Torchwood: Fandom Of Earth
Spoilers. Big big fucking spoilers for Torchwood: Children of Earth. And lots of rant about fandom.
OK. So like almost everyone else who i even vaguely geeky and lived in the UK, I was watching the Torchwood mini-series last week. And like most people who watched it, I fucking loved it.
In summary:
First episode felt like a normal Torchwood episode.
Episodes two and three felt like one of the big planet-encompassing Dr Who finales.
Episodes four and five went beyond that.
Scary Alien - CHECK!
Macabre Alien Scheme - CHECK!
Human Interest - CHECK!
Unpleasant Dilemma - CHECK!
and of course, because it was a 'big event'
Traumatic Character Death - CHECK!
As a long-time comics reader and SF TV arc nerd, I am used to Traumatic Character Death (which I will now refer to as TCD). And stories like this need TCD. Big events change the status quo. And in dangerous situations, people die. With the exception of Tasha Yarr the entire crew in Star Trek: TNG survived seven years of dangerous missions, including numerous encounters with the Borg. Doesn't work like that. And the 'everything returns to normal in the last two minutes' formula of Star Trek is one of the reasons I lost interest in it. Like it or lump it, TCD makes stories real.
But, wouldn't you know it, there seems to have been a bit of an adverse reaction to the TCD.
In particular, one of the writers who put his cock on the block by having a fairly public presence on Twitter really got it in the neck (yes, mixed metaphors R us) once news of the TCD hit the tweetsphere.
At the time, I summarised the situation thus: "Fandom needs to remember the characters aren't just there for them to masturbate over."
I stand by that. And I think it covers much of the flack that Mr Moran (above-mentioned writer) and RTD & co. got over the TCD.
But this morning I read Mr Moran's blog, and saw a summary of the extent of the abuse he received over the weekend. To which I say "What. The. Fuck?"
To whoever said that he (and the other writers, presumably) were "hurting depressed people with dark storylines", I say: Shut up. a) Torchwood having dark storylines came as a shock to you? Did you watch series One and Two? b) I suffer from depression at times myself. And at times when I do, if I'm watching something and I find it too dark, I stop watching it. I don't throw a hissy fit at the writer for making it worse. No one is forcing me to watch it. If they were, I could accuse them of trying to make it worse.
To whoever said that he (and the other writers, presumably) were "homophobe(s)", I say: Grow up. For starters, killing off a gay character does not make a writer a homophobe. For second, with the exception of John Barrowman and possibly Derek who does the weather on BBC Wales, Russell T Davies is the gayest man in Wales! How can anything written with his involvement be homophobic? I remember when Tara Maclay was killed off in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I hated it, because she was one of my favourites. And in that case, the accusations of homophobia around the TCD were more understandable, as the writers had unwittingly pushed a number of buttons in setting up the circumstances in which it happened. There was none of that here. And there was plenty of foreshadowing. And in the end, the thing about TCD is that it does have to be T.
To whoever said that he (and the other writers, presumably) "hate the fans", I say: Get real. a) If you always do what the fans want, they get bored. Making the fans uncomfortable is what makes the story more interesting. But, if, as was the case with Torchwood: CoE, everything the characters do is in character, then if the characters do something you don't like, then hate the characters, not the writers. I wasn't exactly happy with what Jack did at the end of CoE, but it was in character. And, if you've ever done any proper writing, you'll know that characters do take on a life of their own. They do argue with you, and they do insist on being killed off when the moment comes. Or insist on doing WhatMustBeDone(TM). b) DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, GIVE FANS CREATIVE CONTROL. It is my deeply held belief that everything that most people find wrong with the three newer Star Wars films is down to the fact that Rick McCallum, a Star Wars fanboy, got a little too much of George Lucas' ear. This isn't a slight against either of them, it's just an opinion that writers should not, under any circumstances, give fans creative control.
And as for the rest of it... bear in mind that if there is any more Torchwood, RTD will not be involved, so it will not be the same anyway. The good thing about the way the series closed, with Torchwood 2 having been destroyed and Jack having left Earth, is that it doesn't leave everything hanging if there never is any more Torchwood. It also makes sure that if there is any more Torchwood, that it will be different Torchwood. It may still have Jack and Gwen in it (and hopefully semi-slashy tough-bitch woman in it as well), but it will be different.
So, on behalf of the majority of Torchwood fans, I apologise to James Moran and the other writers for the nasty minority of Torchwood fans that have made the past few days so uncomfortable. The rest of us love you all. Ish :D
I have a feeling this post may get me in a little bit of trouble with said minority. In which case, it will end up locked quite quickly. But until then, I'm leaving it unlocked and linking it on twitter.
OK. So like almost everyone else who i even vaguely geeky and lived in the UK, I was watching the Torchwood mini-series last week. And like most people who watched it, I fucking loved it.
In summary:
First episode felt like a normal Torchwood episode.
Episodes two and three felt like one of the big planet-encompassing Dr Who finales.
Episodes four and five went beyond that.
Scary Alien - CHECK!
Macabre Alien Scheme - CHECK!
Human Interest - CHECK!
Unpleasant Dilemma - CHECK!
and of course, because it was a 'big event'
Traumatic Character Death - CHECK!
As a long-time comics reader and SF TV arc nerd, I am used to Traumatic Character Death (which I will now refer to as TCD). And stories like this need TCD. Big events change the status quo. And in dangerous situations, people die. With the exception of Tasha Yarr the entire crew in Star Trek: TNG survived seven years of dangerous missions, including numerous encounters with the Borg. Doesn't work like that. And the 'everything returns to normal in the last two minutes' formula of Star Trek is one of the reasons I lost interest in it. Like it or lump it, TCD makes stories real.
But, wouldn't you know it, there seems to have been a bit of an adverse reaction to the TCD.
In particular, one of the writers who put his cock on the block by having a fairly public presence on Twitter really got it in the neck (yes, mixed metaphors R us) once news of the TCD hit the tweetsphere.
At the time, I summarised the situation thus: "Fandom needs to remember the characters aren't just there for them to masturbate over."
I stand by that. And I think it covers much of the flack that Mr Moran (above-mentioned writer) and RTD & co. got over the TCD.
But this morning I read Mr Moran's blog, and saw a summary of the extent of the abuse he received over the weekend. To which I say "What. The. Fuck?"
To whoever said that he (and the other writers, presumably) were "hurting depressed people with dark storylines", I say: Shut up. a) Torchwood having dark storylines came as a shock to you? Did you watch series One and Two? b) I suffer from depression at times myself. And at times when I do, if I'm watching something and I find it too dark, I stop watching it. I don't throw a hissy fit at the writer for making it worse. No one is forcing me to watch it. If they were, I could accuse them of trying to make it worse.
To whoever said that he (and the other writers, presumably) were "homophobe(s)", I say: Grow up. For starters, killing off a gay character does not make a writer a homophobe. For second, with the exception of John Barrowman and possibly Derek who does the weather on BBC Wales, Russell T Davies is the gayest man in Wales! How can anything written with his involvement be homophobic? I remember when Tara Maclay was killed off in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I hated it, because she was one of my favourites. And in that case, the accusations of homophobia around the TCD were more understandable, as the writers had unwittingly pushed a number of buttons in setting up the circumstances in which it happened. There was none of that here. And there was plenty of foreshadowing. And in the end, the thing about TCD is that it does have to be T.
To whoever said that he (and the other writers, presumably) "hate the fans", I say: Get real. a) If you always do what the fans want, they get bored. Making the fans uncomfortable is what makes the story more interesting. But, if, as was the case with Torchwood: CoE, everything the characters do is in character, then if the characters do something you don't like, then hate the characters, not the writers. I wasn't exactly happy with what Jack did at the end of CoE, but it was in character. And, if you've ever done any proper writing, you'll know that characters do take on a life of their own. They do argue with you, and they do insist on being killed off when the moment comes. Or insist on doing WhatMustBeDone(TM). b) DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, GIVE FANS CREATIVE CONTROL. It is my deeply held belief that everything that most people find wrong with the three newer Star Wars films is down to the fact that Rick McCallum, a Star Wars fanboy, got a little too much of George Lucas' ear. This isn't a slight against either of them, it's just an opinion that writers should not, under any circumstances, give fans creative control.
And as for the rest of it... bear in mind that if there is any more Torchwood, RTD will not be involved, so it will not be the same anyway. The good thing about the way the series closed, with Torchwood 2 having been destroyed and Jack having left Earth, is that it doesn't leave everything hanging if there never is any more Torchwood. It also makes sure that if there is any more Torchwood, that it will be different Torchwood. It may still have Jack and Gwen in it (and hopefully semi-slashy tough-bitch woman in it as well), but it will be different.
So, on behalf of the majority of Torchwood fans, I apologise to James Moran and the other writers for the nasty minority of Torchwood fans that have made the past few days so uncomfortable. The rest of us love you all. Ish :D
I have a feeling this post may get me in a little bit of trouble with said minority. In which case, it will end up locked quite quickly. But until then, I'm leaving it unlocked and linking it on twitter.