sort of....
a/n I tried to explain, share my own thoughts about Snow Day. It is one of my favorites, of my stories; I personally love the interactions among the three guys. And so, here's my ideas. You may not agree, you may think the following is a load of incoherent crap. [And indeed it may be!] I haven't written a literary analysis since high school, so bear with me, please?
And do tell me what you thought / think?
................................
Snow Day, Behind the Scenes and in
Their Heads
OMG! Why?
And what about Stephanie?
Let me see....why? First, why I wrote it: I wrote it so that we all could experience a moment with Ranger in our arms, kissing us.
In this story Joe Morelli has metamorphed into a different man, or person. And in fact he has become a literary Everyman/ Everyperson. He is a little baffled by the complexities of Ranger's real life, but he is fascinated and intrigued. Just as we all are.
Morelli's fascination with Ranger (and Anthony) began in Half Past Eleven, when he visited the Haywood Street apartment and saw how Ranger really lives.
The kiss lets us---again, Everyone---experience a [rather tame, yet hopefully hot] sexual encounter with Ranger. It is a device that lets us feel what Joe feels, and imagine how it was, how he---Ranger---felt in our arms. How it feels to touch him, kiss him. We are able to vicariously experience Joe's emotions and reactions to kissing, touching Ranger.
Suddenly Ranger is accessible. And real.
... ... ...
Another reason I wrote this story:
The scenes in Snow Day, especially the kiss scene let us see/hear what each man thinks, not just about the other man---though that's crucial, but how they view the incident itself. Joe is turned on, and confused. Ranger is withdrawn and analytical. Other scenes and stream of consciousness narrative explore the seemingly impervious, always cool and mellow Anthony's insecurities, trauma, and dependence on his brother. It show their closeness, their love. And even as both Anthony and Ranger tell us, and themselves, that they are untouched by their covert lives, untroubled by fear or pain, inured to all the killing, just soldiers who do their job, both hint at a deeper hurt and grief and stress. But both are externally cool, calm, and badass. Always.
Third: Morelli is a slow learner, and in fact at the end he still can't believe or really understand why Stephanie has left him for Ranger. And yet, that kiss, that moment...the way Ranger made him feel...? Maybe he does understand, just a little.
Fourth: I wanted to write each man's POV, in a non-confrontational situation [so no Stephanie in the cabin! She's home in Trenton]. And see if I could make each man's internal voice and mindset unique to himself. Does Ranger sound different from Joe? Anthony from Ranger? Did you notice Anthony slips and speaks/ narrates not-stoner/ surfer when he relaxes or is feeling intense?
Now for within the story motivation: and you know, sometimes the guys just do whatever the hell they want! But...
Why did Ranger do it? Why kiss Morelli? Ranger is a complex, experienced, sophisticated man of extreme intelligence and beauty; his life-experience is far greater than his thirty years. He has seen all, probably done all. Recall his line in JE: "No I'm not physically sick...but mentally, sexually? Who knows." And after we're done thinking Oh thank God he doesn't have HIV or something, we start to think, well what then?...and so? And indeed he is willing, to a point, to broaden Morelli's horizons.
Because, as he says, it really never touches his inner self. It's an experiment, a challenge, a game. A What-if.
Ranger is tired, bored, and a little annoyed, and he just figures, Okay, Joe, you want this? Me? Really? What would you do if you had me, man? And so ...the kiss. And Joe runs away, of course.
....
My brother had a favorite story when he was a nasty little kid:
My brother thought this was hilarious. But the fact is, Morelli was there, lusting for Ranger...so he kissed him.There's a little boy crammed in the back of a crowded elevator. Fat lady's butt is right in his face. (We always pictured our loudmouthed, big butt in pencil skirt music teacher here, Mrs. A!) Elevator goes up. Lady screams. Everyone turns and glares at the boy. He says, "It was there. So I bit it."
LOL.
......
Ranger is not uncaring about Stephanie. Never. He thinks of her in the midst of everything and consciously notes that he would never hurt her or betray her. The experimental kiss however does not fall into his, Ranger's, unfaithful parameters, because it is a kiss with a man. (Or because to him, a kiss is just a kiss...all that poaching in the alley?) To Ranger, the scene is ...he says, he believes---well, mostly an indifference. And yet, when he talks to Anthony afterwards, an Anthony who despite his own sophistication clearly disapproves, it is fairly obvious that Ranger is indeed upset. Or at least a bit bothered. Maybe not so much about Joe as in the way he, Ranger, is and has been so often treated simply as a sexual object. No one, not even Ranger, likes to be loved for their beauty only.
Even Stephanie who loves him deeply and sincerely, loves him for how he looks, doesn't she? (in the books, I mean. Not in my stories.) In JE she never says anything about how good he is to her, how obviously he loves her. No, she just talks about how hot he is.
And Anthony disapproves of the encounter not because he cares about a little light guy on guy action. No, his empathic senses tell him that Ranger is upset or hurting. And he doesn't understand why Ranger lets himself care, or why he lets his mental and physical barriers slip. Why Ranger lets himself be vulnerable. After all, Ranger is his hero, his friend, and his role-model: if Ranger can be vulnerable...to Joe!---what does that mean for Anthony and his own outer facade/ shell? And probably, since they look so much alike, Anthony has dealt with similar intrusions, has equivalent vulnerabilities. Even though he of course, like Ranger, shrugs it off.
My guys---Ranger , Anthony, the other good guys, like Tank---do have emotions and can be deeply hurt. Their intelligence creates a dichotomy: smart enough to make up stories even they believe, but also smart enough to see the private lies. To understand, empathize, care---love. Because deep inside they do care, and their lives as military...well, hitmen---has wounded them all.
So Ranger brings his own complexities and angst to the moment. But again, the main purpose of the scene is for us, the readers, to have those moments, along with Joe. I loved visualizing each second, each caress, each revelation.
Be Joe, feel the moment, feel Ranger.
sigh.
Oh and why Joe? Well, it couldn't be a woman, could it? That would indeed be a betrayal of Stephanie.
And Joe is there, and asking for it.
All.
Wouldn't you?
... ... ...
What do/ did you guys think?
6 comments:
Aloha,
I think it's amazing to see what your vision is for the characters. You're amazing, brave, and more open to your readers than I have or ever will be.
I'm a selfish writer. I write for me. I love to write a sentence of six words and stand back and see what those six words do.
That being said, I love your characters. I love the way you use them to take us places both in their heads and in their physical location. I could understand Joe's feelings when he admitted that the "cabin" was bigger than his whole house. (It struck a cord with me because my place is to tiny. The garage in my old house was bigger than my whole condo.)
It was amazing to see him finally get a glimpse of how Ranger looks to Stephanie.
The whole experience of trying to figure out why Ranger kissed Morelli. To see that Anthony was puzzled and he knows Ranger much better than we do.
It was a long day and this was fun. Thank you.
Great writing. Great discussion. I hope you're already working on lots of other things.
Your greedy fan.
Hunter
Experiencing Ranger's kiss inside Morelli's body...
It's almost like a Tim Burton movie.
I loved these stories and how you made the characters so complex and multidimensional. Your version of Ranger is fantastic. Please, please, please keep writing!
I like your version of the characters better than JE's. They have more dimension.
As for the Joe/Ranger interlude...I've always wondered about Morelli. I feel that anyone who is trying so hard to prove he is a man questions his own sexuality. Morelli reminds me of a girl friend of mine who comes off like a super sexual woman who can have any man she wants and has lots of sex and brags about it - but never makes love. And the sex never varies from a couple of positions and a basic blow job. Anything outside her "norm" and she freaks about it being "too weird" or "dirty". She also is easily impressed by big houses, expensive cars, fancy clothes, etc. Like somehow the people that have them are different or special somehow and if she could just get them herself she would be "special" too. Morelli was out of his comfort zone, trying to understand Ranger and Anthony and he reached for something new - for a bit. Then Morelli retreated fearfully back into his "normal" box.
Why did Ranger allow or even encourage it? Ranger is complex and there has always been a hint of pain and vulnerability beneath his surface - especially around Steph. He seemed to want to see how far Morelli would go, if he would step all the way out of his safe little box or if he would leap back into it. There also seemed to be a tiny bit of feeling like he deserved the vulnerability of an encounter with Morelli. He had to know that Steph would not be happy if she found out and that Morelli would not be able to keep from telling her. Maybe part of Anthony's disapproval was that Ranger made himself vulnerable to damaging his relationship with Steph and hurting her. After all, Anthony loves her too.
Just my interpretation of things.
Love your writing!
T
Or maybe Ranger was simply bored and decided to play a game with Morelli? Like a cat did with a mouse? He was curious about Morelli(What's the thing about this hairy man that made Stephanie keep coming back to him?). He found it interesting that Morelli was attracted to him. He knew Morelli would chicken out eventually. He knew Morelli would never ever tell Stephanie. It was but a kiss. It meant nothing. He was just bored, and tired.
And Anthony didn't like this side of him. Because watching a cat playing with its prey was not pleasant...
I've read the Snow Day in its entirety a few times now, and the Author's Explanation...and all the comments. I still, every time I read it all, feel Ranger's vulnerability and hurt, and maybe that he's a little angry at himself for letting himself be hurt by others shallowness, even as he allows himself to see it as being inured, as an experiment, as "giving Joe the experience", as maybe the cat playing with the mouse. It can be all that and none of that, but yet, Ranger DOES have emotion, and even though he could let his body do what others want, ultimately, I believe he wouldn't go so far as to actually have sex with Joe. He would consider that cheating on Steph, in my mind. And all the time, he's hating that Joe, like every other person, only sees the beauty, the perfection, the satin skin, the velvet lips. They don't see the soul, the heart, the mind. Stephanie sees that. Yeah, she knows he's hot, but even so, she cares about the INNER Ranger, too. He doesn't get that anywhere else...except maybe Anthony and Olivia, and Lester, Tank...and the rest of the guys who love him and live with the same beauty/hotness problem. But Steph sees deeper than anyone except maybe Anthony. So, even though Ranger might give Joe a little sample, and tell himself he's inured to it, it still eats away at his soul a little.
I also think that Anthony knows all this and besides the thing about putting his relationship with Steph at risk, knows how it really affects Ranger down deep. Nobody wants to feel vulnerable, and Anthony is an extension of Ranger, so to speak. I can see all the different reasons, but I still feel like Ranger hides his hurt over being the "object", even from himself.
Great piece, though. I loved that they showed Joe more of their true selves, especially with the Ivy League college stuff, and let Joe figure out that he's been suckered in with everyone else into thinking that Ranger actually came from the barrio, when he's really one of the elite, high class wealthy.
Great writing.
Maggie M.
Vulcan Rider
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