Torchwood: Captain Jack's sexuality...

[fajrdrako]

becky_h initiated an interesting discussion about how Captain Jack is not a slut on torch_wood yesterday, and while I've only read part of the commentary so far (and plan to return to read more) I wanted to first voice a few thoughts of my own about the subject.

And let me start by saying it's okay if he is a slut. I have liked many heroes who were promiscuous, some of them even bisexual and promiscuous, and I love them all the more for it. And that's what I thought I was getting with Captain Jack. We had all sorts of reasons to think so. The Captain Jack we met in Doctor Who was flirty and sexy and introduced as seductive from the beginning, with both Algy and Rose. Even in "Bad Wolf" and "The Parting of the Ways", after he's been with the Doctor and Rose for a while, he's a exerting his charm towards those around him, and the Doctor accuses him of flirting.

Then we get the advance publicity for Torchwood. Lots and lots of talk about 'omnisexual' Captain Jack. The producers say he'll go for anyone with a postal code. John Barrowman says he'll go with anyone with a hole. Lots of talk about his general sexiness, his bottom, hints of graphic sex and/or nudity.

The truth is, it isn't hard to have more graphic sex than you get in Doctor Who.

So then we get Torchwood and Captain Jack's flirtation is notched down a peg. Over the course of the first half dozen episodes, he talks about kissing alien life forms, having had a twin acrobat boyfriend, having a long list of past lovers.... But in the present, what? He kisses an alien to keep her alive. He kisses Ianto when he's half-conscious. (Nice moment, though.) He is sweet and loving to an old woman he'd had an affair with when she was seventeen. He cuddles Gwen a little in the gun room, but when she kissed him in "Day One", he didn't even kiss back. The only time he flirts with Gwen at all, is when he thinks she won't remember afterwards. When Gwen shows interest and curiosity in him, and possibly more, he sends her home to Rhys, telling her not to mess up the relationship she has with distractions.

And really, in a show where sex is an ongoing theme, it was soon pretty clear that everyone was getting some except Jack. We see him sleeping alone, obsessing over his work, apparently spending all his time at the Hub. The only lovers he mentions are past history.

And more and more we see his sense of compassion - towards Tosh, Gwen, John Ellis, Jasmine and her mother. By the end of "End of Days" we see his capacity to love everyone on his team. And yes, we know he has sex with Ianto - presumably on more than one occasion - but what we see is the warmth and the human connection, and it's Ianto who propositions Jack, not the other way round - Jack is, in fact, surprised when he does.

And for the original Jack... Attracted from the first moment he saw him, our Jack backs off, and keeps sending the other Jack back to Nancy. What we see between them is more romance than sex. Jack isn't chasing after Jack for his body. Jack is weeping because Jack will die and he can't save him.

So it's more and more clear that Captain Jack isn't all about sex, like we might have expected. He's all about love. He cares.

I like that.

He's also obviously very sensuous, and would probably be having sex with any number of people if it didn't bother him so much to lose them afterwards. I like it that his capacity for love is not equated with monogamy.

I was surprised when he criticised Gwen for her infidelity to Rhys, but it made sense when you look at it from his point of view: he didn't want Gwen to hurt or break that relationship. He saw the love there, and saw its value, and didn't want it lost - or worse, thrown away through carelessness.

Comments

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I wasn't - in my head there's a large gap between sharing and cheating, and Gwen is on the uncool side of it.

Well, I agree. Most people would agree, or perhaps be even more judgemental. But... Jack had let it slide to such an extent that by that point I thought he didn't care. It was something of a relief to see that he did.

Still, it's something of an inhibition towards writing Jack/Gwen now.

[beccaelizabeth]

ah, so if he was going to bitch, you'd think he'd bitch sooner?
maybe he saved it up for effect

... bad effect, as it turned out, but...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

so if he was going to bitch, you'd think he'd bitch sooner?

Yes, exactly. So much had happened that he let slide, including the whole Gwen/Owen thing. He dealt, in his way, with Ianto's business with Lisa, but with other things he seemed to pay no attention. Like when Tosh, Suzie and Owen all take alien artefacts home for their own use, against orders. Yes, he makes them bring them back, but there are no consequences.

... bad effect, as it turned out, but...</i. Yeah. Not quite as he'd planned, I think. Have you seen the icon that shows Jack dead with the bullet hole in his head, with the caption, "This didn't go quite as I planned?" I think Jack is sometimes a little too laid back for his own good.

[beccaelizabeth]

I think maybe Jack fails to define 'his own good' in quite the most useful ways.
he's got a little too relaxed about having a gun pointed at him if he can possibly think it's the right time to make that particular comment.


everyone, Jack included, was responding from their wound up emotions place and not their social skills place at all.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

think maybe Jack fails to define 'his own good' in quite the most useful ways.

Yes, but I'm not sure why. Jack is highly intelligent, has good people skills when he chooses to use them - oh, dear, why did I suddenly make myself talk like Yvonne? But he seems to disconnect sometimes, to fail to take into account what's going on while it's going on around him. A case in point is "Greeks Bearing Gifts" - he knew what was going on with Tosh and instead of intervening, watched things unfold. Which means he was essentially gambling with Tosh's life: if Mary hadn't taken the bait of the contraption and made Tosh bring her into Torchwood - or if Mary had simply devoured Tosh's heart before that happened - Jack may still have been able to trap or stop her, but it would be a little late for Tosh. Did he think Tosh wouldn't believe him if he'd warned her?

everyone, Jack included, was responding from their wound up emotions place and not their social skills place at all.

Yes, and this is one of the reasons "End of Days" makes me uneasy. The characters are responding to the mental/emotional strain put on them by Bilis' telepathic meddling, not necessarily acting in character. So their motivations are hard to sort out and understand it's hard to know how seriously to take it. Ianto appears shocked and horrified by Jack's death, but he still takes part in the rift opening, for example, knowing Jack would oppose it.

I suppose the question I am asking is: are we seeing the characters acting unlike themselves because their emotions are wound up, or are we seeing their true characters and motivations emerging because they are wound up? I am not sure I know the answer to that question, even having seen the episode several times now.

[becky-h.livejournal.com]

My theory about Greeks Bearing Gifts is that he knew that Mary was telepathic- or suspected as much. He certainly knew Tosh was scrambling around in his mind, and he doesn't seem to know that she wouldn't have gotten anything. Given both of those things saying anything to Tosh could have been much, much, more dangerous than saying nothing.

In not quite unrelated response - I think Jack wants a good relationship with his staff. I don't think he particularly wants to be the hard ass. Oh, he can be, but he doesn't want to be professional all the time. The guy's lonely.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

My theory about Greeks Bearing Gifts is that he knew that Mary was telepathic- or suspected as much.

Yes, perhaps having some knowledge of her species beforehand - ? At what point, do you think, did he realize Mary had got to Tosh? When he first saw the pendant? Or earlier?

He certainly knew Tosh was scrambling around in his mind, and he doesn't seem to know that she wouldn't have gotten anything.

Interesting point. He knows more about aliens and the world outside him than he does about himself, in some ways.

I think Jack wants a good relationship with his staff. I don't think he particularly wants to be the hard ass. Oh, he can be, but he doesn't want to be professional all the time. The guy's lonely.

Very true. He really prefers to have something like a family - like at the end of "End of Days". Maybe he tried playing a regular boss - as best he could - and made a really bad job of it, and knew it, and that's the point at which we meet him in "Everything Changes".

[becky-h.livejournal.com]

At what point, do you think, did he realize Mary had got to Tosh? When he first saw the pendant? Or earlier?

I think it's possible he knew more than he let on. His remark about her being squid for all he knew wasn't all that far off from what I saw. I really don't have any idea at what point he knew. At a guess, and it is just a guess, he knew from the talk with the Detective with big hands that something was *really* going on with Tosh.

Maybe he tried playing a regular boss - as best he could - and made a really bad job of it, and knew it, and that's the point at which we meet him in "Everything Changes".

Yep, and ties in again to Greeks when you remember him saying to Tosh "What do regular bosses do in situations like these?" He doesn't know, inspite of being there that long. Torchwood is all he has, and it's not a regular job for anyone - and more he's not a regular person. It's kind of a train wreck, really.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

At a guess, and it is just a guess, he knew from the talk with the Detective with big hands that something was *really* going on with Tosh.

Perhaps it was a matter of putting two things together. (1) There's a possibility of a dangerous shape-changing alien roaming around and (2) something is odd about Tosh suddenly. So Jack makes a connection - a hunch? - that turns out to be right.

At a guess, and it is just a guess, he knew from the talk with the Detective with big hands that something was *really* going on with Tosh.

Doesn't he also say somewhere, "I suck as a boss?" That really won my heart. Because it's true, and he knows it, but he's really better than a regular boss in many ways. And a regular boss probably would not have been suitable for Torchwood.

He doesn't know, inspite of being there that long.

How long has it been? Do we have any indication? My impression is that a lot of fans have a lot of theories about how long he's been there but canon doesn't give us anything at all about the time frame.

It's kind of a train wreck, really

Yup.

[becky-h.livejournal.com]

It really depends on what you accept as canon. There's some talk in the books about him checking an artifact into the archives in 1955, and there's something on the webite (the offical one) that indicates he was there in the early 1960s. If you accept that than you also have to accept that he's had a lot of staff changes and that *someone* up there knows that he's not ... normal.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It really depends on what you accept as canon. There's some talk in the books about him checking an artifact into the archives in 1955, and there's something on the webite (the offical one) that indicates he was there in the early 1960s.

I remain skeptical about these comments because (a) they are largely unexplained and (b) Jack is a time traveller. I am trying not to jump to conclusions - and I suspect the writers and producers are still keeping their options open.

*someone* up there knows that he's not ... normal.

Are you thinking of the Prime Minister? Or do you believe that Jack has superiors at Torchwood that he must answer to?

[becky-h.livejournal.com]

If I accept that (and I, like you, am hugely skeptical) I doubt it's the Prime Minister. We see a tiny bit of Jack on the phone with the Prime Minister and it sounds like Jack's giving HIM what for. I'd buy the Queen, directly, but that's really about it for me. Like, maybe if he's there as an attempt to go Doctor hunting and the Crown knows it.

But mostly? I'm skeptical. My feeling is that he's been there a while, but that's based more on the feeling that he's been waiting on the Doctor quite a while and Cardiff and the Rift is the way to do it than anything given to me by those remarks.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

We see a tiny bit of Jack on the phone with the Prime Minister and it sounds like Jack's giving HIM what for.

I agree. Jack seemed to be asking the questions, maybe even calling the shots. Which is so cool.

I'd buy the Queen, directly, but that's really about it for me.

Plausible.

I really don't know how long I think Jack has been there - though I do like the idea that he has moved around in time a lot, rather than that he's stayed put in one era. It could still be a long time that he's been looking for the Doctor, subjectively, from his point of view. We don't know how long it was between the time he was on Satellite Five and the time he came to Earth in our time. We don't know how long between coming to Earth and working at Torchwood.

I'm looking forward to finding out more.

[becky-h.livejournal.com]

* Correction * He doesn't know why she didn't get anything, and was startled by it at the time.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

He doesn't know why she didn't get anything

Do you think it was the first time since "The Parting of the Ways" that someone tried to read his mind?

It probably doesn't happen too often on Earth.

[becky-h.livejournal.com]

I really wish I had some clue what was up with that. Both why Jack doesn't know why she can't, and why she can't.

But I don't have a *clue*.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I really wish I had some clue what was up with that.

I find it most intriguing. Not something that on the face of it should logically be connected with immortality, but we don't know much more about the nature or implications of Jack's immortality than he does. If it's the TARDIS effect (and I think that's an oversimplification at best), then there's a certain sense to it - the TARDIS has a psychic field that only works one way.

I did wonder when I wrote my drabble "Healing" if the Doctor himself would be able to read Jack's mind, and I concluded that if it's the TARDIS that has made Jack the way he is, then yes, probably he would. But there are a lot of guesses and suppositions there.