Oh Captain, My Captain Jack

Through Netflix and with the recent acquisition of BBC America in my digital cable retinue, I've become a huge and fast fan of BBC's Doctor Who spinoff  Torchwood.  No surprise there, since it's a British masala of Buffy The Vampire Slayer/Angel tropes. It's about an underground British organization committed to fighting aliens coming into Cardiff, Wales.  In Cardiff, there is a rift in space and time (like Sunnydale's Hellmouth) where aliens come out of and are also drawn to.  The organization is lead by a mysterious, charismatic man with a dark past who is, for all intents and purposes, immortal (like Angel). In the organization is a regular guy with no powers but some well-times quips (a la Xander) and a nerdy girl with lots of tech skills but not not well versed in romance (a la Willow). 

Now, this is not to say that Torchwood doesn't stand on its own merits. It very much does.  It's a well-paced, fun sci-fi show with lots to offer.  One final similarity between Buffy and Torchwood?  Both figure LGBT characters.  With Buffy, it's Willow and the two girlfriends she's had through the series.  Torchwood? Mmm... well, it's all of them.  Every single character on Torchwood has at least made out with both sexes during the series.  At the center of this is Capt. Jack Harkness, played by out actor John Barrowman.

See? Very dashing but also rather playful.  Barrowman plays Capt. Jack with just the right balance of whimsy, pathos and command.  Through some sci-fi happenstance on Dr. Who, Capt. Jack cannot die.  That is, he can't stay dead.  He's a fixed point in time and space, and will be around forever.  Which brings loads of baggage, as you can imagine, and this is something that the show and Barrowman's portrayal exploits beautifully. 

The dynamic portion of Capt. Jack's makeup is that he's pansexual.  He is equally attracted to both male and female, human and alien.  There's this great exchange in the 2nd season episode Meat, where Torchwood is dealing with some alien foodstuffs being put into Britain's food supply.

Gwen: You've had alien meat before?

Capt. Jack: Yeah. 

Gwen:  How was it?

Capt. Jack: He didn't seem to mind!

One of the best elements of Torchwood was the relationship between Capt. Jack and his assistant, Ianto. Their playful relationship had tons of genuine chemistry and a deepening of affection as well, and to be honest, there is a dearth of good same-sex couples on television right now (Kevin and Scotty on Brothers & Sisters notwithstanding). 

The character of Capt. Jack Harkness is unique in the current television landscape.  He's dashing, haunted, masculine, smart, friendly, and is essentially bisexual. He is a great role model in that while he's flawed, he is essentially a good person.  The fact that he's LGBT is both essential to his character and beside the point at the same time.  When I was growing up, my gay male role models were Bea Arthur and C3PO.  I'm glad that the young'uns now have a Capt. Jack (and by extension, John Barrowman) to look up to.  He is as good as a scifi hero as Han Solo or Mal Reynolds in my mind.  Capt. Jack is spending eternity trying to better himself and his universe, which to me is the ultimate type of hero.

[Special hat tip to Brett for introducing John Barrowman & Capt. Jack into my consciousness here.  Thanks, man.  Thank you very, very much.]

Comments

[bstewart23]

I live to serve, Jon :-) I also have yet to see "Children of Earth", so thanks for the reminder to queue it up this weekend.

[Jon]

"Children of Earth" is excellent. I would know to know what you think of it. I've specifically stayed away from any spoilers from it here, and boy howdy, it's full of spoilery stuff.