Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Lorien on February 1, 2010 at 5:11pm

Hey, do you not remember Adric? He was killed too on Doctor Who. Although his character wasn't outright gay, he was and his role in Doctor Who was celebrated by the gay community. They were outraged when he was killed off the show. I remember weeping at his untimely death when I first saw it. I only found out within the last year of his gay status and not just British.

Permalink Reply by LunaSkya on February 3, 2010 at 5:13pm

I have to confess I haven't seen the old Doctor Who, but Adric sounds like exactly the type of unsatisfying subtextual character I talk about in my article. Subtext is the cinematic version of the closet. It gets very old very fast.

Permalink Reply by Lorien on February 3, 2010 at 6:08pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adric

http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Adric

Earthshock was the episode that he got killed in.

Permalink Reply by LunaSkya on February 3, 2010 at 6:12pm

Thanks for the info! One of these days I'll have to catch up on the old show...

Permalink Reply by Lorien on February 3, 2010 at 6:15pm

You are missing 7 great doctors if you haven't watched the old shows....

Permalink Reply by LunaSkya on February 3, 2010 at 6:18pm

Who is the one that sucked? :)

Permalink Reply by Lorien on February 4, 2010 at 6:13am

Just different.

Permalink Reply by Lorien on February 4, 2010 at 6:14am

A true fan doesn't hate any doctor.

Permalink Reply by LunaSkya on February 1, 2010 at 8:28pm

It's changed a lot in the last couple of decades. I used to work for a producer who was making a documentary about the history of science fiction - and the "classic" sci fi was definitely the domain of straight white macho males (and people who liked to pretend they were). Science fiction literature has always had tons of room for progressive ideas, but sci fi television has always lagged centuries behind, especially when it came to representations of queer sexualities. And forget sci fi movies - most sci fi "blockbusters" are still trying to get over sexism, let alone homophobia!

I do think this is less of a comment on science fiction fans than a comment on the idiocy of film and television producers (or rather, I should say, AMERICAN film and television producers) who still treat their audiences like idiots. It's still hard for me to imagine a show like Torchwood being produced by the SciFi channel in the US (even though, unlike the BBC, it's a pay cable channel with more room, at least in theory, for an intelligent discussion of sexuality). But it's changing: more and more, the production of sci fi film and television is passing into the hands of the geeks themselves, especially with Gen X-ers filling more and more positions of power and pushing out the Baby Boomers who can't wrap their minds around just how much the world has changed since the '50s.

Permalink Reply by LunaSkya on February 4, 2010 at 12:37pm

Thank you! :)

There are all sorts of rumors flying around: Barrowman went on record as saying that the BBC has already commissioned season 4, but then later Russel T backtracked and said they're still in talks... There are rumors that he's writing a pilot of a US Torchwood version (supposedly co-produced by Fox and the BBC). I'd rather they kept it British - most American remakes of British shows suck big time, and Fox doesn't exactly have the best track record when it comes to keeping good science fiction shows on air... But if it's still written by Russel T and centers around Barrowman's Captain Jack, I'll take it. :)

Anyway, until an official announcement comes out, all this is just pure conjecture. I can't wait to know for sure!!!

If they do move operations to the US permanently, I hope Fox has some loophole set up to bring Barrowman's partner to the US. Barrowman is a dual citizen, but his partner isn't, and the US has no system set up by which a person can sponsor a same-sex partner, or apply for a long-term visa for him or her on a family basis. Same with Russel T: he's in the US right now, probably on a work visa, but I wonder whether he was able to bring his partner with him. While straight non-US residents who come to the US to work can easily bring their spouses with them, people in non-heterosexual relationships are kind of screwed. Though there are so many gay people from other countries working in Hollywood - maybe the studios have something set up for that, like hiring the same-sex spouse for some nominal job that would allow them to get a work visa of their own, or something along those lines.