A Bad Romance
Oct. 28th, 2010 09:34 am![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cuntfucius posting in ![[community profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
scans_dailyI'm tired of everyone picking on my hunk of a man, Terry Long. If he shaved his beard, you guys would be all over him. In fact, I am going to do a series one day of photoshopping his beard out of the equation, and see how the reception of his scenes change. Is it because he doesn't have a stylish villain goatee instead? Or Ollie's sexy beard?
A happier time for Donna Troy! I'll showcase all of her loves: The First Love (Roy Harper), The Love of Her Life (Terry Long), and The Second Chance at Love (Kyle Rayner). But right now, only Terry Long, because he is way sexier than Roy and Kyle.
Marriage looked good on Donna. No, really! I mean, retiring her on a farm with a bad haircut and giving her a creepy baby plot didn't look good on her, but marriage did! Or maybe it was that red suit.
YOU WISH YOU HAD A LOVE LIKE THEIRS. Oh yeah, look at that. He's all ... charming and nearly 30 and making bad jokes. This is his second wedding, and he's very excited and confident about it! How can you beat a man who loves commitment that much? He's not jaded from his past divorce, which only took place like, under two years ago at this point. Terry is a man not afraid of the altar!
Terry Long was understandably popular with the ladies. All students on campus loved him, but the girls did in particular. And why wouldn't they?
Donna don't play that shit, though.
"DROOOOOOL." Could a sexier, smoother thing be said in such a moment? I think not. Just look at his boyish charm! Watch out, world, Terry Long's coming for your heart. He compliments Donna by telling her she looks like her Mother right before they bang on the plane. I'd be fanning myself at this point. Now, it could be said that Terry idealized Donna a bit since he was so obsessed with Greek mythology and Donna was tied to it, but ... that's okay, he paid for that later with the whole Greek Tragedy bit.
"To peace, wisdom, and unity." Donna, this is not a beauty pageant.
But look at how comforting Terry is! What a MAN.
And I mean it. Comforting. He does the right thing and doesn't make it about him when Donna has something traumatizing happen to her.
Here is Donna, looking like a delicious 80s watermelon. In the first panel, she seems to be checking out Terry's chiseled physique. And who wouldn't!?
But look at that, he doesn't press the issue!
Call it creepy all you want, the way Terry Long tries to flirt with both Koriand'r AND Dick Grayson at every turn. He's just a free-lovin' man! In the end, he knows his heart is with Donna. And look: He knows she's boss, and doesn't feel emasculated at all! Meanwhile, Dick talks about Kory's culture and their "savage" ways. Oh Dick! Stop changing the subject when Terry winks at you as he massages his wife's shoulders, it's obvious you want some of the Long.
Do you guys remember Jennifer Long?
... Yeah, neither does Donna.
So there was a time when Terry got fired from his job for not doing his homework like a good boy, and he blamed Donna over it and ran off for three days to brood. Dick move, right? Well, he came back! And we are given this sweet scene.
He is a THOUGHTFUL and considerate man! Sure, he might act self-indulged once in a while, but in the end he's always going to admit when he's wrong.
Prone to dramatic posing when he feels inadequate about being a civilian and dating a super heroine. With all of the pressures on masculinity, and the expectations of a man to provide for his woman -- and with Donna leading a life he's barely involved in, I could see why he would ... uh, pose dramatically and get upset. I would too.
They don't care about a ten year age difference. PFFFT and why should they? A LOVE LIKE THEIRS CANNOT BE DEFEATED. Unless it is by Starfire. But still.
Look at those two love birds! Fandom, stop throwing paper airplanes. BE MATURE. Like the beautiful love between Terry and Donna.
And ... yet again, Donna goes off with her friends, spending a majority of her time with them, while Terry is left to kind of sulk and overthink his unemployment, inadequacy, and loserdom. But that can't tear them apart!!!
And a relationship with Donna Troy is like a walk in the park! No obstacles will ever come in your way.
Uh
Er...
Okay, about that...
Wait, surely this is a misunderstanding!!
... :(
ADMIT IT, SCANS_DAILY. YOU ARE GUILTY OF THE CARDINAL SIN... OF NOT LOVING THIS MAN. But seriously, don't tell me you wouldn't date him.
A happier time for Donna Troy! I'll showcase all of her loves: The First Love (Roy Harper), The Love of Her Life (Terry Long), and The Second Chance at Love (Kyle Rayner). But right now, only Terry Long, because he is way sexier than Roy and Kyle.
Marriage looked good on Donna. No, really! I mean, retiring her on a farm with a bad haircut and giving her a creepy baby plot didn't look good on her, but marriage did! Or maybe it was that red suit.
YOU WISH YOU HAD A LOVE LIKE THEIRS. Oh yeah, look at that. He's all ... charming and nearly 30 and making bad jokes. This is his second wedding, and he's very excited and confident about it! How can you beat a man who loves commitment that much? He's not jaded from his past divorce, which only took place like, under two years ago at this point. Terry is a man not afraid of the altar!
Terry Long was understandably popular with the ladies. All students on campus loved him, but the girls did in particular. And why wouldn't they?
Donna don't play that shit, though.
"DROOOOOOL." Could a sexier, smoother thing be said in such a moment? I think not. Just look at his boyish charm! Watch out, world, Terry Long's coming for your heart. He compliments Donna by telling her she looks like her Mother right before they bang on the plane. I'd be fanning myself at this point. Now, it could be said that Terry idealized Donna a bit since he was so obsessed with Greek mythology and Donna was tied to it, but ... that's okay, he paid for that later with the whole Greek Tragedy bit.
"To peace, wisdom, and unity." Donna, this is not a beauty pageant.
But look at how comforting Terry is! What a MAN.
And I mean it. Comforting. He does the right thing and doesn't make it about him when Donna has something traumatizing happen to her.
Here is Donna, looking like a delicious 80s watermelon. In the first panel, she seems to be checking out Terry's chiseled physique. And who wouldn't!?
But look at that, he doesn't press the issue!
Call it creepy all you want, the way Terry Long tries to flirt with both Koriand'r AND Dick Grayson at every turn. He's just a free-lovin' man! In the end, he knows his heart is with Donna. And look: He knows she's boss, and doesn't feel emasculated at all! Meanwhile, Dick talks about Kory's culture and their "savage" ways. Oh Dick! Stop changing the subject when Terry winks at you as he massages his wife's shoulders, it's obvious you want some of the Long.
Do you guys remember Jennifer Long?
... Yeah, neither does Donna.
So there was a time when Terry got fired from his job for not doing his homework like a good boy, and he blamed Donna over it and ran off for three days to brood. Dick move, right? Well, he came back! And we are given this sweet scene.
He is a THOUGHTFUL and considerate man! Sure, he might act self-indulged once in a while, but in the end he's always going to admit when he's wrong.
Prone to dramatic posing when he feels inadequate about being a civilian and dating a super heroine. With all of the pressures on masculinity, and the expectations of a man to provide for his woman -- and with Donna leading a life he's barely involved in, I could see why he would ... uh, pose dramatically and get upset. I would too.
They don't care about a ten year age difference. PFFFT and why should they? A LOVE LIKE THEIRS CANNOT BE DEFEATED. Unless it is by Starfire. But still.
Look at those two love birds! Fandom, stop throwing paper airplanes. BE MATURE. Like the beautiful love between Terry and Donna.
And ... yet again, Donna goes off with her friends, spending a majority of her time with them, while Terry is left to kind of sulk and overthink his unemployment, inadequacy, and loserdom. But that can't tear them apart!!!
And a relationship with Donna Troy is like a walk in the park! No obstacles will ever come in your way.
Uh
Er...
Okay, about that...
Wait, surely this is a misunderstanding!!
... :(
ADMIT IT, SCANS_DAILY. YOU ARE GUILTY OF THE CARDINAL SIN... OF NOT LOVING THIS MAN. But seriously, don't tell me you wouldn't date him.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-28 08:09 pm (UTC)He's rather charmless, divorced, dating his students/former students, dating women MUCH younger than he is, whines a lot, has a red afro and facial hair (was he modeled after Bob Ross of painting fame?). And they hook him up (to the point of marrying and having a child with) Wonder Woman's sister? What teen readers of "Teen Titans" (which I presume was the actual target readership in the 80s) actually identified with him?
no subject
Date: 2010-10-28 08:19 pm (UTC)I don't think anyone identified with him, but I also think that adolescence has extended socially and has changed in construction -- there has been much more coverage in the media, for example, on illicit student/teacher affairs, on molestation, on all of that. This can lead to more awareness, but also paranoia and false character conflation and attributes. But I think that is why he was looked at differently at the time, which isn't even to say he was loved at the time. Many people accepted their relationship as a refreshingly healthy and happy one, but there was still quite a bit resistance to him, and it got worse and worse after he was shown more and more. His insecurities were showcased, how he took them out on Donna was showcased, and the sad thing is Donna wasn't shown to really assert herself often around him when he was doing any of this stuff.