Subtext in Torchwood S1 vs S2
I haven't watched the first ep of DW S4 yet, but I did finish TW S2 and wanted to discuss how much I think the subtext of the show has improved since S1 in two ways: its outlook on female sexuality and how it views groups who are othered as represented by aliens.
For a show that touts itself as being about pansexuality, female sexuality in S1 was exceedingly troubled. All hetero relationships were crap, whether it was Gwen/Rhys, Gwen/Owen, Lisa/Ianto, or Diane/Owen. Lisa was played as a typical metaphor for the fear of an empowered, non-nurturing female - she was presented as over-sexualized (come on - that costume!) and terrifyingly uncaring of others feelings. I thought we'd time-warped back to the 50s when watching that one (and no, I don't like Golden Age sf). Additionally, lesbian relationships were very negatively portrayed as well: Gwen kisses a girl who's possessed by an alien that kills people, and Toshiko has a relationship with an alien that again only wants to use Toshiko for her own nefarious purposes. These instances provide brief moments of titillating lesbianism for the gaze of the viewer while also showing that such relationships are negative and doomed. [Nothing serious to worry about here, folks!] The only positive depictions of sexuality are male homosexuality - Jack's yearning for the real Jack Harkness being the defining moment of positive sexuality/romance in S1.
S2 sorts a bit of this out, partly by ignoring lesbianism in any way (though I'll take no lesbianism over depicting it in only a twisted way). Heterosexual relationships are a bit more positive. Toshiko and Owen might finally have had something. Gwen and Rhys have worked things out, even though Jack is a strong pull on her emotions. Gwen has emerged as clearly Jack's equal and his true love interest, no matter how many times he and Ianto have sex. Things are still problematic, but now they're problematic in real life ways (Gwen loving Rhys and Jack) instead of in an overall 'down with female sexuality' subtext kind of way.
Much of this change in subtext extends to the depiction of aliens as others. In S1, even though Gwen questions him, Jack's policy is 'kill all the alien scum - they're only here to harm humans!' Because that is the subtext of this season, he ends up being correct. It comes to a head emotionally when he kills Lisa, and the way it's presented, everyone who questioned him was wrong and she must be killed. Not a single alien is a sympathetic character in S1. This is one reason that I thought one of the strongest eps was when the gang battled cannibalistic humans (who happened to be white and UK), finally leaving behind the fact that only othered groups do evil. I know that in the wake of 9/11 and the London bombings people had a lot of fear of the other, but it was so heavy handed here that I wondered if I would continue watching the show if S2 kept this up.
But S2 altered its stance on aliens slightly. Now, we have a few sympathetic aliens who have been horribly mistreated by humans - the gentle whale-like creature (hmmm ... eco undertones) - or by their alien makers - Beth, the alien who wants to retain her humanity. Both have to be 'put out of their misery,' so we're still not to the level of DW yet (where aliens can help the Doctor and still go on to have supposedly positive lives), but it's a step up from 'kill them because they're nothing but evil.' The shift to more human-focused stories instead of having things always be 'evil aliens' also made it a strong season in another way - watching what will happen with Owen now that he's dead, the story of the long-lost Grey (too bad that actor couldn't act no matter how pretty he was), Jack and John, Gwen and Jack, Gwen and Reese, Toshiko and Owen. The human stories that make us care about these characters really came to light this season
For the future, perhaps TW will continue to grow in both of these areas. A positive lesbian relationship would not be amiss, as well as a successful male homosexual one. An alien that helps TW and gets to live would also be nice. I can say that the changes in S2 made me look forward to S3.
For a show that touts itself as being about pansexuality, female sexuality in S1 was exceedingly troubled. All hetero relationships were crap, whether it was Gwen/Rhys, Gwen/Owen, Lisa/Ianto, or Diane/Owen. Lisa was played as a typical metaphor for the fear of an empowered, non-nurturing female - she was presented as over-sexualized (come on - that costume!) and terrifyingly uncaring of others feelings. I thought we'd time-warped back to the 50s when watching that one (and no, I don't like Golden Age sf). Additionally, lesbian relationships were very negatively portrayed as well: Gwen kisses a girl who's possessed by an alien that kills people, and Toshiko has a relationship with an alien that again only wants to use Toshiko for her own nefarious purposes. These instances provide brief moments of titillating lesbianism for the gaze of the viewer while also showing that such relationships are negative and doomed. [Nothing serious to worry about here, folks!] The only positive depictions of sexuality are male homosexuality - Jack's yearning for the real Jack Harkness being the defining moment of positive sexuality/romance in S1.
S2 sorts a bit of this out, partly by ignoring lesbianism in any way (though I'll take no lesbianism over depicting it in only a twisted way). Heterosexual relationships are a bit more positive. Toshiko and Owen might finally have had something. Gwen and Rhys have worked things out, even though Jack is a strong pull on her emotions. Gwen has emerged as clearly Jack's equal and his true love interest, no matter how many times he and Ianto have sex. Things are still problematic, but now they're problematic in real life ways (Gwen loving Rhys and Jack) instead of in an overall 'down with female sexuality' subtext kind of way.
Much of this change in subtext extends to the depiction of aliens as others. In S1, even though Gwen questions him, Jack's policy is 'kill all the alien scum - they're only here to harm humans!' Because that is the subtext of this season, he ends up being correct. It comes to a head emotionally when he kills Lisa, and the way it's presented, everyone who questioned him was wrong and she must be killed. Not a single alien is a sympathetic character in S1. This is one reason that I thought one of the strongest eps was when the gang battled cannibalistic humans (who happened to be white and UK), finally leaving behind the fact that only othered groups do evil. I know that in the wake of 9/11 and the London bombings people had a lot of fear of the other, but it was so heavy handed here that I wondered if I would continue watching the show if S2 kept this up.
But S2 altered its stance on aliens slightly. Now, we have a few sympathetic aliens who have been horribly mistreated by humans - the gentle whale-like creature (hmmm ... eco undertones) - or by their alien makers - Beth, the alien who wants to retain her humanity. Both have to be 'put out of their misery,' so we're still not to the level of DW yet (where aliens can help the Doctor and still go on to have supposedly positive lives), but it's a step up from 'kill them because they're nothing but evil.' The shift to more human-focused stories instead of having things always be 'evil aliens' also made it a strong season in another way - watching what will happen with Owen now that he's dead, the story of the long-lost Grey (too bad that actor couldn't act no matter how pretty he was), Jack and John, Gwen and Jack, Gwen and Reese, Toshiko and Owen. The human stories that make us care about these characters really came to light this season
For the future, perhaps TW will continue to grow in both of these areas. A positive lesbian relationship would not be amiss, as well as a successful male homosexual one. An alien that helps TW and gets to live would also be nice. I can say that the changes in S2 made me look forward to S3.