Fuzzy Thoughts - The Trope of Marty
I've been handling a lot of older fanfiction lately as a family member prepares their fanzine library for a University of Iowa Special Collections donation. In scanning the works into PDFs I skim to find chapter breaks, art, format changes... sometimes... reading when my interest gets the better of me. And I've noticed a few things about character interpretation in Miami Vice - none of which will be shocking.
I had been away from Miami Vice fandom for a number of years when a series of odd events brought my focus back - so I have a kind of fractured view... a punctuated view. There is then fandom and there is now fandom... with the subcategories of Casual Fans, Tech Fans, Nostalgic Fans, and Deep Fandom Fans — and there are some identifiable differences twixt them all. With the exception of 1 character.
Today the primary Ship tends to be Crockett/Tubbs [or C/T because the ship-names are bizarre - Crubbs? Trockett? Soncardo? Rinny? If ID'd by cars they could be Testaddy or Cadirari] which ... totally fair. The C/T ship was never allowed equal access in early Deep Fandom. Also, relatedly, while all the angsty, self-searching H/C is still found, there is a lot less woobification of Crockett. He's still the first chair of that crumbling epicenter mental health charm but the Uke-Crockett is all but dead. (Thank the Fandom Gods.) And Rico is getting some equal air-play - although still not enough in my opinion.
Speaking of numbered fiddles - there are more writers working with characters other than our tortured blond boy ... exploring relationships and motivations of the rest of the OCB crew. The Gina, Trudy, Stan, and Larry stories have steadily trickled into publication on AO3 and the like. It's as if the creative fandom corps has looked at the characters long enough to allow complexity to flow into the works published after 2012.
And all of this is wonderful... but... that's only the foundation of this villainous monologuing ramble. I'm here to talk about (surprise) Castillo.
Specifically how fandom hasn't turned the page on Martin's ability to express himself. And, not just in fanfiction - but MV Fandom in gen.
There are untold numbers of Miami Vice fan groups dotting the web and all of them have one resounding bass note that gets played when talk turns to Martin Castillo. "He's a laconic, glaring paragon of control."
Or ... as Dickens might describe him: "Hard and sharp as flint... secret and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster." The word that sums up this generally agreed upon character description of Martin Castillo is COLD. "Icy stare" - "Silent glower" - "Chilling disapproval" - "FREEZE!"
He is a counter point to the gregarious, dripping with southern-charm, always slightly out of control golden-boy: Sonny Crockett.
And, yeah, those perspectives have the canon citations to make the case... por ejemplo, el video de abajo ↓ ... but its not the only evidence.
Because that "cold" thing doesn't fly in the rarely seen, trace evidence of Team Spirit Feels. Cold, icy, silent, growling are not qualities that attract loyalty. Distant, controlled, grumbling, glaring, ninja bosses don't get their nicknames used in their presence, nor the impersonating chides of "We know... no heroes", they don't get the protective "I worry about the Lieutenant", the personal space invading "I thought you'd want to know", or even the "you're the glue man" [fucking glue man... wtf Crockett.] Those are affection clues. Those are warm fuzzy markers of warriors-in-arms relationships and COLD don't get nobody that.
Controlled? Yes. Laconic? Can be. Killer? Absolutely. Is he a policeman that enforces the law, equally applied, no special cases? He tries. Is that all he is? No. He's an adult adulting in a shitty middle manager job at Level: Master. He has friends, likes baseball, and runs on caffeine.
Vulcan-Jedi-Ninja of Miami? No fucking way. I'm not even convinced he's an introvert at this point. He hugs way too much, too easily, and too well. That is full body contact ↓ there ↓ and why is up for debate.
And those clues to a warm personality are scattered throughout the series, suggested by off screen events and reflected in the loyalty of The Team. There are occasional glimpses that give us a hint of who Castillo is when he's not... ya know... containing Crockett & Co. Most of these clues are overlooked or minimized by the fandom wonks who prefer their Lieutenant Castillo stirred, not shaken, and - please - on the rocks to keep him chilly. Move on... nothing to feel here. Keep going.
This ↓ is the Martin Castillo most of MV Fandom sees, thinks about, talks about, and wants. Remaking the character over and over and over. Sharp as a blade and solitary as an oyster.
