While reading "Straight Shooters, Stainless-Steel Stories, and Cowboy Codes," one of my favorite action heros of all time kept coming to mind - Torchwood's (and Dr. Who's) immortal, time-traveling, classically masculine with a twist (think WWII, as you'll see below), bisexual Captain Jack Harkness. Count on Great Britain to give me an American hero I can actually root for without grumbling...
Here's one of my favorite re-writes of history (Warning: melodrama ahead. But strangely touching, at moments weirdly genuine melodrama that always makes me tear up...):
Instead of only taking on the West, Jack takes on... the known universe? In addition, James Bond, eat your heart out:
While perusing YouTube clips, I've been trying to figure out what, exactly, makes this character so much fun for me. Besides the pretty face, I really think it comes down to his constant irreverence for the semiotic systems of the universe - the knowing twinkle in his eye every time he catches someone off guard. It really is appropriation at it's best.
Another tidbit - the actor who plays Jack, John Barrowman, was passed over for the role of Will in Will and Grace because he wasn't "gay enough". Interesting, while John IS gay, the actor playing Will isn't. Social codes are so much fun...
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