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Thoughts on why I'm obsessing
Nov. 3rd, 2008 05:17 pmLately I've been obsessing about Doctor Who and Torchwood.
Just so you all know, this entry contains general spoilsers for the current run of "Doctor Who" and "Torchwood".
Doctor Who is very much a family oriented show. The writing is layered and things I would and find funny or poignant would probably be lost on less conscientious viewers and/or my older Nephews. My Nephews would probably not be shy about taking a screwdriver, pointing it at things, making "whir-whir" noises and pretend it was sonic.
Kids have it good.
They can run around the street and play superhero and are indulged as imaginative children. If I were to do the same people would think I were certifiable.
Even though we'd both be playing pretend.
The differences age makes in our linear based society.
Excuse me, went off tangent there for a mo'. Let us backpeddle to the point.
I haven't seen Classic Who, but I' certainly know of it. Coming from an Anglophilic family, and Doctor Who being the show to watch on the BBC in the early 70's, which was when my family lived there (before my time, obviously).
When I mentioned Doctor Who a couple of years ago my father said "and the Daleks" and intoned "Exterminate!" in their high pitched and screeching fashion.
Freaky, I tell you.
"Who" being a family oriented hasn't stopped it from being Queer friendly at the same time. Russel T. Davies, current producer and writer, a Gay man himself, seemed intent on updating the cult teevee programme to the 21st century - as a viewer of television that comes from both sides of the pond, I feel the Brits generally do minority representation better than the Yanks, if only on a purely superficial level and yes, they do fall into stereotypes and traps, which is irritating.
The Doctor, as a character and person, reads as pretty Asexual to me and his few kisses have generally been platonic. Romantic feelings and sexual tension has in general come from the seasonal companion (traveling, not the "Firefly" kind), which the Doctor either ignores or is ignorant of.
There is a great deal of love and affection between the Doctor (Nine and Ten) and his companions (Rose from season 1 & 2, Jack from 1, Martha from 3 and Donna from 4), but to me any kind of sexuality from the Doctor is latent and mainly extrapolated by fandom and the desires of his companions.
What I feel makes "Who" Queer friendly is the Doctor's tolerance and acceptance of nearly everything and everyone that he encounters, which seems to diffuse into the companions who are usually what we would consider "the everyman", which on Doctor who are generally women.
The Doctor judges everyone, or at the very least tries to, by the virtue of their own merits.
Also, Queer characters are shown on the programme as normal and not extraordinary.
Oh, and the Queer characters don't die left, right and centre as often happens on other programmes (Larry and Tara on BtVS spring to mind) that are not LGBT oriented in to begin with.
The one character that in my mind helped shape the modern Whoinverse to be the lovely Queer friendly and inclusive phenomenon that it is, is Captain Jack Harkness.
Jack is a modern kind of man.
Very modern.
51st century kind of modern. Which in our standards is post-modern*.
*Modern Whoinverse is a very post-modern show in the it portrays culture and society. The parallels of current events with History and/or Future and Alien worlds is very clear, especially in the breaking down of various cultural totems and the criticism of social norms.
3000 years of history seemed to have made Humanity not only a mighty inter-galactic empire, but also over-sexed, omnisexual, pheromone exuding and with the view that monogamy is old fashioned and quaint, along with other identity labels.
Jack is tactile, uninhibited in his feelings and in his physicality. He feels a great deal of love towards the people he considers family (The Doctor and Rose in Season one of "Doctor Who" and later in "Torchwood", the more adult oriented spin-off).
Jack also likes kissing.
He kisses everyone and while his attitude can be grating to 21st century puritanism, he himself isn't viewed as any kind of perversion, except in the playful sense.
Torchwood is a cracky programme when it comes to plot, suspension of disbelief, etc. I always describe it as an X-Files Parody on Buffy (I mean Rift=Hellmouth, Aliens as Metaphor=Demons as Metaphor, not a huge jump all in all). It's the programme where Jack the character plays after leaving "Doctor Who". It also takes Queer inclusiveness to a level which in other sci-fi programmes is lacking.
Deeply.
Jack being Jack, here too kisses all the characters, male and female.
Out of the five main characters in Torchwood (Seasons 1 & 2) only two, Gwen and Owen, seem to identify as straight, though they've shared same sex kisses it wasn't in any kind of situation in which the kisses were something they did out of desire.
The other three, Jack, Ianto and Tosh, are portrayed as sexually fluid.
We know of Jack's sexual practices from our prior knowledge of him on "Doctor Who", though in the programme we are shown some of his previous relationships (Estelle and John), just to make sure the viewer knows what kind of man Jack is... the man who can make a double entendre out of antything!
It's a super power in some places I hear.
Ianto is shown to have had a girlfriend (Lisa) and later on is in a sexual (and very likely emotional) relationship with Jack. Tosh is shown with a woman (Mary), men (Tommy and Adam) and with a consistant crush on Owen, which doesn't negate her previous bisexuality, just as being with Jack doesn't negate Ianto's own bisexuality with regards to Lisa.
As mentioned, Torchwood is adult oriented. There is nudity (none full frontal that I remember), there is blatant sexuality of various kids. There is, in general, more man on man action due to the fact that the Hero, Jack, is in a relationship with Ianto (alluded to by mid-season 1, confirmed by the end of the season and emphasised somewhat in season 2). The programme portrays sex and sexuality as natural. There is rarely any censor from one character to another regarding sexual orientation and any negativity shown towards sexual practice has more to do with the consequences of certain relationships. Specifically Tosh's relationship with Mary which very nearly caused a catastrophe and Owen's disparaging remarks towards Ianto's relationship with Jack, which to me is more about Ianto's position within the group dynamics than actual homophobia.
"Doctor Who" and "Torchwood" contain within them a strange blend of optimism about human nature. In that respect the programmes are hard-core sci-fi. They show the possibilities in which humanity (not just technologically, but with it) can develop and give us, the viewers and readers, the opportunity to also be those kinds of people.
Heroes who are capable of love without boundaries. In which it isn't who we are that is judged but what we do, which today unfortunately is still correlated with stigma and discrimination.
Hope you reached the end of this and enjoyed.
Just so you all know, this entry contains general spoilsers for the current run of "Doctor Who" and "Torchwood".
Doctor Who is very much a family oriented show. The writing is layered and things I would and find funny or poignant would probably be lost on less conscientious viewers and/or my older Nephews. My Nephews would probably not be shy about taking a screwdriver, pointing it at things, making "whir-whir" noises and pretend it was sonic.
Kids have it good.
They can run around the street and play superhero and are indulged as imaginative children. If I were to do the same people would think I were certifiable.
Even though we'd both be playing pretend.
The differences age makes in our linear based society.
Excuse me, went off tangent there for a mo'. Let us backpeddle to the point.
I haven't seen Classic Who, but I' certainly know of it. Coming from an Anglophilic family, and Doctor Who being the show to watch on the BBC in the early 70's, which was when my family lived there (before my time, obviously).
When I mentioned Doctor Who a couple of years ago my father said "and the Daleks" and intoned "Exterminate!" in their high pitched and screeching fashion.
Freaky, I tell you.
"Who" being a family oriented hasn't stopped it from being Queer friendly at the same time. Russel T. Davies, current producer and writer, a Gay man himself, seemed intent on updating the cult teevee programme to the 21st century - as a viewer of television that comes from both sides of the pond, I feel the Brits generally do minority representation better than the Yanks, if only on a purely superficial level and yes, they do fall into stereotypes and traps, which is irritating.
The Doctor, as a character and person, reads as pretty Asexual to me and his few kisses have generally been platonic. Romantic feelings and sexual tension has in general come from the seasonal companion (traveling, not the "Firefly" kind), which the Doctor either ignores or is ignorant of.
There is a great deal of love and affection between the Doctor (Nine and Ten) and his companions (Rose from season 1 & 2, Jack from 1, Martha from 3 and Donna from 4), but to me any kind of sexuality from the Doctor is latent and mainly extrapolated by fandom and the desires of his companions.
What I feel makes "Who" Queer friendly is the Doctor's tolerance and acceptance of nearly everything and everyone that he encounters, which seems to diffuse into the companions who are usually what we would consider "the everyman", which on Doctor who are generally women.
The Doctor judges everyone, or at the very least tries to, by the virtue of their own merits.
Also, Queer characters are shown on the programme as normal and not extraordinary.
Oh, and the Queer characters don't die left, right and centre as often happens on other programmes (Larry and Tara on BtVS spring to mind) that are not LGBT oriented in to begin with.
The one character that in my mind helped shape the modern Whoinverse to be the lovely Queer friendly and inclusive phenomenon that it is, is Captain Jack Harkness.
Jack is a modern kind of man.
Very modern.
51st century kind of modern. Which in our standards is post-modern*.
*Modern Whoinverse is a very post-modern show in the it portrays culture and society. The parallels of current events with History and/or Future and Alien worlds is very clear, especially in the breaking down of various cultural totems and the criticism of social norms.
3000 years of history seemed to have made Humanity not only a mighty inter-galactic empire, but also over-sexed, omnisexual, pheromone exuding and with the view that monogamy is old fashioned and quaint, along with other identity labels.
Jack is tactile, uninhibited in his feelings and in his physicality. He feels a great deal of love towards the people he considers family (The Doctor and Rose in Season one of "Doctor Who" and later in "Torchwood", the more adult oriented spin-off).
Jack also likes kissing.
He kisses everyone and while his attitude can be grating to 21st century puritanism, he himself isn't viewed as any kind of perversion, except in the playful sense.
Torchwood is a cracky programme when it comes to plot, suspension of disbelief, etc. I always describe it as an X-Files Parody on Buffy (I mean Rift=Hellmouth, Aliens as Metaphor=Demons as Metaphor, not a huge jump all in all). It's the programme where Jack the character plays after leaving "Doctor Who". It also takes Queer inclusiveness to a level which in other sci-fi programmes is lacking.
Deeply.
Jack being Jack, here too kisses all the characters, male and female.
Out of the five main characters in Torchwood (Seasons 1 & 2) only two, Gwen and Owen, seem to identify as straight, though they've shared same sex kisses it wasn't in any kind of situation in which the kisses were something they did out of desire.
The other three, Jack, Ianto and Tosh, are portrayed as sexually fluid.
We know of Jack's sexual practices from our prior knowledge of him on "Doctor Who", though in the programme we are shown some of his previous relationships (Estelle and John), just to make sure the viewer knows what kind of man Jack is... the man who can make a double entendre out of antything!
It's a super power in some places I hear.
Ianto is shown to have had a girlfriend (Lisa) and later on is in a sexual (and very likely emotional) relationship with Jack. Tosh is shown with a woman (Mary), men (Tommy and Adam) and with a consistant crush on Owen, which doesn't negate her previous bisexuality, just as being with Jack doesn't negate Ianto's own bisexuality with regards to Lisa.
As mentioned, Torchwood is adult oriented. There is nudity (none full frontal that I remember), there is blatant sexuality of various kids. There is, in general, more man on man action due to the fact that the Hero, Jack, is in a relationship with Ianto (alluded to by mid-season 1, confirmed by the end of the season and emphasised somewhat in season 2). The programme portrays sex and sexuality as natural. There is rarely any censor from one character to another regarding sexual orientation and any negativity shown towards sexual practice has more to do with the consequences of certain relationships. Specifically Tosh's relationship with Mary which very nearly caused a catastrophe and Owen's disparaging remarks towards Ianto's relationship with Jack, which to me is more about Ianto's position within the group dynamics than actual homophobia.
"Doctor Who" and "Torchwood" contain within them a strange blend of optimism about human nature. In that respect the programmes are hard-core sci-fi. They show the possibilities in which humanity (not just technologically, but with it) can develop and give us, the viewers and readers, the opportunity to also be those kinds of people.
Heroes who are capable of love without boundaries. In which it isn't who we are that is judged but what we do, which today unfortunately is still correlated with stigma and discrimination.
Hope you reached the end of this and enjoyed.
