I completely agree with you about the Doctor and Rose being perfect for one another; however, I would not go as far as to say the Doctor is a womanizing flirt by any means. In the episode 'School Reunion' in Season 2 where the Doctor is reunited with Sarah Jane, you can see the anguish he feels upon seeing her again and how much it pains him that everyone he's had to leave everyone he's ever loved. More than anything, I think the Doctor is very lonely, though he'd never admit it. I think he never meant to be anything more than Martha's friend; I never sensed he was in any way romantically attracted to her. Did he love Martha? Yes, but in a platonic sense only. He's loved all of his companions, but the only two he's every really possibly loved in a romantic sense are Rose and Sarah Jane. If you watch the really old episodes from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, you'll see that he makes strong bonds of friendship with all of his companions, but you can sense that there might be something more between him and Sarah Jane--though, admittedly the connection is no where near as strong or as apparent as his connection with Rose. That's why I think that while it is very clear to us as audience members that the Rose and Doctor are in love, he tries not to act on his feelings because he knows, in inevitably, they cannot stay together forever simply by virtue of who he is. There is a wonderful fan video on youtube entitled 'Shattered' that depicts how heartbreaking it is for the Doctor to constantly have to leave those he loves. I'd send you a link to it, but it has major season 4 spoilers in it, so I won't. Speaking of Season 4, I can't WAIT for you to see it, especially the finale. The four part season 4 finale is my absolute favorite part of the whole series. I was an emotional wreck by the end of it, but I think once you see season four it will be easier for you to understand where the Doctor is coming from and that he is not a womanizing flirt by any stretch of the imagination, just a very lonely man who is always striving to do what is right and help others. The Doctor has such a wonderful and complex character yet flawed and human (though, of course, technically he is not). It is such a sweeping generalization to declare him a 'womanizing flirt' when his emotions and actions and personality are all as complex as they are. The reason the Doctor says "I travel alone," to the old man has nothing to do with the fact that the character in question is not a young, attractive woman, but rather because the Doctor is tired of having his heart broken. And one can certainly have their heart broken by a friend--have one's heart broken does not imply that it had to have been broken by a love interest of some sort. Also, I think he ultimately decides to allow Martha to travel with him not because she is young and pretty but because she is an intelligent, quick witted, and strong person whom the Doctor had grown to see as a friend. Remember, he didn't want her to travel with him right away as he was still reeling from the loss of Rose. I've always been a really big Martha fan and I admired her ability to reconstruct her life and move on even after she had her heart broken by the Doctor. Plus, she saved the entire universe at the end of season 3. That counts for something, I think. But anyway, while it was painful for Martha to realize that the Doctor would never love her, it's also important to realize that he wasn't at fault for not loving Martha, nor was Martha at fault for falling in love with the Doctor. But I totally understand where your coming from when you say you miss Rose. I remember I posted a long rant about how perfect she and the Doctor were and while I did like Martha, how much I missed season 2 way back in February of last year on my old livejournal which has since been deleted.
Anyway, this was obviously in no way meant to be an attack against you, just politely disagreeing :-) I'm glad we both share a love of Doctor Who and the Doctor and Rose's relationship. I hope you can forgive me for the ridiculous length of this comment. DFTBA! <3
Oh my god, thank you so much for this comment. It was exactly what I needed. I realize that using the words "womanizing flirt" was a much too strong thing to say. I wasn't really thinking, and deep down I knew that that's not at all what he is. Recently, I commented on a video of "Voyage of the Damned" saying a very short, concise version of this entire blog post, and the person who'd posted the video responded very angrily telling me that he wasn't a 'womaniser' at all and he feels a lot of pain and that I shouldn't be so assuming. I never really meant womanising when I said it. I was just frustrated that he kept finding these girls who fell in love with him. It just upset me that he immediately asked Kylie in Voyage of the Damned to come with him. But I do realize that he is very lonely, and people like Kylie and Martha have the right sort of mind to work well with him. I'm happy that you actually took the time to prove me wrong and explain why I was wrong, it was much more helpful than the angry comment I received on youtube. I guess I really should be more careful of what I say. Also, I should wait and see what happens in series 4 before I judge. But I truly love the Doctor, and really, I'm just jealous that I'm not the one that he picks to come with him. =P
Anyway, everything you said in your comment is totally true and illuminating. I wasn't thinking about his heart(s) when I said that. It's true that he really just didn't want to get his heart broken again. And you're right, he does have to leave everyone eventually and that must be really hard for him, so I really shouldn't have been so accusatory. Basically, you're right. Thank you! I will edit this blog post to explain that my feelings have totally changed. You rock. Leave lengthy comments whenever you want. :)
Anyway, this was obviously in no way meant to be an attack against you, just politely disagreeing :-) I'm glad we both share a love of Doctor Who and the Doctor and Rose's relationship. I hope you can forgive me for the ridiculous length of this comment. DFTBA! <3
--Maddy
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I realize that using the words "womanizing flirt" was a much too strong thing to say. I wasn't really thinking, and deep down I knew that that's not at all what he is. Recently, I commented on a video of "Voyage of the Damned" saying a very short, concise version of this entire blog post, and the person who'd posted the video responded very angrily telling me that he wasn't a 'womaniser' at all and he feels a lot of pain and that I shouldn't be so assuming.
I never really meant womanising when I said it. I was just frustrated that he kept finding these girls who fell in love with him. It just upset me that he immediately asked Kylie in Voyage of the Damned to come with him. But I do realize that he is very lonely, and people like Kylie and Martha have the right sort of mind to work well with him.
I'm happy that you actually took the time to prove me wrong and explain why I was wrong, it was much more helpful than the angry comment I received on youtube. I guess I really should be more careful of what I say. Also, I should wait and see what happens in series 4 before I judge.
But I truly love the Doctor, and really, I'm just jealous that I'm not the one that he picks to come with him. =P
Anyway, everything you said in your comment is totally true and illuminating. I wasn't thinking about his heart(s) when I said that. It's true that he really just didn't want to get his heart broken again. And you're right, he does have to leave everyone eventually and that must be really hard for him, so I really shouldn't have been so accusatory.
Basically, you're right.
Thank you! I will edit this blog post to explain that my feelings have totally changed.
You rock. Leave lengthy comments whenever you want. :)
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