1 comment on “This Is Us Too: 3.12 – “Songbird Road: Part Two””

1. Meredith says:

   February 14, 2019 at 2:39 am

   Dear Mary & Blake,
   This is a cross-over comment. It is a comparison between Jack and Jamie on “Outlander.” Both characters suffer from the hero worship they receive. A lot of fans have been upset to find out that Jack had this brother who he pretended was dead. And I think that a lot of people are upset about Season Four of “Outlander.” Why? I call it ‘Caption Kirk’ syndrome. It’s this tendency to dismiss the flaws and mistakes of the main character, when he’s quite admired by the fans. Captain Kirk was a very flawed captain on the old show. He was never grateful for the help he received from the more minor characters. He had at least one new woman who he knocked boots with every other episode. And yet, nobody noticed because he was such a great character. Jamie Fraser has the same problems. He is absolutely beautiful and he obviously has brains as well. He speaks French and plays chess. He can make friends with French pick-pockets as well as royalty. It’s easy to pretend that he has no flaws. But he has two big flaws that get him into trouble. One is sexism and the other is self-righteous vengeance. How is Jamie a sexist? It isn’t with Claire for the most part, but most other women he doesn’t teat too well. Think about his sister Jenny. She was attacked by Black Jack Randall in the yard. Jack insinuated to Jenny that if she didn’t go upstairs with him, that he’d kill Jamie. Then he knocked Jamie out, and later told him that Jenny willingly went upstairs with him. so what does Jamie do? He doesn’t write any letters or send any messages to Jenny. As if the supposed rape was her fault. If she had slept with jenny, it would hardly have been her fault, yet he acts as though it is. And what about Brianna? No he didn’t give her any grief for the pregnancy, but he did ‘slut shame’ her for sleeping with Roger without a real wedding. where was his lecture to Ian when he was with that barmaid? Boys losing their virginity to someone they barely know is acceptable, But a girl losing her virginity to a man she loves on their hand-fast wedding night was shameful. But the real sexism comes when his secrecy of Roger’s beating. If Black Jack Randall was approaching the house, he’d have wanted to be told. If either Fergus’ or Ian’s rapist had been coming, he’d have told them. But because Brianna is a girl, he simply disposed of the ‘problem’ without consulting her. The choices Jamie Fraser made in Season Four were pretty awful and very human. And because he was up against Roger, we felt we had to choose sides. So fans chose to ignore Jamie’s mistakes and focus only on Roger’s mistakes. He did make a few, but what he’s most guilty of is bad timing.
   So what does this have to do with our beloved Jack on “This IS Us?” I think that Roger serves a similar function in “Outlander,” that Nick serves on “This is Us.” They are characters who’ve been traumatized and who deal with it in a very human way. And they have entered the orbit of our heroes, to show their flaws. On “This is Us,” Nicky referred to Jack as Superman and himself as Clark Kent. On “Outlander,” Roger is the Clark Kent to Jamie’s Superman. They are here to show that by trying to get rid of threats to their family, that they may have done more harm than good. Jamie and Jack are both judgmental and don’t bother to hear out the person that needs them. Roger needed a little understanding and kindness from Jamie, and he doesn’t give it to him. Jack didn’t let Nick explain what happened in Vietnam. This is a very important parallel with these characters that I think has been overlooked. Jamie and Jack have flaws that people don’t really notice because they prefer not to.

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