This is without a doubt the most despicable thing the BBC
has ever done. Making us watching tennis. Just dreadful. In all honestly the
announcement of casting a new Doctor is kind of a big deal, I can’t think of
any other franchise that treats their casting as an event, the latest
instalment of one of the greatest fictional characters within the longest running
science-fiction series of all time and how does the BBC try to make this as big
as possible? By casting the first ever female Doctor in the show’s 54 year run.
Jodie Whittaker, the 13th Doctor.
Now this announcement has obviously caused a lot of extreme
emotions both positive and negative, a lot of people being ecstatic over the
casting calling it progressive, new and forward thinking, while the other side
are people saying it’s pandering, forced and the oh so popular “Political
correctness gone mad”. Two years ago I did a post discussing this possibility,
could a woman ever actually play The Doctor? And frankly I came to the
conclusion of: Yep. Because here’s the thing, it’s a fact within the fiction
that Timelords can change their sex with regeneration, hell, they can change
literally everything about them, the fact that it happens to have been a human
looking person 14 times in a row is coincidence enough. It’s a pre-established
point of the show, so yes, on a physical level it is possible. But the question
on if a woman could portray The Doctor’s personality? Well, what are the main
traits that every single Doctor so far has shared? The Doctor is very smart,
very eclectic and very brave. Pretty much everything else is up for grabs and
there are plenty of women out there who are able to portray all three of those
things.
As for is Jodie Whittaker is a good choice for the role, I
have no idea. I’ve only seen her in several things in the past, and granted
while she was really good in those things, none of them screamed Doctor Who.
But hey, the lady’s clearly got talent and must have done something to impress
the producers to convince her she’s the best choice to play such an important
character, so I have faith. Now just for fun let’s dispel some of the comments
people have made who are against this casting!
“It’s just the writers
giving into the feminists!” Riiiight, because Doctor Who has never been a
forward thinking type of series with a protagonist who believes every life is
important, views everyone as equals and goes against traditional out dates
values.
“I’m going to stop
watching the show now!” Oh trust me, the people at the BBC took that risk
into consideration and they came to the conclusion that they can absolutely
afford to lose you. Especially when I’ve seen dozens of people online say they’re
going to either continue watching or even start watching the show because of
this casting.
“She won’t be as good
as Peter Capaldi!” ah the
classic ‘The last Doctor was better’ routine. Because no one else has used this
argument for literally every other Doctor in the past. Hell, Matt Smith was
hated because he was too young, Peter Capaldi was hated because he was too old
and now Jodie Whittaker is being hated because she’s a woman. All of this
happens without a single frame of footage being shown, and every time, they’re
proven wrong.
If I may be so blunt, if you really are a fan of Doctor Who
and you’re upset about this casting then you were never really a fan to begin
with. The Doctor taught people to be kind, to give people a chance, that anyone
is capable of being the most extraordinary person ever, and would never judge
someone based on petty prejudices or bull traditions. And honestly which
audience do you think is more important? The little girls who see this and look
like they’re ready to explode with excitement? Or the 40 year old man children
who are scared of change and defend themselves with “I’m not sexist but—“.
Is Jodie Whittaker going to be good in the role? Only time
will tell, and no-the 3 sentences she’ll get in the regeneration scene is not enough to judge her by. But
frankly, if you’re going in with the notion that she’ll be bad just because she’s a woman and you’re
not going to watch the show again, then good riddance to ya.
-Danny
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