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Some Thoughts on RPS...
Jun. 23rd, 2009 02:25 pmYou know, I was talking to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jelost and I realized that there are still people who "don't get" RPS. I quoted that because it's an odd phrasing. It's saying that they don't understand why people would pair two guys togther in reality. Now, hey, let me start by saying that the idea of wondering if two famous people are dating is not a new one--celebrity magazines do it all the time. In fact, even lots of non-fandom people often keep up with who might be sleeping with who, and who might be gay, and who's breaking up, etc. So, obviously, talking about and imagining two real people getting together has a huge following of people, both in fandom and not.
Second point: I don't think a lot of people who ship RPS view the guys as "real people". In a sense, they're people who are portraying themselves in a certain manner to please their fans, and that's who you're dealing with when you're reading/writing RPS. You're fangirling over the characters the actors are in your mind, not who they actually are IRL, because of course there is no true way for you to ever know how they act when the cameras aren't rolling. That is the point of RPS, isn't it? To try and determine how the actors interact when they're alone. They become characters just as much as the fictional characters they portray are. If that makes sense.
Not to say that I think they're necessarily faking their emotions or close relationships to please fans. Some do, I think, but not everybody. And there's a certain sense you get from people--a chemistry that can't be faked or manufactured (as Zach is so fond of saying)--and it's that chemistry that people sense and flail over. I do think there's a reason certain RPS pairings are popular and others just don't have as many fans. It's the amount of chemistry two actors have, and depending on how obvious it is, the people who see it are the ones who ship it. There's also the interpretation factor. One interview, when viewed by several different people, can give off quite different vibes.
Specifically for RPS, I only ship three pairings: Chris/Zach, Bradley/Colin, and Jensen/Jared. I'm going to put the rest of this under a cut because it might get long. But here's why I ship them, and also why I think, regardless of whether or not they're atcually dating, they're fun to play with.
( RPS Below! )
jelost and I realized that there are still people who "don't get" RPS. I quoted that because it's an odd phrasing. It's saying that they don't understand why people would pair two guys togther in reality. Now, hey, let me start by saying that the idea of wondering if two famous people are dating is not a new one--celebrity magazines do it all the time. In fact, even lots of non-fandom people often keep up with who might be sleeping with who, and who might be gay, and who's breaking up, etc. So, obviously, talking about and imagining two real people getting together has a huge following of people, both in fandom and not.Second point: I don't think a lot of people who ship RPS view the guys as "real people". In a sense, they're people who are portraying themselves in a certain manner to please their fans, and that's who you're dealing with when you're reading/writing RPS. You're fangirling over the characters the actors are in your mind, not who they actually are IRL, because of course there is no true way for you to ever know how they act when the cameras aren't rolling. That is the point of RPS, isn't it? To try and determine how the actors interact when they're alone. They become characters just as much as the fictional characters they portray are. If that makes sense.
Not to say that I think they're necessarily faking their emotions or close relationships to please fans. Some do, I think, but not everybody. And there's a certain sense you get from people--a chemistry that can't be faked or manufactured (as Zach is so fond of saying)--and it's that chemistry that people sense and flail over. I do think there's a reason certain RPS pairings are popular and others just don't have as many fans. It's the amount of chemistry two actors have, and depending on how obvious it is, the people who see it are the ones who ship it. There's also the interpretation factor. One interview, when viewed by several different people, can give off quite different vibes.
Specifically for RPS, I only ship three pairings: Chris/Zach, Bradley/Colin, and Jensen/Jared. I'm going to put the rest of this under a cut because it might get long. But here's why I ship them, and also why I think, regardless of whether or not they're atcually dating, they're fun to play with.
( RPS Below! )
