astrocricket's Journal

My opinion: Torchwood is too gay
Torchwood is a Doctor Who spinoff, based on the premise of a government agency that fights aliens in the present day. This so-called "Doctor Who for Adults" is based in Wales, so if you consider Doctor Who to be too London-centric, Torchwood is even more implausibly Cardiff-centric. But that's not the point, nor is the weak character development, lame scripts, overacting, or overabunance of violence.

The main problem I have with Torchwood is that it's too gay. Created by gay producer Russell T. Davies and starring gay actor John Barrowman (playing the the omnisexual Captain Jack, a con-man from the future, where apparently "monosexuality" is extinct), every single episode explores gay themes. Among the regular cast, there is no character who hasn't had a same-sex experience. Even guest characters rarely get away without some same-sex action. The idea of a future in which everyone is bisexual doesn't bother me, but the overwhelming fixation on these themes does.

The show reminds me of that animated classic, Captain Planet. Theoretically, a show involving elemental superpowers, flamboyant villians, and teenage drama has a lot of potential. Voices by LeVar Burton and Whoopi Goldberg should just sweeten the deal. Unfortunately, every episode is propaganda telling kids to recycle, avoid polluting, and so on. That's a fine message, but you can't really enjoy the show if every event is a "teaching moment". I see Torchwood as exactly the same sort of Public Service Announcement - however edifying, any story or character development is secondary compared to The Message.

Edit: last night's episode wasn't too gay - just one session of man-on-man frenching - but the rest of the story didn't gain much from the restraint. There's an overplayed heroic sacrifice, and some other stuff happens, but how the writer thought that would qualify as a story is beyond me.

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