Caitlin Moran and the Sherlock Fiasco

Okay, so I have a bit of a rant to post. I apologize for the length, but I feel incredibly strongly about this!   

I am a Sherlockian. A fangirl. I am completely and utterly obsessed with the BBC's Sherlock and honestly, I don't care who knows it. Sherlock made me fall in love with film all over again. The writing, the acting, and the technical side, I find, are absolutely superior. The calibre of the show is way above anything I've ever seen, and I just really, truly, love it.

And the fandom. Oh, the fandom. So full of dedication and creativity and just absolute love for the show, the actors, the writers, and anyone who has anything to do with it, is just above and beyond.
Sometimes, there are people who ruin it, as with anything. And that sucks. But there are always those that rise far above it, and who give so much to the fandom, and they are the reason I stick around.

Yes, part of the fandom is the fanfiction. Fanfiction is nothing new. Gay fanfiction is nothing new. People were writing Kirk/Spock fanfiction for Star Trek decades ago, and yet I've never seen actors have fanfiction as forced upon them as the cast of Sherlock. Now, I've read my fair share of Sherlock fanfiction, and yes, some of it is incredibly weird, smutty, or as far removed from the show as you can get. But who cares? It's fanfiction. The point is that you can write whatever you want! If we're going to be totally pedantic, we can say that Sherlock itself is fanfiction. Seriously, it's a modern-day Holmes AU (alternate universe) complete with new characters and altered cases and everything! The only difference is that it has been made into a TV show. Yet journalists and interviewers alike think that the most amusing thing ever is to show the cast (namely Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman) fanfiction and fanart to make them squirm and laugh awkwardly (Graham Norton I'm looking at you).

Today it really all came to a head.

Today was a big day for the Sherlock fandom. Not all of us directly, but it was the premiere of Season 3 Episode 1: The Empty Hearse at the BFI, which is pretty exciting, since it's been almost two years since Season 2! The episode is set to air on BBCOne on the 1st of January 2014 at 9pm in the UK, and the 19th of January on PBS Masterpiece in the US. So it's coming up pretty soon after a very long wait, and as you can imagine, those who follow the show are rather excited. The premiere today, though only open to a select few, is sort of the sign that it is all finally happening. After the showing, there was a Q&A session with Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Sue Vertue, and Jeremy Lovering, the new director. Caitlin Moran was the one doing the interviewing. This is where problems arise.

Up until now, I've never had a problem with Caitlin Moran. I've read some of her work before, and she did write a wonderful interview with Benedict for The Times, but what she did today was unacceptable. But what did she do?! You're probably screaming at me at this point. What she did, was get Benedict and Martin to read John/Sherlock fanfiction out loud- which she assured them was clean but of course, wasn't -making them, and everyone else on the panel incredibly uncomfortable, humiliating the lovely writer of said fanfiction, especially when she calls it 'clumsily written', and just generally putting a dampener on the whole occasion!

For those of you who are curious, here's the link to the video of the whole debacle. There are no spoilers for the actual episode, I wouldn't be that cruel! You can see Benedict's and Martin's very polite but disgruntled reactions to what they are reading- rightly so too. I can't imagine it is particularly comfortable reading a steamy love scene between you and a close friend out loud to press, friends and fans alike!

Moran tries to cover it by saying, "It was so much better in my head!", but the damage is already done. Benedict does give her a very polite but clear telling off, firstly asking, "Is there a punchline? Is there something you wanted to say after we read this? Are we ruining the joke?", to which she replies, "No, this was the great bit!". It seems pretty clear that he did not find it particularly funny. He then continues on to say, "It's just the point- fans can do what they like, but there's a point, we do what we do with it and that's the fun we have with our fiction of it- is to point out that that is ludicrous in our universe of its storytelling. So, sorry to be all 'nyeghhh' about it but..."
Moran does graciously apologize, "It was an inappropriate thing to do, I abused my power and I'm very sorry," before quickly moving on.

And yeah, I get it. She made a mistake. We all make mistakes. But why she thought it was a good idea in the first place is beyond me. Benedict had a very valid point in what he said. It is ludicrous in their universe. Fanfiction has absolutely no bearing on the show, and there was no need to bring it up, let alone have them read some out. The point of the premiere was to celebrate Season 3 and the fact that it is finally airing; to celebrate all the hard work that they had put in! It did not have to be another opportunity to make the fandom look creepy, or obsessed with John and Sherlock as a couple.

Quite frankly, the fandom often gets portrayed as deranged (for want of a better word) or laughed at, which is rather unfair. Yes, we are very enthusiastic about Sherlock, but why would you want to discourage that? Without fans, the show wouldn't be successful, harsh but true. Also, often overlooked is all the good that the fandom does! Things like raising thousands of dollars for charity, or uniting people all across the world because they share a common interest. The disdain they receive is becoming very old, very quickly.

This leads me to a point about the author of the fanfiction. Caitlin Moran did not ask her permission to use it, and frankly, just humiliated her in front of the entire fandom and anyone else who watches the video. Because as well as saying it is 'clumsily written', she also says that the piece itself was 'the great bit', that it's the punchline, particularly poking fun at the last line. What right does she have to pick a random piece of fanfiction off the internet, and use it for the pure purpose of mocking it? She's a writer, surely she would know what it's like to have people critiquing your work, and what is constructive and what isn't? Just because it's fanfiction does not make it lesser. Here's the response the author of the fanfiction. Short and sweet, it's appropriately indignant without being rude.

Unfortunately from what I've heard, on top of all this, Caitlin Moran made some other mistakes in that interview, including repeatedly pointing out a mistake the director made (I don't know what this is as I am avoiding spoilers), asking about Martin casting his wife (which is totally not true, we know the part of Mary Morstan was written for Amanda Abbington, and she has received enough hate about her part without Moran making jibes) and generally being rude and not asking questions relevant to the premiere. Ultimately, it sounds like Moran had little clue of what she was doing, had poorly prepared, and for some reason thought that mocking the show and the fans would pass as humor among those who are heavily invested in the show.

Humiliation is not okay. Mocking a fandom and disparaging the works that come out of their enthusiasm for the show is not okay. I hope Caitlin Moran has learnt a valuable lesson today- people will fiercely protect that which they love. Don't you dare think that what you did was acceptable. It was unnecessary, hurtful, and incredibly rude. I hope that you never have anything to do with Sherlock again and that you get a thorough reprimand from the BBC. We are Sherlockians. Don't mess with us.

Holiday Guilt

It's that time of year again... Summer holidays!
Mine have come around much earlier than usual this year because uni finishes so much earlier than high school, and it is glorious. But whilst I am enjoying my newfound freedom (did you guys know it's possible to get more than 6 hours sleep in a night?), I am also racked with this unusual sensation of holiday guilt. 

This year has been a good one. Being my first year of uni, it was all very exciting, what with the promise of the future and education and all that uni brings. I can now confirm it has been eye-opening (in more ways than one), I've worked hard (apart from those times I didn't), and gotten good marks (most recent exam results pending). But for all but a short break between semesters, it's pretty much been non-stop work! Of course this was expected, I was under no illusions that university would be free sailing. However, now that it's over for the year I find myself faced with my biggest decision yet: what do I do with my spare time?! 

The morning after my last exam I woke up and immediately had the sense of 'you should be doing something constructive'. However, that was just left over anxiety from exams and the guilt of not studying. It wore off quite fast, especially as the rest of the week came around and I actually went out and was social (shocking!). Now I am facing my first week of no expectations or commitments, and I don't know where to begin! I finally have the opportunity to watch all those tv shows and movies, to write that novel, to actually finish one of my drawings or that scarf I started knitting, to read the entire Game of Thrones series that has been sitting in my room all year, or to actually deal with all the clutter that covers my room and sits in the back of my closet, and I simply don't have the desire to. What is wrong with me?! They sure were sufficient distractions when I was supposed to be studying. The last thing I want is to spend my summer mucking about and not doing anything useful with my time. Which leads me to an even bigger question: what should I actually be doing with my time? As much as I would love to just laze about all day and do all those things listed above, I feel as though almost four months of it would be just a little bit greedy. As a result, I end up thinking:

• I should have enrolled in summer school (to get just one step closer to my degree) 
• Or maybe I should get a second job (my student allowance payments end on Tuesday and Christmas is coming up fast, plus I'd really like a new laptop before we start back)
• How many extra shifts am I willing to take on? How many before I go mad?
• How tan can I get before I burn?
• At what stage should I start doing some Spanish study to ensure I don't forget everything I've learnt before next year?
• Seriously, WHEN IS SEASON 3 OF SHERLOCK COMING OUT

It does not help when people constantly ask what you are doing with your summer. Answering "not a lot" is only acceptable for so long. Thus, holiday guilt. I know I am on holiday and therefore am allowed to relax, but to what extent should I be working towards something more... accomplished? Ultimately, I suppose it all comes down to that age old question: how do I find that balance? It seems that may be an appropriate goal for summer: finding my balance.

I know for this week at least, I will be kicking back and enjoying my free time, as well as getting some serious planning done. I refuse to let summer pass me by! Hopefully I can reread this post at the end of it on my new laptop, with an impressive tan and a sizable sum in my bank account, as well as some awesome memories. I'm sure whatever happens, you'll hear about it here!

Evie xx

Cory Monteith: Death and Re-Evaluation

I swore I was never going to watch the Cory Monteith memorial episode. I didn’t think I could handle it.

Well, I just did. And yes, I cried solidly for the 44 minutes. 

I haven’t watched Glee in forever, but when it started, I loved it. I never thought Finn was the most attractive character, but I’m fairly sure I loved him the most. His death hit me in a way that I found quite unexpected- it's not like I knew him personally. I'd only ever seen him in Glee. But it rocked me, that such a talented, young, guy, that I guess I felt some connection to through my love of the show, could die so suddenly. And he was so loved. Watching ‘The Quarterback’, it really hit me how all those tears would have been genuine. And it really makes you have a good solid think about life and what you’re doing with it. 

My whole life I’ve been relatively sheltered from death. I never had any friends or family members die, the worst I ever experienced were my pet fish and bird. Then, almost 2 years ago now, a girl from my school- that I knew relatively well- committed suicide. She was 14, and I was in shock for a few hours after I found out. I cried. I went to her memorial at school, and I cried some more. Even now, whenever I hear ‘Paradise’ by Coldplay, I pause and remember her, and a tear will come to my eye. Rest In Peace Ceri, precious girl. 

This year, about 2 months ago, a lady that I used to babysit for died in a car crash. I had not seen her for a while, but I babysat once or twice a week for her every week for the better part of a year. Her boys are 6, and 10 (I think). I went to her funeral, and cried really hard. Knowing the family was hard, especially since for a while I had been part of their routine. She was turning 40 next month. Still so, so young. RIP Tracy. You will always be missed.

But both these deaths were somewhat removed from me. While I knew both people, I was not especially close with either of them.

Then, a few weeks ago, I got a text from one of my best friend’s mum, telling me that said best friend had been in a bad car crash. Her car was written off, and she’d broken her collarbone badly. One of her arms is immobilized for 6-8 weeks. I cried for an hour, just so incredibly thankful she was alive. Because she so easily could not have been, and that thought terrified me to my core. She is one of my oldest and closest friends, who, even though we don’t see each other very often, when we do, it’s like no time has passed. She’s a lifelong friend, one you know you’ll have forever. 

And that definitely made me re-evaluate my life. Because all it takes is a second to lose someone. What am I doing with the time I have with the people I love? What am I doing with my life? And never have I been hit as hard with this before:

Life is short. Too short to care what others think, to be afraid, to do what you hate. 

Watching the Glee episode made all this come back. I’ll never forget where I was when I heard about Cory’s death. It is truly tragic, and something that, along with Ceri, and Tracy’s deaths, will always serve as a reminder to me to not let life pass me by. 

What are you doing with your line?