Why I don't Like "The Girl in the Fireplace" Part 1: Problematic Themes
The Girl in the Fireplace. Any Doctor Who fan, even a casual viewer, knows about this episode. It's often considered the best episode of series 2. Written by Steven Moffat, it received critical acclaim, is a favorite of most Doctor Who fans, and even won a Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation in Short Form. So, what's the problem? Well, a lot, actually.
It's classist, sexist, and poorly written. It reduces the female characters to simplistic, sexist stereotypes, it implies that one woman is not deserving of the Doctor's love because of her working-class background, and it completely disregards the character development from the previous episode.
How is it sexist? Well, in order to explain, I think we need to first remember what exactly sexism is. According to Dictionary.com, sexism is "attitudes or behavior based on traditional stereotypes of sexual roles" or "discrimination or devaluation based on a person's sex". Let's analyze the behavior of the female characters in this episode, and how the Doctor treats these women. Reinette, aka Madame de Pompadour, meets the Doctor when she is a child, and as a result develops a gigantic crush on him because he's handsome and he saves her life. This is already mind-blowingly creepy, and it's a theme we see again and again with Steven Moffat. The thing is, the actual Madame de Pompadour was an amazing woman. Originally born into a working-class family, she ended up becoming the official mistress of King Louis XV, and wielding considerable political power in a time when women were subjugated and considered the inferior sex. She basically ran a war for seven years. Yet in this episode, she's simply a girl who pines and waits for a man she met once in her childhood. While there is one scene where the Doctor lists her accomplishments, we never see her function to that capacity. Instead, she acts accordingly to the men in her life. She's a victim of the robots, the mistress of the King, a love interest for the Doctor, but never truly "the Uncrowned Queen of France". I feel like Steven Moffat chose her simply to fetishize her. Throughout the entire episode, she's portrayed as highly sexual, even though the last ten years of her life she was unable to have sex because of multiple health problems, and ended up just being good friends with the king. In fact, she even organized for other women to come and see him. Clearly, there's a problem here.
Now, we move on to Rose Tyler. For those unfamiliar with the show, Rose Tyler is a companion of both the Ninth Doctor and the Tenth Doctor. She shares a close romantic relationship with both Doctors. However, what's even more impressive is how she grows as a character. She starts out as a nineteen-year-old girl with no direction in life, and ends up an agent of Torchwood and Defender of the Earth, she becomes a strong, mature woman who makes her own decisions and pursues what she wants from life. Yet here, she's reduced to the nagging fishwife. Through most of the episode, she's portrayed as whiny and fun-hating. Anyone remember the line "No, you can't keep the horse"? She acts as an obstacle between the Doctor and Reinette's relationship, and as a result the Doctor is then excused to behave like a complete jerk toward her. There's the scene where he arrives drunken from a party, and Rose is strapped down to a table about to be cut up by clockwork robots. She reprimands the Doctor for being so careless, and how does the Doctor respond? You sound just like your mother. We're encouraged to laugh at the way he treats her, even though it's wrong. This portrayal of Rose is atrocious, and it completely disregards her character and her character development from the previous episode.
The worst part of it is, that the portrayal of both these women sets up yet another disturbing theme-- adultery. While no adultery actually takes place within the episode, the dynamic between Reinette, Rose, and the Doctor mimics that of an extramarital affair. The Doctor is the poor, suffering husband, Rose is the irritating wife, and Reinette is the beautiful mistress. To make things worse, the Doctor suffers no consequences for the things he does, including leaving not only his companions, but the TARDIS, and as a result adultery is portrayed as something that's not only natural but even positive. In reality, adultery has serious consequences, and is not something to be taken lightly.
Now, we move on to the classism. I think that we should also remember what exactly classism is. Classism is prejudice or discrimination on the basis of social class. This includes stereotyping people by their class. According to Classism.Org, it is "the systematic assignment of characteristics of worth and ability based on social class". In the episode, we see a comparison between Rose and Reinette. While it's not explicitly stated within the episode, it's definitely still there. There's automatically going to be a comparison between Rose and Reinette, because Rose was already a romantic interest for the Doctor, so viewers are instinctively going to compare and contrast the two women and try to decide which one is better for the Doctor. If you analyze the episode, Reinette, the high-class, cultured courtesan donning fine dresses and sparkling jewelry, is portrayed as inherently better-suited for the Doctor because of her education and social class, whereas Rose, a working-class woman, is portrayed as crass, obnoxious, and insensitive. I'm sorry, but that's not okay. It bases the worth of these women off their social classes, rather than who they are as people.
Finally, the last problematic element I would like to touch upon is not something that really can be classified as classist or sexist, but is nonetheless problematic. There is one scene in the episode where the Doctor looks into Reinette's mind, and in the process Reinette, who apparently harbors latent psychic powers, looks into his memories. The scene is portrayed as romantic, when, in reality, it has disturbing implications. The problem with this scene is that she does it without his permission. While I don't think it's the equivalent of rape, it's definitely not consensual, which is wrong. To look into someone's memories without their permission is a serious invasion of privacy, and the Doctor is a very private person. He keeps his name a secret from every person he meets, and he's been traumatized by the Time War and the genocide of his species. It's not okay that some woman he barely knows can just barge into his mind like that and look through his memories, and it's portrayed as romantic.
You may say, why do these things matter? It's just one episode. Yes, it may just be one episode, but what we see on television has a gigantic influence over how we view other people. If we allow episodes like this to win awards and receive such high amounts of critical acclaim, without it's problematic themes being questioned, then we are therefore propagating harmful classist and sexist stereotypes. A person's worth and the way they deserve to be treated does not hinge on their sex or class, it depends on how they treat other people, what they do with their life. It has nothing to do with things like education, or wealth, or any other pretentious reason.