Lost, Girl

Fandom is hard work, yo. So, on Monday, I put up a little post of AfterEllen of an exclusive unused extra from the “Lost Girl” Season 4 DVD set. It featured Zoie Palmer being lovely, per usual. And it was a nice little shout-out to all the LGBT fans. So I was happy.

And then I read the comments, and I was not happy. Comments tend to have that effect. (Not here, you’re all lovely. Never change.)

Here’s the thing, once a season is over, I check out a little on that fandom. I don’t stop being a fan, I just don’t follow what is happening amongst its fans as closely. What I care about, and pay attention to, the most is what we actually see on the screen. I am in it for the stories. So when there isn’t anything new to watch, I sort of hibernate.

But the Lost Girl fandom has awoken this groggy bear from her restorative sleep.

So here is me wading into your concerns in the comments. (FYI: This is verbatim the comment I posted on my AE post, but wanted to share it here as well).

Some clarifications. First, I am not the editor in chief of AfterEllen, I just freelance for the site like the other writers. I do run my own personal blog in my free time (cough, dorothysurrenders.com, cough). Second, writing about lesbian representation in pop culture is not my full-time job. I have another job that keeps the lights on and takes up most of my waking hours. This writing is something I do because I enjoy it and care about the stories that flicker across our screens. Third, people may have indeed tweeted me, butI get a lot of tweets and do not monitor my feed 24/7. I do vaguely remember being tweeted about the cuts, but at the time was swamped and simply couldn’t investigate further. I checked, and no one ever emailed me about the situation. Fourth and finally, I do not regularly read dedicated fandom sites, regardless of the fandom, because – again – the time. This is not to say that I don’t enjoy and support the various fandoms I write about; I most definitely do. But sometimes I can miss large discussions/controversies happening among fans behind the scenes.

So, with that in mind, I ask that you not project nefarious intention on what I do and don’t write about. Sometimes, I just don’t know and/or don’t have time. And I apologize for that. Believe it or not, I try to also fit a life away from the keyboard into my life.

From the commenters here it seems the chief complaint is about the cut made between the Showcase/Syfy versions of the show. I am sensitive to such cuts, but honestly have not been keeping track of their extent over the past four season. All of my recaps are done off the Showcase versions and (again, just being honest) sometimes I don’t even get around to watching the Syfy version. I would like to do my own research on the topic, but again that takes time and a stopwatch.

But I do think this is a fair topic to bring up, especially closer to the beginning of the fifth season to remind Showcase/Syfy that we are paying attention to what they are editing and how the characters and relationships are being portrayed.

I tend to pay attention, first and foremost, to what is shown to us on the screen. I enjoy Lost Girl because, since its inception, it has been the only show currently airing on English-speaking television with a bisexual female character as its singular lead. (Since then, Orange Is the New Black has also come along – thank goodness – to add to that list.) I believe the writers, producers and actors have all been sensitive and responsive to the LGBT community. Sure, there have been some missteps. But this is not a show that has ever – in my opinion – shied away from its sexuality nor dismissed its LGBT fans. Questions about edits and promotion may exist and should be addressed, but for me they do not ultimately detract from what I believe is an overwhelmingly positive show for LGBT representation.

And those are my two cents. Thanks for your passion and support. I truly appreciate you guys.