Torchwood: assessing Gwen Cooper...
May. 11th, 2007 09:52 pmI was discussing Gwen on a mailing list today, and thought it would be fun to put my thoughts in coherent form here. A lot of it is things I've said before, but I had a bit of insight in terms of my attitude to Gwen, and the reasons for it.
Initially my reaction to Gwen Cooper (in "Everything Goes" and even "Day One") was very positive. I thought she was delightfully sexy, cute, and personable. I liked her curiosity and her drive. I liked the way she looked in a uniform in the rain. I liked her interaction with Jack - fascinated, but not giving ground. The only false note was her panic and tears when Suzie was about to kill her: I wanted her to show more courage than that. Her reaction may have been human and even realistic, but that's not my first concern in a hero. I wanted Gwen to be a hero.
Well, the story continued, and it became clear that Gwen wasn't a hero. Not because she lost moral ground - I've loved many a hero with shaky morals. In terms of the story, there are three problems with Gwen, in my opinion:
(1) She often does really, really stupid things, like taking an unstable mass murderer (who was safely in custody) alone on a road trip at night, or taking alien tech home to play with. I like my characters to be smarter and more professional than that.
(2) She lies to Rhys too much. I don't like liars. I wouldn't mind so much if she only lied about classified matters, or just to cover up her affair with Owen, but that isn't what she does. She lies about irrelevant things, she tells Rhys lies when all she needs to say is, "I'd rather not talk about that," or "that's classified". For instance, in "Out of Time" she could have told Rhys that Emma was a young friend with nowhere to go - true enough - why make up a story about a family connection that doesn't exist? Gwen was casually lying to Rhys before she even knew what Torchwood was, so we can't blame her job.
I suppose what I mean here is: I could tolerate her lying if her lies were clever, but they are generally stupid and pointless.
That being said, I absolutely love the line in "End of Days" when PC Andy tells her she's using the smile she uses when she's telling people things are okay but really everything's going to hell. I love the way PC Andy understands her.
(3) This is more vague, but though I often find Gwen endearing, she's never great. Gwen just never rises above herself to moments of wisdom or courage or accomplishment. If she did, it would do a lot to compensate for the dumb mistakes. I know Jack loves it that she's 'ordinary' but I think she's just too ordinary - and I'd rather see her become a little less so. Make a really good judgement call in difficult circumstances. Show more heroism. Too often her acts of courage look like blind recklessness.
She has faults and strengths that I love: she's an impulsive thrill-seeker, and I like that in a character. She's cute and sometimes really, really sexy. Not with Owen, alas, but with Rhys and Jack and Carys.1
I love it that she really loves sex and is outspoken and curious and loves to pry. I love it that she'll take a line of inquiry and not let go of it till she's satisfied. I love it that she asks personal questions and says what she thinks.
I love her relationships... The odd combination of sexual tension, friendship and curiosity she feels for Captain Jack; the irritation and lust she feels for Owen - and sympathy, too, I think - and the dangerous mix of love and boredom she feels for Rhys.
Now, my latest moment of insight where Gwen in concerned has to do with Eve Myles' acting. I think Eve Myles is a very expressive actress, and I think she's good at putting across what Gwen is thinking and feeling. But on considering it (in light of her Welsh BAFTA award), I find her performance of Gwen very superficial. She makes me feel that Gwen has little or no inner life, so solid core, she's all ephemeral feeling and reaction. What or where is the real Gwen Cooper? I'm not seeing it. The impression I'm getting, visually and viscerally, is that Gwen is really shallow.
This seems particularly important to me, since Gwen is such a passionate, impulsive, reckless and outspoken character. And polyamorous as well, whether she realizes it or not. To convince us she's more than a confused airhead, we ought to see some inner strength and conviction.
The stories don't help much there. They don't give her much maturity. Even her commitment to Torchwood is played like a teeter-totter in opposition to her commitment to Rhys. I get far more sense of depth with Ianto, Toshiko and even Owen - who acts shallow for complex reasons that make perfect sense, so I'm not left feeling he's an empty man. He too lacks judgement (especially moral judgement) but he's a full and complete personality all the same.
If I had to make it an either/or question, do I like Gwen or don't I, the answer is 'yes': I like her.
I just want her to be smarter and braver and better. Less a victim of circumstance, less apologetic, more decisive without being less compassionate. Can she do it?
We'll see how she develops in season 2.
~ ~ ~
1 Yes, I think she's bisexual.
Initially my reaction to Gwen Cooper (in "Everything Goes" and even "Day One") was very positive. I thought she was delightfully sexy, cute, and personable. I liked her curiosity and her drive. I liked the way she looked in a uniform in the rain. I liked her interaction with Jack - fascinated, but not giving ground. The only false note was her panic and tears when Suzie was about to kill her: I wanted her to show more courage than that. Her reaction may have been human and even realistic, but that's not my first concern in a hero. I wanted Gwen to be a hero.
Well, the story continued, and it became clear that Gwen wasn't a hero. Not because she lost moral ground - I've loved many a hero with shaky morals. In terms of the story, there are three problems with Gwen, in my opinion:
(1) She often does really, really stupid things, like taking an unstable mass murderer (who was safely in custody) alone on a road trip at night, or taking alien tech home to play with. I like my characters to be smarter and more professional than that.
(2) She lies to Rhys too much. I don't like liars. I wouldn't mind so much if she only lied about classified matters, or just to cover up her affair with Owen, but that isn't what she does. She lies about irrelevant things, she tells Rhys lies when all she needs to say is, "I'd rather not talk about that," or "that's classified". For instance, in "Out of Time" she could have told Rhys that Emma was a young friend with nowhere to go - true enough - why make up a story about a family connection that doesn't exist? Gwen was casually lying to Rhys before she even knew what Torchwood was, so we can't blame her job.
I suppose what I mean here is: I could tolerate her lying if her lies were clever, but they are generally stupid and pointless.
That being said, I absolutely love the line in "End of Days" when PC Andy tells her she's using the smile she uses when she's telling people things are okay but really everything's going to hell. I love the way PC Andy understands her.
(3) This is more vague, but though I often find Gwen endearing, she's never great. Gwen just never rises above herself to moments of wisdom or courage or accomplishment. If she did, it would do a lot to compensate for the dumb mistakes. I know Jack loves it that she's 'ordinary' but I think she's just too ordinary - and I'd rather see her become a little less so. Make a really good judgement call in difficult circumstances. Show more heroism. Too often her acts of courage look like blind recklessness.
She has faults and strengths that I love: she's an impulsive thrill-seeker, and I like that in a character. She's cute and sometimes really, really sexy. Not with Owen, alas, but with Rhys and Jack and Carys.1
I love it that she really loves sex and is outspoken and curious and loves to pry. I love it that she'll take a line of inquiry and not let go of it till she's satisfied. I love it that she asks personal questions and says what she thinks.
I love her relationships... The odd combination of sexual tension, friendship and curiosity she feels for Captain Jack; the irritation and lust she feels for Owen - and sympathy, too, I think - and the dangerous mix of love and boredom she feels for Rhys.
Now, my latest moment of insight where Gwen in concerned has to do with Eve Myles' acting. I think Eve Myles is a very expressive actress, and I think she's good at putting across what Gwen is thinking and feeling. But on considering it (in light of her Welsh BAFTA award), I find her performance of Gwen very superficial. She makes me feel that Gwen has little or no inner life, so solid core, she's all ephemeral feeling and reaction. What or where is the real Gwen Cooper? I'm not seeing it. The impression I'm getting, visually and viscerally, is that Gwen is really shallow.
This seems particularly important to me, since Gwen is such a passionate, impulsive, reckless and outspoken character. And polyamorous as well, whether she realizes it or not. To convince us she's more than a confused airhead, we ought to see some inner strength and conviction.
The stories don't help much there. They don't give her much maturity. Even her commitment to Torchwood is played like a teeter-totter in opposition to her commitment to Rhys. I get far more sense of depth with Ianto, Toshiko and even Owen - who acts shallow for complex reasons that make perfect sense, so I'm not left feeling he's an empty man. He too lacks judgement (especially moral judgement) but he's a full and complete personality all the same.
If I had to make it an either/or question, do I like Gwen or don't I, the answer is 'yes': I like her.
I just want her to be smarter and braver and better. Less a victim of circumstance, less apologetic, more decisive without being less compassionate. Can she do it?
We'll see how she develops in season 2.
~ ~ ~
1 Yes, I think she's bisexual.
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