BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012.


You are not logged in. Would you like to login or register?



September 12, 2012 2:21 pm  #1


Why all the hate for The Moff

The Moff has closed his twitter account because of trolls. Amanda Abbington (Martin's partner) has been having troll problems for defending him.

I really don't understand why all the hate.

Whenever I have seen him interviewed, mainly in the Doctor Who Confidential segments and Sherlock extras, he always seems like a straightforward, intelligent sort of bloke. Some people apparently find his portrayal of women to be misogynist and sexist. Now I grew up in the 1970s when feminism really took off and I have a very finely tuned antennae for sexist (as well as racist and homophobic) language and behaviour, and I certainly do not think that he falls into this category.

I'm not sure which characters he actually wrote in Doctor who but there are some strong women there, e.g. Rose Tyler with her big gun (not an euphemism, she really carried a big gun in some episodes); Martha as a medical doctor, Donna Noble as an ordinary woman in extraordinary circumstances, Amy Pond and River Song, who always manage to kick his arse in one way or another. And Irene Adler managed to outwit Sherlock at just about every turn. I don't think having Sherlock rescue her at the end of SiB makes her into a helpless maiden. Did sorting out Henry's problems in HoB turn Henry into a helpless wimp?

Finally, the main characters of his shows are men. Well, changing one of the main characters to a woman hasn't helped Elementary's credibility. And The Doctor has always been a man since the start of the series. I personally would love a female Doctor, who knows, it may happen one day, but in the meantime, having a female companion redresses any gender imbalance. Do they want a male companion? That would be a serious gender imbalance (but would set the world of fanfic on fire!) Much as I love Rory, he is a bit if a wimp at times. But no-one protests about the way his character is written.

Let me know your thoughts.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FREE PUSSY RIOT

I wish the real world would just stop hassling me - Rob Thomas

Did I mention that I have a Kindle?

#destroythejoint
 

September 12, 2012 2:45 pm  #2


Re: Why all the hate for The Moff


__________________________________

"After all this time?" "Always."
Good bye, Lord Rickman of the Alan
 

September 12, 2012 3:11 pm  #3


Re: Why all the hate for The Moff

Sorry, my lovelies, I didn't realise that this issue was already being discussed on the other thread.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FREE PUSSY RIOT

I wish the real world would just stop hassling me - Rob Thomas

Did I mention that I have a Kindle?

#destroythejoint
     Thread Starter
 

October 24, 2012 8:12 am  #4


Re: Why all the hate for The Moff

Untill this very day I had no idea why he left twitter. Thank you!

 

January 4, 2015 8:30 pm  #5


Re: Why all the hate for The Moff

My theory on why people dislike him is that he's a lot smarter than most of his audience and refuses to dumb down. 

 

January 29, 2016 11:17 pm  #6


Re: Why all the hate for The Moff

I just found this article defending Steven Moffat against claims of sexism and misogyny, if anyone is interested (it's quite long; I haven't finished it yet)
http://www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/steven-moffat-is-a-feminist-and-you-are-wrong-if-you-disagree/


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

January 30, 2016 8:34 am  #7


Re: Why all the hate for The Moff

You're not wrong about it being long!  It's a fun read though - I skim-read some of it, and mostly agree with it.  I suppose this is the main point:

So to return to the core question, when I say that Moffat is feminist, I mean that he creates popular culture that I believe can be used to teach feminist values to children, and when I say that Moffat is not misogynist, I mean that the tactic of calling out his misogyny does not strike me as particularly useful as commonly practiced.
 

 

Board footera

 

Powered by Boardhost. Create a Free Forum