ext_2286 (![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
cupidsbow.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
crack_van2006-03-03 01:19 pm
cupidsbow.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2006-03-03 01:19 pm
Entry tags:
Afflection Overview
If you've ever read any interviews or articles featuring Ben Affleck or Matt Damon, you will no doubt know that they are buddies. It tends to get mentioned a lot, mainly because they became famous together when they wrote the script for Good Will Hunting.
A Friendship of Legend
Their celebrity began in 1998, when they were nominated for, and then won, an Oscar for Best Screenplay.
The media feeding frenzy which followed focused as much on their friendship as it did on their careers and upcoming projects. Ever since, their lives have been linked together in the press, and their friendship has become more and more legendary as it has outlasted numerous girlfriends and fiancés, not to mention various career highs and lows.
Whether or not their friendship is read as slashy, the way it has been constructed by the press, combined with the way Matt and Ben have worked on so many projects together, has created a fascinating background for fanfiction.
The Friendship
For me, one of the most interesting aspects of their public friendship is the way in which Matt and Ben protect one another. For example, in an interview on Andrew Denton's Enough Rope, Denton managed to get past Matt's "celebrity persona" with some very clever questions (one of them was "are you a good actor?"). Matt was utterly adorable as he tried to respond to questions he clearly hadn't been asked before--a real feat on Denton's part, as Matt must have been asked a million questions by interviewers over the years. In the same interview, Denton asked a question about Ben Affleck, and the response was extraordinary. The moment the words left Denton's mouth, it was as though a cone of silence dropped down over Matt's whole body. Even though he responded in a polite manner, it was absolutely clear from his body language that he was not going to let Denton anywhere near his private friendship with Ben: only the public version was open for discussion. Denton immediately backed off and changed the topic, and I don't blame him one bit; it was the kind of response celebrities tend to give when they refuse to speak about their spouse or children.
Ben has a different approach, but it is no less silencing. He makes jokes. For example, on Saturday Night Live, after his break up with J.Lo, he went on with a box of T-shirts. He pulled out one which said "Bennifer," and he offered to give it away. The next said "Benyonce," and he said it was because he was living in hope. And the final one said "Ben-gay," for when "Matt finally came around." For all of the flash and dazzle, this too protects the friendship in a cone of silence: acknowledging it publicly but at the same time taking away any chance to ask serious questions about it.
You can see the kind of scope there is to play with here, in the silence that exists between the public and private. The stories I'll be recommending this month will mostly focus on the Matt/Ben friendship--although many of them will be explicitly slashy as well--and the ways their friendship might have changed and grown in the face of relentless press coverage.
Although my focus will be on Matt and Ben, there are other people in this fandom, primarily:
Casey Affleck (Ben's younger brother)
Jennifer Garner (Ben's wife)
Joaquin Phoenix (Casey's best friend)
Summer Phoenix (Casey's partner, Joaquin's sister)
Matt is also married, but as his wife isn't a celebrity, she's not featured as part of the Afflection pantheon.
You can find more information about the main players here. There's also an overview of the other secondary celebrity personas here.
* * *
Recommended Sites
DASA (The Damon/Affleck Slash Archive)
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
damonaffleck
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
damonaffleck100
Other Resources
bartlebyxloki
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck: A Slasher's Dream Come True
Recommended Stories
Recommendations of my favourite stories can be found in the Memories atrec_room.
A Friendship of Legend
Their celebrity began in 1998, when they were nominated for, and then won, an Oscar for Best Screenplay.
The media feeding frenzy which followed focused as much on their friendship as it did on their careers and upcoming projects. Ever since, their lives have been linked together in the press, and their friendship has become more and more legendary as it has outlasted numerous girlfriends and fiancés, not to mention various career highs and lows.
Whether or not their friendship is read as slashy, the way it has been constructed by the press, combined with the way Matt and Ben have worked on so many projects together, has created a fascinating background for fanfiction.
The Friendship
For me, one of the most interesting aspects of their public friendship is the way in which Matt and Ben protect one another. For example, in an interview on Andrew Denton's Enough Rope, Denton managed to get past Matt's "celebrity persona" with some very clever questions (one of them was "are you a good actor?"). Matt was utterly adorable as he tried to respond to questions he clearly hadn't been asked before--a real feat on Denton's part, as Matt must have been asked a million questions by interviewers over the years. In the same interview, Denton asked a question about Ben Affleck, and the response was extraordinary. The moment the words left Denton's mouth, it was as though a cone of silence dropped down over Matt's whole body. Even though he responded in a polite manner, it was absolutely clear from his body language that he was not going to let Denton anywhere near his private friendship with Ben: only the public version was open for discussion. Denton immediately backed off and changed the topic, and I don't blame him one bit; it was the kind of response celebrities tend to give when they refuse to speak about their spouse or children.
Ben has a different approach, but it is no less silencing. He makes jokes. For example, on Saturday Night Live, after his break up with J.Lo, he went on with a box of T-shirts. He pulled out one which said "Bennifer," and he offered to give it away. The next said "Benyonce," and he said it was because he was living in hope. And the final one said "Ben-gay," for when "Matt finally came around." For all of the flash and dazzle, this too protects the friendship in a cone of silence: acknowledging it publicly but at the same time taking away any chance to ask serious questions about it.
You can see the kind of scope there is to play with here, in the silence that exists between the public and private. The stories I'll be recommending this month will mostly focus on the Matt/Ben friendship--although many of them will be explicitly slashy as well--and the ways their friendship might have changed and grown in the face of relentless press coverage.
Although my focus will be on Matt and Ben, there are other people in this fandom, primarily:
Casey Affleck (Ben's younger brother)
Jennifer Garner (Ben's wife)
Joaquin Phoenix (Casey's best friend)
Summer Phoenix (Casey's partner, Joaquin's sister)
Matt is also married, but as his wife isn't a celebrity, she's not featured as part of the Afflection pantheon.
You can find more information about the main players here. There's also an overview of the other secondary celebrity personas here.
* * *
Recommended Sites
DASA (The Damon/Affleck Slash Archive)
damonaffleckdamonaffleck100Other Resources
bartlebyxlokiMatt Damon and Ben Affleck: A Slasher's Dream Come True
Recommended Stories
Recommendations of my favourite stories can be found in the Memories at
rec_room.
no subject
... and I'm sure my interest has nothing to do with the fact that I think they're hot. All of them.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
*wails*
no subject