Kitt's Fan Fiction Woes

[SadArticle]

I can remember asking a while back (the thread might be archived somewhere) whether people thought that Kitt's character was predominantly male or female (with regards to characteristics, not the voice artist, or that Kitt was always referred to as a 'he').

Well, I've thought of a continuation of that question: does the fact that, in a lot of Knight Rider fan fiction, Kitt is often hurt/destroyed imply anything about how the character is gendered? I know that 'Whumping' (as I have discovered the practice is occasionally termed) is a standard feature of most fan fiction, but there must be something inherently 'vulnerable' about a character for he/she to be constantly picked out? Not to say that a 'feminine' character is more likely to get beaten up (physically or emotionally), but here we have a man and 'the world's safest, strongest, fastest' car. And it's the car (or the computer within) that gets done in every other story!

I'm not criticising the stories that do give Kitt a 'whumping', because the best ones out there are about exactly that ('Soul Survivor', as the obvious example). But what is the appeal, and why Kitt?

Sarah

[Janeway]

I once wrote an essay on precisely this subject....

The 'angst' issue is an interesting one, and as you noticed, it seems to happen in almost every fandom (under various different lables)

I think one of the main features as to why it happens at all is because, at it's root, Knight Rider was a show aimed primarily at young men and teenage boys. Because of the 'macho' image needed to sell the show to this audience, there ws very little true emotion depicted in the show.

There are notable exceptions; the aforementioned 'Soul Survivor', 'Scent of Roses', 'Junk Yark Dog'. But you will notice thatthe more emotional episodes are the ones where someone (most often Kitt) gets injured badly. This enables the characters to have a real reason to get emotional, where usually they had to be depicted as 'larger than life'. Almost as if they were beyond some human emotions such as fear or grief. Michael in particular could be accused of this

So, in order to give his character some real emotion, to see the vulnerable side of his nature and perhaps bring him down a peg (or two, or ten) you have to hurt someone he cares about. Who is the most obvious person he cares about? Why, Kitt of course!

Also, Kitt is such an immortal, invulnarable figure in his own right, so it is often interesting to see his take on issues that he might not have even considered before like mortality, vulnerablity, being totally at someone's mercy. Kitt is usually 'untouchable' when it comes to such 'human' considerations, so to read about him thinking and feeling those things is appealing to many of us.

*takes deep breath*

Okay, anyone else wanna disagree (or agree) with me?

Janeway

[Michael Pajaro]

There are a couple of drama cliches that hold true for TV shows, movies, and probably fan fiction. If there's one thing we like more than seeing the good guys win, its having a hero snatch victory out of certain defeat. It makes the final confrontation more personal. For example, if Michael and KITT are chasing down some bank robbers, at a certain level I think the audience has a feeling of "its a police matter... it's really none of the Foundation's business." But if those same robbers try to destroy KITT, then we get a better sense of justice or even revenge motivating the storyline. Now, it's personal. It's jucier.

As for why KITT gets banged up more than Michael, I think that may be a reflection of who the fans think the real hero is.

Janeway said there wasn't a lot of true emotion in the show because the teen male was its target audience. I'll go along with that. My guess is that you'll find more emotional storylines in fan fiction because more of the fic authors are female. A theory.

Mike

[knightimmortal]

Ok, lemmie add to that.

The majority of the fic writers are female, but even the male writers love to whump, thump, and bang KITT around a bit. (They also in many cases love to make Michael suffer.) There are many a fic out there that can be easily labelled: LHS (or: Let Him Suffer)

In the show, there were the occasional whumpings, but they were more plot devices to spread out the audience a bit. Shows are not aimed at one sex or the other intentionally, and they do, on occasion try to add some drama to it. But the bottom line was: Knight Rider was an Action Adventure show that ended up taking some of the more human/ai interaction out that always loomed beneath the surface.

Fan Fiction is one of those elements that was formed to be able to explore a show more in detail, it enables the former viewers, now writers to explore something that we felt was looming beneath the surface, as well as take the characters into a direction that they didn't have a chance to before, but once again, it was hinted at.

Some picked up on the emotional attachment that KITT and Michael had, and they blossom it. Others picked up on the partnership KITT and Michael had, and the slightly homosexual overtones that were snuck in, and blossomed on that. Others wanted to find out what made Michael such a loner, and explored that. Others wanted to expound on Wilton's tortured existance before his death. The same with KARR, the same with Devon. Fan Fiction is the drama that lied beneath the action. Fan Fiction is the intimate exploration of feelings, and plot lines that could have been, and is a way for us to keep the show alive in our hearts and minds, and hopefully in the hearts and minds of others. We may change things and characters here and there. We change relationships and situations here and there, but the underlying foundation is still Knight Rider. It's a way to interact, and in some cases, 'whumping' KITT was the gateway to deep, emotional interaction.

Hope that speech makes some sense.

KI

[SadArticle]

Wow. What eloquent responses.

My personal take, or, why I find the 'whumping' fan fictions so effective, is mostly that they explore the vulnerable element of Kitt (I think most stories have aimed at the computer, rather than the car. Correct me if I'm wrong). And it is nice to have Michael 'open up'.

The 'action/adventure' response to Kitt's destruction is typified in a scene from 'Junkyard Dog', I think: Michael is thinking about Kitt, and recalls Turbo Boosts, fast drives, and crashing through concrete. I know it's probably hard to visually recall feelings or conversations in a brief montage, but that was the overall level of the show: the abilities of the car. To be able to focus more on the emotional side of the characters is definitely the realm of fan fiction!

A question lost in my original post (entirely my own fault) was whether or not being bashed in and attacked meant that writers, or readers, think that Kitt is more 'feminine' (with no sexual overtures) than 'masculine' in his personality. Or that he has a more vulnerable side that was subtley put across in the actual show, and which resulting fan fiction helps to bring to the fore.

Or, as Janeway said, is it just a case of getting Michael to react?

Sarah

[knightimmortal]

I don't think that the bashing in has to do with KITT's being more towards femininity, (though some do take that element.) Almost everybody accepts KITT as male. Personality and presence - male. But he has a more gentile side, that some explore as homosexuality, and others explore as a more child-like view of the world.

KITT's entire intent was that of a curious little boy. Not what we would see as an adult man or woman, but of a child, who brings with them their own set of definitions of behavior. That was the way he was really supposed to be viewed. Sort of the boy wonder who knew all the knowledge there was in a book, but not about life itself.

Now, the girl wonder would have been asking 'what are those things on that woman's chest?" and such things. In classic theory, she wouldn't have been roughhousing the way KITT did. (Ok, I am a tomboy, I did it, I admitted it, but psychologically speaking, rather than PC, we're gonna go with it.) KITT was also found expressing an interest in other cars, that were in essence, female. But it was more of an expressed wonder rather than expressed intent.

KI
(so deep)

[SadArticle]

KITT was also found expressing an interest in other cars, that were in essence, female. But it was more of an expressed wonder rather than expressed intent.

KI
(so deep)

I like the child perspective. I was trying desperately to find a way in which to voice my query without making sexist generalisations (women are fragile, men are big and strong), but failed, so just asked anyway. Twice.

I think a lot of the male/female debate was fuelled by the show itself, which took a decidedly black and white approach because of the programme genre - action/adventure. Michael was a lady's man, and undeniably 'male', because, to quote a previous post again, that's who TPTB were aiming at. Remember that old quote that pops up in reviews of the show - the men liked the action and the fast car, the women liked Hasselhoff in his tight jeans? Not at all strictly true, but what each episode was gunning for, I'm sure. So Kitt too fell into that trap: big, strong, fast car, but Michael's car, so when their partnership got a little worrying, reinforce the fact that Kitt is a guycar. There's a season four episode, I think, where Kitt comes onto a woman in the carpark - the 'removable top' remark. Why have Kitt making sexual overtures at all, either to women or 'female' cars? He's a computer, in a car! Totally unnecessary. I think the writers just needed to underline Kitt as a 'male' personality because of his friendship with Michael.

I'm not disagreeing with anything said previously, just thinking about the why behind Knightimmortal's 'expressing an interest' point.

Sarah

[Michael Pajaro]

I think the whumping of KITT made him MORE masculine. KITT wasn't a target because he was weak, but because he was strong. In traditional storytelling, the man goes out and protects the woman. He gets injured, the woman heals his wounds, then the man goes out to fight again.

In the KITT/Michael relationship, KITT was more of the protector, and Michael was more of the nurturer.

I always thought of KITT as being sort of more of a grumpy old man than a young boy. "Why do you listen to that awful music? Why do you need those women? Be careful- it's too dangerous!" Star Trek's data had the wonder of a child when it came to exploring emotions, but I don't really think KITT was bothered by the fact that he didn't have emotions. (although he did seem to express them from time to time). I think of Michael as the boy, and KITT as the parent.

Mike

[SadArticle]

In the KITT/Michael relationship, KITT was more of the protector, and Michael was more of the nurturer.

I always thought of KITT as being sort of more of a grumpy old man than a young boy. "Why do you listen to that awful music? Why do you need those women? Be careful- it's too dangerous!" I think of Michael as the boy, and KITT as the parent.

Mike

The nurturer? Really?

I agree about Kitt as the protector, the 'parent', because that was his whole purpose: to make sure Michael stayed alive. Michael even commented at one point in time that Kitt was beginning to sound like his mother!

But I'm not sure that Michael fit the role of 'nurturer' - I think that one goes to Kitt, again.

Sarah