This is my brain. This is my brain on Tom Baker and Lis Sladen.
Because it takes much more effort for me to compose a halfway-coherent blog post than to type out two or three excited sentences, most of you have been spared the current fate of my Facebook friends; that is, a filter absolutely clogged with references to 'The Sarah Jane Adventures' and the Tom Baker era of old school 'Doctor Who.' Seriously, eighty percent of my statuses have references to one or the other. And by "references," I really mean "Capslock-y flailings a la OMG FOUR/SARAH JANE IS LURRRRRRVVVVEEE or OMG IF THE TARDIS WERE REAL I WOULD HEAD BACK TO THE 1970S, GRAB TOM BAKER BY THE LAPELS, AND DO HIM ON TOP OF A DALEK."
Things I have discovered about the stereotypes of Classic!Who:
1) The one about the quality of the sets and effects is ABSOLUTELY true. I heard a lot of "well, it wasn't really *that* bad, it's been exaggerated" hedging-type things before I started watching. LIES. IT *IS* JUST AS BAD, AND IT IS AWESOME. Somehow, expecting a certain amount of fail from the effects actually seems to contribute to the story, at least for me--sometimes because you have to stretch your own imagination to make it possible, and sometimes because drawing attention to the cheesiness becomes this almost Brechtian self-awareness-of-product-as-performance thing. I thought "The Pirate Planet" was a brilliant example of political camp, way more incisive than an overtly political episode like "The Power of Kroll." But that's another blog post.
2) The one about all the companions being useless screaming females is ABSOLUTELY false. Now, I've only seen three, but A) Leela is a total undisputed motherfucking badass. Yes, she apparently believes throwing a knife at a problem should solve everything, but sometimes it does, and even when it doesn't she still finds a way to KICK. ASS. B) Sarah Jane Smith is Journalist Most Likely to Fuck You Up Since 1973--brainy, resourceful, tenacious, and in "Pyramids of Mars" she incapacitates a dude with one blow to his midsection like it's just no thang. And C) Romana in both her incarnations is a total genius who gets to upstage the Doctor regularly, and for all that "assistant" business was clearly a HBIC in the making.
3) The one about the Doctor never touching his companions--"never so much as puts an arm around them" is how I believe TV Tropes put it--is COMPLETE BULLSHIT. Classic!Who, let me tell you about ships that never touch. Goren and Eames? We go into spazz attacks when their fingers brush handing each other coffee. The hug at the end short-circuited our nervous systems; I'm amazed the kiss on the cheek didn't give anyone a heart attack. The Doctor gets hand-holding all the time (usually pulling people away from danger, but still, HANDHOLDING), and even a quick hug in "Genesis of the Daleks!" Sarah Jane has ruffled his hair! He fell on top of Leela! He had to hold Romana right next to him for the transmat beam! This is not "not touching," Doctor Who.
Meanwhile, 'The Sarah Jane Adventures' led me to another revelation. See, I was commiserating with friends over how irrationally protective I get over fictional characters--not so much their lives, at least in this case (Sarah Jane can take care of herself, and besides, it's a kid's show, she's probably not going to die) but of their feelings. She can be about to be eaten or melted or shoved into a black hole, whatever, that's just the villain doing their thing. But the second that villain threatens to hurt her son, or reminds her of how the Doctor left her behind, or how lonely she still is even with her son and new family--OH NO YOU DIDN'T MOTHERFUCKER. BACK OFF MY SARAH JANE OR I WILL TEAR YOU INTO TINY PIECES.
Anyway, we were talking about this, and as I put it so eloquently in my comment: "And then I discovered that her abandonment issues went back way further than getting dumped in Aberdeen by the Doctor. And she keeps doing that Barely Perceptible Lip Wobble of Great Inner Strength With Suspiciously Shiny Eyes. And I am all, 'AAAAAARGGGHH!!! YOU ARE SO STROOONNNNGGG!!! BUT SO LOOOOONNEELLYYYY!!!! BUT SO STROOOONNNNGG!!! BUT SO LOOOONNNNELYYYYY!!!'"
Then I realized something. Specifically, something about the female halves of at least eighty percent of my OTPs:
Sarah Jane Smith:
Dana Scully:
Alex Eames:
Kira Nerys:
OH GOD. The Barely Perceptible Lip Wobble of Great Inner Strength With Suspiciously Shiny Eyes is EVERYWHERE.
Things I have discovered about the stereotypes of Classic!Who:
1) The one about the quality of the sets and effects is ABSOLUTELY true. I heard a lot of "well, it wasn't really *that* bad, it's been exaggerated" hedging-type things before I started watching. LIES. IT *IS* JUST AS BAD, AND IT IS AWESOME. Somehow, expecting a certain amount of fail from the effects actually seems to contribute to the story, at least for me--sometimes because you have to stretch your own imagination to make it possible, and sometimes because drawing attention to the cheesiness becomes this almost Brechtian self-awareness-of-product-as-performance thing. I thought "The Pirate Planet" was a brilliant example of political camp, way more incisive than an overtly political episode like "The Power of Kroll." But that's another blog post.
2) The one about all the companions being useless screaming females is ABSOLUTELY false. Now, I've only seen three, but A) Leela is a total undisputed motherfucking badass. Yes, she apparently believes throwing a knife at a problem should solve everything, but sometimes it does, and even when it doesn't she still finds a way to KICK. ASS. B) Sarah Jane Smith is Journalist Most Likely to Fuck You Up Since 1973--brainy, resourceful, tenacious, and in "Pyramids of Mars" she incapacitates a dude with one blow to his midsection like it's just no thang. And C) Romana in both her incarnations is a total genius who gets to upstage the Doctor regularly, and for all that "assistant" business was clearly a HBIC in the making.
3) The one about the Doctor never touching his companions--"never so much as puts an arm around them" is how I believe TV Tropes put it--is COMPLETE BULLSHIT. Classic!Who, let me tell you about ships that never touch. Goren and Eames? We go into spazz attacks when their fingers brush handing each other coffee. The hug at the end short-circuited our nervous systems; I'm amazed the kiss on the cheek didn't give anyone a heart attack. The Doctor gets hand-holding all the time (usually pulling people away from danger, but still, HANDHOLDING), and even a quick hug in "Genesis of the Daleks!" Sarah Jane has ruffled his hair! He fell on top of Leela! He had to hold Romana right next to him for the transmat beam! This is not "not touching," Doctor Who.
Meanwhile, 'The Sarah Jane Adventures' led me to another revelation. See, I was commiserating with friends over how irrationally protective I get over fictional characters--not so much their lives, at least in this case (Sarah Jane can take care of herself, and besides, it's a kid's show, she's probably not going to die) but of their feelings. She can be about to be eaten or melted or shoved into a black hole, whatever, that's just the villain doing their thing. But the second that villain threatens to hurt her son, or reminds her of how the Doctor left her behind, or how lonely she still is even with her son and new family--OH NO YOU DIDN'T MOTHERFUCKER. BACK OFF MY SARAH JANE OR I WILL TEAR YOU INTO TINY PIECES.
Anyway, we were talking about this, and as I put it so eloquently in my comment: "And then I discovered that her abandonment issues went back way further than getting dumped in Aberdeen by the Doctor. And she keeps doing that Barely Perceptible Lip Wobble of Great Inner Strength With Suspiciously Shiny Eyes. And I am all, 'AAAAAARGGGHH!!! YOU ARE SO STROOONNNNGGG!!! BUT SO LOOOOONNEELLYYYY!!!! BUT SO STROOOONNNNGG!!! BUT SO LOOOONNNNELYYYYY!!!'"
Then I realized something. Specifically, something about the female halves of at least eighty percent of my OTPs:
Sarah Jane Smith:
Dana Scully:
Alex Eames:
Kira Nerys:
OH GOD. The Barely Perceptible Lip Wobble of Great Inner Strength With Suspiciously Shiny Eyes is EVERYWHERE.