Not to put too much of an American spin on this but:
Representation doesn’t just matter to the minority in question. If we start normalizing female doctors in fiction, then maybe in some near future we won’t have such a vocal group of people who have problems with Dr. Jill Biden. There will be in generation for whom this is the first doctor they ever saw, so it will be completely normal. A lot like kids grew up with Obama as their first present.
Change is good, and it’s going to happen whether you’re ready or not. Fighting it is folly.
Yeah… As has always been the case, I appreciate your POV and your ability to have a discussion about sensitive topics without ever making things personal.
Let me put it this way…
I don’t want a female Spider-Man, but I sure as hell love Spider-Gwen.
I don’t want a female Captain Kirk, but, say what you will, I loved Janeway.
I don’t want a female Superman, but I’m a big fan of Supergirl.
I don’t want a male Black Widow. (Black Widower?)
I don’t want a male Captain Marvel. (I know a lot of people dislike Brie Larson for whatever reason? But I think she’s awesome in the role.)
I don’t want a male Wonder Woman. (Wonder Man?)
I hear you on all of those fandom’s… But I guess my question is: why not? I’m down for all of those scenarios really.
And especially with Doctor Who, where the central idea is that the doctor reincarnate into a new body, this one seems particularly ripe for all kinds of different avenues. It seems very natural for the doctor to be female. Heck if the doctor doesn’t technically probably even need to be human, or an adult, or any of those things. It’s only our preconceived notion’s that are keeping him in the realm of white men.
One of the most 2020 things in my life has been watching a simple post about a woodworking project dissolve into a discussion of which entertainment roles women should be allowed to have.
Thanks for asking! I hadn’t given it much thought until you did.
If I had to guess, I’d say for the same reason we’re attracted to anybody for any reason. People like to claim that they’re only attracted to people for their personality. And that’s what many of us want to do. But, let’s face it, sighted people don’t see their significant other’s personality from across a crowded room and become infatuated. They literally see what they see, with their eyes. That’s the initial attraction. Yes, of course you can be initially not physically attracted to somebody and come to like and love them after a time. But my point is, there’s always something physical. The more dissimilar to what you’re physically attracted to, the less-likely you are to be attracted to them. I suspect that holds true over time, too. My guess is, that if your (plural) mate changed significantly over time, you would still think of them as the person they were. How many times have you heard somebody say “I still think of you as the little girl who sat on my lap as I told you stories.” I think that’s real. I think people actually do that. I think people project their own preconceived notions (as you put it) onto their reality. SO… My point? If you physically change somebody TOO much, you could lose your connection to that person. You’d find it difficult to reference your existing feelings of them and apply them to the person you see today. They’d essentially be… a different person to you. One you don’t have a history with. You’ll have your memories of that person, but you’ll find it difficult, if not impossible, to associate those memories with what you see before you.
Look… I just made all of that up. I have no idea what I’m talking about. But you asked, and that’s what I’ve come up with. And I think it’s sound.
See, that’s the tricky bit. With The Doctor being >1,000 years old, the actor playing him has to project that wisdom, even if they’re not older. Matt Smith was only 26 when he played The Doctor. But he was AMAZING at projecting that. One of my favorites.
Certainly we could find a younger actor that could pull it off. But it’d be tough to find someone that could maintain that, I’d bet!
Couldn’t the doctor decide that he wants to just be a teenager for a minute? To just be in the moment and embrace his inner teenager?
Also, just to point out the obvious: We are talking about a reincarnating alien time traveler: there is absolutely no “has to” anything. There are a hundred ways it could be written in that the doctor lost his 1000 years of wisdom and have a whole range of new story opportunites. Take a cue from The Legend of Korra (spoilers.):
In it, Korra loses her connection to the previous avatar spirits, it was a way to make her vulnerable and explore that aspect of her character. Change is good!
If you haven’t watched Korra yet, it’s great. That and The Dragon Prince punch way above their weight in terms of dealing with emotional plotlines and what it means to be both strong and vulnerable at the same time.
I know you’re not familiar, but no. He has yet to decide. (But, apparently, will in the future.)
However, that’s the other quality The Doctor always has… While always wise, he sometimes acts childish, silly, and innocent. It’s a wonderful balance when pulled off well by the actor.
Well that’s my point. If the answer is no it’s only because the writers have decided it’s that way. There are no limits with the setup of “shape changing time traveler”.
Yes. I realize that that doesn’t mean much to a non-fan. But it’s a trait that the character has that he is unable to control it and is sometimes disappointed with the result. “That’s the problem with regeneration. You’re never quite sure what you’re going to get.” (I may have misquoted from decades old memory.) And it’s kind of a significant thing when the character realizes that he will choose at some point in his future. That’s all part of the story-telling… That this centuries-old creature with so much intelligence and wisdom still has some significant personal things that are completely out of his control that he has to deal with. Makes him much more relatable to us mortal humans.
SMH A Tardis that can change into anything, but is always the same phone booth (yes the modifier is stuck but the storyline could have it stuck as something else for a while). Imagine if it got stuck as the statue of an angel?
Then there is the Alien (well it is BBC and the available actors were of English ancestry, but this is no longer true) What if the next Doctor actor was of Nigerian ancestry, or Kumer, or like Odo in DS9 given a makeover. The Doctor is an Alien so anything is possible. They could be like Seahorses and the Males get Pregnant.
The Police box has a nice English look, and having one with so many places to explore is really cool. I think it interesting if the Doctor regenerated as a cat, hard to write a story like, but interesting.
A couple decades ago The Doctor actually fixed the Chameleon circuit. It lasted for about 1 story arc from what I recall. And then Chameleon tried to kill The Doctor, so he had to die.
And I think it’s sound.
