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Nope, Not Working for Me (Spoilerish)
Oct. 26th, 2018 07:59 pmI've seen the first 3 episodes of #13 now and this just isn't working for me.
As feminist as I am, I'm not a fan of gender swapping roles "just because". However, I'll be the first to say that the character of The Doctor doesn't do anything that would preclude the character from being a woman. Still, #13 is just rubbing me like a microplaner rubs a piece of citrus.
Let me count the ways.....
A female Doctor isn't canon (crikey, I never thought I'd be "that guy"). We know that there were Time Ladies on Gallifrey, the doctor has referenced having a wife and #1 traveled with his granddaughter. There's no real good reason for The Doctor to regenerate into a woman
This is a weirdly idiosyncratic thing, gender aside, I don't like Jodi Whitaker as the Doctor. I like the actress (she broke my heart in Broadchurch as she evolved from broken mother to woman's advocate). But while I adore her as an actor, I think she's too pretty, young, and vivacious for the role.
The war that led to the destruction of Doctor's home planet took place between #8 and #9. When they show was rebooted, the iterations of The Doctor from #9 through #11 (Eccelston, Tennant, Smith), got younger with each regeneration. After meeting The War Doctor and finding out that he didn't destroy Gallifrey but saved it, the next Doctor was older (Capaldi), within the age range of most of the Old School Doctors.
I've always thought that, intentionally or not, that this was a powerful commentary on how The Doctor dealt with the guilt he carried when he thought he destroyed his home planet. It was almost as if he was willing himself to be younger, go back in time. The age difference between 12and 13 just feels like a wrong note to me (But hey, every Whovian's mileage will vary).
If they had to have a female Doctor, they should have thrown a ton of money at an English actor over 50 (Helen Mirren, Judy Densch, Emma Thompson, Charlotte Rampling or someone like that). A woman who could project a sober maturity but still have a sensuous gleam of mischief in her eye.
I think they spent too long on the whole, "I'm not sure who I am yet" schtick. Too much, "OMG I forgot I'm a woman now". But this is more an issue with writing. I had the same issue with #12's companion Bill. We established that she was a lesbian in her first appearance and lost count of how many episodes they pulled the "eye roll, I'm only interested in girls, no boys allowed". We get it Bill, we get it.
While we're on the topic of the writing, the promise of no Daleks or Cybermen leaves me cold and (so far) I'm not crazy about the rustic looking, self built sonic screwdriver. I don't even like the new Tardis :(
It still feels like a sci-fi series, just not Doctor Who. If someone told me this was some sort of reboot of Sliders or Quantum Leap I'd believe it without batting an eye. I've been a Whovian since I was a little kid and PBS began showing Doctor Who in the US. They've got me for one more year but then all bets are off if they don't tighten up the stories and writing.
Why yes, I do think about this way too much.
As feminist as I am, I'm not a fan of gender swapping roles "just because". However, I'll be the first to say that the character of The Doctor doesn't do anything that would preclude the character from being a woman. Still, #13 is just rubbing me like a microplaner rubs a piece of citrus.
Let me count the ways.....
A female Doctor isn't canon (crikey, I never thought I'd be "that guy"). We know that there were Time Ladies on Gallifrey, the doctor has referenced having a wife and #1 traveled with his granddaughter. There's no real good reason for The Doctor to regenerate into a woman
This is a weirdly idiosyncratic thing, gender aside, I don't like Jodi Whitaker as the Doctor. I like the actress (she broke my heart in Broadchurch as she evolved from broken mother to woman's advocate). But while I adore her as an actor, I think she's too pretty, young, and vivacious for the role.
The war that led to the destruction of Doctor's home planet took place between #8 and #9. When they show was rebooted, the iterations of The Doctor from #9 through #11 (Eccelston, Tennant, Smith), got younger with each regeneration. After meeting The War Doctor and finding out that he didn't destroy Gallifrey but saved it, the next Doctor was older (Capaldi), within the age range of most of the Old School Doctors.
I've always thought that, intentionally or not, that this was a powerful commentary on how The Doctor dealt with the guilt he carried when he thought he destroyed his home planet. It was almost as if he was willing himself to be younger, go back in time. The age difference between 12and 13 just feels like a wrong note to me (But hey, every Whovian's mileage will vary).
If they had to have a female Doctor, they should have thrown a ton of money at an English actor over 50 (Helen Mirren, Judy Densch, Emma Thompson, Charlotte Rampling or someone like that). A woman who could project a sober maturity but still have a sensuous gleam of mischief in her eye.
I think they spent too long on the whole, "I'm not sure who I am yet" schtick. Too much, "OMG I forgot I'm a woman now". But this is more an issue with writing. I had the same issue with #12's companion Bill. We established that she was a lesbian in her first appearance and lost count of how many episodes they pulled the "eye roll, I'm only interested in girls, no boys allowed". We get it Bill, we get it.
While we're on the topic of the writing, the promise of no Daleks or Cybermen leaves me cold and (so far) I'm not crazy about the rustic looking, self built sonic screwdriver. I don't even like the new Tardis :(
It still feels like a sci-fi series, just not Doctor Who. If someone told me this was some sort of reboot of Sliders or Quantum Leap I'd believe it without batting an eye. I've been a Whovian since I was a little kid and PBS began showing Doctor Who in the US. They've got me for one more year but then all bets are off if they don't tighten up the stories and writing.
Why yes, I do think about this way too much.
