Andrew: A lot of people criticize Steven Moffat saying he
doesn’t know how to write anyone other than a white man and as a response he
made the female version of the Master and made the lesbian character of Bill
but it always felt like he was writing these characters reluctantly and with a
grain of passive aggressiveness, like “Fine I’m doing it are you happy?”Diana: I know what you mean because he also has the
characters constantly pointing out that he’s done it. Like the Master cannot
stop talking about how’s she’s female now in almost every scene to the point
where you expect her to look at the audience and ask, “Are you happy now? Can
we get some credit for this?”Andrew: And that’s the grain of “Fuck You” that Steven
Moffat puts into his writing. Steven Moffat writing diverse characters is like
a teenager angrily doing chores he doesn’t want to do. And it’s like, this is a
trivial task, this should not be such a big deal to you.Diana: It shouldn’t be, because these characters mean so
much to so many people. It should be an honor and you should be so happy and
proud to give these characters to people, and we don’t want to feel this
passive aggressive quality in them. It really takes away from this really
important thing that’s happened.– The Hosts of Talk From Superheroes on Steven Moffat and
Diverse CharactersListen to more episodes here, on iTunes or wherever you
listen to podcasts.Are we watching the same show.
Exactly who, in this scenario, is making Moffat do his chores? The BBC? The BBC cares if the show gets ratings, not whether it’s progressive. The fans? I sincerely hope they’re in a minority, but you can find plenty of fans who want Doctor Who to stop with all this feminism and diversity and give them the Man Does Smart Man Stuff show. Moffat’s wife? Okay, I’ll grant you she probably pushes him to be a better feminist, but he not only married her, he works under her regularly, so I don’t see the “reluctant homework” aspect coming from there. So who is it? Who, exactly, is forcing Moffat to do this stuff?
At a guess, maybe, himself? I mean, didn’t he say himself that this is what people in his position should be doing and not patting themselves on the back for it? Can’t remember the exact quote, but it was something along those lines.
And, seriously, who watches seasons 8-10 and comes away thinking he begrudgingly cast Michelle Gomez as the Master?
Assigning yourself “homework” is the opposite of angrily doing homework that someone else forced you into, though. It’s not, “Fine, I’m doing it, are you happy?” It’s, “I’m doing it because I believe in it.”
Mind you, deciding that you need more representation doesn’t mean that you’re going to write it well. If the podcast had said, “It seems like Missy cannot stop reminding you that she’s female now, and that strikes me as clumsy writing by someone who has never really tried writing gender-fluidity of any kind,” well, I’d point them to “Curse of Fatal Death,” and I might quibble with phrases like, “in every scene,” but ultimately, that’s criticizing the execution of the idea, not the motive behind it. That’s what’s bugging me about this piece. It’s not saying, “I think X was executed clumsily,” it’s saying, “I think X was executed clumsily because Moffat is really a bad person who didn’t actually want to.” And that bugs me. It’s an accusation of bad faith, I guess. It says to me that no matter how a writer tries, no matter how they improve, no matter how they learn, it doesn’t count, because someone out there “knows” that they’re really a bad person who didn’t actually want to.
That’s discouraging on a personal level, not just an interpersonal one. I mean, I’m a writer who’s trying to put more diversity into my work. And it doesn’t come intuitively. I’m constantly second-guessing myself. I’m sure I’ve made some errors somewhere along the line. And it’s nice to know that if I ever get myself noticed, someone will be along to say, “Well, yes, she writes quasi-Egyptian fantasy and diverse science fiction and whatnot, but I don’t like the way she does it—which proves she’s really a bad person who didn’t actually want to.”
What’s wrong with, “I don’t like the way they do it,” full stop?
A: “Moffat is A Terrible Person!”
B: “Why?”
A: “He doesn’t write diverse characters!”
B: *points to all the diverse characters in Moffat’s Who*
A: “Well clearly he was forced into doing that!”
B: “OK, what’s the evidence for that?”
A: “Because he’s A Terrible Person!”
Please, fandoms of Tumblr, stop with this manichaean view of goodness. People just can’t win with you, can they? People don’t deserve cookies for doing the right thing, no. But the moment some creator does the right thing without wanting your applause for it, you turn on him, focused only on what he’s done wrong. Well let me tell you something: It’s not about you. It’s not about your patting yourself on the back for liking only the Correct And Good Works. It’s about telling better stories, and creating a better world because of it.
People are not Good, nor are they Bad. That’s because goodness is not a trait, but a virtue. It’s something we exercise, and get better at doing. And Moffat has gotten better at writing diverse characters, and at writing generally. You don’t like his version of Doctor Who? Ok, that’s fine. I don’t much like Douglas Adams’s episodes. Opinions differ, isn’t that lovely? But stop penalizing people for becoming better.
Moffat isn’t a Good Man, but he’s not a Bad Man, either. He’s an idiot… passing through, helping out, learning.
(And then you have the other side, the comments from dudebros whinging over Moffat pandering to social justice warriors. Haven’t they stopped watching or reading fiction by now? What’s left with only straight white dudes?)
As much as I hate to reblog the links to the baseless podcast in the OP, the above five responses to it need to be shared.
“White People Find Something To Dislike In The Characterization Of A Black Lesbian Hero, They Don’t Actually Know What, But By Gosh They’re Sure It’s There!”