Asylum thoughts, actual serious ones.

[tencrush]

I've heard a lot of complaints around about Jack's characterisation in Asylum. I'm intrigued as to why people think he was so enormously OOC.

First off, I'll explain one of the major problems I have with RTD's writing, and specifically his characterisation. The problem I see onscreen again and again is the major discrepancy between what we ARE TOLD about characters, either by the characters themselves or through the eyes of other characters, and how those characters ACTUALLY BEHAVE. Gwen is a prime example of this, and as it's one of themost obvious ones, it's one that grates on a lot of people, this discrepancy between Jack's SUPER COMPASSIONATE WONDERFUL HUMAN BEING opinion of Gwen, and Gwen's actual onscreen rather pushy, ditzy, sometimes downright stupid, cheating-on-her-boyfriend etc etc behaviour. RTD often seems to have trouble actually MAKING his characters wonderful, awesome, compassionate and so forth and resorts instead to the rather lazy tool of TELLING US that they are these things.

Torchwood itself, and Jack as head of Torchwood, is another example. We've been told that Jack has reshaped Torchwood, as a hommage to the Doctor, and has altered the focus of the organisation. But what actually has he done? Onscreen the one major difference between Jack's Torchwood and the Hartman Torchwood at Canary Wharf would appear to be a lack of organisation and professionalism, but that, really, is about it. You would think that this "reshaping" of the organisation would have, at the very least, involved a realisation on Jack's part that perhaps not everything that comes through the Rift is a threat, and that providing asylum (as they do for humans at Flat Holm and as they do for humans who are temporally displaced) for those beings that are trapped on Earth against their will should form a major part of their focus. A Weevil island sanctuary, perhaps? As opposed to indefinite incarceration of these alien beings who seemingly are just trying to survive. You'd think Jack would be on this somehow, but Asylum tells us that he isn't. And really, is that so out-of-character for the Jack that we've seen thus far? Look at the way he treats Beth in Sleeper, how he uses a Weevil to threaten people in whatever episode that was, how he erases Adam out of existence without really so much as a thought for the fact that this is just what this creature needs to do to live and, you know, maybe we could come up with a solution somehow. Even Lisa, really. This isn't exactly a guy who's open to the idea that perhaps a middle ground can be reached somehow. This is a guy who transports aliens into the heart of the sun without really blinking. In fact, the most compassion Jack's ever shown for any alien being is the space whale, let's face it. Maybe that's because it was a big fish?

I don't really know what I'm trying to say, but there's this fannish in-joke about Torchwood and Jack shooting aliens inna face, you know? In all seriousness, though, that joke didn't just fall out of the sky like a giant space whale.

Comments

[nostalgia-lj.livejournal.com]

Yah Rusty is kind of shit at actually showing that characters are great and awesome and worthy of all the attention they get. Sometimes so shit that he makes really ugly personalities that the other characters all adore. It is an odd weakness when he is supposed to be good with Characters And Stuff.

Jack is a bit of a bastard who doesn't care about aliens unless they are sexy whales. He certainly doesn't have much time for things like redemption and forgiveness and shit. Maybe professionalism is evil and that is why Torchwood Cardiff ase useless fuckwits. I don't hate the Jack, but I am not sure how his Torchwood is any different from Yvonne Hartman's apart from obvs BEING USELESS FUCKWITS. Ahem. Also he is creepy in terms of sexual harrassment.

[tencrush]

All of that, yes. I think it's why people accuse Rusty of writing Mary Sues, I don't think he necessarily does, but that style of telling-us-how-fab-characters-are brings those connotations to mind.

[nostalgia-lj.livejournal.com]

He seems to get very fond of certain characters and make other characters suffer in some weird belief it will make his pet look good rather than like a twat.

[(Anonymous)]

To be fair RTD hasn't actually written that much Torchwood.

[tencrush]

Overall, he's in charge. End of.

[(Anonymous)]

"Overall, he's in charge. End of."

In charge enough to be a hindrance but not enough to be a help. My theory is that Torchwood and the characterisations would be better (though still overegging of the fabulousness of his characters) if he could dedicate more time to it like with Doctor Who. Or conversely if he wasn't involved at all because then someone else might be able to take responsibility for reining in its excesses. While he's officially in charge even if not involved in the detail I don't think that happens which is partly the problem.