I haven't even watched most of S2 yet, but the Wachowski sisters definitely did get up their own asses a bit about how pansexual orgies were The Answer. I felt all kinds of weird about all the pressuring Kala to have sex she didn't feel comfortable with (and, in particular, the assumption that she, as a newlywed wife, has to put out with the PIV like right now, rather than that, as a shy virgin, she might feel better exploring makeouts and groping and moving into heavy petting to get comfortable enough with her and her partner's body to see where things go? And that PIV isn't The Only Sex anyway, and if she wants to have sex with her husband but not PIV, that's her fucking prerogative?) and the incredible weirdness when Lito faced homophobia in Mexico and the support he got came in the form of, "Why can't these homophobic idiots see that two men together is mondo hot? Like why can't they just fap to it?" Or the constant pressuring of characters in same-gender relationships to Try The Het Too.
I mean, I didn't ragequit or anything, I mostly just fell off it because the pace was slow and my attention span is short these days, but I liked a lot of things about the show, I loved how Aggressively Queer it was, I loved the Nominita, and the scifi telepathy conspiracy plot was good too! I also really liked the general concept of being able to help friends who are far away by having special skills, including social skills, like that really felt like a story for us isolated and alienated 21st century humans trying to show love to our internet friends. I don't mind sexuality/orientation bleedover as part of the cluster as a concept, it actually kind of makes sense, when you're sharing so much that it would all blend to pan. (For that matter, would it muddle their gender identities? How do the Wachowski sisters feel about that--about a trans woman getting confusing male identity crap that isn't hers through the cluster connection? I mean maybe that touches on the kind of "it makes plot sense but you get why people feel uncomfortable" I'm getting at here.) Maybe they would all end up pansexual and nonbinary, and I like the idea of exploring the cluster as both beautiful in its connection and terrifying in its assimilation of identity. What it means to be human--are we most human in our commonalities, or our differences?
I remember there was some tumblr wank about Lana Wachowski being anti-black racist, and there are some comments of hers, while not like, damningly racist, you can kind of see how you might want to take her aside and explain why people would be sensitive to that remark. A friend of mine said she's basically "mom racist," which apologies to all of you with non-racist moms, but I immediately got what she meant. She strikes me as someone who's basically a good person and means well, but sometimes gets in weird echo chambers or is just a bit out of touch on something, and as a result you get sex-mandatory sex positivity (if you're uncomfortable you're a conservative stick in the mud, get woke and naked now!), and weirdly gay/lesbian exclusive pansexuality-is-the-enlightened-orientation polyvangelism. It's very old-fashioned in a way, this is 1960s optimism that missed a few pertinent points about human diversity and historical context.
So in summary, yeah I do think the Wachowskis are pushy and cringey with the The Future is Pansexual agenda, and yet, I still kind of like them? I think a lot of what they do manages to be both entertaining and groundbreaking in spite of that, and future generations will see them as "a product of their time." I hope they learn and grow even more, but even if they don't I'll probably keep watching their stuff.
I do wish we could be like, "Yeah, the Wachowski Sisters are kinda Like That with this title, and it may not be for you if it's a dealbreaker," without getting into the frothing rage like Lana Wachowski personally backed over my dog in her Mercedes Benz.
Re: wank containment area
I mean, I didn't ragequit or anything, I mostly just fell off it because the pace was slow and my attention span is short these days, but I liked a lot of things about the show, I loved how Aggressively Queer it was, I loved the Nominita, and the scifi telepathy conspiracy plot was good too! I also really liked the general concept of being able to help friends who are far away by having special skills, including social skills, like that really felt like a story for us isolated and alienated 21st century humans trying to show love to our internet friends. I don't mind sexuality/orientation bleedover as part of the cluster as a concept, it actually kind of makes sense, when you're sharing so much that it would all blend to pan. (For that matter, would it muddle their gender identities? How do the Wachowski sisters feel about that--about a trans woman getting confusing male identity crap that isn't hers through the cluster connection? I mean maybe that touches on the kind of "it makes plot sense but you get why people feel uncomfortable" I'm getting at here.) Maybe they would all end up pansexual and nonbinary, and I like the idea of exploring the cluster as both beautiful in its connection and terrifying in its assimilation of identity. What it means to be human--are we most human in our commonalities, or our differences?
I remember there was some tumblr wank about Lana Wachowski being anti-black racist, and there are some comments of hers, while not like, damningly racist, you can kind of see how you might want to take her aside and explain why people would be sensitive to that remark. A friend of mine said she's basically "mom racist," which apologies to all of you with non-racist moms, but I immediately got what she meant. She strikes me as someone who's basically a good person and means well, but sometimes gets in weird echo chambers or is just a bit out of touch on something, and as a result you get sex-mandatory sex positivity (if you're uncomfortable you're a conservative stick in the mud, get woke and naked now!), and weirdly gay/lesbian exclusive pansexuality-is-the-enlightened-orientation polyvangelism. It's very old-fashioned in a way, this is 1960s optimism that missed a few pertinent points about human diversity and historical context.
So in summary, yeah I do think the Wachowskis are pushy and cringey with the The Future is Pansexual agenda, and yet, I still kind of like them? I think a lot of what they do manages to be both entertaining and groundbreaking in spite of that, and future generations will see them as "a product of their time." I hope they learn and grow even more, but even if they don't I'll probably keep watching their stuff.
I do wish we could be like, "Yeah, the Wachowski Sisters are kinda Like That with this title, and it may not be for you if it's a dealbreaker," without getting into the frothing rage like Lana Wachowski personally backed over my dog in her Mercedes Benz.