouraging the ship like... they tag shit w "hannigram" and it makes me want to gouge my eyes out"
oh man all i really needed to see was bryan fuller tweeting about a STEAMY KISS (AND SADLY IT’S NOT WILL/HANNIBAL) and then when someone tweeted back all “whaaaaaat, why not!” he replied with “IKR.”
I
K
R
really. you, the man co-writing every fucking episode of this show. that’s your contribution. “IKR.” that’s literally the commentary you have re: the deliberate queerbaiting that you yourself are writing within the show and perpetuating in discussions outside of the show. “i know, right?” like, WOW, HOW RIDICULOUS THAT WILL AND HANNIBAL AREN’T KISSING! —THE MAN WRITING??? THE SHOW??? AND CREATIVELY LEADING IT????????????? oh my god just. don’t. don’t words. don’t acronyms. put the letters away and then put yourself away. shh shhhh. that’s it. that’s enough. you’re done
*
All right, so, if you’re a fan of Abigail and Hannibal’s relationship in Hannibal, you might not want to read this post, and I do want to stress that if you ‘ship Abigail/Hannibal for whatever reason, with any interpretation, that’s fine. You do what you do.
I am extremely uncomfortable with people presenting Abigail’s relationship with Hannibal as in any way positive or healthy for her. She is psychologically and emotionally vulnerable — she did not want to kill Danny Boyle, she doesn’t want to kill anyone, her father’s legacy of murder is hurting her, it is wearing her down, she is breaking down out of guilt — and Hannibal is explicitly and undeniably manipulating her through those vulnerabilities so as to control her. He tells Abigail that he “deserves better” from her than for Abigail to expose his culpability in the disposal of Boyle’s body. He exploits her isolation, her fear, and her longing for some sort of approval, some companionship, so that he can subjugate and control her and so that he can use her as a tool in his ongoing game to subjugate and control Will.
Right now, yes, Abigail feels as if Hannibal is her only true protector, but that does not make it true. She is afraid. She is alone. She is not gaining strength or power or independence through Hannibal. She is not ~reclaiming~ herself or violence in society or whatever. She has very little agency if any, and what agency she does possess is being carefully taken from her by Hannibal through his emotional manipulation and abuse. He is using what she did to emotionally blackmail and control her, like her father used her. She is, to him, a possession, an object, a tool.
Abigail deserves better than Hannibal’s “protection.”
http://genebeanbelcher.tumblr.com/tagged/h-h-hannibal-l-l
eta:
i would argue very strongly against that “doesn’t sexualize crimes committed against women” point. the corpses of women, brutally murdered, are frequently used as “canvases” for “art,” with murder consistently presented within the narrative as an artistic endeavour as opposed to MURDER. in the very first episode will graham, our hero, characterizes a serial killer who specifically targets young women as acting out of love.
women are additionally present only in the narrative as tools, objects for the growth or struggles of the men. bella crawford’s struggle with cancer and her own mortality is ultimately narratively about jack’s pain, HIS struggle with her mortality, his case load, etc. alana bloom’s relationship with abigail is a thinly sketched thing, subservient in terms of narrative importance to hannibal and will’s respective relationships with abigail, and while abigail has been granted a surprising amount of almost agency by the show, it is being systematically stripped from her by hannibal and by will “for her own good” or so that she can be used, by hannibal, as an object in his ongoing chess game with will. abigail’s importance is still defined by her relationships with the men who seek to control her. alana’s rejection of will is presented within the narrative as once more being all about will: who he is, what his struggles are, etc.
hannibal is an incredibly sexist and virulently misogynist show, and it is not only harmful but i think purposefully ignorant to characterize it as anything but. additionally, many sexist, misogynist works pass the bechdel test; the test is not in and of itself proof that any given work is feminist or progressive.
i'm gonna stop hating on this show at some point in the next two or so weeks and it's gonna be great, i have faith.