clara oswald’s tendency to seize control and flourish when given control is such a significant motif in her stories; almost all the occasions she achieves something, or saves someone or a group of people, she’s either a) in charge of someone – eg. commanding a platoon of soldiers – or b) grasping at whatever agency she can reach in a difficult and limited scenario – eg. erasing the dalek’s path-web, rescuing the doctor from another universe – or c) changing the situation by convincing or manipulating someone into doing something for her – eg. asking the time lords to save the doctor, convincing the doctor to rescue gallifrey, and convincing skaldak to spare earth
and likewise, the occasions when she’s most afraid, and almost breaking down, are when she’s either a) losing someone or a group of people she’s in control of, or supposed to be in control of – eg. losing the children in her care, losing the doctor – or b) unable to grasp any agency in the scenario she’s in – eg. becoming a dalek, getting uploaded to the wi-fi, being trapped in the doctor’s time-stream – and her repetition of the words: “i don’t know where i am” all occur during these moments and this is important considering the moment she remembers being afraid most, was when she was young and got lost on the beach
she considers herself a “bossy, control freak”, and enjoys being called “the boss”, and chooses professions that involve a significant amount of control; yet she’s also kind, and selfless, and the careers she chose, while enabling significant control, are ones where she’s forced to place the needs of others above her own, and likewise; most of the control she possesses is used to protect and care for other people – eg. angie and artie from the death of their mother, the doctor from his enemies – yet we also learn she’s “more scared than she lets on”, and she only admits this fear when things begin to feel “very real” – eg. when it’s not a fantasy anymore, or a situation she can shape and control; it becomes the life that took her mother away, and could potentially harm her, and the doctor, in much the same way.
clara oswald
Clara Oswald’s normal, everyday life — here meaning her biological family (Mum, Dad, Gran, Linda), her quasi-adopted family (Angie, Artie, and Mr Maitland), or her job as a teacher — has been a part of 70% of her episodes so far. Not always a major part, but there is a continual commitment to showing her roots, that travelling with the Doctor is an addition to her normal life and not the whole of her life.
When people say Clara has no characterisation and her whole existence revolves around the Doctor, I honestly wonder if they’re watching the same show as me.
Y’know, Clara Oswald’s appeared in nine episodes now, but Rory’s ninth episode was The Impossible Astronaut, and at that point we knew much, much less about him than we know about Clara now. We’d only seen him at work once, we hadn’t even met his dad yet, and he barely passed a reverse Bechdel test: virtually all his conversations were about Amy.
And I love Rory. I love him to pieces. But guess how many people I saw calling him ‘boring’ or ‘bland’ or ‘barely even a character’ back then? If you guessed zero, you’re absolutely right.
<lyonsheart:
clara was introduced in the 50th year; a season dedicated to establishing the ponds’ departure, the 50th anniversary, and the eleventh doctor’s death
at the end of this year she had to find a role within two out of three of these storylines, which realistically didn’t have room for anything but the pre-established characters, let alone significant development of a companion – something the 50th did miraculously manage to do to an extent; progressing clara’s character slightly, but not hugely because it was only her ninth episode.
criticizing clara’s characterization because she’s not experienced a huge transformation at this point feels like pointing out rose’s development seems incomplete in the middle of season 1. i can’t help but think well of course it fucking does and while i’m not against criticizing the writing, it’s still extremely unfair and illogical in my eyes to compare the actions and development of companions in their final/penultimate stories to that of anything clara’s experiencing now because her story’s not over yet; she’s had half a season
because you can’t just ignore the contextual differences between the way companions are introduced when you’re comparing the development of a character who’s experienced 10 episodes with one who’s experienced over 30
#people are comparing development that took place accross 30 episodes#and expecting clara to have it all and THEN SOME#in less than a season’s worth of episodes#AND THAT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE#even comparing her to martha and donna is unfair#because their primary development occured in their final episodes#which was their 12th and 13th#still more episodes than clara’s experienced
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)