What I understood them to mean in that interview (bearing in mind SFX is hardly the most pro-feminist publication in the world) is that they were representing gender roles in way that was sympathetic to the arthurian genre - in the same way that they've shown the servant/master roles, I guess. The fact that tomatoes are anachronistic doesn't affect the plot. To tamper with medieval-ish sexual politics does. Let's face it, most of mainstream TV does this to women in a contemporary setting. Surely that's even worse?
I am a feminist and I would love to see them turn the genre upside down, I really would. I would stress that this is how I interpret their comments, not that I agree with them. Like I said, I'd really welcome a decent conversation with them to get past the one-line glib responses and to the truth of their creative decisions.
And yes, I do like the writing. I love what they've done with the structure of this season; I like the way they've used repetition and reinvention and I think they've written Uther particularly well. I can't think of any major plot holes that have irritated me, and a few of the ones others describe as plot holes I see as things that happen off-screen. I see Arthur's character progression as slow, but evident in very important ways; I see his relationship with Merlin as far deeper than it ever was, and I absolutely love the way Merlin has grown up this series. I like the stories, I like the way they blend humour with the dark stuff; I like the way not everything is morally black-and-white.
There's a lot of people on my f-list who say the same, and certainly the people I know offline who watch Merlin with their families love it more each season (including one or two who slash M/A).
The point is, it's all subjective; writing always is. So while I agree with you that they've missed an important opportunity to use female characters in a different way, I don't agree that the writing's bad - far from it.
no subject
I am a feminist and I would love to see them turn the genre upside down, I really would. I would stress that this is how I interpret their comments, not that I agree with them. Like I said, I'd really welcome a decent conversation with them to get past the one-line glib responses and to the truth of their creative decisions.
And yes, I do like the writing. I love what they've done with the structure of this season; I like the way they've used repetition and reinvention and I think they've written Uther particularly well. I can't think of any major plot holes that have irritated me, and a few of the ones others describe as plot holes I see as things that happen off-screen. I see Arthur's character progression as slow, but evident in very important ways; I see his relationship with Merlin as far deeper than it ever was, and I absolutely love the way Merlin has grown up this series. I like the stories, I like the way they blend humour with the dark stuff; I like the way not everything is morally black-and-white.
There's a lot of people on my f-list who say the same, and certainly the people I know offline who watch Merlin with their families love it more each season (including one or two who slash M/A).
The point is, it's all subjective; writing always is. So while I agree with you that they've missed an important opportunity to use female characters in a different way, I don't agree that the writing's bad - far from it.
Agree to differ?