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magzSo, as most of you in the Merlin fandom know, someone contacted the BBC because they were disgusted with an event that happened in 3x04. Unfortunately, I found myself caught in the middle of the mini-wank that resulted both at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
merlinxarthur and at shapingdestiny [where I swear it felt like I was debating with the same person], because when I'm sick, which I have been for the last like 2½ weeks, my ability to keep my mouth shut -- or in this case, my fingers off the keyboard -- drops to about... oh, zero. In the scene that the person complained about, Arthur threw a vambrace at Merlin's head after Merlin mocked the melee, which as we can see is very important to Arthur, and said something to the effect of "Well, it's a good thing I can't compete because this way I won't get knocked about the head." Arthur responds something to the effect of, "Yes you will," and tosses the vambrace at him. Apparently for some people in fandom, this is where Arthur crosses the line from morally dubious to physically aggressive bully.
Let me tell you something about my childhood that I don't generally like to think about, much less talk about. I was a smart kid. I was also a fat kid. To top it off, I was a poor kid with bad hair, glasses, and terrible teeth. All these factors made me a prime target for bullies. I was never shoved around because I grew up in a town where you don't hit girls, but the mockery I was the victim of for eight years more than made up for the fact that I was never shoved into a locker or dropped in a trash can. These kids would go out of their way to make my day hell, to make themselves feel a little better. I don't know what was going on in their lives that made them act the way they did. But I also know this: I was not friends with these people. Mostly, I set out to avoid them at all costs. And every time one of them requests to friend me on Facebook now, I hit that beautiful little "ignore" button.
What's this mean? This means I know bullies. So when I read the response that the BBC sent to the complainant, I thought, sure, makes sense. Arthur and Merlin are buddies separated by social classes. They act like buddies, which includes banter, physical pranking, and in Merlin's case, making Arthur fall in the mud, bray like a donkey, get trapped by his own bed drapery, or get smacked in the stomach with a mace [don't get me started on that event in comparison to the vambrace throwing]. Now, I'm not saying that Arthur hasn't had his asshat moments. I mean, look at the pilot episode. His demeanor for the entire thing set him up as Arthur The Asshat Who Would Eventually Become King. But over the course of two and a half seasons of Merlin, he's grown up. And here's the thing. I know people are freaking out over the vambrace tossing and oh, poor defenseless Merlin, but that sort of thing isn't malicious. It was done in reaction to Merlin's comment, as well as Merlin's complete lack of insensitivity about the melee, which is obviously very important to Arthur. It was something a guy would do to his buddy. It was slapstick, not physical abuse. Could've been done better, because throwing things at other people's heads is not cool, but it wasn't meant to portray Arthur as a Bad Man. Arthur's grown up -- but he's got some growing left to do.
And Merlin? Isn't the victim of bullying. His source of Arthur-angst isn't that Arthur was mean to him, or that Arthur made him do X, Y, and Z as part of his duties. It's that he can't tell Arthur the truth about himself. We see him react in exasperation to Arthur's antics, and then, in this season anyway, retaliate with magical pranks. We never see the anguish that the victims of bullying feel every day. So yeah, the vambrace hurt. But it was not Arthur taking advantage of Merlin's social class to cause him harm. It was a poorly-written joke and, unfortunately, with bullying at the forefront of social issues discussion at the moment, it was taken entirely too seriously by a small group of fangirls.
And as to the people who are concerned about the children -- I say this. By the age of 5, kids are able to recognize right from wrong. They know not to throw things at their friends' heads. They know that if they emulate the bad behavior seen on TV they will be in trouble. And they know, especially now that bullying is such a hot topic, that there is always someone they can talk to if they, themselves, feel that they are being bullied. Which Merlin is not. And I would know.
Now please, everyone, stop trying to ruin one of my favorite things on TV for me.
merlinxarthur and at shapingdestiny [where I swear it felt like I was debating with the same person], because when I'm sick, which I have been for the last like 2½ weeks, my ability to keep my mouth shut -- or in this case, my fingers off the keyboard -- drops to about... oh, zero. In the scene that the person complained about, Arthur threw a vambrace at Merlin's head after Merlin mocked the melee, which as we can see is very important to Arthur, and said something to the effect of "Well, it's a good thing I can't compete because this way I won't get knocked about the head." Arthur responds something to the effect of, "Yes you will," and tosses the vambrace at him. Apparently for some people in fandom, this is where Arthur crosses the line from morally dubious to physically aggressive bully.Let me tell you something about my childhood that I don't generally like to think about, much less talk about. I was a smart kid. I was also a fat kid. To top it off, I was a poor kid with bad hair, glasses, and terrible teeth. All these factors made me a prime target for bullies. I was never shoved around because I grew up in a town where you don't hit girls, but the mockery I was the victim of for eight years more than made up for the fact that I was never shoved into a locker or dropped in a trash can. These kids would go out of their way to make my day hell, to make themselves feel a little better. I don't know what was going on in their lives that made them act the way they did. But I also know this: I was not friends with these people. Mostly, I set out to avoid them at all costs. And every time one of them requests to friend me on Facebook now, I hit that beautiful little "ignore" button.
What's this mean? This means I know bullies. So when I read the response that the BBC sent to the complainant, I thought, sure, makes sense. Arthur and Merlin are buddies separated by social classes. They act like buddies, which includes banter, physical pranking, and in Merlin's case, making Arthur fall in the mud, bray like a donkey, get trapped by his own bed drapery, or get smacked in the stomach with a mace [don't get me started on that event in comparison to the vambrace throwing]. Now, I'm not saying that Arthur hasn't had his asshat moments. I mean, look at the pilot episode. His demeanor for the entire thing set him up as Arthur The Asshat Who Would Eventually Become King. But over the course of two and a half seasons of Merlin, he's grown up. And here's the thing. I know people are freaking out over the vambrace tossing and oh, poor defenseless Merlin, but that sort of thing isn't malicious. It was done in reaction to Merlin's comment, as well as Merlin's complete lack of insensitivity about the melee, which is obviously very important to Arthur. It was something a guy would do to his buddy. It was slapstick, not physical abuse. Could've been done better, because throwing things at other people's heads is not cool, but it wasn't meant to portray Arthur as a Bad Man. Arthur's grown up -- but he's got some growing left to do.
And Merlin? Isn't the victim of bullying. His source of Arthur-angst isn't that Arthur was mean to him, or that Arthur made him do X, Y, and Z as part of his duties. It's that he can't tell Arthur the truth about himself. We see him react in exasperation to Arthur's antics, and then, in this season anyway, retaliate with magical pranks. We never see the anguish that the victims of bullying feel every day. So yeah, the vambrace hurt. But it was not Arthur taking advantage of Merlin's social class to cause him harm. It was a poorly-written joke and, unfortunately, with bullying at the forefront of social issues discussion at the moment, it was taken entirely too seriously by a small group of fangirls.
And as to the people who are concerned about the children -- I say this. By the age of 5, kids are able to recognize right from wrong. They know not to throw things at their friends' heads. They know that if they emulate the bad behavior seen on TV they will be in trouble. And they know, especially now that bullying is such a hot topic, that there is always someone they can talk to if they, themselves, feel that they are being bullied. Which Merlin is not. And I would know.
Now please, everyone, stop trying to ruin one of my favorite things on TV for me.
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(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-14 02:43 pm (UTC)*huggles*
feel better soon
(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-14 06:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-14 08:07 pm (UTC)And you described exactly why I heart Merlin and Arthur so much, right there. *points* Thanks for that.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-14 09:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-15 01:09 am (UTC)That's what I keep saying. Arthur obviously didn't throw the vambrace with the intention of knocking Merlin unconscious -- Merlin, on the other hand, knocked Arthur's sword out of his hand with no idea what would happen to him when he did, and then he laughed and -- I don't want to get grumpy about the double standard again, especially since a lot of it seems to stem from "Ohhh, poor Colin..."
(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-15 02:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-15 03:41 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-15 02:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-15 07:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-15 11:08 pm (UTC)