Torchwood: working hard to be as wanky as Harry Potter

[Laisy]

I understand. I really, really do. I'm one of the 'didn't like, don't want' of the newer iteration of Torchwood. I have no plans to watch S4 (which sounds, basically, like a version of X-Files) But, seriously, get off my lawn.



There's a point to realize that, no, you are not going to get what you want and those of us who preferred the feel and tone of S1 and S2 are at that point. Torchwood is heading in a different direction and many, many people are content and happy with that. CoE did very well, rating wise, and is the reason there's any more Torchwood at all -- and proved, to pretty much anyone who cares, that RTD's ideas of what Torchwood should be are worth pursuing. It's what BBC sold and what Starz bought. Not S1 and S2. Not cracky pterosaurs and secret bases. All that is done.

It's no fun to not get what you want -- god knows I live most of my life with that fact and part of what's painful about the whole Torchwood thing is being slapped in the face with more of the same. It doesn't change the fact that it's happening.

There's a difference between being frustrated and unhappy and turning that to finding ways to get what you do want, and being entitled. It's a fine difference but it's there. Making obnoxious and obscene acronyms out of the names of producers, writers, actors who are working on the new project is entitlement. Clinging to the fantasy that, because you and your circle of friends all feel the same, that really CoE was bad, people didn't really like it, or that there's an effective movement to bring back the 'old' Torchwood is entitlement. Refusing to look at the actualities on the ground just makes you look immature, spoiled and wanky. Imagining that you can somehow 'force' RTD, BBC, Starz, the actors or anyone to make the work you want is entitled. RTD and the others are invested in the new direction Torchwood is taking and, even if they were told otherwise, they'd try and lean that way anyway -- because that's what they like. They are not you and are not required to like what you do.

And, for god's sake, imagining that GDL who is an actor who had a job for a couple of years and now doesn't, is deeply invested in your personal desires is both wanky and, to put it bluntly, creepy. Some of the stuff I've seen around the fetishization of GDL looks like the worst of fag-hag behavior.

Even worse is a bunch of whining by (mostly) young, straight, women that RTD and/or Barrowman are betraying gays or gay rights because they killed off/participated in/are not fighting for your personal fantasy relationship is fucking offensive. RTD has done more, personally, than any media producer to make queers visible in the mainstream than anyone of our generation -- certainly more than you or I have done. Barrowman has lived as an out, gay man for most of his life and, again, has done more for queer visibility than any actor I'm currently aware of -- Ellen DeGeneres coming up close behind. Killing of Ianto was a bad message to send, IMO (and I can go for pages as to why I think so) but it's a very small blip in a very large ocean of effort from both of these folks.

Badmouthing Gwen or Eve because it must be somehow her fault (even though Gwen is a fucking fictional character and Eve is simply an actress doing a job) is flat out misogyny. Sorry, no, you can't explain it away with RTDs mommy issues. Putting the hate on the primary female character who had nothing to do with any of this is misogyny. Take a look in the mirror, or at your daughters, and think again about who you're hating.

I hate to tell it to you, all those youngsters out there, but the world doesn't cater to minority interests. A lot of you who are SIJs, AGAs, are young woman who are really emotionally invested in gay men and gay relationships -- well, welcome to a taste of what it's really like to be queer. It isn't all ass-babies and faux-vaginal fucking. You don't get what you want and you have to find healthy, useful ways to live with that.

You don't like the new Torchwood? Good, me neither. Write your own. Draw your own. Get together with friends and make you own. Hell, toss the entire derivative part and make your own original work that you can control. THere are people who want to see that -- hell, I want to see more stories that don't end with 'the world is ugly, people are sad, and then you die like a dog'. Put your energy there, instead of expecting that someone else will provide you with the entertainment you desire. That's the most important thing to understand about having minority interests -- no one else is going to provide for you. You have to learn to do for yourself.

If the fact that a gay couple's story ended, once again, with tragedy is really what's getting you bent out of shape -- put your anger to some actually good use and go to your PTA and demand the school library represent queers so that kids can grow up imagining they can be happy no matter who they fuck. Vote. Elect progressive, positive folks to your school board. Agitate the local library to pull all those 'Queer? We can fix you!" books out there. I'm forty-five years old and, let me tell you, my energy to do that stuff is running low. All you whippersnappers -- it's your turn.


Yes, media matters. Wanting media that suits your needs and wants is reasonable. Learning when to move onto a different project, where your chances are higher, is part of learning how to get what you need and want.

It hurts, it's sad, but it's time. Move on.

(c)

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