Season 3 Doctor Who
May. 29th, 2007 01:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shipperxFinally caught up with the season this weekend. A couple of (relatively general) comments on the latest episode and the season thus far.
Won't say much about "42" other than it didn't seem particularly inventive or original to me. "Satan Pit" last year was similar -- and more interesting-- and the whole thing about the living sun seemed far too similar to the "Farscape" ep with a similar problem and the "Star Trek" plot with the living beings in the sand.
"Human Nature," on the other hand, was excellent. I really enjoyed that one. The creepy scarecrows reminded me of the scarecrow on "Supernatural" earlier this year, but so what? Creepy scarecrow was still damn creepy. Loved the less Disneyfied trip through history, and the predicament of Martha having to deal with all of these things without benefit of the Doctor who is really the Doctor. In fact I enjoyed the episode so much that I went in search of TWOP for discussion.
Good grief. There are reasons I've avoided that place. Reading the board just makes me want to poke posters with sticks. (And not just because someone mentioned Spike/William in FFL and how John Smith was "less annoying." Hey, hater, if you remember the scene clearly seven freaking years later, he did SOMETHING right!)
Anyway what is with the Martha hate? I like to develop my own opinions free from board influences, and personally, I like Martha a great deal. It annoyed the hell of me on the TWOP board to read posters who are dead set on hating her no matter what she does. Much of this hate seems to come from two distinct factions that I find to be equally annoying. One being the die-hard OTP 4-eva! Ten/Rose shippers. The others being Noromos. And after reading their comments I came away feeling like "a pox on both your houses!"
I don't say this as a Ten/Martha shipper, because I'm not shipping Ten/Martha. I'm saying it as 'can't you enjoy the show and the characters?!' person.
As any who know my Spuffiness know, I don't deal well with the OTP 4-Evah!ness of shipping factions when it's past the couples shelf-life. This is why I could (and did) ship Bangel at one point then it came the time to 'move the hell on!" and I happily shipped Spuffy and wished for Buffy to grow up and get over her first love bit. This is also why post NFA, I don't really think Spuffy would "get back together" and, if given the chance, would gladly see Spike "move the hell on!"
Stories are organic things. If they don't have food and light, they die. They don't live off of something ages in the past. Characters stagnate or die and there's a point where it's sad, destructive, and pathetic to hang on. I felt that with Bangel. I felt that with the canonical Spuffy. And, quite frankly, I've been that way with many an on-screen ship. I wasn't a person who hated Dogget on X-Files (not that there was a Scully/Dogget pairing, but I really was annoyed with the fandom for going apeshit on Dogget for fear of OMG! He might touch Scully! I liked Dogget, damnit, and fandom needed to stop with the paranoia!) I've been a brave soul who has told Steve/Kayla shippers on TWOP that I think that Kayla's fifteen years of mourning and inability to move on wasn't romantic but sad and pitiable. It didn't make me think of Kayla as stronger for her eternal devotion. It just made me think that there's something wrong with a woman who is incapable of moving on from her husband's death fifteen years earlier (or who put up with being treated like crap for close to a year when he 'came back from the dead'. ) I guess, I'm just not a big proponent of OTP 4 Eva! when characters are getting nothing out of it but emotional isolation, grief, pain, and mourning. Healthier thing by far is to grieve, reach acceptance, and build anew.
Which, again, isn't saying that I'm rooting for Ten/Martha to hook-up anytime soon. It's just that the Ten/Rosiness of some of the posters and their knee-jerk hate of Martha annoys the hell out of me. I liked Rose, a lot. I sniffled when Ten and Rose were parted. And... I think the show is handling this well. I think Ten should mourn Rose. He should feel her absence. Just as I loathe when characters mourn '4 evah.' I also hate when they don't mourn at all.
Something is seriously wrong with a character who loses someone important to them but never expresses any lingering sense of loss (I'm glaring in Buffy's and Xander's direction. I agree with Rahirah that I feel slightly robbed and think Joss took an easy out with the comics because, after the audience experienced AtS:5 (and thus knowing Spike lives) there's no real audience-emotional reason to have Buffy mourn Spike at all... and yet, it would have been damn nice to see her mourn a little, since no time whatsoever was given to it in "Chosen." As for Xander in the comics, damn, did he ever really love Anya at all? He nearly married the woman and yet it seems her only emotional value to him was embodied in whether or not he could still have sex with her. ) Characters deserve to be mourned, so I've appreciated Ten's feeling the absence of Rose and Ten being reluctant to commit to a new companion. This makes a great deal of emotional sense to me.
And, while TWOPers were saying how they don't like Martha and especially didn't like her line in "Human Nature" about his falling in love with a humn "but not with me" , I was irked. I think it makes sense for Martha as well. She has a crush, for goodness sakes. And, it's possible to see why. Here is this "man" who can (literally!) sweep her away. He's mysterious and dashing in the way that reckless adventurers are. He's swept her out of her life into one of wonders. Hero-worship and crushes are a pretty common reaction under such heady circumstances.
While I'm not a Ten/Martha shipping per se, I also have no problems whatsoever with the emotional arcs thus far. What I'm hoping will happen is some maturing on both characters parts. I think Ten needs to work through his lingering Rose issues. I think he needs to be able to move on from Rose (as he inevitably has to move beyond all of his companions), and I'm hoping that Martha is a catalyst to push him through these stages because, goodness knows, he's leaving Martha high and dry at the moment.
Meanwhile, I'm hoping that the events in Human Nature tarnish a bit of Ten's mystique for Martha so that she does -- indeed -- see him as more human and ceases to be starstruck by him. Seriously, poor Martha is in a terrible spot. She's trapped in the past, having to be a menial laborer (for months!) where she's faced with class problems and some racism and she is completely, utterly alone -- even with Ten there. Which, if we're honest, has been where she's been all season as far as Ten goes.
Basically, I hope her crush dies a natural death, that she sees Ten less as a paragon and more as a fallible being. And I want Ten to realise that he needs to be present in the present. For a Timelord, who outlives...well... everyone, clinging to what's lost will only bring excessive misery but also causes him to let down those who depend upon him now.
Again, I don't ship Ten/Martha romantically -- but NOT because I'm Rose/Ten OTP 4 Evah! (which is annoying!), and NOT because I'm "he's a timelord, he can't love!" (how boring!) or "don't get your girlish shipping cooties on my sci-fi!" (how absurd) but simply because it seems to me that, organically, the characters would be better served growing toward understanding and friendship. I have hopes of this proving to be the case.
And can I ask what Martha has done to be worthy of being hated? Is it really that she isn't Rose? Is it that she's got girl-cooties and has a shippy-heart, because story-wise, I've liked her a great deal. In fact, with Human Nature I think I've grown to like her better than Rose as Martha seems more capable to me than Rose. Rose as sweet and brave... and young. Her skills came from her bravery. Martha, on the other hand has bravery... and actual skills. Emotionally, I don't feel that I have to choose one companion over the other. I still like Rose a great deal. But I also like Martha a great deal and think she has her own virtues. It annoys me to see people bashing her for the crime of not being Rose or for being an emotional girl.
But then, it's TWOP, annoyance is expected.
BTW-- Oddly many of those who hate Rose most seem to be happy with the John Smith/Matron pairing in "Human Nature" (because it's transiatory? I don't know.) Personally, I'm not at all enamored of the Nurse/Matron. I thought Ten had a far more interesting crush on Mdm. Pompadour.
"Human Nature," on the other hand, was excellent. I really enjoyed that one. The creepy scarecrows reminded me of the scarecrow on "Supernatural" earlier this year, but so what? Creepy scarecrow was still damn creepy. Loved the less Disneyfied trip through history, and the predicament of Martha having to deal with all of these things without benefit of the Doctor who is really the Doctor. In fact I enjoyed the episode so much that I went in search of TWOP for discussion.
Good grief. There are reasons I've avoided that place. Reading the board just makes me want to poke posters with sticks. (And not just because someone mentioned Spike/William in FFL and how John Smith was "less annoying." Hey, hater, if you remember the scene clearly seven freaking years later, he did SOMETHING right!)
Anyway what is with the Martha hate? I like to develop my own opinions free from board influences, and personally, I like Martha a great deal. It annoyed the hell of me on the TWOP board to read posters who are dead set on hating her no matter what she does. Much of this hate seems to come from two distinct factions that I find to be equally annoying. One being the die-hard OTP 4-eva! Ten/Rose shippers. The others being Noromos. And after reading their comments I came away feeling like "a pox on both your houses!"
I don't say this as a Ten/Martha shipper, because I'm not shipping Ten/Martha. I'm saying it as 'can't you enjoy the show and the characters?!' person.
As any who know my Spuffiness know, I don't deal well with the OTP 4-Evah!ness of shipping factions when it's past the couples shelf-life. This is why I could (and did) ship Bangel at one point then it came the time to 'move the hell on!" and I happily shipped Spuffy and wished for Buffy to grow up and get over her first love bit. This is also why post NFA, I don't really think Spuffy would "get back together" and, if given the chance, would gladly see Spike "move the hell on!"
Stories are organic things. If they don't have food and light, they die. They don't live off of something ages in the past. Characters stagnate or die and there's a point where it's sad, destructive, and pathetic to hang on. I felt that with Bangel. I felt that with the canonical Spuffy. And, quite frankly, I've been that way with many an on-screen ship. I wasn't a person who hated Dogget on X-Files (not that there was a Scully/Dogget pairing, but I really was annoyed with the fandom for going apeshit on Dogget for fear of OMG! He might touch Scully! I liked Dogget, damnit, and fandom needed to stop with the paranoia!) I've been a brave soul who has told Steve/Kayla shippers on TWOP that I think that Kayla's fifteen years of mourning and inability to move on wasn't romantic but sad and pitiable. It didn't make me think of Kayla as stronger for her eternal devotion. It just made me think that there's something wrong with a woman who is incapable of moving on from her husband's death fifteen years earlier (or who put up with being treated like crap for close to a year when he 'came back from the dead'. ) I guess, I'm just not a big proponent of OTP 4 Eva! when characters are getting nothing out of it but emotional isolation, grief, pain, and mourning. Healthier thing by far is to grieve, reach acceptance, and build anew.
Which, again, isn't saying that I'm rooting for Ten/Martha to hook-up anytime soon. It's just that the Ten/Rosiness of some of the posters and their knee-jerk hate of Martha annoys the hell out of me. I liked Rose, a lot. I sniffled when Ten and Rose were parted. And... I think the show is handling this well. I think Ten should mourn Rose. He should feel her absence. Just as I loathe when characters mourn '4 evah.' I also hate when they don't mourn at all.
Something is seriously wrong with a character who loses someone important to them but never expresses any lingering sense of loss (I'm glaring in Buffy's and Xander's direction. I agree with Rahirah that I feel slightly robbed and think Joss took an easy out with the comics because, after the audience experienced AtS:5 (and thus knowing Spike lives) there's no real audience-emotional reason to have Buffy mourn Spike at all... and yet, it would have been damn nice to see her mourn a little, since no time whatsoever was given to it in "Chosen." As for Xander in the comics, damn, did he ever really love Anya at all? He nearly married the woman and yet it seems her only emotional value to him was embodied in whether or not he could still have sex with her. ) Characters deserve to be mourned, so I've appreciated Ten's feeling the absence of Rose and Ten being reluctant to commit to a new companion. This makes a great deal of emotional sense to me.
And, while TWOPers were saying how they don't like Martha and especially didn't like her line in "Human Nature" about his falling in love with a humn "but not with me" , I was irked. I think it makes sense for Martha as well. She has a crush, for goodness sakes. And, it's possible to see why. Here is this "man" who can (literally!) sweep her away. He's mysterious and dashing in the way that reckless adventurers are. He's swept her out of her life into one of wonders. Hero-worship and crushes are a pretty common reaction under such heady circumstances.
While I'm not a Ten/Martha shipping per se, I also have no problems whatsoever with the emotional arcs thus far. What I'm hoping will happen is some maturing on both characters parts. I think Ten needs to work through his lingering Rose issues. I think he needs to be able to move on from Rose (as he inevitably has to move beyond all of his companions), and I'm hoping that Martha is a catalyst to push him through these stages because, goodness knows, he's leaving Martha high and dry at the moment.
Meanwhile, I'm hoping that the events in Human Nature tarnish a bit of Ten's mystique for Martha so that she does -- indeed -- see him as more human and ceases to be starstruck by him. Seriously, poor Martha is in a terrible spot. She's trapped in the past, having to be a menial laborer (for months!) where she's faced with class problems and some racism and she is completely, utterly alone -- even with Ten there. Which, if we're honest, has been where she's been all season as far as Ten goes.
Basically, I hope her crush dies a natural death, that she sees Ten less as a paragon and more as a fallible being. And I want Ten to realise that he needs to be present in the present. For a Timelord, who outlives...well... everyone, clinging to what's lost will only bring excessive misery but also causes him to let down those who depend upon him now.
Again, I don't ship Ten/Martha romantically -- but NOT because I'm Rose/Ten OTP 4 Evah! (which is annoying!), and NOT because I'm "he's a timelord, he can't love!" (how boring!) or "don't get your girlish shipping cooties on my sci-fi!" (how absurd) but simply because it seems to me that, organically, the characters would be better served growing toward understanding and friendship. I have hopes of this proving to be the case.
And can I ask what Martha has done to be worthy of being hated? Is it really that she isn't Rose? Is it that she's got girl-cooties and has a shippy-heart, because story-wise, I've liked her a great deal. In fact, with Human Nature I think I've grown to like her better than Rose as Martha seems more capable to me than Rose. Rose as sweet and brave... and young. Her skills came from her bravery. Martha, on the other hand has bravery... and actual skills. Emotionally, I don't feel that I have to choose one companion over the other. I still like Rose a great deal. But I also like Martha a great deal and think she has her own virtues. It annoys me to see people bashing her for the crime of not being Rose or for being an emotional girl.
But then, it's TWOP, annoyance is expected.
BTW-- Oddly many of those who hate Rose most seem to be happy with the John Smith/Matron pairing in "Human Nature" (because it's transiatory? I don't know.) Personally, I'm not at all enamored of the Nurse/Matron. I thought Ten had a far more interesting crush on Mdm. Pompadour.
