Really, though...

[tencrush]

That Colin guy from Merlin is one of the fugliest people on the telly at the mo. That's not a subjective opinion on my part, that's like scientific fact or something. He's one of the two reasons I don't watch Merlin, the other one being that it's about fucking wizards. See also: more fucking wizards (Harry Potter), fucking trolls (Lord of the Rings) and fucking blue fairy people (Avatar). Do not be telling me I should be watching any of this shit, I cannot take it seriously.

I voted Neil Patrick Harris in the Big Gay Battle on After Elton. John Barrowman is just too gay to be allowed to win these sorts of things. I'm joking, of course (not about voting, I did vote NPH), there's no such thing as TOO GAY, but if there were, I'm pretty sure JB would qualify. But no, I purposefully voted against JB. For reasons I explained like a year and a half ago, I don't think he's the greatest candidate for big gay role model. Neither is NPH, probably (Man, he only came out like 3 years ago, dudes, really? Weird, I thought it was longer ago.), but there you go.

Comments

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[aviv-b.livejournal.com]

That's its exactly. I'm going to digress but its to make a point. I recently went to see the movie A Serious Man with two friends. We are all Jewish. I'm in my early 50s. One friend is 13 years older than I am (less 1 week), the other is 12 years younger.

I thought it was a warm-hearted look at a Jewish family/neighborhood almost identical to where I grew up (especially the Hebrew school and the different styles of Rabbis).

My older friend thought it was appalling - making fun of the Jewish community, showing it in a bad light. My younger friend thought the whole thing was silly.

And we all agree on why we felt the way we did. Older friend's father is a Holocaust survivor and grew up in a small town and experience a lot of anti-semitism growing up. Much like my parents, she believes that Jews 'shouldn't wash their dirty laundry in public.' And she is constantly viewing the world through her father's experience.

I grew up in a suburb that was 50% Jewish -the public schools closed on the Jewish holidays because not enough kids came to school. I experienced almost no prejudice growing up, but even though I've a had a few unpleasant experiences as an adult, I don't feel at all insecure about my place in America. But I do work hard with groups that support minority civil rights (gays, blacks, immigrants) because I'm worried that we are starting on a trend toward taking people's rights away.

My younger friend's view is "antisemitism, what antisemitism?" She also is very involved with minority rights issues but from the perspective of making sure other groups get the freedoms that Jews have.

So yes, age and geography make for my group, but for gays who are still being openly targeted by ministers, politicians, skinheads, etc, the opinion about CoE spanned all age groups. My dream is to wake up in ten years and hear a 20 member of the GLBT community say, 'gaybashing, what gaybashing.' Sigh, yeah I know, but its a dream.

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[(Anonymous)]

I think PhaetonsChariot has a point about geography making a big difference in point of view. I also agree, aviv_b, that age doesn't seem to in this case (I'm about your age).

To be fair, RTD has only commented, as far as I know, about whether Ianto's death was homophobic (answer: no) and whether he was pressured to de-gay Torchwood (answer: ambiguous). I don't know whether he was ever asked about issues in CoE other than Ianto's death.

I wasn't at ComicCon, but I heard he said things similar to what he said in this interview on AfterElton (http://www.afterelton.com/TV/2009/7/russeltdavies?page=0,3) when he was asked about Ianto's death being yet another dead queer. He said it wasn't, but that "...please don’t get on your high horse about Ianto Jones, for f*ck’s sake, who is fictional. Go do some good work in the real world where you can actually save some people’s lives." Right: Don't bother you about CoE and the death of a character in a same-sex relationship, because we can't both complain about your show and work for equal rights in the real world. Gotcha. And after all, TV is not at all influential to how people view the world...

Another was whether he felt pressured (http://www.thepostgameshow.com/?cat=185) to de-gay Torchwood. He said, "I think you can forget about people picking up gay rights as an issue. It’s rather like children picking up nursery blocks and waving them in the air but having no idea what it entails. We’re talking about issues in my entire life here, not just one small television program..." It doesn't answer yes or no, but does let you know that (1) Russell thinks that even if he is being homophobic, people won't care enough to make a lot of noise, and (2) he is, as they say, "the only gay in the village" and the rest of us (independent of sexual orientation, apparently) simply cannot understand well enough to even be able to reasonably question him about such things!

The sad thing is, he's right about (1), it seems. CoE is being lauded left and right as great drama. People don't seem to care about the homophobia (or notice it in some cases, maybe since it's so ingrained in our society?). I guess I'm out of step.

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[(Anonymous)]

Ooops, sorry about the odd look of what were supposed to be links. They were hotlinks, and were not bold, in the preview.

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[phaetonschariot.livejournal.com]

I don't say this often, but RTD can fuck off and die.

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[aviv-b.livejournal.com]

I agree with PhaetonsChariot on geography making a difference as well.

RTD's statement about Ianto is a straw man arguement as you point out. As if caring about one thing precludes caring about something else. Pretty common retort when people don't have a logical comeback to a charge or statement. Used by children, the not very bright and by folks who really care about nothing. A grade school debate team knows better than to use that type of argument.

And I guess all my male gay friends are just children with nursury blocks (or are they hysterical womenz, I get sooo confused). Again, its a playground taunt, not really becoming of a theoretical adult. Note I say theoretical.

Wealth and priviledge has provided RTD with protection. He knows nothing about what the life of a not famous gay person is like (especially in the US). But considering he's living in the California where the voters repealed a court's decision to allow gay marriage he might just get on the clue train.

And for me, maybe that's the crux of it. I try (don't always succeed) to see other people's points of view and respect those who I don't agree with...on big issues like human rights or immigration as well as little issues (should Jack hook up with Gwen).

RTD apparently has no respect for anyone who isn't in 100% agreement with his genius. He's dismissive, insulting and juvenille. Needless to say, I won't be voting for him as gay man of the decade either, LOL.

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[coldwater1010.livejournal.com]

Isn't that a bit like saying only woman are allowed to be involved and have an opinion when it comes to women's rights?

To be honest I don't think Ianto was killed off because he was "queer" despite them laying it on a bit thick. I just think RTD ran out of people to kill after the quick succession demises of Tosh and Owen. He couldn't kill off Jack and he was never going to kill off Gwen.Plus while he may have had bit of a thing for GDL I don't think he felt much investment in his character so he was easily expendable.