Martha and the Message of Black Women

[bcbgrl33]

Recently Jill Scott came out with her raw, insightful piece about the "wince" she feels when ever she discovers a successful Black man in a relationship with a White Woman. And while she and many other Black Women like myself are not against Interracial relationships, the relationship is just a constant reminder of where we are on the Hierarchy of

Comments

[tokenblkgirl]

Interesting post, and thank you for the link. I'll have to check that out.

Throughout Doctor Who, the Doctor is attracted to white woman after white woman, and then along comes smart, resourceful, Martha and again it shows that what ever we do as Black Women-no matter how smart, how brave, how beautiful we truly are- we still can't measure up to our White counterparts.I think this is what we have a difference of opinion on, I don't see The Doctor's affections as a litmus test of desirability for the show. Martha received a good amount of male attention from other male characters, arguably more than Rose because of her fixation on Ten. Jack took a particular interest in her, as did Shakespeare, Tom, a few other guest stars and ultimately Mickey

[bcbgrl33]

Thank you so much for your comment. I highly recommend those articles, they are very poignant.
<"Martha received a good amount of male attention from other male characters">

That would have been fine, if not for the fact that the audience really cares about the Hero's treatment and behavior towards Martha. If the Doctor didn't find her attractive but secondary character did, that's great in a bubble, but we aren't in a bubble. His attitudes towards his companions will generally shape and reflect the audience's attitudes towards Martha as well. And that's dangerous.

<"I consider this The Doctor's failing, his flaw. Not a reflection on Martha as a character"> I agree with this wholeheartedly. He is a huge moron for not seeing the beautiful woman that was standing in front of him. But it still aversively sends a dangerous, pervasive message that I don't need to see played out on a Science Fiction show.

Thank you again for taking the time to read and comment :D

Is the Hero heroic though?

[viomisehunt]

I agree that on Doctor Who Martha is not treated as any sort of damsel or even female, by the Doctor. Julia sucked up her fear and went to work taking care of the patients. She behaved with stunning fortitude. (Where the hell were the senior physicians!)
But, yes, the audience does not care about Julia because the Doctor has already declared that she was useless.
Doctor Who plots does this a lot, right up to Midnight and that amazing scene when Ten realizes he never asked the woman who saved his life her name.

bcbgrl33 writes:That would have been fine, if not for the fact that the audience really cares about the Hero's treatment and behavior towards Martha. If the Doctor didn't find her attractive but secondary character did, that's great in a bubble, but we aren't in a bubble. His attitudes towards his companions will generally shape and reflect the audience's attitudes towards Martha as well. And that's dangerous.It is scary, but I'm a little more frightened of an audience who find Martha unappealing because the Doctor behaves

[neadods]

again it shows that what ever we do as Black Women-no matter how smart, how brave, how beautiful we truly are- we still can't measure up to our White counterparts

I was arguing with a couple of guys about the treatment of Martha. "Name one time the Doctor gave her a compliment," I asked. "Not a statement of fact, like 'you saved the world,' an actual compliment."

They both insisted that there were plenty of times, so I insisted that would make it easy for them to them to come up with something.

And then they were silent for about two minutes, trying to actually come up with one.

It's not just her desirability, it's the way he treated her overall. Apparently showing someone is kickass is enough for them; telling the world that you've *noticed* and *appreciate* that they're kickass is just too much for Some People.

[bcbgrl33]

<"And then they were silent for about two minutes, trying to actually come up with one.">

THIS! This whole comment. Seriously, you are so right to tell them that an actual compliment is not the same as saying "you saved the world" or "you are kickass" We know that. She knows that. Now the Doctor needed to recognize and verbally pay her that compliment; otherwise people will have delusional events where they think he complimented her but didn't.

Thank you for your comment. I love your essays about Martha and DW; it's what inspired me to write my observations as well :D

[neadods]

otherwise people will have delusional events where they think he complimented her but didn't

I still didn't quite shake the delusion, even though I was saying "See? See? My point exactly!" while they were thinking.

You're more than welcome. I'm glad to have been an inspiration!

Jefferson reference/Martha's Parents

[viomisehunt]

What bothered me, when Martha asks if her dress is alright--she had just given the Doctor a pep talk about his appearance -- he brings up Jefferson. All I could think of was Jeffereson infaous letter declairing why white people do not find people of color attractive. Have to wonder if that particular was deliberate

Question

[viomisehunt]

It is interesting that in a good segment of the community Russell's story arc is disliked because the Doctor falls in love with Rose, and those opposed to the Time Lord falling for a human. The Doctor, the hero, these fans complain, becomes weak, whiny and down right mean. He abandons Jack, not only among Dalek corspes, but human corpses. Rose revives Jack. I noted she didn't revive brave, blonde, Lynda who Nine calls sweet and invites along to join him on the TARDIS