Meta question
It occurred to me when I was watching the Vampire Diaries last night, that there's a question I've been ignoring.
Why does Donna's fate on Doctor Who annoy me so much and feel like mind rape, when there have been several compulsion scenes in the Vampire Diaries that I love?
Let me elaborate on each situation, so that those who don't watch one of these shows, or either, can join in if you feel like it.
Doctor Who- Donna was the Doctor's companion for season 4. Very brash and loud mouthed and completely awesome in every way. In that last episode...well, I won't get into the technobabble details, but basically she absorbs a lot or all of the Doctor's knowledge and saves the day. Afterward, though, she starts getting sick. That much knowledge can't be contained by a human, or some such handwavyness, and it's burning her up. So the Doctor erases all memory of himself, while she's begging him not to and crying. It's still there, since she starts remembering it later in a special, but I guess he's locked it away so it won't hurt her.
Vampire Diaries- There have been too many examples of vampires compelling humans to count, and a lot of times we're supposed to see it as a bad thing, but there are two scenes I'm thinking of where it wasn't portrayed as something we're supposed to be repulsed by, but moved by, and I absolutely was moved by it.
1- When Caroline erased her mom's memories. Liz, her mom, is the sheriff. She hunts vampires from time to time to protect the town. Caroline is turned into a vampire in season 2. Liz finds out that Caroline, and the Salvatore brothers whom she had previously trusted, are vampires and doesn't take it well. No one wants to kill her, so they all agree (Liz included) to wait for the vervaine to leave her system (it's an herb that protects from compulsion) and then they'll compel her to forget what she learned. Liz and Caroline had always had a strained relationship, and Liz initially wanted nothing to do with her daughter now that she was a vampire. But over the course of the next episode Caroline keeps talking to her and confiding in her, and by the end Liz acknowledges what an amazing young woman she is, vampire or not, and says they don't need to compel her, she'll keep their secrets. Caroline trusts her mom to keep her safe, but doesn't believe she'll protect the Salvatores the same way, and, while crying, compels her mother to forget everything that's happened, including them finally connecting as mother and daughter.
2- In last nights episode, Damon goes to Elena to return her vervaine necklace, which protects her from compulsion, but won't give it back right away. He says he needs to say this, and tells her he loves her, and it's because he loves her that he can't be selfish, and that Stefan is better for her. He then compels her to forget what he said, returns the necklace, and leaves before Elena comes out of the compulsion trance.
Both of those scenes moved me, whereas the Donna scene just pissed me off. All of them involve people's minds being altered against their will.
I guess maybe it's because on the Vampire Diaries I'm almost positive they'll remember eventually, probably before the end of the season, because that's the kind of show it is? Or maybe it's just because I'm more sympathetic to Caroline, and even Damon to a certain extent, then I was towards the tenth Doctor by the time the season 4 finale came up?
What do you guys think. Is it ever OK for someone's mind to be messed with for their own good (after all, Donna would have died if he hadn't messed with her head)? Is it never OK? Does it depend on how they execute the scene?
Why does Donna's fate on Doctor Who annoy me so much and feel like mind rape, when there have been several compulsion scenes in the Vampire Diaries that I love?
Let me elaborate on each situation, so that those who don't watch one of these shows, or either, can join in if you feel like it.
Doctor Who- Donna was the Doctor's companion for season 4. Very brash and loud mouthed and completely awesome in every way. In that last episode...well, I won't get into the technobabble details, but basically she absorbs a lot or all of the Doctor's knowledge and saves the day. Afterward, though, she starts getting sick. That much knowledge can't be contained by a human, or some such handwavyness, and it's burning her up. So the Doctor erases all memory of himself, while she's begging him not to and crying. It's still there, since she starts remembering it later in a special, but I guess he's locked it away so it won't hurt her.
Vampire Diaries- There have been too many examples of vampires compelling humans to count, and a lot of times we're supposed to see it as a bad thing, but there are two scenes I'm thinking of where it wasn't portrayed as something we're supposed to be repulsed by, but moved by, and I absolutely was moved by it.
1- When Caroline erased her mom's memories. Liz, her mom, is the sheriff. She hunts vampires from time to time to protect the town. Caroline is turned into a vampire in season 2. Liz finds out that Caroline, and the Salvatore brothers whom she had previously trusted, are vampires and doesn't take it well. No one wants to kill her, so they all agree (Liz included) to wait for the vervaine to leave her system (it's an herb that protects from compulsion) and then they'll compel her to forget what she learned. Liz and Caroline had always had a strained relationship, and Liz initially wanted nothing to do with her daughter now that she was a vampire. But over the course of the next episode Caroline keeps talking to her and confiding in her, and by the end Liz acknowledges what an amazing young woman she is, vampire or not, and says they don't need to compel her, she'll keep their secrets. Caroline trusts her mom to keep her safe, but doesn't believe she'll protect the Salvatores the same way, and, while crying, compels her mother to forget everything that's happened, including them finally connecting as mother and daughter.
2- In last nights episode, Damon goes to Elena to return her vervaine necklace, which protects her from compulsion, but won't give it back right away. He says he needs to say this, and tells her he loves her, and it's because he loves her that he can't be selfish, and that Stefan is better for her. He then compels her to forget what he said, returns the necklace, and leaves before Elena comes out of the compulsion trance.
Both of those scenes moved me, whereas the Donna scene just pissed me off. All of them involve people's minds being altered against their will.
I guess maybe it's because on the Vampire Diaries I'm almost positive they'll remember eventually, probably before the end of the season, because that's the kind of show it is? Or maybe it's just because I'm more sympathetic to Caroline, and even Damon to a certain extent, then I was towards the tenth Doctor by the time the season 4 finale came up?
What do you guys think. Is it ever OK for someone's mind to be messed with for their own good (after all, Donna would have died if he hadn't messed with her head)? Is it never OK? Does it depend on how they execute the scene?