BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Mark Gatiss & Steven Moffat Tweets

**Posted by kazza474** September 9, 2012 12:53 pm

In essence, it's just a sign of the times.
For some reason, things need to be excessive these days. It appears to be so hard for some to just sit & appreciate 'what is'. They have to push things to the limit; a kind of greed that rages through society. Nothing is ever enough anymore.
In this case we can call it 'loved to death' ; it's too demanding if he has scripts to write, appearances to attend, interviews to give. And he has a family to enjoy also. One could imagine Twitter is just too intrusive on his time & life at the moment.

If I were Sue, Mark and even Amanda, I'd set my privacy higher. Sure we'd miss out but it could very well come to that.

**Posted by Banbha** September 9, 2012 12:53 pm

That's too bad; I enjoyed his tweets.

**Posted by kazza474** September 9, 2012 1:04 pm

Amanda just copped a mouthful from some twit headed feminist idiots.
She's calmed down now though.

For all those who think Moff has been misogynistic, they don't know their history too well.
Another case of 'going overboard'. *rolls eyes*

**Posted by kazza474** September 9, 2012 1:49 pm

A fine example of why he closed his account.
Sue just tweeted this:

sue vertue
Obviously the new @stevenmoffat is an imposter and not The Moff. It's just these sort of idiots that ruin Twitter for the majority of users

Let's find these people & give them ALL the attention they deserve!
Morons!

**Posted by LoveBug54** September 9, 2012 5:31 pm

Unfortunately, the internet is the perfect breeding ground for trolls. They make it difficult, if not sometimes impossible, to have civil discourse. At least this forum seems to be an exception because everyone here has been so nice! And for the very few instances of snark, most of those have been misunderstandings that were easily cleared up.

Why do the idiots always have to spoil things for the rest of us?

**Posted by Mattlocked** September 9, 2012 6:02 pm

I wonder if there's nothing to do against those fakes at Twitter. They can ruin a persons reputation by pretending being them, or?

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** September 9, 2012 7:58 pm

Aww. I'm really sad. I loved his tweets, I thought they were intelligent and funny, especially when he put down the people who attacked him.

I hope it is just like Sue said and that he's basically too busy to be able to handle it right now, and not simply because of idiots.

**Posted by Davina** September 9, 2012 8:18 pm

Twitter can block or remove them. It has to get reported though.

**Posted by Wholocked** September 10, 2012 1:28 am

Tom Hiddleston also had a negative Twitter experience recently. He was following the account of his Avenger's makeup artist and her sister's account. They told him they had a friend coming to England and would he show her around? He, being the kind, warm and generous guy that he is, said sure thing and started following the friend as well.

Then his Avenger's makeup artist found out about it and let him know that neither she nor her sister have twitter, and these people had just been impersonating someone he knows so they could meet him.

The way people disrespect those who give so much of themselves to their fans and through their art is just disgusting. I wouldn't be surprised if Twitter died in the next few years due to stuff like this.

Last edited by Wholocked (September 10, 2012 1:28 am)

**Posted by sherlockskitty** September 10, 2012 2:25 am

I don't think celebrities should join FB or Twitter under their real names. It's just too easy for someone else to impersonate them. I don't like FB much but I signed there in my real name and now I wish I hadn't. But I've got nothing interesting going on...that just means I'm not a celebrity. I use FB to follow my favorite shows, (this being one of them) and that's where I first learned that Moff had deleted his twitter acct. They said it was due to him being verbally abused and maybe threats, too, all because of that first episode of Doctor Who. Yeah that's what I read over there.

**Posted by kazza474** September 10, 2012 3:41 am

We've had 2 very 'public' incidents of Twitter abuse recently in Australia.
With both, legal avenues will be sought, thank heavens.
One ended in a TV personality attempting suicide; she's fine & has talked publicly about it.
The other only happened on the weekend, a top sportsman. The troll's account was closed but not before a politician of some power noted it & he's pulling out all stops to have this one dealt with also.

**Posted by Ivy** September 11, 2012 2:58 pm

There are really deranged people out there! (not that this is something new!)

Amanda Abbington tweeted this after she defended Steven Moffat and is now getting death threats! I have no words!

Right. After this long winded tweet, I am putting this to bed once and for all. I am now receiving death threats. Some people want to kill me because I stuck up for a friend. Death threats. I mean, really? Are you serious? Some nameless, faceless cowards actually want me to die. What a wonderful world we live in. And all because of this: I don’t think Steven Moffat a misogynist. I don’t think he is a homophobe. What he is, is a thoroughly decent man, who, in my opinion, writes high quality drama that is hugely popular and continues to win awards. In my opinion. What I witnessed the other week was cyber-bullying at its most rampant. Now, I consider myself a feminist. I am the first to champion women and I happen to work in an incredibly male-dominated profession where good, challenging, stand-out women’s roles are still dwarfed by the huge amount of amazing men’s roles. And where women still have to fight to be taken seriously and keep their clothes on. I am also a mother, first and foremost and I juggle those two careers precariously. Women are made to feel guilty for having children, not having children, working for a living, getting married, staying single, usually by other women, I hasten to add. I have been a professional actor for nearly twenty years and in that time I have been on the receiving end of misogynist behaviour more times than you can possibly imagine. I was sticking up for a friend, who, I felt had been bullied. Now, if you don’t like Doctor Who or Sherlock or indeed, any of Steven Moffat’s writing then don’t watch it. If it upsets you to the point of sending him death threats, then don’t watch it. Be constructive, please, of course, I am all for that but when that criticism turns ugly (and I stress, the stuff I read had become incredibly offensive) then constructive criticism goes out the window and it becomes very personal and frightening. Last time I checked, death-threats were not in the least bit constructive. I have recently just tried to stick up for a young actress who was being harangued on Twitter. It amounts to the same thing. Faceless bullying again. And it is in no way constructive. I sincerely apologise if I came across too strong with some of you. Twitter tends to have that effect on people. The internet can be a fantastic place or Hell on earth. My reaction, in hindsight, may have been a knee-jerk reaction. Maybe that’s because I was horrendously bullied as a child and so any sort of injustice and cowardly attack is heightened to me. Or maybe, I was defending a friend who has contributed to British drama more than any one of the people who were cussing him last week. You see, you all have a remote control. You can always switch off. Just an idea…[/i]

**Posted by SusiGo** September 11, 2012 3:05 pm

Hats off to Amanda. A shame that something like this has to be written at all. Unfortunately the Internet is an ideal platform for cowards and seriously disturbed people.

**Posted by Mattlocked** September 11, 2012 6:27 pm

And this shall be the reason why Moffat has been called a misogynist.
Not sure if it's even worth posting it here, but maybe one or the other wants to read. (I stopped after having read the first quarter.)
I don't know exactly what she's talking about as I don't know DW. But anyway it seems to me........... hm, build your own opinion.

http://stfu-moffat.tumblr.com/post/30991164205/how-moffat-ruined-doctor-who-for-my-little-sister

Quote: You see, you all have a remote control. You can always switch off. Just an idea…

Last edited by Mattlocked (September 11, 2012 6:28 pm)

**Posted by Ivy** September 11, 2012 7:00 pm

I can't say much about Moffat, I just watched some Doctor Who episodes when Ten-Inch was the doctor.

And I can't remember interviews/Q&As he comes across as weird or overly arrogant, so my feelings towards him as a person are quite neutral, he is part of the duo who gave us this wonderful show and I like the two episodes he wrote. Yes I'm more fond of Mark Gatiss, he's very witty and quirky and seems like an approachable lovely guy. And he's the actual Sherlock showrunner, like Mr Moffat is for Doctor Who.

And I agree with Amanda "you can always switch off". My God it's just a TV show

**Posted by SusiGo** September 11, 2012 7:06 pm

I don't know DW either but it seems to be a very personal kind of disappointment. Of course you have certain expectations, especially in such a long-running and successful show, but I don't see how this can trigger such outrageous reactions. Maybe those among us who are better acquainted with DW can enlighten us of this criticism is justified or not. I mean, we are quite crazy bunch of fans but I cannot imagine us threatening to kill anyone just because we don't like his/her scripts or depiction of certain characters.
Regarding Sherlock I think it is quite difficult to turn such a male-centred body of literature into stories approved by 21st century feminists. Of course it is debatable if Irene had to be saved by Sherlock but IMO this doesn't make Steven Moffat a misogynist. And the dichotomy of saint and whore applied to the women in Sherlock doesn't really work for me. Moftiss managed to develop interesting female characters whereas in the canon woman are present but all in all a negligible factor which in Sherlock they are definitely not. That's enough for now. I'm off to watch HOUSE.

**Posted by Sam** September 11, 2012 7:12 pm

Whether he is a misogynist or not, he should not be attacked so cruelly on a social media site. But, that's social media for you, that's never going to stop. Writing him personal letters would be more effective (though those could be very hateful too at least it's not in the public eye). People making death threats is just so stupid...

I read that girl's post Mattlocked. I don't watch DW either but the point with the Doctor's quote saying “She’s been brainwashed, it probably makes sense to her. Plus, she’s a woman. Oh, shut up!� does seem inappropriate. She has sections on Sherlock which I went and read. She makes good points. The thing is, men do these kinds of things without realizing what they're doing. They don't mean to put down women and probably respect them in "real life". I think he should consult Sue or another female so he gets a female viewpoint, one he isn't familiar with, to help write the female characters. I don't think he's a misogynist but he should welcome female feedback more if not from the fans, then women close to him. Heck, maybe he does, I really don't know much about him. And that's the thing, I cannot make a proper judgement because I don't know him. I love Sherlock and he does some great writing. The female characters could use some work yes but that's still where we are right now in the world. Female characters could use some work in most shows/movies.

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** September 12, 2012 10:35 am

Haha, it's kind of true what that girl was saying about Moffat making everything epic, and all the plot holes her sister was pointing out in Asylum of the Daleks were things that I'd thought myself too. Point is though, I still really enjoyed the episode and to me it didn't matter if some of the things didn't make sense, I just take the episode at face value and go along with it, it's much more fun that way, rather than being critical and cynical all the time. Some of these people should try writing a Doctor Who episode themselves, I'm sure there'd be stuff in theirs that other people found to criticise.

When Russell T was in charge of Doctor Who there were people complaining about him, now everyone likes to complain about Moffat, and it will be the same for the next person who takes over. Personally, Series 5 and 6 since Moffat took over have been my favourites, and I didn't agree with the girls point about him being sexist or homophobic, I just don't think that's true at all, more like she can't take a joke. Yes, the Doctor is written slightly differently. He is more sarcastic and does have more jokes and gags, but I don't think there's anything wrong in that, every Doctor has their own quirks.

Of course, this girl is entitled to her opinions, as is everyone. The difference is though - the Tumblr post I just read was fairly well written, with constructive criticism and valid points and arguments, regardless of whether I agree with them or not. The people posting on Twitter were just using it as an excuse to insult Moffat, and there wasn't anything remotely intelligent, clever or well written about what they were saying.

I really enjoyed Amanda's response. Very well said and expressing my sentiments exactly!

**Posted by kazza474** September 12, 2012 11:01 am

History of the misogynist tag worn by Moffat.
The latest & loudest misogynist tag came soon after Scandal aired; a British journalist published THIS in the Guardian on 3rd January this year. There was a huge response from both sides, Moffat was asked about it in several interviews & chat shows & most thought hopefully it has died down for a while.
I agree with some things she said but the conclusions and interpretations she drew from this were frankly those of a hysterical woman.

Why do woman have to play this ' I want to be equal' game? If you want to be equal, shut up & get on with life!

But in true 21st century style people keep jumping on old, retired bandwagons because they don't have the tenacity to make one of their own.

**Posted by LoveBug54** September 12, 2012 11:30 am

Mattlocked wrote:
And this shall be the reason why Moffat has been called a misogynist.
Not sure if it's even worth posting it here, but maybe one or the other wants to read. (I stopped after having read the first quarter.)
I don't know exactly what she's talking about as I don't know DW. But anyway it seems to me........... hm, build your own opinion.

http://stfu-moffat.tumblr.com/post/30991164205/how-moffat-ruined-doctor-who-for-my-little-sister

Quote: You see, you all have a remote control. You can always switch off. Just an idea…

I think the blogger has a point about DW. I have my own issues with how Moffat used Irene Adler. But, that doesn't make Moffat a misogynist and it SURE doesn't mean he should have death threats!

If anyone ever wonders why Abbington/Freeman don't want their kids photos on the internet they only have to look at incidents like this to know there are some really unhinged people out there. As SHERLOCK fans we've been very lucky to have such direct access to the creators of this program but it's shit like this that causes doors to slam.

I've seen similar things happen in other fandoms, too. I've been a long-time Star Trek fan to the point where I had joined a club that worked with the conventions that would occasionally come to town. At first we were thrilled to be able to meet and even have dinner with some of the actors associated with the show (especially the original series). For instance George Takai was a runner and he used to invite fans to meet him early in the morning outside his hotel so they can run together. However, over time I noticed the actors becoming more and more distant (not because of anything we did) to the point where some (like Patrick Stewart) started having their own security. The reason for this? Wacko fans like the woman who ran up to Stewart once and planted a big ol' smooch on him. God only knows what kind of mail and weird threats they have had. So this is what happens when a fringe element starts acting up and scaring people who are "lucky" enough to work in the public eye.

And now with twitter and every cell phone having a camera Benedict Cumberbatch can't scratch his arse in public without it showing up on twitter 30 seconds later (no, I don't know of any incident where he actually did that so don't ask! lol) I know popular actors have to get used to being recognized by strangers but it must be really weird for them to have the kind of life where there are constantly being watched and recorded for the delectation of their fans, from normal to wacko-obsessed. I know I wouldn't want to live like that.