On Bylerisms, Johnlockisms, and fandom history being a circle
So the Stranger Things season finale finally aired and people are… heated. I lost interest in the show a while ago, and I’ve mostly been keeping up with the fandom through reddit and tumblr. I didn’t have much stake in most of the outcomes, except that I’m mostly happy that Steve survived, so I consider myself to be a fairly neutral party when it comes to the shipping aspect of the show. The one ship I really liked was Eddie/Chrissy, and we saw what happened with them.
Anyways, I’ve been passively observing the Byler fandom from some time now; more out of fascination than any real enjoyment of the ship. I’ve been seeing the think pieces, the evidence compilations, the pleas for canon Byler, etc. I’ve seen people move the goal post over and over again (it’ll happen in part one - it’ll happen in part two - it’ll happen in the finale).
The thing is, I always suspected that Byler wasn’t going to be canon. Not because I think the Duffer Brothers are homophobic (although… more on them later) or because they chickened out. I just think it was never the plan or intention outside of having Will have unrequited feelings for Mike.
Queerbaiting
What is queerbaiting? Fanlore describes it as “the perceived attempt by advertisers or canon creators to draw in a queer audience and/or slash fans by implying or hinting at a gay relationship that will never actually be depicted.” Some people consider queerbaiting to be subtext between two male characters inserted into a story, followed by deliberate “no homo” moments. Shows like BBC Sherlock and Supernatural are known for this.
BBC Sherlock is particularly frustrating in this regard, because there’s clear moments in the show that tease Sherlock and John having some sort of romantic feelings for each other (John asking Sherlock if he has a boyfriend in s1, John’s conversation with Irene about them both being in love with Sherlock in S2) followed by vehement denial that any actual feelings between them exist. Moffat, the showrunner of BBC Sherlock, has always been demeaning and snide towards the shippers. He always made it clear he had no intention of following through with Johnlock, even as fans convinced themselves he was lying.
Despite Moffat’s condemnation of Johnlock, the shippers were still convinced it was going to happen. They wrote thinkpieces, essays, compiled evidence, dug through cast interviews, hyper-analyzed the “subtext” of the show, all to prove that Johnlock was canon. A part of the fandom even convinced themselves that there was a "secret season" that was supposed to come out that would prove that Johnlock was canon. Obviously, the season didn't exist.
While BBC Sherlock had moments of tension in the actual show while being condemned as “weirdly sexualized” outside of the show, on the other side of it you have Voltron: Legendary Defender.
Unfortunately, let’s talk about Klance.
Klance is the ship between Keith and Lance that became the Voltron fandom juggernaut. Shippers were convinced that Klance was going to be canon (“Klance is cannon king”) and would write think pieces, evidence compilations, hyper-analysis of the subtext. etc.
The creators of Voltron were even fond of Klance as a ship, having said things like:
"The Klance ship is one that maybe comes together from a little bit of that opposites-attract situation where you have two characters that really don’t get along and you want to find that path that ultimately leads them to each other." - Lauren Montgomery
"I think the ship between [Keith and Lance] is that their character arcs have one of the biggest evolutions of the show. They started off in one place, their relationship has evolved, and I think shipping them is just continuing that evolution and its natural progression.” - Joaquim Dos Santos
Shippers took these supportive statements (plus the now infamous drawing of Lance and Shiro holding an LGBT sign) as evidence that Klance was going to eventually become canon. The problem though? In the actual context of the show, there was very little to no proof that the pairing was eventually going to get together. Keith was devoted to saving Shiro, and Lance had a big fat crush on Allura. Not only that, but in later seasons they barely had any screentime together.
I personally think that Voltron handled its canon queer character Shiro very clumsily, but do I think it queerbaited? On the Klance front, no. I think that people involved in the series showing love to a ship doesn’t necessarily mean they’re dropping hints that it’s going to happen. I think Lauren and Joaquim were simply expressing that they enjoyed the interpretations that the shippers were going for. But if you look at the content of the show and the time that Keith and Lance actually spent together, it’s clear that the ship was never really going to take off.
So with all that in mind, do I think Byler queerbaited? I mean, not really? The show always portrayed Will’s crush on Mike as one-sided. In interviews before the finale, the Duffer Brothers and multiple cast members have pretty much said that Byler wasn’t going to happen. What I did see from that side of the fandom was “guys, it doesn’t matter if Gaten said Byler doesn’t happen, he just doesn’t want to spoil the ending!” Yeah… maybe if they’re telling you it’s not happening, believe them. After all, look at what that got the BBC Sherlock fandom. Absolutely nothing to show for.
Zutara
This might seem like it’s coming out of left field, but I think Zutara is actually a great ship to talk about when we’re talking about canon expectations. Zutara is the ship between Zuko and Katara in Avatar: The Last Airbender. It was, for a very long time, the fandom juggernaut ship.
During the time the show was airing, Zutara shippers were convinced that Zutara was going to happen. They wrote essays, posted evidence compilations, dug through interviews, hyper-analyzed the “subtext” of the show.
Are you starting to see the trend here?
Despite all the evidence and think pieces that the shippers compiled, if you look at the story beats and character moments presented in the show, it was always clear that Katara and Aang were going to be together, regardless of how popular and beloved the other ship was. The difference between Zutara and Kataang shippers? Zutara shippers would post 20 page essays and 40 minute video essays to prove that their ship would become canon, while Kataang shippers would simply go “well, I mean, just watch the show.”
On over-analysis
My rule of thumb for a ship is: if you have to write a multiple page manifesto on trying to prove it’s going to go canon, it’s probably not going to go canon.
Showrunners and writers aren’t creating content for the obsessive fans that pause every little frame to talk about how the yellow and blue lighting that hits Mike’s eye is sending secret signals meant to prove that Byler is cannon king. They’re creating content for the family that’s gonna put the show on during the afternoon and watch it with their kids, and maybe go on facebook and write “wow! What an emotional finale! I cried like a baby” and then move on with their lives.
That isn’t to say media isn’t meant to be analyzed, just that there’s a line between analysis and over-analysis. But that’s what people go to film school for. There is a film language that you can go learn about. The way a shot is presented, the way actors are placed in a scene, the way lighting plays into a scene, can all tell a story.
The animated movie The Incredibles is a great example of how a film might use lighting to tell the audience a story. The story opens in a flashback to the “glory days.” The majority of the scenes here are shot in what is known as the golden hour (the period where the sun is low that’s casting a soft, warm orange light on everything). There is a constant rimlight on the characters that makes them appear to glow. When the movie shifts to the present and Bob’s life is now boring and bland, the film’s colors become cool toned greys and blues. The sky is constantly cloudy and the characters are constantly in shadow. It’s visual storytelling.
At the end of the day, media analysis isn’t set in stone and many people can watch the same film and have different interpretations of what happened. For me personally, I draw the line when shippers start theorizing that the showrunners are sending out secret signals that only they are smart enough to catch. At that point, it’s becoming more tinhatting than analyzing. Filmmakers and showrunners don’t want to send secret signals to only their super special part of the fandom. They want the broader audience to understand the story they’re trying to tell.
Showrunners are never as invested in the ship to the same degree that shippers are
Unless the show is a romance like Heated Rivalry or Bridgerton, this is generally true. The thing about a lot of shippers (not all, obviously) is that they watch the show through a shipper lens. They’re number one priority is to see their ship go canon, so everything becomes about the ship. Every interview, every mention, every piece of promo is meant to show that Byler or Klance or Zutara or Johnlock is going to become canon.
So maybe Lauren and Joaquim like Klance. Maybe the Duffer brothers have shown support to Byler shippers. That doesn’t mean those ships are on their mind. The Duffer Brother’s priority is to tell a show set in the 80’s about kids fighting monsters from a parallel world. Their priority in season 5 is to close the story out in a way they believe is going to satisfy the fanbase as a whole. Shippers are a small percentage of the fanbase.
Also, be realistic about who these people are. The Duffer Brothers are two middle aged white cishet men. They’re not going to have the same shipping mentality as teenagers and young adults on Tumblr. They might acknowledge Byler shippers, but they don’t get shipping fandom, ship wars, ship analysis. To them, it’s just a funny little theory that a portion of the fanbase is passionate about.
On Fandom racism
This might sound out of left field, but bear with me right now. One of the things that irks me about shippers is they’re willing to let everything slide as long as their ship becomes canon. I was reading a dozen thinkpieces on how the Duffer Brothers were going to change the game forever and revolutionize representation for all.
… The Duffer Brothers can’t even write their one Black character, Lucas, in a meaningful way. Something that Black fans have been talking about for years, but have been mostly ignored. In fact, I’ve only seen Byler shippers bring up the show’s racism now that they’re ship isn’t canon. So, when people thought that the two white boys were going to get together, the Duffer Brothers were the champions of marginalized voices. But now that those two white boys aren’t together, you’re all willing to talk about the racism in the show?
This isn’t the first time I’ve observed something like this, and one of the most egregious examples is The 100 fandom. The 100 featured a WLW ship between protagonist Clarke and another woman named Lexa (Clexa). This ship actually went canon, and The 100 was praised for its LGBT inclusion and storyline.
I, however, was not impressed with the show, when after four episodes it killed off the main Black character Wells Jaha. Wells who, in the books, was one of Clarke’s main love interests by the way. In fact, many fans of color often talked about how clumsily and downright offensively the show handled its Black and Brown characters, and their voices were often ignored.
It was only after Lexa, a white woman, died that shippers started complaining about the racism in the show. They were willing to overlook it as long as they got their ship. Similarly, I’m not particularly enthused to suddenly see Byler shippers only NOW throw accusations of racism at the Duffer Brothers now that their ship isn’t canon, when POC have been talking about these issues for years.
This is just a general PSA for shippers: if you’re only willing to talk about racism and other isms after you’ve lost the ship war, you’re not being very authentic. Shipping is not activism, and your sudden willingness to talk about these issues that you were happy to ignore in the past isn’t cute.
At my time of writing this, this was one of the top posts in the Byler subreddit:
Oh, but I thought the Duffer Brothers were the champions of minority rep? Now y'all wanna call out racism? Interesting.
Stop listening to these wannabe experts
This one is a personal pet peeve of mine, so I’ll keep it short and cute. I’m just so tired of these self proclaimed video editors, Hollywood insiders, production assistants, baby screen writers, people with film degrees, film students, goddamn lawyers who come out of the woodwork to proclaim, “yes, the ship is happening, trust me guys I’m an EXPERT.”
And now it didn’t happen and you look foolish. The reality is that it doesn’t matter if you’ve been to film school and graduated with high honors. So did I! But we’re not privy to what’s going on in the Stranger Things writer’s room, so all these videos proclaiming “yes I am an expert and I assure you it’s going canon” are literally just giving people false hope. Congratulations, you were loud and wrong.
And the snake continues to eat its own tail
I’ve been in fandom for a long time, and everything I’ve witnessed go down in the Byler fandom, I have seen it happen before multiple times over. The twenty page essays, the accusations of queerbait, the letting racism slide until your ship doesn’t go canon.
I haven’t interacted much with the Byler fandom, and I genuinely don’t dislike them. A lot of it feels like baby’s first fandom disappointment. It happens. One of the few times I did interact with the fandom, I pointed out that there were queer-positive shows currently out there that could use love and support instead of putting all their hopes and dreams onto Byler, which was not a guarantee to happen. Shows like Interview with the Vampire, Agatha All Along, Heated Rivalry, The Owl House, In The Flesh, Schitt’s Creek etc. I was downvoted to hell and back, and told by another commenter that it wasn’t my place to speak on such representation. I’m a queer woman, for the record.
And well, look where we are. Byler didn’t happen, as I figured it wouldn’t because I’ve seen this before, and fandom is in full crashout mode.
And they will be until they find their next ship to hyper-fixate on, and write 40 page essays on, and swear up and down that the showrunners are sending them secret signals that their ship is going to go canon and if it’s not it’s because there’s actually a secret episode that never aired and like, just trust us guys, it’s going canon guys. Trust us.
This has all happened before and it will happen again.
