Me complaining again ...
Oct. 31st, 2009 02:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
a_silver_storyI never received a reply to my last complaint (well, not from the BBC. Ofcom have been much more responsive), so have sent this rather angry one, and shall send more, until my main concern of Clem's comment have been explained properly.
Halloweenie fic treat-let later!
... or could it be a trick?
Dear BBC,
I sent a complaint over two weeks ago and never received a reply, despite indicating via the drop down menu that I required one.
My complaint addressed issues of homophobia and misinformation regarding the recent BBC miniseries ‘Torchwood: Children of Earth’, mainly the insinuation that sexuality has its own unique ‘scent’ (Day Three; the character of Clem apparently ‘smells’ that another character is in a homosexual relationship) and the omission of other such complaints from the monthly complaint report published by the BBC on the main website.
I am disappointed by this lack of response and consideration by the BBC, particularly as they are a non-optional public service who draw large audiences to their programming and content. It concerns me that this comment regarding homosexuality having a ‘scent’ has not only gone unexplained, but was also actually aired on prime time television as well as my complaint about it being evidently ignored.
I hope you can provide me with an acceptable explanation for the omission of such complaints from the monthly reports, as well as informing me what it is about homosexuals or bisexuals that smells different from heterosexual people that would justify the use of this ridiculous idea.
Yours, Fiona Elizabeth Brown
Halloweenie fic treat-let later!
... or could it be a trick?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-10-31 02:40 pm (UTC)I mean, that line was sooo much fun it shouted COMIC RELIEF so loudly... and it so served to further the plot-holes!!!
Grrr!
no subject
Date: 2009-10-31 02:51 pm (UTC)The BBC are shite at replies. But what confused me about them, is that for my Children of Earth complaints, I got small replies like "I understand that you are unhappy..blahblahhhhhhcrapolablah audience log crapolablahh. But when I sent one about Syed and Christian from Eastenders (They need WAYY more affection. seriously. *grumble*), I got a reply which was actually useful, and had a lot more detail.
Boycotting us muchhhh?
no subject
Date: 2009-10-31 02:57 pm (UTC)I understand the anger at the apparent homophobia (Johnny's comment to Ianto really set me on edge, even if it might have been "in character"). But I disagree with you about Clem. Clem's character is very child like, mentality wise. He's never really mentally grown up since the trauma of the 456 in his childhood. As such, he doesn't have the verbal/mental filter that most adults have that would keep them from blurting out statements like he did. It was demonstrated throughout the course of COE that, for some reason, Clem has a heightened sense of smell that allows him to smell things others wouldn't. From Gwen's pregnancy, to the soldiers arriving, to even the arrival of the 456....he heightened sense was able to pick these up.
But I don't think it was homophobia, just that he smelled something different about Ianto. Again, keep in mind the child like mental status and the era in which Clem grew up and seems to be mentally stuck in. I think it might have been poor writing and directorial decisions, but I don't think it was the out and out blatant homophobic attack you've seen it as.
But you do deserve a response back from BBC about it. Its poor public relations on their part not to at least acknowledge complaints.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-31 04:24 pm (UTC)I can understand that Clem has no 'think before I speak' protocols, but that isn't the issue here.
While it is believable that being pregnant makes someone 'smell' different. It is conceivable that solders have a distinct 'smell' of, maybe gun oil, certain chemicals etc, it's also believable (in the context of a SciFi setting) that the 456 as beings from another world, would smell different. The issue is, how do you 'smell' homosexuality?
What I want to know is, in what way does someone who's homosexual 'smells' different to the way someone who is heterosexual 'smells'(though obviously all 'queers' 'smell' the same, because Ianto is actually 'bi' and not homosexual)?!
That, the concept that queers 'smell' different to the way straights smell, is where the homophobia lays!
I'd like to add that I actually found Johnny's comments natural (for the area and background he came from), accepting and welcoming (and open-minded, again, for his background) and believable. He was being himself, but accepting Ianto for himself too.
JMHO
AJ
no subject
Date: 2009-10-31 04:31 pm (UTC)Get outta my head!
xx
no subject
Date: 2009-10-31 04:30 pm (UTC)Also, while some aspects of Clem are child-like, he:
a) knows how to steal and that it is wrong
b) Knows that the word 'queer' is offensive, and how to use it offensively.
c) What 'queer' implies, what it means and what sexuality is.
All of these are adult concepts showing that some aspects of have matured to a certain level of adulthood (though not a particularly great one). My issue is not entirely what character said it, it was the idea it implies: that people have a smell relevant to their sexuality.
I mainly want to know what is it that smelt different about Ianto to indicated his sexuality. Pregnant women release different pheromones and hormones than non-pregnant ones; this I can see as being 'smelt'. The 456 have their own smell; surely, they would smell different to humans and be identified by Clem. Soldiers will smell of their vehicles, of ammunition and probably release a lot of sweat; I accept he could have smelt them, too. What did Ianto 'release' that made him smell different? That's what I want to know. LGBT have spent so long campaigning for equality, saying we're the same as everyone else ... oh ... except no: you can now identify us by our smell. Lovely.
So what did Clem smell? Did he smell Jack's sperm on or inside Ianto? Maybe Ianto had shit on his dick. Maybe there's an actually non-offensive explanation.
As I said, a real child saying the same thing would have been corrected in their behaviour had they said what Clem had said (whereas Gwen and Rhys simply stifle a laugh), but it's more the idea that people smell according to their sexuality that offends me and many others.
Also, I don't find Johnny or Rhiannon's comments at all homophobic. They weren't said with the intent of offending Ianto, they were simply colloquial terms and clearly - even in Johnny's case - said with a form of affection.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-31 04:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-31 04:39 pm (UTC)That doesn't stop me being so .... grrrrrrrrrrrrarghhhh about it.
I think not knowing offends me more than if we did. It leaves so many options open for what he did smell that it can only fuel anti-homosexual feelings. Since CoE, my bisexual boyfriend has been told he 'smells gay' four times by the kids further down the street. They never said that before CoE aired, but whether or not the two things are connected is .... well ... speculation? *rolls eyes*
Also I meant to say in my comment above but didn't want to fill your inbox with me editing my comments: thank you for agreeing that I at least deserve a reply. The BBC clearly don't. *grumbles*
no subject
Date: 2009-11-02 02:25 pm (UTC)Regarding the 'child-like' argument to justify Clem's line... I think stating that Clem is allowed to say such a thing because he is like a child it's just making things worse.
Since children are supposedly innocent and therefore just prone to speak the truth without having the verbal/mental filter adults possess, that actually means implying that Clem is only speaking the truth. So it's true that Ianto smells different because he is queer!
That's where the real homophobic offence of CoE lies.
If Ianto was called "queer" by some bully on the show whose intention was to insult him, we would have been all outraged by the bully's nasty words and we would have been all supporting Ianto as *clearly* the victim of gay bashing.
The fact that the abusing insult is tossed at Ianto by some poor old man who's got the mindset of a child (hence speaking the truth) and whom we should feel sympathy for is just asking the audience to take sides either with Ianto or with Clem.
Like Gwen and Rhys did. They smiled, they found the insult funny, they condoned it, they took Clem's side.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-31 04:41 pm (UTC)Well, that's nice. They either go with generic responses (got another today), or don't bother at all.
...Your name is Fiona? AWESOME!
no subject
Date: 2009-10-31 04:42 pm (UTC)Yes, my mother was insane. She regrets it.
Most people call me Fiona or Silver. You may take your pic, Private Pervert! ;)
no subject
Date: 2009-10-31 04:47 pm (UTC)But then, I like names like Ella-Rose, Leviticus, and Damian.
Any hypothetical children I have are so f***ed. Thank god I only want cats.
I think you're still Silver to me though. Is that my name from now on? Not that I mind, really.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-31 04:49 pm (UTC)Actually ... if you are offended ... I'll just shush.
I just figure anyone who's read my fic for so long must have got a little bit twisted along the way ... (I know I have ...)
;)
no subject
Date: 2009-10-31 05:22 pm (UTC)I don't think that's a fair statement. Some of us were twisted before we read your fic! ; )
no subject
Date: 2009-10-31 04:56 pm (UTC)Unfortunately, my partner of choice has the surname 'Jones'.
Whaddya think? Go for a different name, or aim for the Hysterical Woman Lifetime Achievement Award for having a son called Ianto Jones and an SO called Gareth?
no subject
Date: 2009-10-31 06:36 pm (UTC)This is all.
Private Pervert signing off. ;)
no subject
Date: 2009-11-01 06:03 am (UTC)I sincerely doubt you'd be alone in the generation in question for naming him Ianto, though the Jones will definitely get you bonus points. *hug*