For me as a viewer The Doctor has always been male. He didn't seem very put off when Jack Harkness kissed him so I never figured he'd only have romances with women, so that doesn't bother me much. I mean, after a few hundred years you'd at least *try* the other gender once at least? To see what the fuss is all about? Just kidding ;-) No, I don't think Time Lords can randomly regenerate into another gender without knowing. I'm with you there. I don't think BBC is going to touch that one either.
Another thing that I've thought about with all the speculation coming up: The Doctor has always been white to me too. I haven't seen all of the old series yet: Is there ever a non-white Time Lord or Lady? Do they have ethnic groups on Galifrey? I don't think I would be very surprised if he regenerated into anther ethic type one day (even though I admit I was a bit surprised at the first black Vulcan I saw).
I think I want to see him as a guy who still flirts with women (and occasionally with Jack). That would be just fine by me.
I think the first on-screen non-White Time Lord was in The Sound of Drums, and later in The End of Time. There was one in The Deadly Assassin stills but I don't think he made the edit. Then there's the edge-case of River Song.
K'Anpo, an old mentor of the Doctor's, regenerated from a white man to a sort-of Asian man (who was played by a white man in yellowface, but still...) So yes, apparently ethnic appearance/skin color CAN change during regeneration.
(This happened in Planet of the Spiders, Jon Pertwee's last regular story.)
Riiiight - I forgot all about River Song changing colour during her regenerations! Well, she is or was part Time Lady at least and she can't have gotten dark skin genes from her parents. Ok, so we have a precedence here, even in the newer series. There's hope :)
I never saw any of the older ones you mention (or not that I recall) but I'll sure get there.
Ah - not entirely true about the skin genes. I mean, obviously she didn't inherit genes for darker akin from her parents, obviously she would have if anything inherited the mutation for pale skin from her parents, because as Melody she was a light-skinned baby, as the little girl she was white, and it was only as "Mels" that she had darker skin. So that's definitely regenerative influence there
( ... )
David Tennant is, afaik, straight, yet he didn't seem to be bothered kissing John Barrowmen for fun at a convention. I think some people are just secure enough in their sexuality not to be homophobic about little things like that.
The Doctor has certainly been around long enough to have tried everything. But even if he has never felt the slightest bit curious about being with another man, he's still been around long enough and seen enough not to freak out like "OMG dude, wtf?! I'm straight, you homo, get off me!!!!" when Jack kissed him goodbye. It's not like he thought Jack was trying to rape him or anything, he was just showing affection in the way he was accustomed. I think they've made it clear that the Doctor doesn't have the same "hang ups" as a lot of 21st century humans.
Which is another reason the whole "DW IS RACIST!!!" Thing bothers me. The Doctor shrugs off Martha's worry about being black in the 1500s, and people say it's racist. Admittedly, it was naive of him, but I think the point is that the Doctor is from a time/race
( ... )
I totally share your racism feeling, and even more so when it comes to gender and sexual orientation. Hardly anyone seems to get that though, when I try to express it. As long as I don't want to sleep with a person, I couldn't care less what gender they have, what sexual preference, or what kinks. It's irrelevant. And it irks me that some people define themselves *only* through that, and then accuse me of being intolerant when I say I frankly don't care. And I think if we could all come to that attitude "I don't give a shit what colour your skin is, what your sexual organs look like, or who you have sex with, but only what your character is like" that would be total equality then. Digging it up and gnawing on it often makes it worse, not better.
I'm with you about the show. I hope the cast the best actor and for purely personal likes I want him to be a bit older :-)
As long as I don't want to sleep with a person, I couldn't care less what gender they have, what sexual preference, or what kinks I'm pretty sure I don't want my complexion or gender in the same mix as "kinks". Just saying.
Why should a person be asked to deny or disregard their ancestry, or why ask a person to subvert his/her sexuality? The audience does not shrink away when a person of Scottish descent proclaims their heritage: why should someone of Ghanaian descent be asked to "not care" about their ancestry? It was lovely to have a Muslim character own her Faith and heritage.
Why compel the audience to disregard or pretend blindness to complexion, ancestry, and sexuality and call it tolerance? Why would someone walk up to actor Noel Clarke and say, "I don't care if you're black: you look good to me." Noel Clarke is handsome because of his coloring, not in spite of it
( ... )
Sorry for the flippant response before--I am in the middle of an eight day week and wanted to go to bed.
However In talking about our willingness to embrace diversity, it is unfortunate that to show this willingness that we often resort to unintentionally dismissive statements like "I don't care if an individual is (fill in the blank).
Saying I don't care if you are (fill in the blank)-- is very like saying I don't if you are late to a dear friend. Both are statements of entitlement. The later is acceptable entitlement. If a person has made a promise to be at a certain place, at a certain time and you have to wait, then you are entitled to choose to be angry or not to care. Not so with an individual's existence or nature.
I have said similar things, and regretted it especially when the person called me on it. She cared that I was heterosexual, because that the subject at hand were our relationship issues. However her relationship was being tested, and by saying "I don't care if you're gay" I denied her the opportunity to
( ... )
As I noted elsewhere in these comments, I feel that even in a female body, the Doctor himself has for so long so apparently identified as male, that we would get not a "woman" Doctor but a transman Doctor of sorts (I feel that the Corsair was implied to be more fluid on that, honestly - and that perhaps the Corsair enjoyed being "she" once in a while, as the Doctor notes, "oh she was a naughty girl!" or the like).
And I would be okay with that I suppose (though I would be leery of the idea of it becoming little more than a joke), but I think trying to make him a "woman" as opposed to "female-bodied" would be a stretch for this particular character. I think that's something some people have missed by saying they want a "woman Doctor" or "female Doctor" - some of them talk as if simply the physical (obvious, external) body controls that, and it does not. Being "female" can be considered in either sex, gender, or both, but the two are not always the same. And one of several common threads with the Doctor - in addition to his restless
( ... )
that we would get not a "woman" Doctor but a transman Doctor of sorts (I feel that the Corsair was implied to be more fluid on that, honestly - and that perhaps the Corsair enjoyed being "she" once in a while, as the Doctor notes, "oh she was a naughty girl!" or the like). I am not certain if the Actor in question should play "a male mind in a female body". The Doctor is male, but he is an alien male and most of the time thehe behaves according to what he feels human are most comfortable with. However if the female actor continues "behaving like the Doctor..." and if the script writers produce scripts for the Doctor, rather than a gender specific character it could be very good.
Now, If Mister Moffat and company write the female Doctor as suddenly developing the urge to settle down with a husband and have babies, I'll simply flip the channel.
No, I don't think Time Lords can randomly regenerate into another gender without knowing. I'm with you there. I don't think BBC is going to touch that one either.
Another thing that I've thought about with all the speculation coming up: The Doctor has always been white to me too. I haven't seen all of the old series yet: Is there ever a non-white Time Lord or Lady? Do they have ethnic groups on Galifrey? I don't think I would be very surprised if he regenerated into anther ethic type one day (even though I admit I was a bit surprised at the first black Vulcan I saw).
I think I want to see him as a guy who still flirts with women (and occasionally with Jack). That would be just fine by me.
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Can of worms comment on race omitted for brevity
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(This happened in Planet of the Spiders, Jon Pertwee's last regular story.)
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I never saw any of the older ones you mention (or not that I recall) but I'll sure get there.
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The Doctor has certainly been around long enough to have tried everything. But even if he has never felt the slightest bit curious about being with another man, he's still been around long enough and seen enough not to freak out like "OMG dude, wtf?! I'm straight, you homo, get off me!!!!" when Jack kissed him goodbye. It's not like he thought Jack was trying to rape him or anything, he was just showing affection in the way he was accustomed. I think they've made it clear that the Doctor doesn't have the same "hang ups" as a lot of 21st century humans.
Which is another reason the whole "DW IS RACIST!!!" Thing bothers me. The Doctor shrugs off Martha's worry about being black in the 1500s, and people say it's racist. Admittedly, it was naive of him, but I think the point is that the Doctor is from a time/race ( ... )
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I totally share your racism feeling, and even more so when it comes to gender and sexual orientation. Hardly anyone seems to get that though, when I try to express it. As long as I don't want to sleep with a person, I couldn't care less what gender they have, what sexual preference, or what kinks. It's irrelevant. And it irks me that some people define themselves *only* through that, and then accuse me of being intolerant when I say I frankly don't care. And I think if we could all come to that attitude "I don't give a shit what colour your skin is, what your sexual organs look like, or who you have sex with, but only what your character is like" that would be total equality then. Digging it up and gnawing on it often makes it worse, not better.
I'm with you about the show. I hope the cast the best actor and for purely personal likes I want him to be a bit older :-)
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Why should a person be asked to deny or disregard their ancestry, or why ask a person to subvert his/her sexuality? The audience does not shrink away when a person of Scottish descent proclaims their heritage: why should someone of Ghanaian descent be asked to "not care" about their ancestry? It was lovely to have a Muslim character own her Faith and heritage.
Why compel the audience to disregard or pretend blindness to complexion, ancestry, and sexuality and call it tolerance? Why would someone walk up to actor Noel Clarke and say, "I don't care if you're black: you look good to me." Noel Clarke is handsome because of his coloring, not in spite of it ( ... )
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However In talking about our willingness to embrace diversity, it is unfortunate that to show this willingness that we often resort to unintentionally dismissive statements like "I don't care if an individual is (fill in the blank).
Saying I don't care if you are (fill in the blank)-- is very like saying I don't if you are late to a dear friend. Both are statements of entitlement. The later is acceptable entitlement. If a person has made a promise to be at a certain place, at a certain time and you have to wait, then you are entitled to choose to be angry or not to care. Not so with an individual's existence or nature.
I have said similar things, and regretted it especially when the person called me on it.
She cared that I was heterosexual, because that the subject at hand were our relationship issues. However her relationship was being tested, and by saying "I don't care if you're gay" I denied her the opportunity to ( ... )
Reply
And I would be okay with that I suppose (though I would be leery of the idea of it becoming little more than a joke), but I think trying to make him a "woman" as opposed to "female-bodied" would be a stretch for this particular character. I think that's something some people have missed by saying they want a "woman Doctor" or "female Doctor" - some of them talk as if simply the physical (obvious, external) body controls that, and it does not. Being "female" can be considered in either sex, gender, or both, but the two are not always the same. And one of several common threads with the Doctor - in addition to his restless ( ... )
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Now, If Mister Moffat and company write the female Doctor as suddenly developing the urge to settle down with a husband and have babies, I'll simply flip the channel.
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