Me complaining again ...

[a_silver_story]

I 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.

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?}

Comments

[a-silver-story.livejournal.com]

I've heard the 'child-like' argument for Clem's comments, but I still don't think that's a good enough reason for him not to at least have been corrected in his treatment of Ianto by Gwen and Rhys. A child would have been (or at least I sincerely hope they would).

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.

[dr-is-in.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, I don't think we'll ever get a reasonable explanation as to what smelled differently on/in/about Ianto that Clem picked up on. It is Torchwood after all, home of the plot holes so big you can drive a tractor trailer through them.

[a-silver-story.livejournal.com]

True.

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*

[ella-caramella.livejournal.com]

Excuse me for adding one more reply to this but I'm still thinking about the 'smelling queer' thing and the more I think about it the angrier I get.

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.