no railroad tracks, no willow tree
I know most of you guys in the flist don't watch/care for Stargate, but something eeenteresting surfaced the past couple of days, and fandom response has been one of the best things ever, so I feel like spreading the word. Yes, there are spoilers for Stargate: Universe under the cut and yes, this is the tl;dr variety of post, but I do think it's important that fandom as a whole -- not just us Stargate peeps -- are made aware of what's going on.
#gatefail or In Which Fandom is Awesome:
Anyway. A casting call for a character in the upcoming Stargate: Universe series showed up online and it's, well, disgusting:ELEANOR PERRY, (35-40) and quite attractive. A brilliant scientist who happens to be a quadriplegic. Affected since childhood, her disability has rendered her body physically useless. However, after being brought on board the Destiny as the only person who may be able to save the ship and her crew from certain annihilation, she is given temporary powers that enable her to walk again and to finally experience intimacy. Strong guest lead. NAMES PREFERRED. ACTRESS MUST BE PHYSICALLY THIN. (THINK CALISTA FLOCKHART).
There's more to this story -- these "temporary powers" that enable her to walk are a device that allow people to BODY-SWAP their consciences into each other. [Which is a VERY IFFY THING that has been around since the late years of Stargate SG-1 that I mostly pretend don't exist, but yeah, the writers are still the same].
So what happens is Doctor Perry swaps bodies with Camile Wray. WHO IS A LESBIAN IN A STABLE LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP. And then, using Camile Wray's BODY, Doctor Perry HAS SEX WITH A GUY.
Of course, fandom reacted brilliantly: first post of interest, then came the ideas on how to object, then After Ellen picked up the story and so did Shakesville and Media Dis 'n' Dat.
And then Craig Engler, who is head of SyFy and very active on Twitter, was made aware of the situation and posted three tweets on the subject matter:. Thanks to those of you who sent me a note about the casting call for the Stargate Universe episode Sabotage. Please see my next two tweets:
. We're very sensitive to the issues raised by the description of the character Eleanor Perry.
. We're working with the Stargate producers to address this & ensure that this character is handled sympathetically and responsibly.
[I even got a reply from the guy myself when I pointed out to him that the problem wasn't just with the casting call but with the actual writing of both Eleanor Perry and Camile Wray.]
A couple of hours later came a response from Brad Wright and Rob Cooper [exec producers of SGU]. I still don't get WHY they posted this on Gateworld -- which is a FANSITE -- and not through an official press release, but there you go:Recently, a casting breakdown was released to agents for a upcoming character in our television show, Stargate Universe. The character, Doctor Eleanor Perry, is a brilliant scientist at the top of her field, who also happens to be a quadriplegic. As part of a science fiction conceit that is core to our series, Perry's consciousness is temporarily exchanged with one our series main characters, Camile Wray, who is a lesbian. In the course of the story, Perry has the experience of being able bodied for the first time since she was a child. At the same time, Wray, temporarily encumbered by Perry's physical disability, experiences the unconditional love of her life partner. The language of the breakdown was insensitive and inaccurate, and we sincerely apologize to those who may have been offended. The audition pages that have been under scrutiny were from an early draft and released out of context. It is our desire and intention to portray both characters with dignity and respect, while remaining mindful of the ethical issues we're raising.
Brad Wright and Robert Cooper [original post]
Both io9 and After Ellen independently contacted the SGU production offices and got pretty much the same response. From the io9 article:We spoke with sources close to the SGU series, and they claimed that the call sheet and casting sides are being taken completely out of context. They encouraged fans to remember that the episode "Sabotage" takes place after a hefty 15 to 16 hours of previous SGU content. The moral issues with "inhabiting" the bodies of crew members are struggled with and addressed by everyone aboard the Destiny. Plus Camile's backstory and personal life on Earth will be explored at a much deeper level.
She won't be simply the lone lesbian on the crew, whose personal life is kept in the closet, they promise. They add that casting sides and call sheets are by no means the final script - they get rewritten, with key details edited out in case they leak, as this one did. They promise that there is more to Eleanor than what you see in the casting call, but it's too spoilery to reveal right now. All in all, they said that there's a bigger picture, and the show will be grappling with a variety of ethical issues.
And from the After Ellen one:According to the spokesperson for the show, Camile's relationship with her partner Sharon (Reiko Aylesworth) is her anchor throughout the stressful events she encounters, and although Sharon will only be seen occasionally, their relationship is referenced throughout the series and clearly established as the only truly stable and healthy relationship on the series.
He also confirmed that we will see "physical intimacy between Ming-Na and her partner equal to the intimacy heterosexual characters on the show." That's good news, considering that has only happened a few times on broadcast or basic cable TV (the last time was the two seconds you saw between Callie and Erica on Grey's). It also means we'll actually see two women physically involved before we see this episode (since Camile visits her partner on Earth in episode 7, and the body-swapping incident happens around episode 16 or 17).
As for the Eleanor/Camile body swapping episode specifically, he told me sex between bodies (i.e. body swapping) is introduced early in the series, and is an ongoing moral dilemma on the show with serious moral consequences, and this event is no different.
[Also, it might be of interest that GateWorld posted AN INCREDIBLY DEFENSIVE ARTICLE re: the entire situation and seriously, I understand they need to suck-up A LOT to keep being able to interview people and whatnot, but this might be a new low for them.]
So that's the situation. I just want to add a couple of things to the discussion:
1. Every article and every official response that appeared through the day have been mostly dealing with the casting call description I quoted up there. Now. I have read the actual sides that were sent out for casting agencies and I have to say that the apparently brilliant Doctor Perry pretty much sounds like a crazed sex-hungry nymphomaniac in them. [She comes on to one guy who she actually connects on an intellectual level, but he says no. She then proceeds to come on to another guy, who's lost his wife and haven't had sex in a bunch of years, and he proceeds to bang her. And let's remember, all of this while using SOMEONE ELSE [WHO IS A LESBIAN]'S BODY.]
2. Both the After Ellen and io9 articles go the "we're gonna give them the benefit of the doubt" route. Do I think these writers are gonna actually CARE about the issues they're raising in this whole mess? Well, considering these are the guys who wrote a character on Stargate: Atlantis who drugged a bunch of women so they would have sex with him while playing it for laughs then my first reaction is NO.
But I do think this entire episode might give fandom a little hope in that we can use the power of all of these new medias to make our voices heard -- and let's take a moment here to think about how HI-LARIOUS it might have been Craig Engler's phone call to Wright and Cooper. "What is this shit you guys wrote that people are yelling at ME?". But unfortunately, the majority of TPTB out there are rich white men whose writing comes from a mile long background of privilege and very little to no understanding of minorities, so it's probably up to fandom to keep making noise when there's such massive fail around.
#gatefail or In Which Fandom is Awesome:
Anyway. A casting call for a character in the upcoming Stargate: Universe series showed up online and it's, well, disgusting:ELEANOR PERRY, (35-40) and quite attractive. A brilliant scientist who happens to be a quadriplegic. Affected since childhood, her disability has rendered her body physically useless. However, after being brought on board the Destiny as the only person who may be able to save the ship and her crew from certain annihilation, she is given temporary powers that enable her to walk again and to finally experience intimacy. Strong guest lead. NAMES PREFERRED. ACTRESS MUST BE PHYSICALLY THIN. (THINK CALISTA FLOCKHART).
There's more to this story -- these "temporary powers" that enable her to walk are a device that allow people to BODY-SWAP their consciences into each other. [Which is a VERY IFFY THING that has been around since the late years of Stargate SG-1 that I mostly pretend don't exist, but yeah, the writers are still the same].
So what happens is Doctor Perry swaps bodies with Camile Wray. WHO IS A LESBIAN IN A STABLE LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP. And then, using Camile Wray's BODY, Doctor Perry HAS SEX WITH A GUY.
Of course, fandom reacted brilliantly: first post of interest, then came the ideas on how to object, then After Ellen picked up the story and so did Shakesville and Media Dis 'n' Dat.
And then Craig Engler, who is head of SyFy and very active on Twitter, was made aware of the situation and posted three tweets on the subject matter:. Thanks to those of you who sent me a note about the casting call for the Stargate Universe episode Sabotage. Please see my next two tweets:
. We're very sensitive to the issues raised by the description of the character Eleanor Perry.
. We're working with the Stargate producers to address this & ensure that this character is handled sympathetically and responsibly.
[I even got a reply from the guy myself when I pointed out to him that the problem wasn't just with the casting call but with the actual writing of both Eleanor Perry and Camile Wray.]
A couple of hours later came a response from Brad Wright and Rob Cooper [exec producers of SGU]. I still don't get WHY they posted this on Gateworld -- which is a FANSITE -- and not through an official press release, but there you go:Recently, a casting breakdown was released to agents for a upcoming character in our television show, Stargate Universe. The character, Doctor Eleanor Perry, is a brilliant scientist at the top of her field, who also happens to be a quadriplegic. As part of a science fiction conceit that is core to our series, Perry's consciousness is temporarily exchanged with one our series main characters, Camile Wray, who is a lesbian. In the course of the story, Perry has the experience of being able bodied for the first time since she was a child. At the same time, Wray, temporarily encumbered by Perry's physical disability, experiences the unconditional love of her life partner. The language of the breakdown was insensitive and inaccurate, and we sincerely apologize to those who may have been offended. The audition pages that have been under scrutiny were from an early draft and released out of context. It is our desire and intention to portray both characters with dignity and respect, while remaining mindful of the ethical issues we're raising.
Brad Wright and Robert Cooper [original post]
Both io9 and After Ellen independently contacted the SGU production offices and got pretty much the same response. From the io9 article:We spoke with sources close to the SGU series, and they claimed that the call sheet and casting sides are being taken completely out of context. They encouraged fans to remember that the episode "Sabotage" takes place after a hefty 15 to 16 hours of previous SGU content. The moral issues with "inhabiting" the bodies of crew members are struggled with and addressed by everyone aboard the Destiny. Plus Camile's backstory and personal life on Earth will be explored at a much deeper level.
She won't be simply the lone lesbian on the crew, whose personal life is kept in the closet, they promise. They add that casting sides and call sheets are by no means the final script - they get rewritten, with key details edited out in case they leak, as this one did. They promise that there is more to Eleanor than what you see in the casting call, but it's too spoilery to reveal right now. All in all, they said that there's a bigger picture, and the show will be grappling with a variety of ethical issues.
And from the After Ellen one:According to the spokesperson for the show, Camile's relationship with her partner Sharon (Reiko Aylesworth) is her anchor throughout the stressful events she encounters, and although Sharon will only be seen occasionally, their relationship is referenced throughout the series and clearly established as the only truly stable and healthy relationship on the series.
He also confirmed that we will see "physical intimacy between Ming-Na and her partner equal to the intimacy heterosexual characters on the show." That's good news, considering that has only happened a few times on broadcast or basic cable TV (the last time was the two seconds you saw between Callie and Erica on Grey's). It also means we'll actually see two women physically involved before we see this episode (since Camile visits her partner on Earth in episode 7, and the body-swapping incident happens around episode 16 or 17).
As for the Eleanor/Camile body swapping episode specifically, he told me sex between bodies (i.e. body swapping) is introduced early in the series, and is an ongoing moral dilemma on the show with serious moral consequences, and this event is no different.
[Also, it might be of interest that GateWorld posted AN INCREDIBLY DEFENSIVE ARTICLE re: the entire situation and seriously, I understand they need to suck-up A LOT to keep being able to interview people and whatnot, but this might be a new low for them.]
So that's the situation. I just want to add a couple of things to the discussion:
1. Every article and every official response that appeared through the day have been mostly dealing with the casting call description I quoted up there. Now. I have read the actual sides that were sent out for casting agencies and I have to say that the apparently brilliant Doctor Perry pretty much sounds like a crazed sex-hungry nymphomaniac in them. [She comes on to one guy who she actually connects on an intellectual level, but he says no. She then proceeds to come on to another guy, who's lost his wife and haven't had sex in a bunch of years, and he proceeds to bang her. And let's remember, all of this while using SOMEONE ELSE [WHO IS A LESBIAN]'S BODY.]
2. Both the After Ellen and io9 articles go the "we're gonna give them the benefit of the doubt" route. Do I think these writers are gonna actually CARE about the issues they're raising in this whole mess? Well, considering these are the guys who wrote a character on Stargate: Atlantis who drugged a bunch of women so they would have sex with him while playing it for laughs then my first reaction is NO.
But I do think this entire episode might give fandom a little hope in that we can use the power of all of these new medias to make our voices heard -- and let's take a moment here to think about how HI-LARIOUS it might have been Craig Engler's phone call to Wright and Cooper. "What is this shit you guys wrote that people are yelling at ME?". But unfortunately, the majority of TPTB out there are rich white men whose writing comes from a mile long background of privilege and very little to no understanding of minorities, so it's probably up to fandom to keep making noise when there's such massive fail around.