Ask the Flying Monkey: Why Does “Torchwood” Inspire Such Passion?

This week: Why does Torchwood inspire such passion? Is a gay person a hypocrite if he doesn’t tolerate incest and polygamy? Is there anything wrong with sissyphobia?

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Q: I have already noticed that Torchwood seems to ignite a lot of passion around here. As resident elder, soothsayer, shaman and scifi expert, I was wondering if you had an opinion why? – Wayne, Alexandria, VA

Gareth David-Lloyd, John Barrowman and Eve Myles from Torchwood: Children of Earth

A: It’s a combination of things, starting with the fact that the show is really, really unique: it’s sci-fi (which always seems to inspire passionate fandoms), it has a leading bisexual character played by an out gay man, and that character is anything but asexual.

Basically, the show brings out the slash crowd, the gay dorks (like me), and the sci-fi fans in general – and let’s not forget that the audience also has a UK/U.S. divide. And all these viewers have differing expectations and agendas.

In addition to being unique, the show is wildly inconsistent in terms of quality (IMHO): often it’s really, really good, but sometimes it’s really, really bad, and sometimes it starts out good and then gets bad – like, oh, Children of the Earth, which I still think had the stupidest, most intelligence-insulting conclusion since the movie Independence Day (where humanity took down an ultra-advanced alien civilization because they didn’t bother to install virus protection on their software!).

Anyway, the show’s inconsistency is another cause of passion, as disappointed fans express their disappointment, and die-hard fans try to defend the indefensible (again, IMHO).

Basically, there’s a lot to talk about.

Finally, there’s creator Russell T. Davies. The man likes to be provocative – and the audacious, in-your-face nature of his storylines is yet another reason the show inspires such passion.

Russell T. Davies

But Davies is also personally provocative, saying contemptuous, dismissive things in interviews directed at specific fans. He clearly likes to poke the hornet’s nest, both on-screen and off, which is yet another reason he and his show are constantly at the center of some cyber-brouhaha.

Next Page! What’s the deal with Wilmer Valderrama? Plus, is all sissyphobia bad?