My thoughts on Moffatgate


Not strictly a Sherlockian post but hey ho...  

So it seems that, a day or two ago, Steven Moffat decided to leave Twitter. Most sources I’ve seen (and I’ve not seen many) suggest that this was down to the level of abuse he was receiving. Now the subject of this abuse seems to be in some dispute. Some say it was from people proclaiming themselves feminists and who think that Moffat has been sexist via both Doctor Who and Sherlock. Other sources suggest it was abuse from people who simply dislike the way he has run Doctor Who.


Whichever it is is largely irrelevant. As far as I can tell, Steven Moffat has broken no laws while in charge of these two shows and until he does so he is entitled to run them how he likes (that’s why he’s called Showrunner you know). If you don’t like what he’s doing then don’t tune in. If the viewing figures drop things will surely change. Guess what though; the viewing figures do not appear to be dropping.

So we can quite safely conclude that a small but noisy minority has ruined things for the rest of us. It’s all too easy isn’t it to hurl abuse from behind the safety and anonymity of a screen and keyboard? There’s a word for this and I believe it is cowardice. If you wouldn’t say it to his face (and let’s face facts, most of these people would clam up in his presence) then don’t say it through any other medium.

To all those who profess to be pro-Moffat; you do no good by ranting on Twitter about these trolls. All you do is fan the flames. Just ignore them and show yourselves to be the normal self-controlled people I assume you to be.

Comments

  1. Well, his wife told the world yesterday (5:42am) that it was just because Twitter was proving to be a distraction... here.
    I don't know if that's the "real" truth but that is the "official" one, so I believe it.
    I don't know who your sources are, I believe that's just a rumour, but then I don't own a Twitter account, so I may be wrong.

    Awesome work, by the way. I love your blog.

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  2. although I agree with you in most cases, surely someone in the public eye as much as he is, is not so thin skinned.
    Maybe things hit to close to home.
    Not being a big twitter fan (or Dr Who for that matter) in don't know that much about reporting abuse or blocking people from Twitter pages.
    As long as you have a social media like twitter you are going to have trolls looking to stir things up.
    I do agree with you that non-trolls should not take the bait, including Mr. Moffat.
    But surely, Mr Moffat, you shouldn't get into this kind of business if you can't take the heat.
    And Mr Moffat is letting this small minority 'ruin things for the rest of us'.
    Other than that, keep up the good work.

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  3. I'm with you John, I have a very hard time believing that anyone with that level of fame and success would take any such messages seriously or be sensitive enough for it to cause them to leave 'the rest of us' altogether. I would have to lean towards Sue's explanation, that twitter was a distraction. This is far more logical to me. I agree with Alistair though, he WILL be missed. Yet at the same time I don't think deleting your account is the answer to 'ridding' yourself of the distraction, just tweet less, lol. Either way, i'm sad to see him go. Thanks for the post as always, Alistair. -Joe Riggs

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  4. I watched 'The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle' the other day (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470929/) an excellent drama about the hostility ACD faced when he killed Holmes.

    Makes you wonder what it would have been like if the had today's media then.

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