Jordan as a "Blind Soldier" / Jordan's Appeal
Posted: Sep 22nd 2010, 1:24 pm
So, I know this has been discussed in one form or another, but I thought I'd make a topic dedicated just to figuring out why Angela (and so many others who like guys) like Jordan Catalano with such intensity. Jordan Catalano and guys like him, I should say, cause they're everywhere around us. And, if you ask me, liking them is kind of... dangerous and self-destructive sometimes. And it can be beautiful, but not always worth it. Clearly I'm a fan of Jordan's since I want to discuss him so much, but still.
At the beginning of "Why Jordan Can't Read", Angela says "I always imagined I would fall in love, nursing a blind soldier. Who was wounded in battle." I don't know if that's been explicitly stated in the discussion for that episode (http://www.mscl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2227), but I think Jordan could be seen as that blind soldier, which would explain a great deal of Angela's obsession-- she (secretly?) wants to save Jordan and make him a better person who's more self-aware (less "blind"?), etc. This relates to something else that's been discussed on the forum (I can't find where, but it was in several places) about how Angela likes Jordan because he's one who allows her to project her fantasies onto him.
So to combine these two: I think Jordan and his likes have so much power over Angela (and me, and perhaps others) because despite the lack of any reason to like them (they're not nice guys on the surface), we BELIEVE there is more under the surface, because we want to believe it. And we believe that what's under the surface is beautiful, because we believe the world is beautiful, and because we want to help make it beautiful, by bringing out that inner beauty to the surface. We are willing to sacrifice ourselves in some sense (those guys don't really treat you well most of the time, and are much harder to deal with than "sweet" boys) for the sake of saving these "blind soldiers". Is this a masochistic impulse? Possibly. But it also feels much more special when someone who doesn't normally treat people nicely treats YOU nicely, because you, unlike others, see beyond the surface of who they are.
Yet... Any kind of relationship with people like this is extremely exhausting and emotionally draining, in my experience. I have wasted a few years of my life dealing with such people, and honestly, probably just two of them were worth it. I think that relationships with such dudes are dangerous because there's also the chance that there actually ISN'T anything under the surface worth sacrificing yourself for, but it takes forever to see this, and sometimes it's too late to stop. I think with Jordan, there IS beauty under the surface. Or maybe I just want to think so?
At the beginning of "Why Jordan Can't Read", Angela says "I always imagined I would fall in love, nursing a blind soldier. Who was wounded in battle." I don't know if that's been explicitly stated in the discussion for that episode (http://www.mscl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2227), but I think Jordan could be seen as that blind soldier, which would explain a great deal of Angela's obsession-- she (secretly?) wants to save Jordan and make him a better person who's more self-aware (less "blind"?), etc. This relates to something else that's been discussed on the forum (I can't find where, but it was in several places) about how Angela likes Jordan because he's one who allows her to project her fantasies onto him.
So to combine these two: I think Jordan and his likes have so much power over Angela (and me, and perhaps others) because despite the lack of any reason to like them (they're not nice guys on the surface), we BELIEVE there is more under the surface, because we want to believe it. And we believe that what's under the surface is beautiful, because we believe the world is beautiful, and because we want to help make it beautiful, by bringing out that inner beauty to the surface. We are willing to sacrifice ourselves in some sense (those guys don't really treat you well most of the time, and are much harder to deal with than "sweet" boys) for the sake of saving these "blind soldiers". Is this a masochistic impulse? Possibly. But it also feels much more special when someone who doesn't normally treat people nicely treats YOU nicely, because you, unlike others, see beyond the surface of who they are.
Yet... Any kind of relationship with people like this is extremely exhausting and emotionally draining, in my experience. I have wasted a few years of my life dealing with such people, and honestly, probably just two of them were worth it. I think that relationships with such dudes are dangerous because there's also the chance that there actually ISN'T anything under the surface worth sacrificing yourself for, but it takes forever to see this, and sometimes it's too late to stop. I think with Jordan, there IS beauty under the surface. Or maybe I just want to think so?