savvyliterate:
What did you say your name was?
One of the things I loved about “Time of the Doctor” was that it showed that Clara wasn’t perfect. Moffat sums it up in this line, when Clara babbles that she is a “bubbly personality masking bossy control freak.”
One of the criticisms of Clara’s character is that she is too perfect. She saves the Doctor at every point in time, she entices One to the right TARDIS, she stops the Doctors from using The Moment, she convinces the Time Lords to grant new regenerations. Yeah, grits my teeth as well.
But the thing is — this episode showcases how hard Clara fights to maintain control over things, and at the very end, when she tries to exert control one more time, she can’t. Throughout the episode, Clara fights to maintain order in her life: from cooking the turkey to trying to keep the Doctor the man he currently is. She has no reason to expect it would go any other way, because she has maintained that control over everything since series 7b.
But at that very last second, when Clara is whispering, “Please don’t change,” that’s when her magic suddenly flees her. She’s trying, once again, to control the outcome of the situation. But she can’t. The Doctor regenerates, and nothing she can do will stop it.
I hope series 8 explores this flaw in Clara more. I think it’s a fascinating flaw to have, and one that makes her far more human.
#clara is actually a pretty common character trope#damaged and flawed inside but covering it up with masks the world wants to see#dean winchester is a great example of this#also tony stark#and sometimes blaine anderson#the thing is it’s typically a male trope#and they typically (but not always) cover up the pain with masculine things#clara though#she dresses pretty#she is kind and compassionate and feminine#but she is also damaged and flawed inside#we’ve only seen glimpses so far#but i really hope series 8 explores it further#it’s one of my favourite tropes#because it’s always interesting and always has a commentary on expectations#and also i relate to it#and i’m loving seeing it in a female character (via abossycontrolfreak)