doctor who

An open letter to Steven Moffat

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Dear Moffat,

I dunno whose decision it was to have Benedict Cumberbatch introduce you as ‘non-misogynist’ but it was…odd, to say the least. Like walking into a room and saying ‘HI MY NAME IS JOE AND I’M NOT A CRIMINAL’. All it does is make people wonder exactly what it was you did…

Yeah, so, it must be preying on your mind otherwise you wouldn’t have mentioned it, or let them mention it or whatever. I feel like I should be more annoyed…but I can’t, because I know you. Clever people saying stupid things, not realising what they’re actually contributing to…I know you guys, you’re on my Facebook and in my living room and sometimes sharing my genes. If I was to hate you I’d be hating everyone. Same with Russell T Davies and his occasional unconcious racism, or Joss Whedon and his oft-problematic stuff…I can’t hate them, they’re standing right there. They were me! They probably still are me, in some respects!

But I digress. Mr Moffat! You’re one of the most powerful men in Britain. Other shows have the water-coolers, the student bars, the pubs…you have the playground. The classroom, the park, the toy shop, the children! Those little kids running around impersonating Daleks and Cybermen, soon they’ll be the ones in charge. And just like you were shaped by the TV you watched as a child, so they will be. You have this colossal responsibility, one that can be barely overstated, and you’re shirking it somewhat. Look at River Song…she’s wonderful, but she’s never really had a chance to be wonderful without the Doctor. Everything from her birth to her death to her living arrangements to her job is something to do with him. And kids are bloody smart, and they’ll pick up on that. And when they start reading your Twitter and your interviews, they’ll pick up the stuff there too…like that thing you said about a marriage not being a real marriage without children…(thanks, man.) Anyway, you following? You’ve got to start listening to everyone, because, as you almost certainly know, with great power comes great responsibility (tm: Spider-Man). So if you’re really not a misogynist…stop just saying you’re not one.

You’re a great writer. Someday you may even be a good one…

-A fan

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lupinatic:

The thing that makes Martha Jones shine so much compared to other NewWho companions, to me at least, is how she was the only one to deal with her end-of-season menace without superpowers.

Rose took the power of the TARDIS, became a literal deus ex machina and solved everything in five minutes flat.

Donna accidentally took on the brainpower of the Doctor and solved everything in five minutes flat.

Amy had the power to reboot the universe and solved the problem of the Doctor not existing in five minutes flat.

Jack was a highly-trained Time Agent, even before he became immortal.

Rory also dies a lot, was an Auton and retains the memories of 2,000+ years experience.

River Song is a highly-trained child-soldier Time Baby.

Unlike most other companions, Martha had no extra-special powers beyond her own awesomeness. Her achievement was IMHO greater than the ones above because she did it solely on her own merit. It may have still only been five minutes flat onscreen, but unlike Rose, Donna and Amy all basically snapping their fingers and saying “because I say so, that’s why!” her part in the Master’s downfall was an entire year in the making. While her task was made easier (and by ‘easier’, I mean ‘slightly less impossible’) by the perception filter and Jack’s vortex manipulator, she still spent a year telling stories in a hellish, decimated dystopia of a world. She had to give her entire species hope and faith and never lose her own, while never knowing if her family and the Doctor were even ALIVE, let alone how they were. FOR A YEAR. And this was after two months of racist, classist, misogynist humiliations at Farringham AND supporting the Doctor’s arse in 1969 as well. And she does it all in style, then leaves the Doctor wanting more (finally). This is why Martha Jones is Made Of Win And Awesome.

image

(Also, it’s notable that the only other New-Who companion who gets no super-upgrades and must be content with being a Badass Normal is Mickey Smith, the other black companion.)

Very seconded.

(Although, does Wilf count as a Badass Normal? If so, that makes me feel better about that bit of subtext.)

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Whovengers

Fury = The Doctor: Both look after their bands of misfits, and defend the Earth.
Tony = Jack: International/intergalactic playboys willing to die for the greater good. Many times over in Jack’s case.
Steve = Martha: Underdogs who became heroes, fighting tyrants for freedom and justice.
Bruce = Donna: Both forced to embrace a personality they didn’t want. The only difference is, Donna no longer remembers what it was like to be fully her.
Natasha = Amy: Both badass redheads with pasts they tend to run from.
Clint = Rory: Soldier types who always come as a package deal with their badass redhead.
Phil = Mickey: Both The Man In Havana, both eventually drawn to Big Fucking Guns.
Maria = River: The capable second-in-command.
Thor = Rose: Both channel godlike powers (that they had to prove themselves worthy of.) Also, both blonde.
Loki = The Master: These two would get on like a house on fire…no survivors.

(no subject)

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You know who’s quite underrated in Doctor Who fandom? Adelaide Brooke.

I mean, look at her. She’s capable, clever, brave, and makes her own choices 100% of the way. She makes the choice to focus on her life’s ambition instead of staying on Earth with her daughter…she’s a mother whose motherhood is only a tiny part of her character, and she’s not punished for it! She even outright says that the sacrifices she made were worth it, to stand on Mars…a mother, a grandmother, turning down traditional motherhood? And everyone’s fine with that? Good lord!

She has no romantic interests whatsoever, not in the Doctor nor in anyone else…we don’t even know who fathered her children. But she has ‘starlight in her soul’ the same way the Doctor does, and he completely respects her. And her crew respects her, and her family respects her, and her planet respects her, and even the bloody Daleks respect her! Yet (unlike the Doctor in this episode) she in turn respects them, and calls the Doctor out on his labelling Yuri and Mia ‘little people’. Sure, other people (Donna, Rory, River) have tried to point out the Doctor’s destructive nature, but she actually succeeded in making him rightly ashamed of himself.

In fact…she’s completely the hero of The Waters Of Mars, more so than the Doctor is. She tells the Doctor that she followed the Daleks into space not for revenge (“What would be the point of that?”) but to learn. She’s compassionate enough not to instantly shoot her possessed crew members, or to shoot the Doctor come to that. And (most importantly) her decision to die shaped the future of not just Earth, but the whole universe. Even though she’s initially desperate to survive, she knows what the Doctor is doing is wrong, and if fixing that means her death so be it. Hey…in this episode, the whole universe is saved by a woman taking back a choice the Doctor tried to make for her!

So yeah. She’s a pretty darn feminist character, I reckon, and that’s good to see. Message ends!

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