More On Torchwood (And A Bit On Supernatural)

[rodo]

So apparently, RTD admitted that he killed of Ianto because it "was maximum damage to Jack".¹ Even though that would probably have been Gwen's death. She embodied his dream of a happy life, an emotional connection to the world and hope for the future. Or at least that's what I remember from watching the show.

He then proceeded to tell us that we should go watch Supernatural if Ianto's death upset us. Because Supernatural has the pretty.² That implies that all fans of Ianto only like him for the pretty, which, well, most of us didn't quite agree with. Although I do think that watching Supernatural is a good idea, for the following reasons:

1. In Supernatural, the main characters don't die stay dead stay gone forever even if they're dead. At least I'm pretty sure Sam and Dean will be around until the end of next season.
2. Kripke turned breaking the cutie³ into an art form. And breaking the cutie does not always mean losing a lover or killing your family. It more often than not consists of heaping guilt on the characters (for surviving, being unable to stop something, causing the apocalypse, etc.). And often enough, the mere threat of having to kill a loved one or losing your brother because he's the anti-christ or has sold his soul. So if you want character torture, Supernatural does it far better than Torchwood.
3. Supernatural can poke fun at itself, its writers and fans without being mean. It did so in an episode that featured a publisher who loved it when the characters cried, a writer who admitted some of his stories were complete crap and who was a total loser, and Dean and Sam discovering that there is slash fanfic about them.

On another matter: I think RTD is severly overrated. He's not the worst writer out there, but he isn't a total God either. He clearly shows favoritism towards the female characters that he loves best. His retcons are legendary for their randomness and stupidity. I'm still trying to forget the last regular episodes of Doctor Who because of the horrid writing. He brings everyone and their mother back ten times over whenever it suits him (see: daleks, Rose, Jack). I have to admit that his stories always have great beginnings that make me yearn for more, but the end often feels more like a trainwreck than a plot. I have no idea why, but that's how it is for me.

Lastly, a few (spoiler free) quotes on the matter that I liked:

"I MEAN, CONSTANTLY GETTING JERKED AROUND BY SOMEONE WHO ACTS LIKE THEY'RE JOSS WHEDON AND DOUGLAS ADAMS ROLLED INTO A CHUBBY LITTLE GAY BURRITO OF AWESOME BUT ACTUALLY MAKES ERIC KRIPKE LOOK LIKE A FUCKING SAVANT?" by seize ⁴

"Russel said it was his intention to give his fans a punch in the gut. Then he was surprised that many of his fans didn't like being punched in the gut? What did he expect?" by zyna_kat on fandom_wank ⁵

And now I'm hopefully off to clean my flat for tomorrow. Argh! I hate cleaning!

Comments

[eumelkeks]

I see these posts about RTD popping up everywhere and mostly from people who aren't hardcore TW fans. Pissing off the fanbase is never a good idea because fans are in various fandoms and the news spreads like wildfire.

Seriously, what is wrong with him? Megalomania? He really doesn't have to mollycoddle his fanbase but without them the series wouldn't have gotten a second season, so openly insulting them seems a bit stupid. His writing is quite often lacking in many ways, he shouldn't be such a twat about this.

[rodo]

I think RTD is just one of those people who don't care if other people hate them or their work, because they will always think that it's the other people's fault. He just seems to be very convinced of his genius, and from what I've read, some people really help him maintaining that self-image.

Also: Why is it so hard to be nice (or not horrible) to fans. Even if they're complete idiots. They're the reason you get paid.

[blnchflr]

Supernatural can poke fun at itself, its writers and fans without being mean.
I couldn't disagree more. Supernatural's treatment of its fans is what ultimately killed my love for it.

I'm not emotionally invested in Torchwood, having only seen a few episodes, so my POV is biased. I find RTD arrogant, but I believe in his vision for his show more than I believe in Kripke's.

Cleaning sucks!

[rodo]

I guess I must have conveniently missed the instances where the fans were mistreated.

I was very emotionally invested in TW, and so the emotional sucker punch hurt all the more. But RTD annoyed me a lot, not just with this. His Doctor Who episodes and plotlines were very cringeworthy in the end. His vision seems great, but the execution is another matter.