"It's a fairy tale." "Aren't we all?"
I have now seen all the River Song episodes of Doctor Who, and OH, HELL, YES!!! Count me among those who have fallen head over heels for the mysterious Dr. Song.
The show itself has surprised me; it's different from the show I thought it was when I was aware of it only through fannish osmosis, and I'm curious whether this is the whole show, or all of New Who, or if it's mostly a characteristic of series five and Doctor Eleventy and--and this part seems important to me, but I fully grant that my viewing experience is heavily filtered--of River Song herself. I always knew Doctor Who was a "children's show," but I wasn't quite sure what that meant. What it really is, or at least what the seven eps I've seen really are, is a fairy tale. And fairy tales aren't "children's stories" so much as they are stories that are true in ways that children--or adults who haven't forgotten how to think like children--are best capable of seeing. They're stories about magic and memory and belief, and for some reason I wasn't expecting that in this show, which perhaps goes to show how fannish osmosis sometimes gets it wrong.
And then there is River Song, the keeper of the story. She has a name that you could use to teach the meaning of "symbolism" to middle school English students. She is an archaeologist, studying the past (the future). She keeps a book full of spoilers--a diary, the story of her life, which is also the story of the Doctor's life, a fairy tale, the song of time. If this is a story about stories, she may well be the storyteller.
Also she has some pretty smoking red shoes! I think I'm in love. :)
The show itself has surprised me; it's different from the show I thought it was when I was aware of it only through fannish osmosis, and I'm curious whether this is the whole show, or all of New Who, or if it's mostly a characteristic of series five and Doctor Eleventy and--and this part seems important to me, but I fully grant that my viewing experience is heavily filtered--of River Song herself. I always knew Doctor Who was a "children's show," but I wasn't quite sure what that meant. What it really is, or at least what the seven eps I've seen really are, is a fairy tale. And fairy tales aren't "children's stories" so much as they are stories that are true in ways that children--or adults who haven't forgotten how to think like children--are best capable of seeing. They're stories about magic and memory and belief, and for some reason I wasn't expecting that in this show, which perhaps goes to show how fannish osmosis sometimes gets it wrong.
And then there is River Song, the keeper of the story. She has a name that you could use to teach the meaning of "symbolism" to middle school English students. She is an archaeologist, studying the past (the future). She keeps a book full of spoilers--a diary, the story of her life, which is also the story of the Doctor's life, a fairy tale, the song of time. If this is a story about stories, she may well be the storyteller.
Also she has some pretty smoking red shoes! I think I'm in love. :)