A Torchwood poll

[coalescent]

Inspired by:

Sarah Jane Adventures better than Torchwood? I'm a big fan of Torchwood's first season and I'm liking the second large. The ep of the Sarah Jane Adventures that I've seen was cool but not great so it's hard for me to judge relative merits. But, as The Evening Herald opined yesterday, I can't help but wondering if some of the "Torchwood is crap" sentiment springs from resistance to a show which is headlined by an openly gay man who is not camp and a career woman who is not girly.

[Poll #1127773]

Comments

[wychwood]

Technically, Captain Jack isn't *gay*, but I agreed in the sense that, yes, he is someone who sleeps with (among other categories) people of his own gender, and in the "social outrage" sense he definitely fits the category. Also, he *isn't* camp. Wildly flirty, yes *g*.

And I found Gwen quite girly. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but she's definitely presented as stereotypically feminine in quite a lot of ways (the whole "heart of the team" thing, for one).

There may well be some homophobia behind some criticism of Torchwood - frankly, I'd be surprised if homophobes *hadn't* come along to complain about it. But I'm not homophobic, and I went in expecting (and hoping) to like the show, and at least moderately fond of Jack, and I only lasted four episodes before the sheer crapness stopped me. The show has far more serious flaws inherent in it, and to bring up the issue of homophobia is, I think, distracting from the actual problems. Certainly, the *LJ fandom* response was overwhelmingly "boy-kissing, yay!" with then a split on "show is BAD" and "show is GOOD"; even people who hated it generally liked the presentation of alternative sexualities, at least in the circles where I hang out.

[abigail-n.livejournal.com]

I've seen plenty of homophobic reactions to Torchwood, usually the 'why do they have to shove it in our faces' idiocy with a side helping of 'oh no! gay agenda!'. And I've seen people complain that the show is crappy in just about every qualitative measurement. What this person is saying is that the people making the second, qualitative argument are actually motivated by homophobia.

[strangedave.livejournal.com]

I'm about as un-homophobic as a straightish boy can be - I have lived for years happily with a lesbian activist couple, for example - but I still found the 'do they have to shove it our faces' aspect annoying, because it was clumsy and obvious and distracting in a show that is supposed to be more about SF adventure, and sometimes (particularly the notorious Owen bit in the first episode) just done really badly. I am pretty sure my dislike of the shows treatment of sexuality is about quality of writing not homophobia (I've actually tended to like the more episodes that feature sex front and centre, like the second last, far more than the gratuitous added scenes).