How much do looks matter?

[TheLobes]

I started a thread the other day about Martha, asking why people like her. I was really surprised, and kind of annoyed, at the number of people who said they liked her because she was hot, or liked Rose because she was hotter ect.

How much does it really matter to you? I really dont understand, there are hot girls on pretty much every other TV show, and failing that theres quite a few on the internet!

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Everyone likes to see attractive people. It's pretty much a basic human impulse. I don't see what's annoying about that.

 

[TheLobes]

Everyone likes to see attractive people. It's pretty much a basic human impulse. I don't see what's annoying about that.

Because character is so much more important?

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Everyone likes to see attractive people. It's pretty much a basic human impulse. I don't see what's annoying about that.

Because character is so much more important?

That's debatable. And anyway, it's not as if those two concepts were mutually exclusive or even interconnected in any way. You may have attractive people and compelling characters on screen at the same time. Hell, sometimes attractive people play compelling characters!

 

[TheLobes]

Everyone likes to see attractive people. It's pretty much a basic human impulse. I don't see what's annoying about that.

Because character is so much more important?

That's debatable. And anyway, it's not as if those two concepts were mutually exclusive or even interconnected in any way. You may have attractive people and compelling characters on screen at the same time. Hell, sometimes attractive people play compelling characters!

Yeah, Im not saying attractive people cant make good characters, but I dont see how its 'debatable' that character is more important than looks.

 

[Atticus]

Im not saying attractive people cant make good characters, but I dont see how its 'debatable' that character is more important than looks.

Depends on the show I'm pretty sure 90210 or The OC weren't casting based on character.

In general you're right, though, character is far more important. The only thing in regards to Doctor Who is that because it's aiming at a big audience you have to be able to put out publicity which look good - casual viewers are far more likely to tune into something with attractive looking people than not, that's just the way it is, and so casting has to be aware of that. Niche drama, in that regard, has far more leeway to cast the best actors for a role.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Yeah, Im not saying attractive people cant make good characters, but I dont see how its 'debatable' that character is more important than looks.

Well, we're debating it, aren't we?

The quest for human beauty is not vile, crass or stupid. Being attracted to beauty in all its forms, including human beauty, is not indicative of any mental weakness or character flaw. It's a fundamental, vital part of the human experience, it may elevate your soul and make you aspire to greater things, and frankly, it makes life overall more enjoyable.

It's not recent either. We started looking at each other and being interested in each other long before television told us to do it. It's been with us for as long as there's been a civilization and is responsible for some of the most memorable and striking works of art mankind has produced.

 

[Starkers]

I like pretty girls, I like pretty girls who can act even more!

 

[Sci]

The character's appearance doesn't necessarily determine how much I enjoy him or her. I don't find Catherine Tate particularly attractive, for instance, but I loved Donna and loved watching Tate and Tennant team up in "The Runaway Bride" and Series Four.

I will say, though, that if characters are supposed to be romantic interests, I tend to prefer that the actors portraying them be attractive in some way. Perhaps I'm being shallow, there, but when it comes to love and sex, most of the time I want to watch pretty people with pretty people.

 

[Kelso]

It shore dudn't hoit!

 

[Anji]

I can't comment on the appeal of the women on the show but I can comment on the men who play the Doctors.

I don't think Matt Smith is attractive at all...as a matter of fact I would've never chosen him at all. But when he talks, what he says, he give such a good performance that he becomes attractive. As a matter of fact after watching his first episode I found him downright sexy.

I think the ability and the confidence of the actor to play the role has a lot to do whether he is attractive. When Smith says he's "THE Doctor" i believe him.

 

[Whofan]

Smith looks a bit different in the series than he did when he was cast IMO. Think it might be he worked out a bit or something.

 

[Muad Dib]

Amy Pond gives me a hardon.

 

[Jax]

Being attractive is a bonus there is no doubt because biologically we are drawn to people we find sexual appealing. However after that I like to find you know an actual character and sadly Martha was quite annoying because of the whole puppy eye crap at the Doctor, Rose got away with it because she kept it under more check and the Doctor felt the same...

but they went about it the old British way

 

[23skidoo]

Sex appeal has been part and parcel of Doctor Who since day one - check out some of the sexy publicity photos of Carole Ann Ford that came out back in the day, and they had to tone down her outfit a little bit after the first pilot episode was rejected and they had to do a do-over.

It's the same as any other TV show - the attractive actors get precedence over the less-attractive ones for the plum roles.

And Doctor Who doesn't always go for the young 20-somethings, which is great. In the Big Finish audios the Sixth Doctor was accompanied in many audio dramas by Maggie Stables as Evelyn Smythe, a 50-something professor. And Catherine Tate, who was pushing 40 when she played Donna didn't fit the mould either. And don't forget Lindsay Duncan, who frankly I think is the sexiest companion of them all, who was 60 when she appeared in The Waters of Mars!

Alex