Why I like the Monoids
The Monoids are a race of bipedal monoptical humanoids who are, alongside humanity, coinhabitants of the titular ark in "the Ark." They may or may not also be green. (I tend to assume they're green.)
Right off the bat there's a lot of interesting things going on with them. Most obvious is the single eye, which is presumably why they're called Monoids in the first place. It's actually a really very clever design - they eye is places at the actor's mouth, which really wreaks havoc with human facial recognition, but also looks surprisingly natural. It really works incredibly well. There's also something a bit vegetable looking about them (which is probably why I think they're green), with their mop of hair. They're one set of aliens that doesn't particularly look like anything else, which is always nice. They are just similar enough to humans to easily read as people, and just different enough to be really and truly aliens. You always have to admire alternate face designs, and the Monoids have a very nice one.
The second intriguing thing about them is their relationship with humanity. The Ark looks initially like a completely integrated society of two distinct sentient species. We are given no information on how this situation came about, mind. It has just "always been so," which is kind of cool. But although they are introduced as "our friends the Monoids," they seem to be primarily servants the Guardians, and, at times, possibly enforcers. It also seems that the Monoids in their entirety are taking the slow path, alongside the Guardians, rather than having most of their population miniaturized like the humans. (I may just be wrong on this detail, but such was my impression). And when the Monoids seize power, it's not quite clear whether they are ungratefully betraying their human benefactors or justifiedly throwing off their human oppressors. It is simply presented as a thing that happened - historical rather than didactic. We rejoin the story 700 years later, and so there's really know way of knowing, nor is it particularly relevant who wronged whom more. All we see are the narratives and present-day actions of the two groups. And while this may seem like a complaint, it is really the opposite. It is always impressive how thoroughly the First Doctor era avoids the trap of presentism, and how very mature their approach to History. With the Monoids, and the structure of "the Ark" generally, we see this same intellectual maturity applied to future history as adeptly as it has been applied to straight historical stories. And it's worth noting that the story's conclusion does not involve humanity throwing off the evil Monoid dictators, but rather a renewed effort for the two species to live and work together peaceably, without either trying to oppress or destroy the other.
The issue is complicated by the fact that the pre-revolutionary Monoids don't speak, though they can communicate gesturally. They are not, in fact, presented as having any language of their own. We never see them talking to each other in the early half of the story, and when they have Voice in the second half of the story, they rely on it completely. It is not clear whether their flavor of sign is a full gestural language or a sort of a pidgin to allow rudimentary communication between the two species. It is unlikely the Guardians themselves know, and the Monoids certainly aren't saying. The voicelessness makes them all the more mysterious and inscrutable, and also heightens the contrast when we hear them speaking 700 years later. And while the later Monoids are wholly unsympathetic and rather short sighted, it's a huge thing that we never really know what the earlier Monoids were thinking. There's a bit of a less-developed vs. more-developed thing going on - a hint of different levels of sentience, but is that reality or merely human ignorance?
The Monoids initially seem like a kind of generic baddie, but they're embedded into the story in really complex and interesting ways. And they're honestly pretty cool looking, and certainly unique in design, which pays off wonderfully with the reveal of the now-Monoid statue halfway through the episode.
I have no idea why there is a Monoid hand puppet in the trailer for the Christmas Special, but I am very much looking forward to finding out.
Right off the bat there's a lot of interesting things going on with them. Most obvious is the single eye, which is presumably why they're called Monoids in the first place. It's actually a really very clever design - they eye is places at the actor's mouth, which really wreaks havoc with human facial recognition, but also looks surprisingly natural. It really works incredibly well. There's also something a bit vegetable looking about them (which is probably why I think they're green), with their mop of hair. They're one set of aliens that doesn't particularly look like anything else, which is always nice. They are just similar enough to humans to easily read as people, and just different enough to be really and truly aliens. You always have to admire alternate face designs, and the Monoids have a very nice one.
The second intriguing thing about them is their relationship with humanity. The Ark looks initially like a completely integrated society of two distinct sentient species. We are given no information on how this situation came about, mind. It has just "always been so," which is kind of cool. But although they are introduced as "our friends the Monoids," they seem to be primarily servants the Guardians, and, at times, possibly enforcers. It also seems that the Monoids in their entirety are taking the slow path, alongside the Guardians, rather than having most of their population miniaturized like the humans. (I may just be wrong on this detail, but such was my impression). And when the Monoids seize power, it's not quite clear whether they are ungratefully betraying their human benefactors or justifiedly throwing off their human oppressors. It is simply presented as a thing that happened - historical rather than didactic. We rejoin the story 700 years later, and so there's really know way of knowing, nor is it particularly relevant who wronged whom more. All we see are the narratives and present-day actions of the two groups. And while this may seem like a complaint, it is really the opposite. It is always impressive how thoroughly the First Doctor era avoids the trap of presentism, and how very mature their approach to History. With the Monoids, and the structure of "the Ark" generally, we see this same intellectual maturity applied to future history as adeptly as it has been applied to straight historical stories. And it's worth noting that the story's conclusion does not involve humanity throwing off the evil Monoid dictators, but rather a renewed effort for the two species to live and work together peaceably, without either trying to oppress or destroy the other.
The issue is complicated by the fact that the pre-revolutionary Monoids don't speak, though they can communicate gesturally. They are not, in fact, presented as having any language of their own. We never see them talking to each other in the early half of the story, and when they have Voice in the second half of the story, they rely on it completely. It is not clear whether their flavor of sign is a full gestural language or a sort of a pidgin to allow rudimentary communication between the two species. It is unlikely the Guardians themselves know, and the Monoids certainly aren't saying. The voicelessness makes them all the more mysterious and inscrutable, and also heightens the contrast when we hear them speaking 700 years later. And while the later Monoids are wholly unsympathetic and rather short sighted, it's a huge thing that we never really know what the earlier Monoids were thinking. There's a bit of a less-developed vs. more-developed thing going on - a hint of different levels of sentience, but is that reality or merely human ignorance?
The Monoids initially seem like a kind of generic baddie, but they're embedded into the story in really complex and interesting ways. And they're honestly pretty cool looking, and certainly unique in design, which pays off wonderfully with the reveal of the now-Monoid statue halfway through the episode.
I have no idea why there is a Monoid hand puppet in the trailer for the Christmas Special, but I am very much looking forward to finding out.