what’s your opinion on people writing amy off as a terrible person because of the time she sexually assaulted the doctor?
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I think, at best, they probably didn’t watch the rest of her arc, and, at worst, are looking for a reason to demonize her. I’ve written before about how what Amy did to the Doctor at the end of “Flesh and Stone” was indisputably Not Okay. She did sexually assault him by kissing him without his consent. I’ve also said that I wish the show explored the consequences of this action a little more, but on the whole I think it did an okay job of showing that this wasn’t okay or romantic (and that’s not a jab against Eleven/Amy shippers, there’s plenty of other support for that ship, but just not this kiss).
Like I said in what I linked above, Amy’s not sexually aggressive for the sake of being sexually aggressive. She’s sexually aggressive because of underlying issues relating to her character. (Note: sexual aggression =/= sexual confidence. I’m not discussing Amy owning her sexuality here because that’s a positive aspect of her character. I’m talking about specifically a trait and instance where she took this too far). Amy lashes out when she’s anxious. She goes back to what she’s good at in times of stress: faux confidence to the point of looking like arrogance and a fake dismissive attitude. She does this frequently throughout Series 5, taking “big deal” events and shooing them away. Just look at how she actually handles the kiss situation aftermath with Rory. He’s clearly upset, and she’s pretty dismissive of his feelings until the end when she drops her front and they reconcile.
Sexual aggression is another way Amy deals with feeling powerless. She knows her body and her sexuality are large weapons in her arsenal. When she felt powerless and scared after the event with the angels, she compensated by kissing the Doctor. This doesn’t make it right, but it does explain it. Amy’s actions are not a result of her being selfish or “a terrible person,” but rather, they’re a result of her underlying mental illness and self esteem issues. (Note: I’m not saying that people with mental illness get a free pass when they hurt others. I’ve already expressed that what Amy did wasn’t okay). To write her off for this reason ignores this. It also ignores how she changed throughout the rest of her arc.
Series 7 Amy would never do this. Series 7 Amy knows that Rory loves her and has personally reconciled much of her self esteem issues and personal issues with abandonment. Amy didn’t kiss the Doctor because she didn’t love Rory, but she was sure as hell afraid that Rory was going to abandon her like everyone else. These are issues that Amy works through as she heals and grows throughout her arc. She learns that her fears are unfounded and that the people in her life who matter will never leave her. To completely dismiss Amy for this action is to ignore her character growth and the person she develops into. To completely write her off shows an unwillingness to understand her.
I’ve been thinking about this a bit lately, and two things stand out:
- Amy was abandoned as a child. (No, it wasn’t her parents’ fault, but it still happened.)
- In the forest, in that episode, Amy was abandoned by the Doctor and by the four soldiers who were left to keep her safe. She was in deadly danger, and they left her. (Again, not by choice, but it happened.)
In that circumstance, if I seriously believed that assaulting a person and kissing them against their will would prevent future abandonment, I would probably do it. Now, the number of assumptions that lead Amy to that conclusion—that kissing the Doctor would lead to consensual sex, that sex would lead to him not leaving her—all those assumptions are fucked to one degree or another. (Many of them are not unique to Amy.) But still, we’re not talking about someone who was acting out of callousness, power-tripping, or any of the standard motivations for sexual assault; we’re talking about someone who was acting out of a profound sense of helplessness.
Besides, I don’t demand that characters be paragons. Mark Vorkosigan did worse, and he’s still a favorite of mine, in all his fractured dangerousness. Hell, come to that, the Doctor has done worse. What I ask is that characters change, learn, and grow, and Amy does.
Huh. In all the times I’ve seen that scene, I’ve never thought of it quite like that (abandonment + abandonment = sex that will prevent abandonment). There are several complicated psychological issues going on with Amy that culminate in that moment. They don’t excuse what she did, but they do explain why she did it.