Trailergate Makes Me Sad

[radiantbaby]

I was typing this up for a friend who hadn't heard of the whole 50th Anniversary 'trailergate' thing, but I decided to put it here too to get it off my chest. I can't stop rolling my eyes at fandom over this.

I mean, seriously.

So, at the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary panel at ComicCon this past weekend, they showed the first 50th Anniversary Trailer. Now, right before showing it, Steven Moffat said that if they catch any leaks of it online afterward, they would stop having Doctor Who exclusives at ComicCon (apparently something similar was said at the Sherlock panel earlier in the con, but the audio had leaked within 20 minutes and so they were a bit more intense about it at this panel -- yes, he sounded slightly naggy, but he had to get the point across).

Now, as a result, tons and tons of people are pissed off at him, calling him a Nazi and tyrant and the like. Of course, I doubt it was up to him anyway. He was probably being ordered by the BBC to say what he did (because you know how tight-arsed the BBC can be about images, video, etc). But of course all the MOFFAT IS EVIL!! people have jumped on the bandwagon touting this as 'yet another reason he should be fired from Doctor Who'. Oh, and there are a bunch of entitlement brats going on about a) if it was at a con, we should be able to see it, dammit!! and/or b) that they're British and the show is British, so Americans shouldn't have the monopoly on the trailer.

In short, people are freaking the fuck out. OVER A TRAILER. That will probably be out to the public in the near future and not an ugly, shakey-cam version. I find it all a bit ridiculous honestly. Especially all the people mad at Moffat, because as I said, I sincerely doubt he really has anything to do with it (the man does not have that much power, people -- he's just another cog in the BBC machine!).

Oh, fandom.

So, there you go. Trailergate in all its 'glory'!

Comments

[nonelvis]

OMG, all of this so much. Never mind that SDCC bans video/audio recording at every panel; no, because Moffat groused about people recording things, it's further proof that he's the worst human being on the planet. Fandom: no one on the production team owes you a goddamned thing, not even a pleasant attitude. (And I completely agree that the additional orders not to tape anything likely came right from Moffat's bosses, much as fandom would like to believe Moffat answers to no one.)

Christ. There are any number of legitimate imperfections about Mofftiem to complain about, and I generally like his run quite a lot. This just strikes me as petty.

[doctorpancakes.livejournal.com]

Yep. I mean, I have my qualms with Moff's writing, but I also have on very good authority that everything he does, he does because he wants to make the fanbase happy. To complain that MOFFAT ISN'T LETTING US SEE THE TRAILER is fucking stupid. He was instrumental in making the trailer, so you'd think he's going to want to share it. They preview-screen things at cons all the time. It's normal and not a big deal and a bit of fun for the people there and everybody else is going to get to see the thing in due course and I simply do not understand why people are actually bitching about it. Children.

I honestly feel bad for the amount of flack Moffat gets for absolutely everything. I have no idea how he manages.

[nonelvis]

I have no idea how he manages either. You couldn't pay me to take his job, and I love this show as much as anyone.

[doctorpancakes.livejournal.com]

For realsies. I have all these "if I were showrunner of Doctor Who, I'd do this and this and this" fantasies, but if I'm perfectly honest, given my temperament, I'd be better off as script editor at most, or at the very least, writer of some Big Finish audios.

You're less likely to get an endless string of twitter abuse writing for Big Finish, in my experience of knowing people who write for Big Finish and their twitters. Someone linked to an article today where Moff apparently said he has no plans to leave the show, but I don't believe it. You CAN'T do that job for more than like 3 or 4 series without getting burnt out and being ready to move on. Especially since he's also got Sherlock on the go. That's just a recipe for a nervous breakdown.

[doctorpancakes.livejournal.com]

Seriously, how are people getting their knickers in such a bunch over a flipping trailer WE ARE ALL GOING TO GET TO SEE SOON ANYWAY FERCHRISSAKES which serves to remind us I suppose that a) the internet turns a lot of otherwise reasonable people into douchecanoes; and b) fandom attracts a lot of really amazing and intelligent and thoughtful people, but sadly also a lot of entitled children with no grasp of social cues.

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you for explaining this. In the few places I still frequent I was seeing a lot of refreshed Moffat-hate, and couldn't figure out why. This explains everything.

People need to chill out. Ugh.

[garpu.livejournal.com]

Don't get me wrong. I love the show. Fandom? Not so much anymore.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

(Reposting here my private comments to radiantbaby, since this thread is here)

I actually had heard that he said the thing about "Don't post this on the internet or you'll get no more exclusives". I kinda rolled my eyes because that's trying to stick your thumb in the dyke while the flood spills over the top of it, but okay, whatever...

I have to admit (and I never thought I'd say this), i"m a little disenchanted with DW right now. I haven't watched much at all of this last season, and I haven't had the enthusiasm to. (And I've been a Doctor Who fan since I was a child in the 1970s!)

But you know, I don't think anything Moffat has done could possibly be as bad as, say, a random episode from the Graham Williams era.

I sometimes think I liked it better when we were part of a tiny exclusive fanbase that no one really knew much about. At the time, I wanted EVERYONE to see the show because I loved it so. Now, I'm to so sure that was a good idea...

[garpu.livejournal.com]

I don't think you meant to respond to me, instead of the entire thread.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

You're right, though it serves as a reply to your comment as well. :)

[finding-neo.livejournal.com]

I am surprised at the rancor from "across the pond." Some comments are to the level of hatred for "Americans," because "we" got to see it and they didn't. No, WE did not get to see it, only a few thousand people at a panel at a con on the west coast of America got to see it. There's a lot of decimals on that small percentage of Americans.

I agree with autographedcat about fandom these days, to an extent. Fandoms have always had their ass-hats, it's just that now with the internet, they can be brave and bold about it. In the past fans would have had to go to great efforts to piss off other fans, now it's like a picnic and someone forgot to set the ant traps.