change! more change!

[rivendellrose]

BBC releases information on the new upcoming companion.



But I could have sworn people had been saying she'd be older. I realize now, of course, that this must have been only rumor-mongering, but... I guess we're back to 19 yr olds? With a Doctor who's only 26. Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear. But she's Scottish, and I'm looking forward to that! And... she really is awfully pretty!

I was doing pretty well, honestly, apart from surprise, until I hit this line:

"A generation of little girls will want to be her. And a generation of little boys will want them to be her too," [Moffat] added.

All right, Mr Moffat. I've defended you against every imprecation of sexism until now. I've always said that I don't see it in your work, and that I definitely think you've done better with female characters in Doctor Who than our dear buddy Mr Davies. But... you had to go and say that, didn't you? Just go on, then. Remind me that this show, at its root, is still the show where the boys can want to grow up to be the Doctor, but all us girls can hope for is to be a companion.

Edited to add: I should say - on an individual level, I'm not complaining about any of the companions. As individuals, hell, even as a group, I love them. Romana and Martha and Sarah Jane and Liz Shaw and Jo Grant and Ace and Donna... I mean, come on! They're totally worth loving and looking up to. What I'm complaining about here is the built-in power dynamic - the feeling that, no matter that we don't use the word anymore, even the best of the girls is still just an assistant to the man, who is obviously the one running the show. Literally.

So here's my challenge to Moffat - I want him to change my mind about that.

Comments

[beam-oflight.livejournal.com]

She is pretty, and at least she isn't from London. But yet again a young modernday woman, come on Doctor Who is the show that's not meant to follow the general formula, but they just keep doing the same things, how about an alien, someone from the past, the future, just shake it up a bit! And yes there is an uncomfortable power dynamic developing along side teh whole mesiah complex thing they had going on. That quote is not on, and why can't boys want to be her, the companion, too while we're at it. Except jack all teh male companions have been one-dimensional and ridiculed, Mickey, Adam, I'm looking at you. I really hope they try something different next series.

[platoapproved.livejournal.com]

Well, there isn't anything on there indicating she will be from modern day, is there? I mean, they aren't going to get an actress from the past, exactly. Or am I an idiot who read it wrong?

[beam-oflight.livejournal.com]

Well in the photo of her standing in front of teh Tardis she's wearing jeans and a shirt, so I guess that doesn't rule out the modern past...

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Oh come on. You can't say that Turlough was one-dimensional. Or Benton, or the Brig.

[beam-oflight.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I meant to put from the new series. *facepalm* You're right, Turlough, the Brig, Harry even Adric, anyone of them had more character than the male companions from the new series put together. Well Mickey kind of came out of his shell at the end of the second season, but that hardly makes up for it.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Oops, yeah, I need to learn to be more clear on the subject too. Adric... I have friends who are fond of him, so I won't mock him too much. And Mickey at least had a character arc, which is more than most companions get--they leave the TARDIS pretty much the same as when they entered.

[beam-oflight.livejournal.com]

Yeah I think they've got better at that, We see what Martha's been getting up to, we see a lot of what Rose has been doing, and Jack of course. Pity about Donna. Then again, I think the whole show has become more character based an dealling more with personal issues, than prehaps complex plots. Which has it's pros and cons, I think they've just fallen into a bit of a routine, so i'll be interested to see what Moffat does with it.

[akashasheiress.livejournal.com]

That's true of New Who, yes. I'll actually go on a limb and say that I find Classic Who companions to be more diverse (generally speaking, not in matters like race) than their newer counterparts. The Messiah complex is also largely a New Who thing.

[icebluenothing.livejournal.com]

It's a tough call. I don't honestly believe that Moffat is sexist -- but clearly, a fair amount of his sense of humor revolves around appearing to be sexist, it seems.

(Completely random side note -- my view of the sexism of the Doctor/companion dynamic is inherently skewed because my first Doctor was Barbara Benedetti.)

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I don't believe he means to be, certainly. But I don't think RTD does, either... and yet he's gotten to the point where 90% of the time he has a female character on the screen he manages to do something that makes me want to strangle him. A writer should be more aware of what their work (and, if they're well-known, their words to the media) are saying. I don't think either of them are malicious, they're just clueless.

[darthparadox.livejournal.com]

Canonically, is there any reason the Doctor couldn't reincarnate as a female?

[babel.livejournal.com]

... Eugh, that quote is stomach-turning.

[vega-ofthe-lyre.livejournal.com]

I am... okay with the casting, hoping she does it in her own accent, disappointed that they didn't do anything more original with it, appalled at that statement of Moffat's. But I'm trying very hard to hold off on judging until I see what he does with the show; I'm cautiously optimistic, but more worried than I was a few months ago.

[cirakaite.livejournal.com]

Eurghh. I was really hoping that they'd break the mould a little bit more - having picked another white, youngish (well - young) doctor, maybe be a little more creative and experimental with a companion? A man, or an older woman, or someone a bit more wacky, from a different time/place in history . . . There's so much to choose from, even in terms of historic Earth.

(and if it had to be a young white woman, why not Sally Sparrow & her husband? -g- They're interesting, and work well with each other already, without needing the Doctor as Mentor and Messiah.)

[platoapproved.livejournal.com]

I hope they let her actually be Scottish, everything else aside.

I remain cautiously, staunchly optimistic. As for the quote, you've no idea what the question Moffat was asked was. It could have been something really inane about her being a role model for kids etc. Taken out of context, I am not going to use it to judge him.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Taken out of context, I am not going to use it to judge him.

Fair point, very fair. I really really really hope it was out of context. And even if it wasn't, it just means he's clueless, not malicious. It just... set my teeth on edge. Kind of a hot-button issue for me, as far as Who goes, because... it's sort of true, you know? I just hate to think of it that way. :P

Still, he's an awesome writer, and his female characters have always been better written than RTD's, so... crossed fingers.

[snakewhissperer.livejournal.com]

honestly? I'm going to wait how this plays out before I say anything.

[akashasheiress.livejournal.com]

I don't understand how people can claim that Moffat is not sexist when he said things like ''Women are needy... are only out chasing for husbands... the white middle-class male is in a constant state of apology'' and ''No woman would watch Doctor Who if we included too much technobabble'' (I'm paraphrasing, of course) and I heard that he's also put Classic Who companions into the Useless Screamer category.

[hoshinekoyasha.livejournal.com]

Moffet says stuff he knows will upset fans, I think he likes the publicity it gives. I dislike him for this because I never know when he's joking or being serious. D: