Torchwood: Children of Earth
Jul. 27th, 2009 01:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rikibethFirst of all, I wanted to say that I waited to watch it until it hit BBC America, and circumstances delayed me watching Episode 5 until the Sunday marathon, so I haven't read any spoiler threads from people who watched it earlier. Please DO link me back to your posts in the comments.
With that out of the way:
Killing Ianto was NOT OKAY. It wasn't okay for Joss to kill Wash, and it wasn't okay for Russell T. Davies to kill Ianto. Jack/Ianto was a huge factor in why I was watching at all, and, DAMMIT, I'd like for the lovely boys kissing NOT to get killed for the dramatic effect. BOO.
Jack sacrificing his grandson was ALSO NOT OKAY. And you know why? It's because they denied the kid any agency. Yes, he was a child, but that doesn't make him a POSSESSION. Even if he's young, you don't get to decide FOR him, and not tell him what he's doing. You know who understood that?![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
talandra. If she'd been writing it, Jack would have explained what was going on, and ASKED his grandson to do it. Yes, the grandson was young, and yes, Jack is old and wily and could easily have laid it out in such a way that the boy would say yes with a brave smile and you could argue forever over whether he Really Understood what he was doing, but, done right, the boy would have gone out believing in himself as a hero. Or, if you want to tear out the hearts of everyone watching, assuming they still HAVE THEM after IANTO DIED, the boy would have taken on the task BELIEVING he was going to be a hero, and then when the pain hit he'd start begging and trying to take it back, like a soldier in the trenches in WWI when the mustard gas came on. But it'd be too late. That'd fit the darkness they were trying to give it, and it wouldn't have been as WRONG as making the child an UNKNOWING tool.
...why, yes, it does seem that I have very strong feelings about agency. Funny, that.
Other minor notes: got earwormed with "Guns of Brixton" when the soldiers were rounding up the kids at the council estates, and had an interesting idea about how the police could have put themselves in opposition to the army -- Gwen's old colleague, if let in on it, could have radioed headquarters to send out a van, and loaded the ten-quid-a-kids into it, with a pretext of "protective custody, illegal day care," and it would at least have delayed the soldiers rounding up THAT batch for a little while, because they wouldn't be where they were expected to be.
Okay, discuss.
With that out of the way:
Killing Ianto was NOT OKAY. It wasn't okay for Joss to kill Wash, and it wasn't okay for Russell T. Davies to kill Ianto. Jack/Ianto was a huge factor in why I was watching at all, and, DAMMIT, I'd like for the lovely boys kissing NOT to get killed for the dramatic effect. BOO.
Jack sacrificing his grandson was ALSO NOT OKAY. And you know why? It's because they denied the kid any agency. Yes, he was a child, but that doesn't make him a POSSESSION. Even if he's young, you don't get to decide FOR him, and not tell him what he's doing. You know who understood that?
talandra. If she'd been writing it, Jack would have explained what was going on, and ASKED his grandson to do it. Yes, the grandson was young, and yes, Jack is old and wily and could easily have laid it out in such a way that the boy would say yes with a brave smile and you could argue forever over whether he Really Understood what he was doing, but, done right, the boy would have gone out believing in himself as a hero. Or, if you want to tear out the hearts of everyone watching, assuming they still HAVE THEM after IANTO DIED, the boy would have taken on the task BELIEVING he was going to be a hero, and then when the pain hit he'd start begging and trying to take it back, like a soldier in the trenches in WWI when the mustard gas came on. But it'd be too late. That'd fit the darkness they were trying to give it, and it wouldn't have been as WRONG as making the child an UNKNOWING tool....why, yes, it does seem that I have very strong feelings about agency. Funny, that.
Other minor notes: got earwormed with "Guns of Brixton" when the soldiers were rounding up the kids at the council estates, and had an interesting idea about how the police could have put themselves in opposition to the army -- Gwen's old colleague, if let in on it, could have radioed headquarters to send out a van, and loaded the ten-quid-a-kids into it, with a pretext of "protective custody, illegal day care," and it would at least have delayed the soldiers rounding up THAT batch for a little while, because they wouldn't be where they were expected to be.
Okay, discuss.
