I actually hadn't thought of it in terms of gender, that is a really good point. I think if there were more male companions, I think characters would get the short end of the stick in a more equal gender spread. At least, I'd like to hope (since I always tend to see it as Doctor vs. everyone else, not men vs. women, but that's my own bias?)
Regardless, the Donna thing is possibly the cruelest end of a character that I've seen (especially given the whole "haha, all your companions turn into warriors!" plot point, and Donna was the one WHO DIDN'T). I was bawling, man, and while I accept that the Doctor Who verse is cruel, I can only hope some future writer will find a way to plothole her back into existance.
I'm torn, actually. On the one hand, I see your point; it's the Doctor against/above humanity in general (and I still hate that, I hate the Lonely God thing, and I loved Donna for not fawning over him all the time). On the other, RTD did choose to create all female companions (with the exception of Jack, obviously, though I forget now that he's mired in Torchwood and various other issues), and they do fit into a tradition of problematic female characterizations in science fiction.
I think it's probably a combination, but I'm angry regardless. Robbing Donna of her agency wasn't just cruel, it was totally unnecessary. Donna deserved to make a choice, and even had she made that one, the total memory loss thing struck me as really contrived. Doctor Who (new series, anyway . . . must watch some old at some point) suffers from what you might call Human in the Refrigerator syndrome . . . constantly sacrificing "ordinary" people so that the Doctor can have his tragic rained-on angsty moments. It irritates the hell out of me, and this
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Regardless, the Donna thing is possibly the cruelest end of a character that I've seen (especially given the whole "haha, all your companions turn into warriors!" plot point, and Donna was the one WHO DIDN'T). I was bawling, man, and while I accept that the Doctor Who verse is cruel, I can only hope some future writer will find a way to plothole her back into existance.
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I think it's probably a combination, but I'm angry regardless. Robbing Donna of her agency wasn't just cruel, it was totally unnecessary. Donna deserved to make a choice, and even had she made that one, the total memory loss thing struck me as really contrived. Doctor Who (new series, anyway . . . must watch some old at some point) suffers from what you might call Human in the Refrigerator syndrome . . . constantly sacrificing "ordinary" people so that the Doctor can have his tragic rained-on angsty moments. It irritates the hell out of me, and this ( ... )
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