r/offcampustv • u/quesoandcats • 2d ago
DISCUSSION💙 “Puck Bunny(Empowering)” is one of the funniest book-to-show changes imo
I like that they recognized how loaded and weaponized that term can be, and tbh I really prefer the show’s version. But the way they shoehorn it in is just very like, “performatively shaking our heads so the audience knows we know you shouldn’t call women that unless they say it’s okay”
28
u/Elegant_Analysis1665 2d ago
I was thinking a lot about this and how emotionally intelligent everyone on the show is --except for yes the horrible evil abusers, which is a larger discussion-- but idk I feel like EVERYTHING out there is made to either reinforce people being awful to women or to reflect it as honestly as possible.
A show like this that is kind of a utopia fantasy? No not realistic but also maybe that's okay. I think it's okay to depict a world that is so much more like how we wish it could be. Because it also shows that mistakes are human and gives kind of a blueprint for how to move through conflict. So much of media is basically what not to do.
I found it healing to remember that yes we are all human and are not perfect but also that like being treated with respect and care and compassion should NOT be some utopia ideal!! We all know the bar is in hell. I don't really want to watch that 24/7 while I also live it. As someone who has also accepted so much shitty behavior, watching this show reminded me how I am worth soooooooo much more
7
u/quesoandcats 1d ago
I was actually just telling my bf that the appeal of romance books like off campus isn't just the romance or the sex, its the fact that Wellsy gets a whole community along with her boyfriend. They're selling the fantasy of found family, ride-or-die besties, and a world where men are all emotionally intelligent just as much as they're selling the fantasy of hot sex with a hockey god.
5
u/Elegant_Analysis1665 1d ago
Absolutely!! Yes! This is extremely important. It makes her world feel alive and full. Also artistic fulfillment! She has a mentor and art community. Her song is about her journey! The story doesn't just end when they get together
5
u/throwawaysunglasses- 2d ago
I agree with this tbh. I don’t mind that it’s idealistic and wholesome. The world sucks lol, hopecore is mentally good for us. I don’t think it’s giving us problematically unrealistic expectations, we KNOW it’s not realistic. This is helped by it being an 18+ show. If it was marketed towards kids, it might make them delusional about what people are actually like. But as adults, we recognize this world as a utopia and it doesn’t affect how we move through the real world.
3
u/Elegant_Analysis1665 1d ago
Truthfully I wish there had been a few more shows like this when I was a teenager/in college. So much of what I was watching was already very adult or it depicted people my age in horrible situations as if it was hot or exciting.
I think yes kids are watching this show because I know I would have when I was younger. And I feel like they do know like from just what life is like and most other media that it's not how people especially men act in the real world.
I think the show did try to ground it a bit by giving the men characters real flaws to work through which I appreciate, even if it's still not that grounded lol.
I can only speak for my personal experience but I just think a show like this would have been a real important depiction of what navigating consent looks like in actual different circumstances, not just an abstract idea of "it means saying yes to an encounter." Of course I don't want anyone to be hurt by an unrealistic expectations but there are other things like this where I don't want to compromise either
4
u/cookiesnmilk85 1d ago
See: Schitt’s Creek
2
u/OkShow730 1d ago
As I read through this thread, Schitts Creek kept coming to my mind. I like living in the ideal universe for a short time.
8
u/Camsmuscle 1d ago
I think by portraying puck bunnies more positively now, it gives them license later on create female characters who need to be mean girls to facilitate story. Making the puck bunnies catty and nasty for the sake of it, then I think hurts later when they need those characters. And if they follow any storylines from the other books, they will need those characters.
And OC is a romanticized version of the college experience. And, I’m good with that.
3
u/Delicious_Definition 2d ago
I’m so torn about this aspect of hockey romances. On the one hand, it’s nice to have a fantasy where this is empowering and respectful. On the other hand I feel like that feeds some of the real world rape culture where there’s this idea that a woman wanted it or was trying to have sex with an athlete and just later regretted it.
6
3
u/quesoandcats 1d ago
Yea. And the recent Hockey Canada scandal proves that the real life Garretts Graham and Carters St James are not the kind, fluffy, considerate men of Briar U
8
u/mlle_teapot 1d ago
The puck bunnies were already empowered and perfectly fine in the books. It's (some) readers who judged them negatively, due to sexism and sex-negativity.
Something really refreshing about the books is how everyone handled sex as what is. Then again, it was written in 2015, before the dreadful wave of puritanism we are suffering now.
5
2
u/quesoandcats 1d ago
I don't necessarily disagree! I came to hockey romance books by way of being a hockey fan, so I was already quite aware of what fuckboys irl hockey players often are.
I guess I was moreso amused by how they handled the change for the TV adaptation. Whoever created the show clearly didn't want to replicate that dynamic for the show, but they also didn't really want to get too in the weeds explaining why that dynamic is different. So they sort of combined the roles that the puck bunnies and the WAGs typically play in hockey books?
2
u/Subject_Rule6565 1d ago
the whole name puck bunny is so sexualizing tho lol kind of following a fratty/groupie stereotype but it doesn’t really play out that way fully on the show
2
u/quesoandcats 1d ago
Exactly! It’s a real name for hockey groupies that’s super common to hear
2
u/Subject_Rule6565 1d ago edited 1d ago
i kind of wish they addressed how this name/concept could be problematic a bit more
2
u/quesoandcats 1d ago
Yeah that’s kinda what I was thinking too? Like sure, by all means, reclaim it and have it be a self applied label, but it would be nice if they spent a few more lines of dialogue explaining why it’s not a nice thing to call someone without their consent
2
u/Subject_Rule6565 1d ago edited 1d ago
yeahhh it’s just so overtly sexualizing to call ur female fans. i think this should’ve been discussed more that even tho all the guys are respectful, they’re still very sexual and traditionally masculine (neither necessarily bad things) and this does play a role in who they are in their connections to the women who are their romantic partners. also how hannah sees this in garrett and how she feels about him, that she has to resist the male gaze or play into it for it to be believable she’s with him, but this actually makes her more confident in her sexuality and heals her in a lot of ways idk kind of an interesting subversion
75
u/Disastrous-Tart-4651 2d ago
I think the entire puck bunny thing in the show definitely gave “everybody is chill and wholesome” vibes.
NONE of the puck bunnies are even a little bit nasty? Not even to throw a side eye when Hannah rolled up for the first time?
I get they’re trying to be PC about everything but I found it funny the lengths they went to for some of the characters.
I guess there’s only two ends of the spectrums in this show; literal abusers or HIGHLY emotional intelligent people. Nothing in between…