I think one of the reasons why people react so badly to Gwen is that her sins are much closer to home.
Owen drugs a girl - this is also close to home and people reacted accordingly, but at the same time Owen was a) clearly morally dubious from the start and b) never intended to be the viewpoint character. Tosh hacks into CCTV and databases - well, how many people do any of us know who can do that? It puts her at one remove. Ianto betrays Torchwood to save the woman he loves - it's a grand, overblown situation that none of us are ever likely to be in. Jack isn't quite human/is from the 51st century, they do things differently there/has an unashamedly murky past.
Gwen, on the other hand, is the character we're all supposed to identify with, the Everywoman. She's ordinary - she could be us! And then she does things which, while probably less heinous than anything the others have done, resonate badly: she cheats on her boyfriend, she lies to him and drugs him. And she is presented as a sympathetic character throughout, which makes it even more jarring.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-02-17 10:13 pm (UTC)Owen drugs a girl - this is also close to home and people reacted accordingly, but at the same time Owen was a) clearly morally dubious from the start and b) never intended to be the viewpoint character. Tosh hacks into CCTV and databases - well, how many people do any of us know who can do that? It puts her at one remove. Ianto betrays Torchwood to save the woman he loves - it's a grand, overblown situation that none of us are ever likely to be in. Jack isn't quite human/is from the 51st century, they do things differently there/has an unashamedly murky past.
Gwen, on the other hand, is the character we're all supposed to identify with, the Everywoman. She's ordinary - she could be us! And then she does things which, while probably less heinous than anything the others have done, resonate badly: she cheats on her boyfriend, she lies to him and drugs him. And she is presented as a sympathetic character throughout, which makes it even more jarring.