Bweeeee, all of this. I am so glad that Doctor Who can finally be a favourite show again, because I was starting to wonder if it was all gone, if even Moffat could make me love it as I used to.
It is true there are some plot holes in this episode. I will have to think about how annoyed by them I am at a later date, because I'm pleased by the emotional bits.
Heh, this is sort of my approach to most things -- if the emotional bits, the "real" parts, ring true, then I don't mind much of this or that thing isn't properly explained, unless it's so vast and gaping and problematic that it can't be shuffled off to the side. I am trying to tell myself that this does not make me A Silly Emotional Girl Person Who Should Not Be Allowed To Watch Stuff, just someone who knows what she likes. (And what she likes are FLOATING SPACESHIP CITIES and grimy future circusy worlds and clever children and women in red cloaks and porcelain masks and kickass boots and lovely hugs and views of stars, whee!)
And yes! on the inclusion of children, hurrah! This is supposed to be partly a children's show; let's not erase their perspective. I like that Moffat's children have been clever and industrious, and what they do and think matters. Which means a lot to a young viewer.
Moffat's aesthetic pleases me A LOT -- one of the problems I had with RTD is that he seems to have the imagination of a twelve-year-old boy (crossed with a weirdly cynical grown-up), and I sort of got sick of spaceships and funny aliens with funny names and everything drawn in broad strokes. I can't exactly say that Moffat is Better At Doing Everything (I mean, aside from writing episodes that don't make me want to drink myself into a coma, if I... did that sort of thing), but his way suits my aesthetics a broad sight more. There's a lot more wonder and mystery, and science-fiction that's a lot more fantastical. ♥
I really like that we seem to have gotten some joy back in Doctor Who, with Moffat. Amy tells us that the Doctor has been lonely, and been through pain--but it only made him kind. And I (almost) don't care that she told us twice, because I've been needing to hear that. Much as I loved Ten...he could do manic, but I think he'd lost joyful somewhere. I feel like he needed to see joy through others' eyes (like Martha's, on the moon), but Eleven seems so far to want to *share* joy with other people.
As for being a Silly Emotional Girl Person--I guess I am one too. :) But no, really, I think you're right: you watch for what you like, just like people who put story above all. It's no better or worse, and I don't think I'm saying that because that's how I tend to watch and read, too. (I mean, hello, I love Shakespeare. Dodgy plot bits ahoy!)
And I agree about Moffat's aesthetic, too. His episodes with RTD were almost always my favorites--so, like you, it may not always be that Moffat does it *better* (though...), but I like the way he does things more. And he's not as much for Giant Spectacle and explosions; it's more creepy, battered faces and striped tents, and the thing you can see from the corner of your eye. I love that. I hope we get to keep it. (I'm assuming there will be some Spectacle somewhere, but hopefully only when appropriate.)
It is true there are some plot holes in this episode. I will have to think about how annoyed by them I am at a later date, because I'm pleased by the emotional bits.
Heh, this is sort of my approach to most things -- if the emotional bits, the "real" parts, ring true, then I don't mind much of this or that thing isn't properly explained, unless it's so vast and gaping and problematic that it can't be shuffled off to the side. I am trying to tell myself that this does not make me A Silly Emotional Girl Person Who Should Not Be Allowed To Watch Stuff, just someone who knows what she likes. (And what she likes are FLOATING SPACESHIP CITIES and grimy future circusy worlds and clever children and women in red cloaks and porcelain masks and kickass boots and lovely hugs and views of stars, whee!)
And yes! on the inclusion of children, hurrah! This is supposed to be partly a children's show; let's not erase their perspective. I like that Moffat's children have been clever and industrious, and what they do and think matters. Which means a lot to a young viewer.
Moffat's aesthetic pleases me A LOT -- one of the problems I had with RTD is that he seems to have the imagination of a twelve-year-old boy (crossed with a weirdly cynical grown-up), and I sort of got sick of spaceships and funny aliens with funny names and everything drawn in broad strokes. I can't exactly say that Moffat is Better At Doing Everything (I mean, aside from writing episodes that don't make me want to drink myself into a coma, if I... did that sort of thing), but his way suits my aesthetics a broad sight more. There's a lot more wonder and mystery, and science-fiction that's a lot more fantastical. ♥
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I really like that we seem to have gotten some joy back in Doctor Who, with Moffat. Amy tells us that the Doctor has been lonely, and been through pain--but it only made him kind. And I (almost) don't care that she told us twice, because I've been needing to hear that. Much as I loved Ten...he could do manic, but I think he'd lost joyful somewhere. I feel like he needed to see joy through others' eyes (like Martha's, on the moon), but Eleven seems so far to want to *share* joy with other people.
As for being a Silly Emotional Girl Person--I guess I am one too. :) But no, really, I think you're right: you watch for what you like, just like people who put story above all. It's no better or worse, and I don't think I'm saying that because that's how I tend to watch and read, too. (I mean, hello, I love Shakespeare. Dodgy plot bits ahoy!)
And I agree about Moffat's aesthetic, too. His episodes with RTD were almost always my favorites--so, like you, it may not always be that Moffat does it *better* (though...), but I like the way he does things more. And he's not as much for Giant Spectacle and explosions; it's more creepy, battered faces and striped tents, and the thing you can see from the corner of your eye. I love that. I hope we get to keep it. (I'm assuming there will be some Spectacle somewhere, but hopefully only when appropriate.)
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