"A bizarre, weird, and twisted thing"

[B1ue]

So. This happened to the Teen Wolf fandom, of which I am a member:

http://beaconhills.co.vu/post/77098053505

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDHjnsNF_MQ

(forward to 1:27 mark for the exact quote)

 

I am a little conflicted on how I feel about this. And by that I mean I am not in the slightest bit conflicted, but am suppressing my natural response for some reason. Maybe I'm growing old. I am willing to give the kid the benefit of the doubt that he didn't mean to be hateful or homophobic, and was just being either an idiot or a jealous idiot, but that's about as charitable as I get.

 

I definitely feel betrayed that he would be so insulting to his own fans. His portrayal of Scott was what got me to start watching the show. His growth as an actor and the personal growth of his character have been a treat to watch over the last couple of years, and I had been very impressed at how much more articulate and mature he's come off in recent interviews. Now I pretty much have lost interest in anything to do with his kid, and now view the shift from being an ensemble show to his character's personal story with deep distaste.

 

But, enough about my feelings. Does anyone else have thoughts on this?

[Thorn Wilde]

I think we shouldn't be too quick to jump to conclusions about what exactly it is he meant, really. First of all, a lot of actors don't really get shipping. I've seen a lot of weird reactions from actors hearing about who their fans are shipping them with or who are being shipped on the show they're on. I think a lot of them are justifiably concerned when a ship becomes so big that the fans start demanding it be canon. (For examples of this, read one of the many meta posts on Destiel of Supernatural fandom found on AO3.) Personally, Sterek has always bothered me as a concept. It feels like a very Twilight-y, potentially violent relationship, and Derek is kind of a psycho, really. I guess I just think Stiles deserves a lot better. A lot of the fic and art out there is very focused on a Derek/Stiles dom/sub relationship, BDSM without a safeword, 50 Shades type of stuff, and I think it's fair to question the glorification of things like that, especially when you consider how young some of the fans of the show are. I can also understand why an actor might feel uncomfortable knowing that people are writing extreme amounts of explicit pornography based on the show they're on. 

 

I suppose my point is that there could be any number of reasons why Tyler Posey has a problem with the concept of Sterek, and the homophobia angle is really only one of them and need not be where he's coming from at all.

[B1ue]

Sure. My problem is that I can't think of a good reason for him to have said something like that. As you said, there's many reason he could have said that about the ship, and I take issue with all the ones I've thought of so far.

 

At best, it's a pretty ignorant thing to say. All the things you mention exist in the Sterek fandom. But it's hardly unique in that aspect, and it's not exactly difficult to find examples that meet none of those criteria, as they far, far outnumber those problematic stories you've mentioned.

[Thorn Wilde]

I see what you're saying, but it's not like we can expect Tyler Posey to have extensively read Sterek fic, nor can we expect him to understand how fandom sometimes works. Now, the way he phrased himself was definitely disrespectful and he should probably have thought a bit more carefully before he spoke, but that doesn't make him inherently a bad person, or any less of an actor. I mean, Jack Nicholson is a notorious douchebag, but I still love his acting.

[methodwriter85]

   Hey, Blue, I don't know if you read the TWOP fan forums, but they're having an extensive discussion about  starting here. (Well, up until the mods shut down the discussion.

 

    I don't think it's about homophobia. I think it's kind of weird for him, because if you think about it, the interaction between Stiles and Derek on the show hasn't been that positive, when it does happen. Derek thinks of Stiles as a joke and treats him accordingly. It's not canon, and Derek has been shown as being straight as an arrow. And I can see where he's coming from, because the Sterek thing gets brought up constantly, and if you're watching the show just to see Sterek while demanding that it becomes canon, that's where I can see how you'd think that fans aren't watching the show in the right way.

 

    I'm also willing to give Tyler Posey the "well, he's young" treatment. He certainly doesn't deserve the death threats he's been getting.

 

    I also wonder though if maybe he's kinda pissed off at the clear focus and attention for Teen Wolf fandom is on something that's not even happening on-screen, and it's a symptom of the larger focus that has been put on Dylan O'Brien and his clear break-out star status while Posey was hired on as the lead character?

Edited February 23, 2014 by methodwriter85