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Aug. 4th, 2013 09:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cinema_babeFor the record, I'm glad the new Doctor is an English (well, Scottish actually) white guy. I'm all for diversification, but IMO, The Doctor must always be a white guy from the UK and I don't see any need to change that. For one, he's never changed race or gender so I've always taken it as implied canon that those elements of his physicality do not change.
Beyond that is the overarching story of The Doctor. A major part of The Doctor's story, as I see it, is being an outsider while outwardly appearing to be the ultimate insider in western culture: a white, hetrosexual(ish) male*.
As much as I never liked the whole Rose and The Doctor storyline, one of the things is dealt with from a dramatic point of view is that The Doctor isn't just a really smart human with cooler toys than the rest of us. I think one of the reasons I liked Matt Smith's portrayal so much is his Doctor seemed to be all about foreignness. Whether it was trying endless (and odd) combinations of food or learning how to play soccer and just be a guy, here was enjoying experiencing what it means to be a "normal" human and slightly oblivious to the looks from people who didn't get that he didn't get it.
This is an important feature in no small part in that is adds to the character's complexity. He's not human, doesn't even completely grasp what it means to be human, yet he is the self appointed defender of the human race. All the while living with the assumption of other humans who don't know him that he *is* human.
I think that adding an "other" to his identity would have been an unnecessary encumberance that would muddy that key facet of The Doctor's character.
Beyond that is the overarching story of The Doctor. A major part of The Doctor's story, as I see it, is being an outsider while outwardly appearing to be the ultimate insider in western culture: a white, hetrosexual(ish) male*.
As much as I never liked the whole Rose and The Doctor storyline, one of the things is dealt with from a dramatic point of view is that The Doctor isn't just a really smart human with cooler toys than the rest of us. I think one of the reasons I liked Matt Smith's portrayal so much is his Doctor seemed to be all about foreignness. Whether it was trying endless (and odd) combinations of food or learning how to play soccer and just be a guy, here was enjoying experiencing what it means to be a "normal" human and slightly oblivious to the looks from people who didn't get that he didn't get it.
This is an important feature in no small part in that is adds to the character's complexity. He's not human, doesn't even completely grasp what it means to be human, yet he is the self appointed defender of the human race. All the while living with the assumption of other humans who don't know him that he *is* human.
I think that adding an "other" to his identity would have been an unnecessary encumberance that would muddy that key facet of The Doctor's character.
