MORE THOUGHTS ON THE ULTIMATE MESSAGE OF DAYS ONE THROUGH FOUR

[tencrush]

We knew this was a retooling of sorts for the show, designed to attract a MASSIVE new and shiny audience, and it has. There are literally MILLIONS of people watching series three, who have NOT seen either series one or two of Torchwood.

And what have these shiny new viewers learned from Children of Earth? Well, see there's these three people in Torchwood, one's like from the future or someting, one's the married pregnant chick and let's just hammer the point home really quite bluntly with neon signs and anvils and such, that one over there? In the suit, see him? IANTO?? IANTO'S THE QUEER ONE.

Have you all got that? Yeah? Good. Right... let's kill the queer one.

Seriously. It's very tasteful, that, Russell. Nicely done.

Comments

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

Again, just to problematise: Ianto's not very identifiable-with either, really. This story is the first time the character's had as much as a foot in the "real" world. In fact, that's one of the things that's nagging me - all this background gets sketched in, all these interesting questions get raised - and then it's all thrown away? It doesn't ring true. Probably just wishful thinking. I was so looking forward to seeing the character blossom at last.

[tencrush]

All that background's just there to add to the DRAMA. We have yet to go tell Rhiannon about Ianto, we need to really make people cry again.

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

No more five pound notes from Uncle Ianto for you, you little buggers!

[tencrush]

What I was really hoping for, apart, obviously from living!Ianto, was that we could keep his family, whom I love, and especially the girl niece with the adorable grumpy face.

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

They are pretty fucking amazing, especially the brother-in-law. Maybe they'll get a show of their own.

[rowanswhimsy.livejournal.com]

It's really irritating when they introduce characters like this solely for the purpose of ramping up the angst. They make Ianto even dearer to his fans by giving him relatives (and great ones at that) then they kill him.

[tencrush]

Yeah, it's a bit cheap and nasty, that.

[rowanswhimsy.livejournal.com]

Imagine how we would have LOVED to meet this family (or parts of it) in S2 when we were speculating about Ianto's family.

[tencrush]

Yeah. Exactly. They didn't really have any use for Ianto in S2 other than Jack's shag interest, so there was no need for them. NOW, of course, here you go, go cry, bitches.

[tencrush]

And, to be fair in terms of This-Season-As-A-First-Introduction for a new audience, Ianto is TOTALLY the identifiable-with Everygay. He's unsure of himself and this relationship, he has a coming out scene, he gets insulted by people, he's a by-the-book gay drama character. Who, of course, dies.

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

V. good points. Which caused me to have a mental picture of Jack waving coffee under Ianto's nose and bringing him back to life.

[rowanswhimsy.livejournal.com]

I'll take that ending.

[rowanswhimsy.livejournal.com]

Stay in the closet, kiddies -- or ELSE.

I wonder if the attempt to paint Ianto as Jacksexual not bisexual is more cynical than we think insofar as they might have been attempting to avoid the allegations that they killed off Everygay. I recall the backlash after Tara's death on BtVS (she had just had sex, too) and ME claimed to be astonished that people would come to that conclusion. Maybe RTD was trying some half-assed preemptive strike against that.

[tencrush]

Some people said that on my journal a few days ago and I said it sounded plausible, but I really don't think they thought it through that far. It's just the same old, same old, they get so caught up in making it OMGDRAMATICANDANGSTY for Jack, that they don't really think about the big picture they're painting, which is, as you say, stay in the closet, kiddoes.

[rowanswhimsy.livejournal.com]

Well, whatever it was it was definitely EPIC FAIL.

[radiant-pip.livejournal.com]

Well, they did make a point of having Clem call him "queer". Twice. That seemed to me to move Ianto more firmly into a certain box for the audience, regardless of what he told his sister.

Unless of course, Clem meant "queer" as in weird or wrong and Ianto will revive for some sci-fi reason after the mortician walks by him with a hot cup of java. Only he'll be so pissed at Jack for giving up on him (and, let's face it, coming up with a really s****y plan) that he won't bother hooking up with Team Torchwood again.

[rowanswhimsy.livejournal.com]

Good point about Clem.

I vote for resurrection via java.

[magslhalliday.livejournal.com]

The background that is sketched in supplies a set of kids who are due to be culled due to being the "wrong" social class, and that we have a connection to through Ianto. It serves multiple dramatic purposes.