Coping and Complaining: Understanding our Hurt.
So what has happened? Did RTD not appreciate the fan base or did he not care? Was it purely a ratings fest? Was it emotional exploitation?
Or has he made a big mistake?
Torchwood derived from a Sci Fi show, and while the writers conveniently refused to pigeon hole the show's genre, it is inescapably Sci Fi as we know it. Because of the aliens. Gwen said herself, 'science fiction super-base'.
But then they insisted that Torchwood is in the real world and terrible things could happen, as they did to Owen and Tosh, though not before 2 seasons of whacky anything-can-happen including Owen getting to 'die forever', characters coming out of film, space whales, time travel, and blow fish driving sports cars. There was humour. There were hints of Buffy. There were slithers of Star Trek. There were ripples of Doctor Who and shadows of The X Files. I would say Spooks but Spooks didn't drive around in a giant flashy A-Team mobile with bright yellow writing saying 'SPIES', and that was part of Torchwood's charm.
But not in season three. That was not the Torchwood we fell in love with. Children of Earth became The West Wing with aliens.
Whilst I think that it was excellent drama and deserves every award going in every category, and while I'll continue to support the writers and the actors, I cannot get over the fact that Torchwood seemed to switch genre for its third season. I'm all for the post-modern approach of taking elements from many genres, but The West Wing didn't have conventions. Why? Because it was 'real'. I mean, it was total glossy fiction, but it was a political drama. And at times, very depressing. The West Wing, while I know many of us have appreciated it, was not for the Sci Fi fan.
Why? I had the same discussion in my 'Psychoanalysis and The Moving Image' class with my professor at university several years ago, when I was studying film in London.
Here's what I think/feel. I read a comment from a woman on James Moran's blog this morning saying she could accept the death of Ianto because it was 'real'. I for one have lived and loved and lost enough to know what real feels like. It's brutal. And I'm living in luxury compared to most of the world. An indian friend of mine said that Slumdog Millionnaire wasn't popular in India because the Indian people don't want to be reminded of the world they live in. They prefer Bollywood musicals. And I am of the opinion, having been in love with Harry Potter, Buffy, Star Trek and Doctor Who that I also want that escapism. I don't live in slums, but I haven't lived in paradise, and what Sci Fi shows have taught us over the years is to conceive of and strive for a better world. Who the Hell wants 'real'?
I'm not suggesting we all watch Baywatch, either.
A great deal of the world is genuinely in Hell already. CoE was right about many things (distressing as it was to hear). A child dies every 3 seconds. We do nothing. Look at the Niger Delta. Look at Iran. Horror and injustice are everywhere. CoE ended with members of the government doing the brave thing which I thought was uplifting. But that was ANOTHER show. It shouldn't have been Torchwood. We have half the world (or more) living in horror and the other half watching it for entertainment. Yes it was thought provoking and I can't fault that. But time and a place, maybe?
I do what I can in RL, I really do. But as a Sci Fi fan, I don't want to be devastated so casually. And I don't want to see terrible things happen to characters I love. You want to destroy people and things? Blow up Eastenders and Walford. They're all miserable cowards anyway. But don't touch our heroes.
If a fourth series somehow, some way, comes about, of course I'll watch it because the curiosity will be too much. It won't be Torchwood as we've known it. But it should be John Barrowman. However, if it continues in a torturous horror vain, I won't stay with it. I don't read or watch horror. I had to give up on Spooks. Even The West Wing began to sting too much after the fourth season. It's not that I want to ignore the terrible aspects of the world we live in and bury my head in the sand - quite the opposite. I need to be strong and couragious and have hope in my heart - to survive. I'm all to aware that there is senseless death every moment.
So does RTD realise what he's done? Maybe he's captivated a whole audience who are stimulated by watching such tragedy. Maybe he has viewing figures that allow him to do whatever he wants. Maybe he just enjoys inflicting agony. I mean, the season finales of Doctor Who and Torchwood have been devastating. I'm looking forward to Stephen 'everybody lives' Moffatt!
I was thinking about Buffy and how season 5 ended, yet they came back. But there was a whole gang AND a location. We have no hub, no Cardiff, no Ianto and can we ever expect any humour again? Why would anyone want to watch our beloved Jack suffer so much?
I fully understand why fans are angry and I'm getting very impatient waiting for explanations from the creative team. I really want to know if they realise how badly fans feel betrayed, or if they care, or if they can reason for it. I was looking at the promotional material too. It doesn't exactly smack of realist drama, does it. And all the Janto pics... it does feel like a tease.
I'm disappointed and I feel quite bereft - not just for Ianto but for everything this show was and/or could have been. Yes it was excellent, excellent drama taking huge risks and examining humanity at its darkest (though many people acted bravely in the end so there is hope there) and this is clearly an RTD fetish (like Midnight in DrWho season 4 - let's see how horrible we all are for the sake of drama).
But it's as if J K Rowling took Harry, Hermione and Ron, flew them to Ghana where Ron and Hermione were killed, before bombing Hogwarts and wiping out the Wizard race and Harry has to sacrifice Ginny to make Voldemort leave to save the muggles. In book 6. And then announcing that she's going to wait to see how the book sells before writing book 7.
I want answers. I have a professional pass for Comic Con but personal commitments may prevent me from being there. I now don't know if I could handle being in the same room as this many hurt fans, and the bad feeling that will inevitably occur. Unless RTD or JB or anyone issues some kind of statement about the show, its future and its decisions, comic con is going to be Comic Confrontation.
I read in an interview that RTD has never been to a con before and is really looking forward to it. Possibly his colleagues told him how much fun it is and how decent we all are. If that's what he's expecting he may have a shock. I'm not suggesting we put him in stocks and throw vegetables at him (though it might me feel a bit better) because he remains a human being and an excellent writer. But he needs to appreciate the level of hurt amongst devoted fans and speak to it.
I maintain I do not advocate abuse or unkindess to anyone in the creative team. I have seen drafted complaint letters floating around which are fairly eloquent, but still quite childish in their approach. If you want to say you're disappointed, say it, but don't stamp your feet. Be eloquent, intelligent and as unemotional as you can be. That will be more effective. Try to specify the reasons you feel let down, but if it's because Ianto died they may consider that as a triumph because it provoked an emotional reaction from you, so be as 'professional' in your approach as you can.
Perhaps RTD is such pure genius that there is in fact a simple remedy and season four can be everything we wanted, and we just can't envisage it through our teary eyes. Unlikley I know. But hey. I have to be hopeful. I am a Sci Fi fan. I run on hope. Not horror.
Or has he made a big mistake?
Torchwood derived from a Sci Fi show, and while the writers conveniently refused to pigeon hole the show's genre, it is inescapably Sci Fi as we know it. Because of the aliens. Gwen said herself, 'science fiction super-base'.
But then they insisted that Torchwood is in the real world and terrible things could happen, as they did to Owen and Tosh, though not before 2 seasons of whacky anything-can-happen including Owen getting to 'die forever', characters coming out of film, space whales, time travel, and blow fish driving sports cars. There was humour. There were hints of Buffy. There were slithers of Star Trek. There were ripples of Doctor Who and shadows of The X Files. I would say Spooks but Spooks didn't drive around in a giant flashy A-Team mobile with bright yellow writing saying 'SPIES', and that was part of Torchwood's charm.
But not in season three. That was not the Torchwood we fell in love with. Children of Earth became The West Wing with aliens.
Whilst I think that it was excellent drama and deserves every award going in every category, and while I'll continue to support the writers and the actors, I cannot get over the fact that Torchwood seemed to switch genre for its third season. I'm all for the post-modern approach of taking elements from many genres, but The West Wing didn't have conventions. Why? Because it was 'real'. I mean, it was total glossy fiction, but it was a political drama. And at times, very depressing. The West Wing, while I know many of us have appreciated it, was not for the Sci Fi fan.
Why? I had the same discussion in my 'Psychoanalysis and The Moving Image' class with my professor at university several years ago, when I was studying film in London.
Here's what I think/feel. I read a comment from a woman on James Moran's blog this morning saying she could accept the death of Ianto because it was 'real'. I for one have lived and loved and lost enough to know what real feels like. It's brutal. And I'm living in luxury compared to most of the world. An indian friend of mine said that Slumdog Millionnaire wasn't popular in India because the Indian people don't want to be reminded of the world they live in. They prefer Bollywood musicals. And I am of the opinion, having been in love with Harry Potter, Buffy, Star Trek and Doctor Who that I also want that escapism. I don't live in slums, but I haven't lived in paradise, and what Sci Fi shows have taught us over the years is to conceive of and strive for a better world. Who the Hell wants 'real'?
I'm not suggesting we all watch Baywatch, either.
A great deal of the world is genuinely in Hell already. CoE was right about many things (distressing as it was to hear). A child dies every 3 seconds. We do nothing. Look at the Niger Delta. Look at Iran. Horror and injustice are everywhere. CoE ended with members of the government doing the brave thing which I thought was uplifting. But that was ANOTHER show. It shouldn't have been Torchwood. We have half the world (or more) living in horror and the other half watching it for entertainment. Yes it was thought provoking and I can't fault that. But time and a place, maybe?
I do what I can in RL, I really do. But as a Sci Fi fan, I don't want to be devastated so casually. And I don't want to see terrible things happen to characters I love. You want to destroy people and things? Blow up Eastenders and Walford. They're all miserable cowards anyway. But don't touch our heroes.
If a fourth series somehow, some way, comes about, of course I'll watch it because the curiosity will be too much. It won't be Torchwood as we've known it. But it should be John Barrowman. However, if it continues in a torturous horror vain, I won't stay with it. I don't read or watch horror. I had to give up on Spooks. Even The West Wing began to sting too much after the fourth season. It's not that I want to ignore the terrible aspects of the world we live in and bury my head in the sand - quite the opposite. I need to be strong and couragious and have hope in my heart - to survive. I'm all to aware that there is senseless death every moment.
So does RTD realise what he's done? Maybe he's captivated a whole audience who are stimulated by watching such tragedy. Maybe he has viewing figures that allow him to do whatever he wants. Maybe he just enjoys inflicting agony. I mean, the season finales of Doctor Who and Torchwood have been devastating. I'm looking forward to Stephen 'everybody lives' Moffatt!
I was thinking about Buffy and how season 5 ended, yet they came back. But there was a whole gang AND a location. We have no hub, no Cardiff, no Ianto and can we ever expect any humour again? Why would anyone want to watch our beloved Jack suffer so much?
I fully understand why fans are angry and I'm getting very impatient waiting for explanations from the creative team. I really want to know if they realise how badly fans feel betrayed, or if they care, or if they can reason for it. I was looking at the promotional material too. It doesn't exactly smack of realist drama, does it. And all the Janto pics... it does feel like a tease.
I'm disappointed and I feel quite bereft - not just for Ianto but for everything this show was and/or could have been. Yes it was excellent, excellent drama taking huge risks and examining humanity at its darkest (though many people acted bravely in the end so there is hope there) and this is clearly an RTD fetish (like Midnight in DrWho season 4 - let's see how horrible we all are for the sake of drama).
But it's as if J K Rowling took Harry, Hermione and Ron, flew them to Ghana where Ron and Hermione were killed, before bombing Hogwarts and wiping out the Wizard race and Harry has to sacrifice Ginny to make Voldemort leave to save the muggles. In book 6. And then announcing that she's going to wait to see how the book sells before writing book 7.
I want answers. I have a professional pass for Comic Con but personal commitments may prevent me from being there. I now don't know if I could handle being in the same room as this many hurt fans, and the bad feeling that will inevitably occur. Unless RTD or JB or anyone issues some kind of statement about the show, its future and its decisions, comic con is going to be Comic Confrontation.
I read in an interview that RTD has never been to a con before and is really looking forward to it. Possibly his colleagues told him how much fun it is and how decent we all are. If that's what he's expecting he may have a shock. I'm not suggesting we put him in stocks and throw vegetables at him (though it might me feel a bit better) because he remains a human being and an excellent writer. But he needs to appreciate the level of hurt amongst devoted fans and speak to it.
I maintain I do not advocate abuse or unkindess to anyone in the creative team. I have seen drafted complaint letters floating around which are fairly eloquent, but still quite childish in their approach. If you want to say you're disappointed, say it, but don't stamp your feet. Be eloquent, intelligent and as unemotional as you can be. That will be more effective. Try to specify the reasons you feel let down, but if it's because Ianto died they may consider that as a triumph because it provoked an emotional reaction from you, so be as 'professional' in your approach as you can.
Perhaps RTD is such pure genius that there is in fact a simple remedy and season four can be everything we wanted, and we just can't envisage it through our teary eyes. Unlikley I know. But hey. I have to be hopeful. I am a Sci Fi fan. I run on hope. Not horror.