Star Vs. The Lack of Boundaries.

So. 

Star Vs. The Forces of Evil is one show I have always had beef with because its fandom is the first place I ever experienced fandom racism. Because I always associate that situation with this show, I admit I am a bit hard on it. It’s often difficult for me to defend this series because the older I become, the more I see the flaws in different aspects.  Recently I have been researching homestay and studying abroad. Regarding SVTFOE, that’s one of the most critical factors of the series that affects the relationships with the characters heavily. I realized it was another issue caused by the fact that the production team behind the series should not have looked at fan content. 

Traveling was never much of an option for me for so much of my life because of money and taking care of my late mother. Now that she has passed, I want to learn more about homestay and studying abroad. When I began to research the matter, it reminded me of the foreign exchange students at my high school and the dynamics between them and their host families, which included students that also attended the same school. Their relationships were strictly platonic because they were kids living with each other. If you want to watch a movie that focuses on homestay and studying abroad, I highly recommend The Color of Friendship. This film shows what it is like to move to a new place and live with different people and the significant impact of what having a great friend can do for you. The Color of Friendship did a great job showing us the general audience homestay. SVTFOE is just as well, only during the first season. Star and Marco, the series' two main characters that the fans were hardcore shippers of, were host siblings. Do you see the problem?

I never romantically shipped Star, and Marco was an OTP, but I liked them as a BROTP, a strictly platonic ship. Star and Marco have a super cute friendship, in my opinion. Season one (most of it) was just the two of them doing who knows what with Star’s alien antics affecting the situations. There’s an episode called Sleep Spells that focuses on Marco helping Star with her sleep troubles, as someone attacked her when she was unconscious. Marco stayed with her all night in her bedroom, and nothing was romantic about it. The dynamic between these two was similar to the friends between people who were not interested in dating one another. That is what made what Star and Marco had so unique; it was just two friends bonding and helping one another. They didn’t want to be with each other beyond that. 

When it comes to boundaries, all of those went out the window when the show decided to start getting the two romantically involved, which is strange, to put it. The shipping of Star and Marco, Starco, was more popular with the fandom than the show itself. The heads of the show saw this and decided to give the audience what they wanted. But there is one problem: Star and Marco lived together for a while! I have difficulty believing that these two were meant to be together romantically from the beginning because I expect them (the team) to be aware of why it would be inappropriate for them to be romantically involved. As I mentioned earlier, Marco and his parents were her host family. When it comes to host families, you aren’t cut off from dating altogether, but dating one of the people you’re staying with is a no-no. First-year High school students do not need to live with people they are dating. Sorry not sorry, but if that was the intent from the beginning, that being Star and Marco dating, then the writing needed work to show that. The program went from being about the misadventures of two friends who are complete opposites to a series that surrounds the entirety of their dating. The way the show introduced them to each other made it strange. 

It would have been one thing if this series took place in contemporary times about two adults, but it’s not. This isn’t New Girl, Living Single, or one of those K-dramas where the roommates fall in love. Marco, in season one (most of it), was aware that there was nothing to be going on with him and Star, and Star was not interested in dating him anyway; she liked other people, and so did he. The series beyond season one and the first third of season two feels like a different show because the writing surrounds making Star and Marco a couple to give the fans what they want. Sometimes, giving the fans what they want, isn’t it? Let them write fanfiction and call it a day. The more time passes, the more I dislike this ship as an OTP, and learning more about homestay makes the series more frustrating for me.