Barrowman the outspoken...

[fajrdrako]

I love the way John Barrowman says what he thinks. The Sun has tried a little rabble-rousing by making a controvesy out of what he was quoted as saying in Doctor Who Magazine, stirring up the notion that his comments were inappropriate.

Personally, I like it that "John also spoke of how he fancied former Doctor Christopher Ecclestone and 'sexy' current star David Tennant." Well - yes! The man has taste. Of course he fancies them, as do several zillion other fans and (no doubt) acquaintances. (Form a queue on the right.)

Controversy presumably means sales for both The Sun and Doctor Who Magazine, and publicity for Barrowman - not a bad thing. On the obverse side, seems to me that playing this up as a bad thing caters to homophobia, which is a shame. Would anyone complain if Billie Piper called them sexy? Well, no - she has, and they didn't. So it goes.

Comments

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Seems to me its fair for anyone to say anything he wants to for a print interview - then its up to the interviewer, or their editor, to judge what is appropriate for any given publication.

Definitely Barrowman is a man for the TMI, but I don't think he should start trying to censor himself - and as far as I can tell, his comments on television and radio have always been appropriate to the venue and the audience. He didn't make the same kinds of comments on the religious show as he did on Jonathan Ross, for example, and his stint as fin-in CJ for Elaine Paige was quite different from his style on "Buzzcocks". He's a man who plays to his audience. I think perhaps he was counting on more discretion from the writer of that article than he actually got.

And though "Doctor Who Magazine" does generally try to aviod sexual content, it isn't aimed at kids - that's "Doctor Who Adventures".

[medelle.livejournal.com]

I agree to an extent with both these statments.

The magazine DID have a responsibility not to print comments that might have been innapropriate, but I think John should be a little more aware of some of things he says.

I adore his cheekiness, I adore his tounge in cheekedness and I wasn't in the interview, so maybe the interviewer had no problem with it, but my point remains that one does not need to share every tidbit of one's personal life.

OTOH, as has been pointed out it IS the Sun reporting this so the whole thing could be completely out of context.

I guess all Im saying is I see both sides of it. :) (Which I could have just said and not been so long winded)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I suspect it is blown up out of context. And in all likelihood, Barrowman probably thought some of these comments were 'off the record'.

I think generally there should be more responsibility in journalism - and less sensationalism. It could be that the reporter was taking advantage of Barrowman's love of talking.

I don't think it's the duty of a popular entertainer to watch what he says, just as it's not the duty of a novelist, poet, singer, or playwright.

I guess we're agreeing here that it's a matter of context. I would add that it's a matter of intent, too.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

The Sun still publishes photos of topless glamour models on its page 3 every day, but purports to be a family newspaper...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Hmm - seems to me we have a rather obvious inconsistency there. I'm sure their basic philosophy is "anything to sell papers - anything at all".

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

And though "Doctor Who Magazine" does generally try to avoid sexual content, it isn't aimed at kids - that's "Doctor Who Adventures".

Yup. Everyone I know who reads DWM is over 35...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I suspect kids generally can't afford it! And the articles have more depth and substance than most such magazines, I find. Or maybe it's that the magazines from the UK have more substance than the American ones.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

It's a magazine for adults, largely because it was the audience of the old series who kept it going in the long Who-less years... We are all now middle-aged.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes. I've known many Doctor Who fans in Canada for decades and they are all my age, or older, or close to it.