Russell T. Davies

[ericadawn16]

Oh, that, that man! Here he is discussing "Captain Jack Harkness"

AfterElton: I think it's one of the most romantic episodes I've ever seen.
Russell T Davies: I loved the fact the original Captain Jack died the next day. I think it’s hilarious. I think he must have been flying his plane going “No, I’m gay! I’m gay!” Then he crashed. Gayness killed him.

Part of me wants to think he's being sarcastic but even at my blackest, I'd never say such a thing. Is that because I'm coming from a Heterosexual viewpoint? Is this an innocent coping mechanism for dealing with shit in the past for being gay himself?

Because I kind of want to hit something, why would you find that hilarious???

*must stop reading anything that comes out of that man's mouth*

The whole AfterElton Interview

Comments

[jack-infinitude.livejournal.com]

I think Davies was trying to be funny. But he missed by a mile.

*continues to stay far away from him*

[politicette.livejournal.com]

WTF kind of a thing is that to say, honestly. :\

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

And why does he get away with saying it because he's gay himself? If a straight guy said that, we'd be lynching him already...

[politicette.livejournal.com]

Well obviously there's stuff we queers can say, and jokes that we can make that non-queer people can't. Like, stuff that we reclaim. But there's still stuff that just isn't cool and idk idk.

Maybe he was making a joke about the dead queers trope and it didn't translate well to print?

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

Hmm, well, he was bashed a bit for his contribution to that trope in Torchwood. Out of six characters who have had same-sex kisses onscreen, four died and only one came back on a regular basis.

He claims his previous work proves he wasn't writing with that trope in mind because of his previous work, but I don't see why someone's previous work from ten or fifteen years ago should still be relevant in this case especially when those were comedies and Torchwood is a drama. Obviously, when it's a drama or realistic, he seems to think the gays always die.

[politicette.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't know tbh, because I don't watch TW? But it sounds to me like he probably has a lot of internalized *~*issues. IDK.

[trektotorch.livejournal.com]

I think RTD does have some "issues" with his own sexuality. He has made other similiar comments in other interviews. Also, the way he treated Ianto and his relationship with Jack in COE was at times derogatory and uncomfortable. Such, the "queer' reference, and when Gwen and Andy were going to tell Rhi that her brother was dead Andy's remark "do they know he was gay". That was a real throw away negative remark. Why would that matter if they knew or not. They were going to just find out that Ianto was dead. That was a very distastful scene. As for the real Cpt Jack Harkness having those thoughts--I don't think the term "gay" for being homosexual was even in use at that time. I agree that anything RTD says should be taken with a grain of salt, if not totally ignored.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's just where I grew up, but I actually know people for whom finding out a relative or friend is gay IS worse than finding out they're dead. I'm not exaggerating; I could name actual names ... except of course, I won't on the Internets. Maybe RTD was just being realistic and he knows some of the same kind of people?

[trektotorch.livejournal.com]

What you say is most certainly true. Especially in my "older" generation. And I too, know of people that have had that happen to them. My problem with that scene from a viewer standpoint is that we already knew that Rhi and her husband knew about Ianto. Of course, Gwen and Andy were not privy to that conversation. My biggest problem with the scene is after that was said what were we as the viewer going to expect? That Gwen and Andy would go in and give the news that Ianto was dead, and then add by the way, he was gay. I didnt see that happening, and it didn't. Also, all these remarks were aimed at Ianto in COE, and nothing ever said about Jack's sexuality. I just found it interesting and strange.

[alba17.livejournal.com]

Oh jeez, really? Oh Russell. I'll have to read that interview.

[lavenderfrost.livejournal.com]

RTD's an IRL Troll, water is wet, the Pope is Catholic, etc.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I've said a lot of things about being female in the same kind of vein, and I figure I'm entitled to it, if anyone is. :-D

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

Hmm, what would be the female equivalent?

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I've heard breast cancer patients say they're being punished for having boobs. Jokingly, which is what I presume RTD was doing. Not every joke is PC or even really intended to be funny - sometimes horror is turned to humor as a coping mechanism.

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

Okay, I did wonder that because I use black humor myself in the same way. My worst jokes would have been the first couple of years in college when I would take an inflatable jet, crash it into the wall or tall edifice and go, Plane go boom!

I just...was totally taken aback by some using it in an interview context where he seemed to be making jokes otherwise.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Probably THE most extreme cases I've seen of this came when I was a young reporter and would ride along with ambulance and police personnel. They'd get together at the truck stop to eat late at night and swap stories, sometimes joking about the bodies and wrecks and beatings they'd seen - not to make fun of the victims, but in an effort to minimize the impact of it all as horrible. I was aghast at first, but then I realized these people saw this EVERY SINGLE DAY and if they were expected to take it all dramatically seriously all the time - like the rest of us do the very few times we encounter it - they needed some sort of outlet.

[jackdavfan692.livejournal.com]

OH MY GOD! What a dick B/! HILARIOUS? Really ?! No wonder Ianto got twisted up beyond recognition character-wise then tossed away like nothing in COE B[! For all the comments people make in RTD's defense and say he's not a self-hating gay man, that sounds exactly like something such a person would say! UNBELIEVABLE B/!

[alba17.livejournal.com]

Just read the interview. Wow, he's got an attitude. He sure comes off as totally hating his own show in its original incarnation (S1-2). That remark about Capt. Jack Harkness is just plain bizarre. In the comments the interviewer implied he was difficult to interview.

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

He definitely sounds that way. He got very defensive at the interviewer's word choice and the way things were phrased. Obviously, the interviewer had his opinions but it IS AfterElton who's been mourning Ianto all this time. Did Rusty honestly think they'd just bow down at his feet?

Yes, I got that impression, too. I'd always defended that accusation before that Rusty had gotten with CoE and if there was an after, the show that he had really wanted. Now, it appears that everyone else was more in touch with things than I was.

And after everyone said it was a fraud, or that it belonged to Shameless which made no sense, Torchwood 4 is having a pedophile for shock value or whatever. No mention of whether Esther is still questioning her religion which almost scared me as much as the pedophile. However, with Jane Espenson and Doris Egan, there might be some decent episodes.

I haven't even told my mom about this latest article but when I told her about Starz putting on its Facebook that if you're mean to others, they'll ban you...she asked, Does that include the writers?

[beckielric.livejournal.com]

Ugh, that's awful. D= I've seen that episode of Torchwood (the show Captain Jack Harkness is from) that he's talking about btw and it was really sad. 3=

But yeah not only do I kinda want to hit something, specifically I kinda want to hit HIM.

[geminia905.livejournal.com]

Honestly, it's hard to tell intent in these types of things, because you're not seeing or hearing everything that goes on, but I think he was probably going for black humor. I mean in 1941 UK homosexuality was a crime FCOL.

It's probably my favorite ep of the series and I've made some remarks that aren't exactly PC like 'figures, the one man Jack falls in love with that doesn't use and betray him and he's just a few hours from becoming a charcoal briquette'.

[meshell-mybell.livejournal.com]

I know what you are saying. I read that earlier and I was sickened by it.

And he also keeps insisting Jack is American. He wrote the character. He isn't even from this planet so how can he be American? RTD is effed.

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

And he referred to Jack as Bi...he's fucked non-humanoids, what happened to pansexual?

[meshell-mybell.livejournal.com]

Exactly!

The thing about RTD that really bothers me is the way he treats his characters. Granted, angst and drama are a part of life and if the characters don't have them they aren't real enough to be believable. However, I myself, watch these shows as a form of escapism. I like the fantasy of it. I love the unbelievable things that happen because they are entertaining. Then you take this entertainment and you break it and bend it because you can...it makes the show less enjoyable.

If I wanted that type of drama I'd watch the news or a serious drama. I watch DW and TW for the silly and the serious because it is a nice blend. But RTD has to go and do to TW what he did and what he did to Ten's last season and that isn't right. Yes, it was brilliant television but it was painful to watch.

I just feel he pushes things too far. (But it is late and I'm rambling.) :)

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

No, I totally agree. It's why I was glad to see him go and Steven take over. I found this past season of DW to be one of the most enjoyable I've seen and I've had others agree, even become major fans over it.