Thread by @Vidyut

It is a good time to be glad to not be into James Bond. Turns out that James Bond is now gay.

I don't get this trend of fucking around with gender or orientation of well established characters.

Particularly those who are highly romanticized.

In many ways I see this trend as suddenly Doctor who is a woman. James Bond is gay, etc to be extremely dehumanizing and appropriative.

Fans have emotional relationships with characters. Appeal is a HUGE part of that. Screw around with gender/orientation and you fuck that up.

Superficially, it may seem like activism, but in reality, it creates a bogus "equality" by equally denying masculinity and femininity.

A man attracted to a woman is same as man attracted to man is same as woman attracted to woman, etc. It is an emotional violation.

Men and women aren't drop-in replacements for each other. They have unique qualities that are attractive to people or not.

cis/gay/het/etc would have no meaning if it meant everyone finds everyone attractive.

Using male/female here because I am a heterosexual woman. Adapt as applicable.

If I find a hero sexy, replacing him with a woman, no matter how awesome, is a loss. Or if I find a hero sexy, but turns out he likes men. Oops. Wrong number in my fantasies.

Or I may identify with a strong female character and see myself in her or aspire to be like her. Then she kisses a woman. I don't have a problem with lesbians, just that women don't excite me at all. It isn't something I want in a character I IDENTIFY with.

The truly horrifying aspect of such revisions is that it pretends to be sensitive and inclusive on gender while basically wrecking gender relationships between fans and their heroes.

If this is activism, how is this any different from narrow minded denial?

Worse, while it may work as some macabre exhibitionism of <insert activist catchphrase>, it ruins shows, it makes actors unpopular, it drives raging fans to mint money with angry videos on YouTube.

So it doesn't actually role model anything, because it is detested.

I loved the earthiness of Chris Eccleston. David Tennant is my eternal love. Matt Smith was okay, but I could squint in a certain way and carry my love for the character through his era. Peter Capaldi stole my heart in a new way.

What do I do with Jodie Whittaker?

What happens of all the attraction I feel for the character of the Doctor when she turns out to be a woman and I don't find women attractive? Worse, it seems SHE is also into women. No men in sight.

In short, Bye bye #DoctorWho, hello #GoodOmens. And I hope they don't kiss.

In contrast, I never had a problem with Jack Harkness. He's bisexual, more gay. Okay. No problem at all. I like him for many things, anyway, but never invested emotion into his attractiveness. Not my type.

Someone else may put posters of him on their wall. That is okay too.

I think it is high time changing the gender or orientation of well established fictional characters is seen as changing gender/orientation WHILE IN A RELATIONSHIP.

While empowerment is fantastic, ask the wife whose husband turns out gay (or vice versa) how attractive it is.

A truly healthy and inclusive approach wouldn't be yanking at existing relationships, but creating rich new characters for the public to fall in love with.

Then you earn from a popular show, you earn from spin-offs and you build a range of ideals and role models.

And it actually makes more sense too. What does it mean if Doctor Who is a lesbian for a couple of years with no past or future to it?

Lesbians aren't like that, you know? They aren't heterosexual men who suddenly become women interested in women - changing with the wind.

There simply is no way to go around yanking gender, orientation and also have fans build enough of a relationship to know what to expect, what it looks like, what it sounds like, what they can love and count on that character to always portray... NO ONE is enriched like this.

Tokenist activism is terrifying in the casual ease with which it celebrates dehumanisation.

Apparently this gender/orientation fuckery is a modern trend wrecking many shows.

Not digging too deep into what will only piss me off. Ending thread here.

If you know such shows, just add the tags for them as replies or comments or something?