The Doctor as a father figure.
In fandom some have said that the Doctor is more of a father figure to Rose than anything else. Can you see where this is coming from? Maybe you subscribe to this notion in full or in part? Or do you completely disagree? Can the father figure and romantic figure co-exist or is that just too distasteful?
That said, to what extent is Nine surprised that he does NOT view Rose as more of a daughter figure? His constant iteration of how she is only 19 and his responsibility suggests that he partly thinks of his role as literally paternal.
"Can the father figure and romantic figure co-exist (or is that just too distasteful)?"
I think George Michael puts it best.
I'd also suggest that it was a common old-fashioned notion that a woman would seek out someone who reminded her of her father, just as a man would seek out a woman who shared the virtues of his own mother. To me it's not necessarily a distasteful idea.
I guess it goes toward your definition of a father figure. To me, a father figure is a man with moral authority, strong, caring and upright, and many of those qualities are the same as in an ideal romantic figure. The difference is in the subject position. Rose doesn't look to the Doctor to lay down the law. She doesn't obey him as she would a father. She has her own picture of "Daddy" in her head and it is definitely Pete, the stories Jackie has told her about Pete, and not the Doctor. To a certain extent I think the Doctor is still thinking of himself as that paternal figure many of his companions knew him as...... but Rose, open to learning from him, already has a strongly developed sense of who she is, and her own moral compass. She doesn't need that kind of fatherliness from him-- and she insists on taking responsibility for her own safety -- in fact nothing makes her more furious than when he sends her away "for her own good."
There was a previous post about whether or not the Doctor may have ever been a bit of a Pygmalion character. He certainly had that Higgins/Eliza relationship with Leela. I never get that vibe from him in regards to Rose. He loves her for who she is, who she helps HIM to be and become. That's super overt. He makes decisions regarding her safety maybe out of guilt and fear -- but he never tries to dictate who she is or who she can or should become..... except for that one moment in Father's Day when he chastises her for his own mistake. Bad form! but at least he does apologize eventually.
Reply
Leave a comment