This Is Not A Democracy

Cross-posted from my other journal, because it's an important point to make - apologies if you see it twice, especially as I'm not cutting it. I don't want any part of this overlooked


I started writing this entry during Holby City, which for the non-viewers is a British soap/serial drama set in a hospital near Bristol. While Holby focuses primarily on the surgical wards, the original show from which it is a spin-off, Casualty, focuses on the A&E or emergency room of the same hospital.

The entry was supposed to be, "Yay! 30,000 words!" but what actually happened on Holby made me so angry. Here's an extended version of what I said on Twitter:

Last year, Joe May (one of my favourite actors, and someone I am incredibly fond of - to the point where I co-run a fansite about him) played a character called George Kerwan, on Holby, whose entire four-episode arc was that he would start dating much-loved main character, Maria, then flirt with her friend, male nurse Nicky, and eventually break her heart when he was outed as bisexual, tell her he was just out for some fun, and then disappear. In the space of the last episode, or so, they had his friendly and likeable - if quite cocky - persona changed to being a self-centred, smug prick.

The same actor played male nurse Sam Colloby's unemployed, parasite boyfriend in about 1997 (as Paul) and then cheated on Sam with a woman (I specify male in the cases of Sam and Nicky because of their unisex names and the nature of the storylines - co-incidence?).

When the BBC did a survey on LGBT portrayal in its programmes, last year, I specifically pointed this out. I also made the point that sometimes gay people are Just Gay and their sexuality is incidental, not central to their personality. That just because someone is gay, doesn't make it the only thing they ever talk about or react in accordance with. That it shouldn't be what defined a character.

After the survey, they acknowledged this sort of feedback and said, "Yes, we screwed up. We'll try harder. Awfully sorry."

When they introduced Antoine Malick, and subtly noted that he was gay, we thought they'd listened and created a character in that role. It was awesome. Malick was, admittedly, an Angry Young Black Man stereotype (which isn't really acceptable, either, although he was also portrayed as a great doctor) and his sexuality was nodded to occasionally, but never paraded. He wasn't the kind of lascivious perv we usually see gay men portrayed as when they're not being portrayed as mincing fairies with a fashion kink (although Joe did get to play one of those as Andy Button in Episodes - also a BBC project).

Tonight, they had Rugger Bugger Dan - the gobshite, rich-boy Orthopodiatrician - who is in a relationship with Queen Bitch Chrissie, pushing Malick up against some lockers and kissing him after a half-naked fight - and then running to Chrissie for sex. It's like the worst kind of fanfic. It's embarrassing and unrepresentative of the LGBT community and is using us as scandal fodder. I thought they'd learned, but clearly they haven't and I am really fucking sick of it.

Last week, there were constant jokes about Michael and Sunil being in love/married/a couple. Which was cute in its own way, given that both characters are straight but do act that way. But really, it's gayforlaughs. Which isn't that much better than gayforshock.

Julie and I literally shrieked and bellowed in horror when Dan kissed Malick. The kiss was clumsy, uncomfortable and frankly about as disturbing as the kiss at the end of Enduring Love, when Daniel Craig snogged his terrifying stalker, Rhys Ifans, in order to escape. It was that level of horrific. It wasn't passionate, it wasn't hot; it was an unattractive, middle-aged white bloke mashing his face against that of the moderately indifferent young black badass in front of him. IT WAS HORRENDOUS. It was a sexual harrassment case waiting to happen.

Why, why, why can we not be allowed to be taken seriously on TV or film? Especially with bisexual storylines. Because I guarantee you that Dan will either climb back into the closet and put on a fur coat, or he'll agonise for a bit and then decide that he was gay all along. Sorry, Chrissie. He won't be allowed to accept any feelings he may have harboured over the years and come to the conclusion that he is bisexual. Oh, no.

And let me point out that it was last year - January, if I recall - that they did the Bisexual Getting Outed storyline with Canadian George. That's two storylines on basically the same pretext, in the space of a little over a year. To be perfectly fucking honest, I'm quite surprised they didn't just say, "Hey - why not get Joe May to play a third bisexual manslag in the same universe? Have we had him on Holby Blue, our shit spin-off cop drama, yet?"

I am so, so sick of people sharing my sexuality being marginalised and effectively slandered on television. Apparently, we're such an easy target we're irrisistible.

Fuck you, BBC. I'm making a formal fucking complaint.

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Edit: And my final lines to the BBC:

That is the point at which my blog entry concludes, more or less, but I really, really would like an answer as to why - even after asking us to complete your survey - you still felt the need to once again fall to stereotypes and misrepresentation of an entire section of the viewing community.

What is WRONG with your writers? How does this even get past the draft stage? Are you so desperate for viewers that you will wilfully insult a chunk of the population and make us look like some kind of joke? Are you really happy to propagate that sort of mean, damaging stereotype? And worse, after acknowledging that your viewers wanted this to change?

Please, do tell me. I'm really eager to hear your excuses. In writing, if you don't mind, so that they may be shared.

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For those who you who just think, "But it's only Holby City!" That series is one of the BBC's flagship shows. It has millions of viewers of ordinary social awareness and intellect - and probably many whose awareness and understanding of LGBT issues is less developed than those of us reading this. What those people will see when they watch scenes like the ones on Holby City, is an endorsement and confirmation of stereotypes that are simply not true. It encourages people to believe that all bisexuals are indecisive, greedy and promiscuous. That people will just decide to switch sexualities on a whim because they meet someone attractive, and after that point will give no consideration to the lifestyle they lived for the last forty years. That gay people will pursue a sexual interest until they have bullied or persuaded the subject to submit.

These ideas are damaging and hurtful and they are being shared by one of the world's most respected broadcasting institutions.

Giving Graham Norton a talkshow and putting Jack Harkness on BBCObscureSatelliteChannel is not adequate. They're doing more harm than good and it really has to stop.

You know what pisses me off more than anything in the world?

People who don't place spoilers behind cuts.

There is no excuse for it. We don't all live in the same time zones or have the same time available to us, to watch something we've probably had to download, if we're outside the country where it's made.

Posting pictures or gifs or capslocky announcements of what has happened, "OMG! THEY KILLED BOB!"-style is just plain selfish and inconsiderate. LJ gives us the capacity to make a post with all the content you could want without ruining it for everyone else. Please use a cut for ALL of the content you have to say about new episodes or series or films.

I lose so much respect for people when they do things like that, even if it's not a series I'm following; please think about how you could be ruining other people's enjoyment when you're posting this stuff. They're supposed to be your friends, after all.

Is anyone else having problems with flash player?

I've uninstalled and reinstalled it a ton of times and it's still not working since the last update.

DX

Hands up if you received the OCK renewal email today.

Yeah, so did I. And it is SO FULL OF SHIT. This whole scheme is nothing but a rip-off. They're basically telling us that giving them more money over a longer period of time, and getting all our friends to give them (note: NOT THE BAND OR THE LABEL - THE FAN CLUB) money is what makes us the worthiest fans. Well, I call shenanigans and decided to haul them up on their bullshit.

( Bullshit from the OCK Newsletter )

My response:




I actually panic-bought my membership renewal a few months ago and was charged an extortionate amount of postage for an appallingly poor-quality bandana and a pathetic, out of focus re-printed photograph from years and years ago. You couldn't even be bothered to have it signed. From what I recall, I was charged $20 or so (almost as much as the membership) for postage and packing for an envelope that had $4.50 on the front. What did the rest of the money go on? Because it sure as hell wasn't the rest of that rubbish you sent in it. I guess the only option left is that it's a quick way of profiteering from the fans even more. Given the choice, you could have kept the cheap tat and I would have kept my postage.

The majority of fans I know gave up their memberships because of the new tiered scheme and I wish I hadn't bothered myself. It's a rip-off and I'm guessing this is why you've had to extend your offer period. The fact that you're now playing the, "Oh, but the band think it's cool" card to win the rest of the fans over is actually pretty insulting and makes me question whether they either a) really understand what you're doing or b) if they are more concerned about ripping off the kids than I ever expected.

What you provide for this money is pitiful. A website with content which is always leaked within a day of it being posted and the remote possibility that you might, one day, get 30 seconds across a table with the band? You don't even allow individual pictures anymore! Is that the best that can be done? Do you really think that this kind of clap-trap doesn't go unnoticed? It's even worse for the people outside of the US. We don't even have the option of being involved in the flyaways and videos and yet we still pay the same amount.

This entire concept and email smacks of desperation. It's unprofessionally, inarticulately written and offensive to anyone with any intelligence (do I need to remind you that not all of the band's fans are under fifteen?). You are actually implying that the 'best' fans are the ones who can con friends into spending money on your company, rather than the ones who will actually get their friends to go to concerts, buy the actual records and support them in the way a band should be supported. That's frankly disgusting.

I really hope that the band aren't involved the way you say they are, because I will have lost a lot of respect for them. I've certainly lost all respect for the Overcast Kids as an organisation and won't be renewing next year. Not unless something sincere is done to rectify the absolute crap we're being palmed off with at the moment.

I have worked in Business Development (Customer Service and Marketing) as an account manager for years and I'm actually starting to wonder if you have a single individual experienced in either field employed to work on this. If you do, I strongly suggest you show them the door and find a replacement, or this whole ship is going to sink pretty fast.

Sincerely,
Rosie.


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If you're an OCK who got the email and is as pissed off as some of us are, don't just take it - TELL THEM SO. They are only going to get away with this is we let them. The fact that they're using the boys and saying they're all for it to make people think it's okay isn't okay.

What they give us for our money - especially non-Americans - is absolutely shit and they're going to keep on ripping us off because they can and we'll take it.

Don't just sit there complaining to your friends - say something to the people who need to hear it.


Edit: ( And this is what I said to Pete )

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Edit 2: This is from my credit card statement - copied and pasted:

16 Apr 2008 ARTIST ARENA LLC - £25.89

Bearing in mind that the dollar is routinely equivalent to just under half the pound. That means they charged me around $50 for my membership, which should cost $29.24 (and that is all they sent me a receipt for). The other $20 was just postage on something that cost them $4.50 to send me. Julie will confirm this - she was here when I received the envelope (yep, envelope).

So, Joe is understandably a bit pissed about the dude who won the Civic not keeping it. Therefore, all the FOB fans in the world are running around crying MARRY ME PEET! FOUL! FOUL! BURN THE HERETIC!

Now, I wish - as much as anyone else - that a genuine fan who would have loved it and called it Ryan George had won that car. It would have been a nice little awww moment, as some rich college brat won an unattractive motorvehicle signed by Pete Wentz, that fat dude and the two from the backing band. It would. Warm fuzzies, fluffy MySpace pooches and cupcakes all around.

But it wasn't. The guy who won it was a dude with a family who took his perfectly legitimate winnings, and exchanged them for something he could make better use of. Which to me, sounds like a reasonable idea. The car dealer he made the exchange with is now recouping the cost of the guy's chosen SUV in auctioning the Civic.

And the fans? The fans are absolutely appalled that neither of them donated the entire $30,000 to charity.

Yes, the kids think that by rights, this money belongs to charity.

I'm sorry, but no. A man had a stroke of luck, and he used his good fortune to his advantage. How do any of us know his financial situation? Maybe he was desperately in need of a new car for his five kids? I'm always being told that Americans REALLY, REALLY, HONESTLY NEED GIGANTIC GAS-GUZZLING MEGA-CARS, OKAY? because their public transport sucks. So maybe the win was a damn stroke of luck for him and his family.

So, if we assume for a minute that the guy now in possession of the car - the dealer, who has already parted with money in the shape of the SUV - is the person now responsible, do we expect him to give his entire earnings to charity? In the current US climate? Would you give away $30,000 to charity right now?


Don't get me wrong: I find it disappointing that someone who'd really appreciate the car didn't get to drive it away. But expecting someone - either of these guys - to give fairly and legitimately obtained revenue to charity just because everyone else is jealous that they didn't win (but wants Joe to like them by agreeing with him in his pissy mood) is plain ridiculous.

I believe that 95% of us would 'give it a go' in a competition, and if we won the prize we couldn't directly use, sell it on or profit from it however we legitimately could. The greatest sin this man has committed is possibly not appreciating the illegible silver sharpie on the doors. He probably never really expected to win. And how do any of us know that he didn't actually totally fucking love the car and wanted to keep it, but simply couldn't justify it when it provided an opportunity to provide a more practical form of transport for his kids?


I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll have reason to say it again, but so many of the kids who call themselves Fall Out Boy fans are nasty, self-centred, irrational little cunts. A lot of the people making wild, judgemental comments over there are adults.

Fucking hell.

Why do we have to share the planet with idiots?

You know what disgusts me? People I know believing every word an obviously unhinged, lying attention-seeker spins.

You know - you fucking know deep down that this person isn't real and that the things they churn out are false, self-obsessed bullshit. You're probably forcing yourselves to ignore it because you don't want to believe that this person could have sucked you in so badly.

It really disgusts me. I like to believe that the people on my flist are intelligent enough to know when someone is being genuine - and I've been sorely disappointed by people I liked and respected. Therefore, I'm going to be taking a couple of people off of my flist.

People who are foolish enough to be sucked in by this childish, obnoxious brat are not worthy of my time.

And if you think for a minute that someone who cares more about catching a TV show than their own child, and finds that a greater motivation, is a good person you really, really need to reasses your moral priorities.

If you're in support of someone who harrassed, bullied, emotionally blackmailed and hurt my friend, I no longer want anything to do with you.

Fuck off.


Oh, and if she hasn't spoken to her since October, how did they go to a fucking show together in November?

What the fuck, dude? When did they start limiting our notifications?

I haven't been getting mine for ages, and you know why? Because you only get the following PER MONTH:

Basic-25
Plus-200
Paid-1000

I'm a mod on LOADS of communities on here - I need those notifications to be unlimited! What am I paying them for?

I would like to make it known that xinfinityonhigh stole my icon, the fucker.

Edit: actually, I retract that because she was very polite and removed it as soon as she was asked.

musictoyourlips created the base and gave me the permission to use it, but I made the additions. AM NOT AMUSED. If you see any of my icons used by anyone else, please let me know so I can stab them in the throat.

Thanks.

I hate today. Seriously.

So far:
- I'm training another new person, who will not have shit figured out by tomorrow. Or possibly, ever.

- I don't think I'm going to get tomorrow off work for this reason, which means bringing in all my crap to get changed and go to Decaypants. Which means kicking the girls out of my house at 8am and not getting to Hammersmith until around 4pm.

- it's going to be shit weather tomorrow anyway.

- I doubt I'm going to get Thursday off, either and this means no hair cut. No hair dye. And looking like Wentz (complete with fucking near-mullet) all weekend. This is really, really pissing me off in particular.

- because I'm training someone, my own work is going to bollocks and I was only just starting to get on top of it.

- two people have already booked holiday in October, so, once again, I can't have the time off to go to Chicago. And, oh hey, they did the same thing the week of the Madison Square Garden show, so no NY show either.

- I haven't finished tidying my room and I have visitors arriving from 7.30ish.

- I never, ever get period pains. Except today. And - oh hai concert tomorrow!

- I've decided that I'm not going to be kind to people any more. Ever. Fuck everyone. Especially people I'm pretty sure abuse it.

Posting celebrity LJs where random fangirls can get to them for the people said celebrities know, rather than actual interest: not cool.