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weakkiwi · 4 years

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Honestly one of the most interesting aspects about “Lost in Space” is that it really really goes out their way to avoid exposing female characters as eye-candy in any conceivable way; this may be spoilery but here me out:

the main cast includes 4 women: the mom, the two sisters, and the villain. Besides those 4 there is also one trauma survivor, another pilot, and the pilot’s daughter. None are even shown in a sexual manner in the entire story. They are shown as what they can do, have done, and survived so far in the story.

The mother: Maureen’s relationship with John has been strained for some time and they make up and get closer to each other again as the story progresses, but their make up is never made sexual for the audience to see. Sure if they do have sex then that’s up to them but even when the typical “the room is too hot for clothes” scenario happens, no one is shown in their underwear or shirtless, they are shown thinking of a way for both to survive

the eldest daughter Judy is 18 years old and in the line between snappy teenager and responsible adult, making mature decisions sometimes while acting like a young girl in others. And how often have we seen dramatic “artistic” shots of traumatized people occur while they are naked in the shower with the fog in just the right places? yeah the show doesn’t do that. It instead shows her freezing out of fear and then breaking out of that by showing her in action instead

Penny is the only one of the 3 siblings who gets a romantic sub plot but the plot doesn’t go much of anywhere because, surprise, boy she’s known for like 3 days is not a bigger priority to her than looking after her family who are all going through some really hard times. She says “I’m going swimming” and rather than having a fan service episode she is instead shown talking and following up to her promises; she is also the one ever shown wearing a skirt and even then she wears a skirt with leggings underneath

the villain, oh Dr. Smith is scary as hell because she is a manipulative villain that never relies on sex appeal of any kind. She just wants to live and is willing to leave behind anyone who stands in her way regardless of who it is. She doesn’t make her way into the family by “seducing the dad” but rather “befriending” Maureen because she knows that Maureen’s opinion will help her stay alive. She makes herself seem important to every member of the family be it by “looking after the kids” or “helping them cope with stress”. It is so rare for a female villain to be just incredibly smart and deceiving without having to be sexy that hating her is actually fun and people trusting her feels believable

Angela survives the attack that killed her husband, is severely traumatized by it, and is clearly still recovering from her injuries. When she lifts up her shirt so Judy can examine her we get view of her scars, not the rest of her body. She often wears a tank top so they can show off the scars in her arms rather than have a gratuitous shot of her being sleeveless. No spoilers but they don’t kill off nor mistreat a traumatized woman of color, how about that? they validate her experiences instead and give her forgiveness for actions taken when in a dark place

the Watanabe are admittedly less developed than the Robinson but they are incredibly likable family, with both mother and daughter being incredibly good at what they do and incredibly willing to help with whatever the survivors may need. Again, nothing sexual is made about them

the fact that not a single woman in the cast is treated like a sex object and fascinating to me as we generally never get to see that. No one is in a crop top, shorts, underwear, or bikini, and no one is made to look like they took time out of their day to visit the space beauty shop while being in the middle of nowhere trying to save themselves. They are allowed to look dirty and tired and hurt as much as the men are and while some details are still tv worthy (how does Penny keep her hair so clean again?) no one’s described solely for their physical aspects, just their capacities

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weakkiwi · 4 years

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Terminator: Dark Fate

Dani and Grace: A Relationship Coated in Queer Subtext

I couldn’t decide if I wanted to make this post about me letting out all of my emotions about these two as a ship or if I wanted to discuss how heavy the queer subtext was between them. So, I decided to do both.

In this post I’ll be expressing my love for Dani and Grace, sharing my personal perspective on why I feel like there was heavy queer subtext happening between these two characters, and why one line doesn’t change the fact that they still can be viewed as having feelings for each other.

Dani and Grace: A height difference that deserves to be shipped

First, let me start this off with saying how much I love these two!! Going into the film I already was a hardcore shipper of them due to the trailers. You can’t show me clips of a woman using her entire body to physically protect another woman and not expect my gay touch starved self to not instantly ship the two, which is exactly what happened.

Before watching the movie I was already 98% sure that them becoming canon was not going to happen as I’ve been around this block many times when it comes to onscreen representation of queer couples. But that still didn’t stop me from personally shipping them and wanting to enjoy watching their interactions onscreen together. I went in being a shipper of these two and I left loving them even more. Their relationship was so beautiful to watch onscreen and there are so many things about them that makes me so weak for these two.

I first want to point out just how visually pleasing they look together. I’ve always loved ships where the characters contrast each other because it really helps to compliment their pairing, while also highlighting those differences in a very beautiful way. One of their most notable differences is their height and that’s something that I’m OBSESSED with for them. I’ve said this in a post before, but I love how far apart they are in height because rarely do we ever see such a significant height difference when it comes to wlw ships. It really helps to drive home the message that Grace is her protector. It also leads to really cute situations where Grace can use her entire body to try to shield and protect Dani. To then having scenes where Dani is trying to help Grace and gets completely swamped by her. They make such a stunning pair that I could admire them onscreen for hours, which I did.

Another one of my favorite things about Dani and Grace is that I love how much they both cared for one another. Once they get introduced it’s not long before they both start to express concern for the other’s life. With Grace it makes more sense since that is her sole mission and we also find out later on that she already has history with Dani in the future. But what I found interesting was just how quickly Dani warmed up to Grace. Even as soon as the highway scene we see Dani voice her worry when Grace decides to jump out of the car and into the back. They warm up to each other very quickly and it was really endearing how much they always wanted to make sure the other was okay. That particular detail actually leads me into the next thing that I wanted to discuss about them which is how heavily coded their relationship was in being romantic.

Viewing their relationship from a queer perspective

So, this is a topic that I really wanted to discuss because I have a lot of opinions on this. As we know, it is revealed towards the end of the film that Grace and Dani know each other in the future and the reason why is because Dani found Grace and helped to save her. Although, it was implied that their relationship may have been of the familial nature, I still don’t view it in that way. I know everyone has their own opinion and can choose however they want to interpret their relationship. But here is how I personally perceived it and why I think that them being romantic interests is still the strongest interpretation of their relationship.

1. Dani’s investment in Grace

I already touched on this a little bit above but let me go into more detail about this particular subject. As I said previously, right from the beginning we see how much they both are invested in the other’s safety. With Dani that’s where things get interesting because Dani has no connection to Grace at all at this point in her life. For her, Grace is just a stranger who came from the future and has told her that she is her protector. There’s no backstory that would explain why Dani would become so concerned for Grace so quickly and be so invested in her. Unless, of course, she potentially was falling for her.

Throughout the film we see just how far Dani’s care for Grace goes and she definitely starts to show signs of having formed feelings for her. Whenever Grace would disappear and be out of her eye sight she always was looking for her and asking where she was to make sure she was okay. There were also many other moments in which that deep care for Grace’s life was expressed by her. Just to list a few examples:

At the border when Dani surrenders to the cops and Grace tries to stop her but she turns to her and says “They can shoot me but I’m not watching you die.” Where Dani is clearly talking directly to Grace in that moment.

When Grace mentioned that her power source could stop the Rev-9 but that it would also kill her and Dani aggressively tells her no.

The scene during the final Rev-9 fight when Grace gets stabbed and Dani immediately tries to draw the attention away from Grace to herself to get him away from her.

It was also Grace’s death that became the final straw for Dani to finally face the Rev-9 by herself to finally kill him. I also think it’s important to note that right before she does that, Dani yells at him about how he took everything from her in which she was clearly referencing Grace as being part of what she lost. A pretty big statement to make for someone you just met a little over a day ago. Not to mention how devastated Dani was in knowing she had to kill Grace. That entire scene felt so much like two lovers having a final goodbye with each other.

That is why I find it hard to believe that their relationship can’t be interpreted as being romantic when there are so many indicators that it was. If Grace had been a man there is no question that people would’ve immediately picked up on them being in love with each other if everything was played out the same. In fact, that’s the entire story of Sarah and Kyle from the first Terminator which was intended to be a love story between them. Dani and Grace are basically the reflection of Sarah and Kyle (and have even been compared to them by the director). It’s obvious that they were trying to make Dani and Grace mirror them in a lot of ways so it’s not that far of a stretch for us as the audience to also connect the romantic aspect of their relationship to each other as well. If it happened with Sarah and Kyle, why not with Dani and Grace?

2. Their interactions and closeness

Another detail about these two that gave off a lot of queer subtext happening between them was displayed in how they interacted with each other. I know that there were some clips in the trailers with Dani and Grace that didn’t make it into the movie that definitely gave off some romantic vibes. But even with the exclusion of those scenes their relationship still felt a lot more romantic than familial. One of the reasons why is because there were a few trope scenes that happened between them that is used a lot for straight ships to indicate a romantic scene between the two characters.

One example is the scene where Grace pulls Dani from the car and holds her close to her chest to block her from the explosion. That is a scene we’ve seen over and over in films where it’s normally a man who is saving a woman just like that and they usually end up being love interests in the film or, at the very least, falling for each other. It’s a very typical cliche scene of “hero saving their lover” moment.

Another one is when Dani is learning how to shoot. A classic trope we’re all familiar with where one character is learning how to use a gun and the love interest walks over to help teach them. That’s exactly what happens here too where we see Dani trying to aim at her target and misses which then causes Grace to come up behind her and physically help her while telling her what to do. Very tropey, very romantic, very gay. I don’t think I need to say anything else on that (except for how cute it was and how that scene will probably spark a lot of fanfiction for these two).

But besides them having some romantic trope scenes together in the film, the subtext was also displayed through a lot of their nonverbal communication. Whenever these two are together onscreen they’re always either touching in some way or standing next to each other. There were many moments between them where it felt like those interactions were starting to have some underlying feelings going on between them.

Take for instance the scene where Grace passes out and Dani is in the backseat with her and Grace’s head is in her lap. It’s a quick moment but we can see Dani watching her for a second and also touching her head and arm to check on her. It’s brief but it’s that level of concern and softness that she has for her that says a lot.

Then there’s the scene towards the end where Grace falls against the wall as she starts to crash again. During the part where the T-800 jumps down and starts walking towards them, if you pay attention to them, as Dani starts to stand up Grace continues to hold onto Dani’s hand and their fingers stay locked together. Then in the next shot we see Dani holding onto Grace’s arm. It’s as if they find comfort in one another and desire that closeness. Once again, showing strong signs that they deeply care for each other.

Another scene (and one that particularly stands out to me) is the scene of them in the back of the truck where Dani is now the one who is sleeping on Grace’s lap while she watches over her. The reason why I really want to highlight this interaction in particular is because of Sarah’s reaction to this moment. As Grace is looking down at Dani there is definitely a softness in her expression as she’s watching her that Sarah notices. If you watch Sarah she firsts looks at Grace and then down to Dani and her face shows that she definitely is picking up that something is going on between them.

The reason why that’s significant is because it’s not just the audience reading into subtext anymore since now we have another character in the film who is actually acknowledging that something’s there. What’s also important about that detail is that Sarah would probably interpret that connection as being romantic since (as I said previously) Dani and Grace are reflecting her own story. Sarah even compares Dani to herself in the film. So, if that’s the case, then seeing Grace being her protector most likely brought back memories of her and Kyle, and their relationship. A relationship she herself probably recognized in Dani and Grace in that moment.

“You raised me” / Grace’s loyalty to Dani

This is probably the biggest issue I’ve seen people getting annoyed with in terms of how the film treated the relationship between Dani and Grace since that line makes it seem like their relationship was more familial, which eliminates the possibility of them having romantic feelings for each other. However, even with that line, I still feel like that isn’t the case and I’ll explain why.

Throughout the entire film there was nothing that ever read as them having a mother and daughter relationship. Everything that happened between them easily could be seen as being romantic, for all the examples I just gave previously. In fact, had they eliminated that one scene (or just that one line) where Grace mentioned how Dani raised her, their entire relationship would’ve been viewed as romantic.

The fact that them having a “familial bond” is so dependent on that one line means that it’s a very weak route to go down for these two. As oppose to the rest of the film where everything felt like it was leaning very strongly towards the romantic side of things. If their canon relationship has to rely so much on just one line otherwise the audience won’t see it then I don’t think it holds a lot of merit.

But even with that line and looking back on their relationship I still wasn’t getting that vibe from them. It didn’t feel like Grace saw Dani as a mother figure, to me it felt more like Grace looked up to Dani. Even when Grace finally reveals to Dani that they know each other in the future and what her role is in the war, the way she talked to her felt more like it was coming from a place of admiration than a daughter talking to her mom. That also was shown in how Grace looked at her. Everything about that scene felt like Grace was heavily inspired by Dani as a leader and possibly even formed feelings for her, not as someone who was family. And that is why I feel like, even with that line being included, they still never had a familial connection.

I also think that Dani raising Grace doesn’t have to automatically mean that they have a mother/daughter relationship. Who knows the environment in which that happened or how close Dani formed a relationship to Grace. By Dani “raising” Grace that could have meant that she mainly just trained her and she became more of a mentor than family. That also would work with how their relationship felt once Grace was older and she became a soldier because during those scenes it felt like Grace’s loyalty to Dani came from Dani being her Commander and for Dani having saved her life all those years ago. And, from my own perspective, some underlying romantic feelings she probably formed for her for being by her side for so long.

A scene that I feel really drives that home for me is towards the very end of the film when they have their final showdown with the Rev-9 and Grace has the chain around his mouth and is trying to pull him. During that scene there is a quick moment where you see the Rev-9 look at Dani and when he does you can see in the background that Grace notices and looks over at Dani too. It’s then that Grace hones in every last strength that she has to pull him to the point that her skin ends up ripping on her forearms. But it’s the fact that she saw Dani and was able to expend that much strength to save her shows that she was willing to do anything in order to protect the person that she loves.

“I won’t let her die for me again.”

The last topic I want to discuss in relation to the queer subtext between these two is from Dani’s perspective. I just talked about Grace and why she could have formed feelings for her, now let’s look at Dani.

Let me first point out a very important detail about why Dani falling for Grace is very possible and the reason why is because Dani didn’t know Grace before all of this. For her, their first introduction with each other is with future Grace who was sent back to keep her safe. For the majority of the film she has no idea that they actually know each other and I think that’s a very key thing to note because she ended up forming a very close bond with Grace regardless.

Even during their brief time that they had together Dani genuinely cared for Grace and wanted to keep her safe as well. For Dani none of that would’ve stemmed from feeling maternal towards her since she didn’t know Grace when she was younger (another reason why I think the “you raised me” line having connections to Dani feeling a motherly bond for her isn’t true). Meaning, that Dani’s affection towards Grace in the film could definitely had alluded to Dani falling for her romantically.

One of the biggest indicators for that is at the end of the film when Dani says “I won’t let her die for me again” in regards to Grace sacrificing herself for her. The fact that Dani’s last line is about wanting to save Grace speaks volumes. If they are trying to make this film become a new trilogy in the franchise then having them set up one of Dani’s major motivations that she’s determined to do, which is to protect Grace, means that she deeply cares for her. She has all of humanity that she needs to protect and yet her final thoughts in the film is of Grace…you can’t get more romantic than that.

The potential…

So, while I’ve created an entire post dedicated to the queer subtext between Dani and Grace, do I think that romance will ever become canon? Sadly, no. There is just too much against these two in terms of the studios, companies, and creators behind this franchise that it’s almost certain to never happen. No matter how much I (and many others) want it to. But even though I know it won’t happen that still doesn’t help to alleviate the disappointment of how much potential these two could’ve had as love interests if it did end up becoming canon. What is also sad about that is that them being in a romantic relationship wouldn’t have taken away from anything in the film either, it only would’ve helped to strengthen it.

Regardless, I still love Dani and Grace as a ship and even if they won’t become canon onscreen that isn’t going to stop me from still hardcore shipping these two. They’re just too good of a ship to let go. I know there are others who are experiencing the same feelings and to all of you I say don’t feel too down. We may not get a canon ship but we can still enjoy watching them together and gush about how incredibly cute they are. Also, on the bright side, we still got two hours of Dani and Grace physically touching each other and expressing how much they care for each other throughout the entire film which is more than some actual canon queer ships get onscreen lol.

They may get to choose what becomes canon and what does not in the story. But they can’t take away how incredibly gay the subtext was between Dani and Grace.

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