A Good Man Goes To War
My doctor and my counselor (last session I could afford with her because I'm no longer a KSU student) both insist that one step in my recovery from this last... extremely difficult bout of depression is getting back to things I like to do, and one of the things I like to do is think too deeply about a show that I am more and more convinced is not really intended for deep thought. So here we go.
One of the more interesting things about Russell T. Davies' Who was the juxtaposition of the Doctor's insistence that choice can influence the universe, and the idea that predestination is inescapable -- he maintains, for instance, that he can't save anyone from Pompeii, even in the face of Donna's misery, right up until the last point. His choices, designed to help him escape his death, only make it more inevitable.
So a question I find really interesting to ask is, in Moffat's Who -- who is profoundly affected by predestination, and who has agency (defined, in this post, by the ability to make choices which alter an "inevitable" fate). Since River Song is Amy's daughter -- how much agency does she have? The Doctor (whether he realizes it or not, and I am beginning to suspect he does realize it), has already met a child version of her... that must happen. Also problematic is River's "backwards" relationship with the Doctor. At every point in their relationship thus far, she has had the power because she knows more about him than he does about her -- it is inevitable that they have a relationship, but that is only because, at some point, the Doctor knew more about her than she knew about him. From this perspective, it's skeezy in nearly every angle.
What's another interesting question is -- given that River obviously does not have as much agency as the Doctor -- does Rory have more agency than Amy? In other words, is this plot of Doctor Who subtly sexist?
I would argue yes but I don't think it's intentional on Moffat's part.
As far as how I enjoyed it -- I profoundly enjoyed it on an intellectual level. I'm just going to have to get over how much I really Don't Care whenever Karen Gillian "acts" -- part of me was going -- you just need to go to daycare the first time a woman drops off her infant for the day, sweetie, because... I felt nothing from her. Absolutely nothing.
Arthur Darvill redeemed Rory for me. I absolutely love everything about Rory and you can't convince me otherwise.
What did YOU guys think? And what do you think about my thinky-thoughts?
One of the more interesting things about Russell T. Davies' Who was the juxtaposition of the Doctor's insistence that choice can influence the universe, and the idea that predestination is inescapable -- he maintains, for instance, that he can't save anyone from Pompeii, even in the face of Donna's misery, right up until the last point. His choices, designed to help him escape his death, only make it more inevitable.
So a question I find really interesting to ask is, in Moffat's Who -- who is profoundly affected by predestination, and who has agency (defined, in this post, by the ability to make choices which alter an "inevitable" fate). Since River Song is Amy's daughter -- how much agency does she have? The Doctor (whether he realizes it or not, and I am beginning to suspect he does realize it), has already met a child version of her... that must happen. Also problematic is River's "backwards" relationship with the Doctor. At every point in their relationship thus far, she has had the power because she knows more about him than he does about her -- it is inevitable that they have a relationship, but that is only because, at some point, the Doctor knew more about her than she knew about him. From this perspective, it's skeezy in nearly every angle.
What's another interesting question is -- given that River obviously does not have as much agency as the Doctor -- does Rory have more agency than Amy? In other words, is this plot of Doctor Who subtly sexist?
I would argue yes but I don't think it's intentional on Moffat's part.
As far as how I enjoyed it -- I profoundly enjoyed it on an intellectual level. I'm just going to have to get over how much I really Don't Care whenever Karen Gillian "acts" -- part of me was going -- you just need to go to daycare the first time a woman drops off her infant for the day, sweetie, because... I felt nothing from her. Absolutely nothing.
Arthur Darvill redeemed Rory for me. I absolutely love everything about Rory and you can't convince me otherwise.
What did YOU guys think? And what do you think about my thinky-thoughts?