Changes

'''Subtext''' as defined by the Russian director Constantin Stanislavski is the underlying motivation, feelings and emotions behind a character's actions and speech. With a good actor, the audience can pick up on the subtext and interpret the character's thoughts. This is why people say of actors like Ethel Barrymore or Leonard Nimoy that a single gesture or word "spoke volumes".<ref>At least this is true of neurotypical audiences. This is an area where autistics can have difficulty eliciting meaning, and may need to have some things spelled out in more detail.</ref>

'''Subtext''' as defined by the Russian director Constantin Stanislavski is the underlying motivation, feelings and emotions behind a character's actions and speech. With a good actor, the audience can pick up on the subtext and interpret the character's thoughts. This is why people say of actors like Ethel Barrymore or Leonard Nimoy that a single gesture or word "spoke volumes".<ref>At least this is true of neurotypical audiences. This is an area where autistics can have difficulty eliciting meaning, and may need to have some things spelled out in more detail.</ref>

In fandom, subtext is content in [[canon]] (or, sometimes, [[fanworks]]) that is meant to be understood by the audience without being explicitly stated.  In fan discussions, subtext most commonly refers to canon that is felt to imply a romantic [[Shipping|relationship]] or [[UST|unresolved sexual tension]]/attraction between two same-sex characters, or to hint at a character's sexual orientation. [[Slash]] fans point out elements of art direction and photography as well as acting that they feel make the "obvious" point.

In fandom, subtext is content in [[canon]] (or, sometimes, [[fanworks]]) that is meant to be understood by the audience without being explicitly stated.   

When the term subtext is used with regard to canon, an argument is often made that fans are [[Slash goggles|seeing sexual relationships or attraction]] where they don't really exist. In film and television, especially in dramatic or suspense genres, two men looking intensely at each other or even touching does not mean they are lovers. However, [[TPTB|showrunners and producers]] who point this out, may be accused, rightly or wrongly, of [[Queer Baiting]].

In dramatics, subtext does not necessarily have to be deliberate on the part of the author. There have been many debates over whether certain subtext exists in canon whether or not the [[authorial intent|writer intended to put it there]].

 

Subtext is extremely subjective, and not all fans will agree on their validity or application to a particular relationship in a show or film.

 

An example of subtext:  When Bodie and Doyle have a different set of rooms every time they are shown at home in [[The Professionals]], the subtext can be, "CI5 agents have to move often for security reasons," or "These characters are so unstable that they can't keep the same apartment for long."

In dramatics, subtext does not necessarily have to be deliberate on the part of the author. There have been many debates over whether certain subtext exists in canon whether or not the [[authorial intent|writer intended to put it there]].

In fan discussions, subtext most commonly refers to canon that is felt to imply a romantic [[Shipping|relationship]] or [[UST|unresolved sexual tension]]/attraction between two same-sex characters, or to hint at a character's sexual orientation. [[Slash]] fans point out elements of art direction and photography as well as acting that they feel make the "obvious" point.  

These concepts are extremely subjective, and not all fans will agree on their validity or application to a particular relationship in a show or film.

When the term subtext is used with regard to canon, an argument is often made that fans are [[Slash goggles|seeing sexual relationships or attraction]] where they don't really exist. In film and television, especially in dramatic or suspense genres, two men looking intensely at each other or even touching does not mean they are lovers. However, [[TPTB|showrunners and producers]] who point this out, may be accused, rightly or wrongly, of [[Queer Baiting]].

{{Quotation2|For my part, I never have been able to "slash for slash's sake." I don't and can't "[[Slash goggles|see slashy]] [[subtext]]" everywhere I look. Evidence of emotional and/or physical intimacy (same gender or opposite) demonstrates only that characters are emotionally and/or physically intimate. Emotional/physical intimacy exists between people who are friends and among family members and is, by itself, insufficient to suggest, much less prove, that there is or should be sexual relationship.  

{{Quotation2|For my part, I never have been able to "slash for slash's sake." I don't and can't "[[Slash goggles|see slashy]] [[subtext]]" everywhere I look. Evidence of emotional and/or physical intimacy (same gender or opposite) demonstrates only that characters are emotionally and/or physically intimate. Emotional/physical intimacy exists between people who are friends and among family members and is, by itself, insufficient to suggest, much less prove, that there is or should be sexual relationship.