77 Days left and I am pondering, is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? I was talking to a friend today about Russell T Davies (RTD) and how he has a tendency to create amazing characters I love and either kill them of give them the most miserable ending ever. And yet, if you ask me, I am a RTD fan anyway.
And I'm not just talking about Torchwood but for the sake of this blog let's discuss that shall we? Think about every episode you've seen of Torchwood. Think of the main characters, the Torchwood team and then think about the guest rolls too. Think of the aliens and humans that were the villains, think of the families and think of every person that had more than 2 lines. I'm willing to bet that whether for good or bad they all had an impact on you. Regardless of if you like the characters or not, they do make you care. RTD makes you care.
The Torchwood fandom is one with very outspoken fans. If something is on our minds we say it, then we write a letter, blog, tweet and even send coffee to get our message across. And a lot of the time, these strong fan reactions have to do with showing displeasure over something in the show. But we tend to focus on the negative, nitpic every decision and cry out our offense with any change that doesn't suit us. It strikes me though, that we only get so fired up because we care. All the fans that complain about RTD messing up are only so invested because of all the good he's done. I am not saying this to defend RTD or insult fans that take issue. I am saying this so we can reflect on my earlier question. Is it worth having those characters in our shows even if RTD doesn't give us a happy ending? Would you really get rid of him if you could?
*following contains spoilers through COE*
I started watching Torchwood having known RTD's work in the past. I watched Queer as Folk, which gutted me and I still wanted to watch Torchwood. Sure John Barrowman helped that desire along but I knew that if RTD was involved I was going to get memorable, well-developed characters that I loved and hated and felt strongly for one way or another. The fact that we took the deaths of Tosh, Owen and Ianto so hard is a testament to how attached we were. The fact that the death of Steven, who was hardly in the show crushed us, tells me that RTD is a truly talented creator. Of course a lot of the credit for our experiences go to the individual episode writers but RTD was steering the ship.
You know, I take it back, this is officially a defense of RTD. Still not judging the fans that disagree but how may of you find yourself wanting to slap Gwen when she's being naive? Do any of you think about whatever happened to Lois Habiba? Am I the only one who wants a sitcom based around the Davies family? "Dinner with the Davies"? I react to the characters and their stories, I laugh, I cry and I throw things at the TV sometimes, but darn it RTD is a hell of a creator! I'm not saying I agree with every choice he's made, far from it. but I think choices have to be made and in no scenario is everyone going to be happy. At the end of the day a creator does their best and has to remain true to the story they want to tell. And after all is said and done, after all the tears, I am a Torchwood fan and RTD is a huge part of that.
So what do you think of RTD? Am I being too easy on him? Does that bad out-weigh the good? xx
<3Dana
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And I'm not just talking about Torchwood but for the sake of this blog let's discuss that shall we? Think about every episode you've seen of Torchwood. Think of the main characters, the Torchwood team and then think about the guest rolls too. Think of the aliens and humans that were the villains, think of the families and think of every person that had more than 2 lines. I'm willing to bet that whether for good or bad they all had an impact on you. Regardless of if you like the characters or not, they do make you care. RTD makes you care.
The Torchwood fandom is one with very outspoken fans. If something is on our minds we say it, then we write a letter, blog, tweet and even send coffee to get our message across. And a lot of the time, these strong fan reactions have to do with showing displeasure over something in the show. But we tend to focus on the negative, nitpic every decision and cry out our offense with any change that doesn't suit us. It strikes me though, that we only get so fired up because we care. All the fans that complain about RTD messing up are only so invested because of all the good he's done. I am not saying this to defend RTD or insult fans that take issue. I am saying this so we can reflect on my earlier question. Is it worth having those characters in our shows even if RTD doesn't give us a happy ending? Would you really get rid of him if you could?
*following contains spoilers through COE*
I started watching Torchwood having known RTD's work in the past. I watched Queer as Folk, which gutted me and I still wanted to watch Torchwood. Sure John Barrowman helped that desire along but I knew that if RTD was involved I was going to get memorable, well-developed characters that I loved and hated and felt strongly for one way or another. The fact that we took the deaths of Tosh, Owen and Ianto so hard is a testament to how attached we were. The fact that the death of Steven, who was hardly in the show crushed us, tells me that RTD is a truly talented creator. Of course a lot of the credit for our experiences go to the individual episode writers but RTD was steering the ship.
You know, I take it back, this is officially a defense of RTD. Still not judging the fans that disagree but how may of you find yourself wanting to slap Gwen when she's being naive? Do any of you think about whatever happened to Lois Habiba? Am I the only one who wants a sitcom based around the Davies family? "Dinner with the Davies"? I react to the characters and their stories, I laugh, I cry and I throw things at the TV sometimes, but darn it RTD is a hell of a creator! I'm not saying I agree with every choice he's made, far from it. but I think choices have to be made and in no scenario is everyone going to be happy. At the end of the day a creator does their best and has to remain true to the story they want to tell. And after all is said and done, after all the tears, I am a Torchwood fan and RTD is a huge part of that.
So what do you think of RTD? Am I being too easy on him? Does that bad out-weigh the good? xx
<3Dana
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