Doctor Who Casting Spoilers/Discussion
My thoughts, in no particular order:
- I like Peter Capaldi. I like that he's older, and I like the fact that he has a bit of inherent creepiness/menace going on.
- The reason I like the creep/menace factor is because I'm really hoping it will result in less romanticization of the Doctor and companion's relationship. Also, given Moffat's pledge to not really write the character any differently (which, given how his female characters have turned out, I'm not so sure he could even if he wanted to), I can't help but take a perverse interest in whether or not Twelve espouses some of the gross, sexist shit that Eleven has let fly with on occasion. Eleven was able to get away with a lot of troubling stuff, in large part (I suspect) because he's young-looking and goofy and affable, so it was only a certain portion of the fandom that squirmed uncomfortably when he, say, forcibly kissed Jenny without her consent, or mused about the relative tightness of Clara's skirt. If Capaldi!Doc did either of those things, I'm pretty sure the entire audience would be intensely uncomfortable, so it'll be interesting to see whether they necessarily cut back on that stuff, or whether they just embrace the ick factor. I'm hoping for the former.
- Speaking of gross, sexist shit, I'm not all that thrilled that Moffat is still the head writer. My enthusiasm for the show has really waned over the past couple of seasons, so even the casting of a new Doctor can only interest me so much. I don't really want the same crap via a different mouthpiece.
- Also, can we talk about a) how ludicrously blasé he was about Capaldi's name being bandied about before the ~big reveal~ compared to how downright tyrannical he was about any potential leaks of the trailer they showed at ComiCon; and b) how much he deserves to be kicked in the shins over that asinine comment about the Queen being played by a man?
- I like Peter Capaldi. I like that he's older, and I like the fact that he has a bit of inherent creepiness/menace going on.
- The reason I like the creep/menace factor is because I'm really hoping it will result in less romanticization of the Doctor and companion's relationship. Also, given Moffat's pledge to not really write the character any differently (which, given how his female characters have turned out, I'm not so sure he could even if he wanted to), I can't help but take a perverse interest in whether or not Twelve espouses some of the gross, sexist shit that Eleven has let fly with on occasion. Eleven was able to get away with a lot of troubling stuff, in large part (I suspect) because he's young-looking and goofy and affable, so it was only a certain portion of the fandom that squirmed uncomfortably when he, say, forcibly kissed Jenny without her consent, or mused about the relative tightness of Clara's skirt. If Capaldi!Doc did either of those things, I'm pretty sure the entire audience would be intensely uncomfortable, so it'll be interesting to see whether they necessarily cut back on that stuff, or whether they just embrace the ick factor. I'm hoping for the former.
- Speaking of gross, sexist shit, I'm not all that thrilled that Moffat is still the head writer. My enthusiasm for the show has really waned over the past couple of seasons, so even the casting of a new Doctor can only interest me so much. I don't really want the same crap via a different mouthpiece.
- Also, can we talk about a) how ludicrously blasé he was about Capaldi's name being bandied about before the ~big reveal~ compared to how downright tyrannical he was about any potential leaks of the trailer they showed at ComiCon; and b) how much he deserves to be kicked in the shins over that asinine comment about the Queen being played by a man?