These are thoughts that I've been having that are taking up brain space. I need that space for work.
OMG people, just because Neil Gaiman said that it makes narrative sense for the next Doctor to be an old white guy does not mean that you have to publish ALL THE ARTICLES on your websites about how he's right and you agree with him because it totally will carry more weight if the Doctor transitions from old white guy to young black woman instead of from young white guy to young black woman. Or that there is totally narrative justification for the Doctor to be an old white guy (he hasn't been old in the New Who!). Guess what, Gaiman is not God. Everything he writes is not gold, and he has, gasp, written some not-very-interesting things before. I know you need a moment to recover from this blasphemy, but suck it up. Gaiman's wrong; this is disappointing casting. I'm sure Capaldi will be fabulous (but I bet he's not enjoying everyone calling him old), but to pretend that this is some brave choice or that it's not a deliberate choice to not change the face of the franchise is naive, dishonest, and frankly, offensive. And the implication from Gaiman that it isn't a deliberate choice because he knows one black guy turned them down once totally misses the point. The new Doctor is a white guy because the people in charge of the show want him to be one. Not because of some greater narrative arc or emotional weight for future regenerations (which, let's be honest, we have no idea if we'll ever get there) or a lack of non-white, non-male actors who would have said yes and been equally fabulous. If they wanted a female Doctor, we'd have one. If they wanted a person of color as the Doctor, we'd have one. If they wanted a queer Doctor, we'd have that too. It's a white guy franchise; they're not going to give that up easily.
Full disclosure: Tom Baker (4) was my first Doctor. I really, really tried to like Doctor Who as a kid. I really did. I watched it with my dad on PBS. He loved the Doctor, so I tried to love the Doctor because I love my dad. And while I wasn't bored watching the show, I preferred watching the home improvement shows with him (when I have my own house, I will tile EVERYTHING). I am a scifi geek, but I didn't love the Doctor. I started watching the relaunch on Netflix because everyone loved it. I was bored with Christopher Eccleston (9). Husband was too, so we skipped ahead to David Tennant (10). I fell in love. I love David Tennant. It turns out that I don't really love Doctor Who though, because I have no desire to watch Matt Smith (11) or Peter Capaldi (12). There are some bad episodes in Tennant's run, but since I love Tennant's Doctor, it was okay. Why am I telling you this? Because I thought you should know I do not have rabid fan status. I am interested in Who-happenings, but I am not passionate about them. I also have no interest in debating who the best Doctor is, and I won't make a case for 10. He's my Doctor, but that doesn't mean he's the best.
2 comments:
I loved Eccleston, but I think it was about 70% loving his dialect. I'm a big dialect geek.
It's why I'm so looking forward to Capaldi too. Though I'm way afraid they're gone make him go all Queen's English with his accent, like Tennant did his. :(
It's past time for a female doctor. Or a person of color playing the doctor. But it's all about selling to the BBC's audience, and I'm guessing mostly male, mostly white there.
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