As for your comments about RTD's companions:
Rose - Have you ever lost someone dear to you, like a father you'd never had the chance to grow up with? Are you really claiming that it's horrible that Rose got that chance with a father who was apparently pretty much the same as her real father but whose ideas had made him money? You don't think she has anything to gain from that kind of insight? As for the carbon copy Doctor, that was the worst part of that episode. It reeked of fan service. There was even backlash from fans because it was so blatant. It doesn't, however, change the fact that up until then, Rose was doing her own thing in a parallel universe, using the skills she learned with the Doctor to "save the day."
Donna - What? Donna was raised in an environment where money was extremely important and was the standard upon which she was judged. We know that because, well, we actually saw her mother and the way she acted. We also saw Donna start to appreciate herself more and more for what she was. I would've preferred if she hadn't met with such a tragic end, but not everyone has a happy ending.
Martha & Mickey - I have no issue with the two of them getting together. Both had traveled with the Doctor, and it's got to be hard to hold a relationship with someone who can't relate to experiences like that. They had also been screwed over time and time again and deserved a happy ending.
As stated in the title of the thread, my main issue is Clara. And you know what? I am sick and tired of attempted romances between the Doctor and his companions. RTD was certainly guilty of that, and so is Moffat. I thought we'd be done with it after Donna, but no, Amy Pond starts right in with it. Then there's all this weirdness between the Doctor and Clara with him thinking he was her boyfriend for a while and then saying he would stop. Well, it didn't stop. The "romance" between Danny Pink and her seemed so forced and then we have the Doctor trying to assert his dominance over Danny and Danny responding in kind. It was so ridiculous.
Yes I have lost people, I lost my father 5 years ago, and last year I lost one of my best friends, and I know the horrible truth that you can't replace these people. The Pete from the other universe is a completely different man to Rose's father with a completely different history, and I've always thought there was something a little creepy about Rose to begin with, a girl with daddy issues falling for an older man (that's cliche) and it's telling that she won't go with the Doctor until he mentions that the Tardis also travels in time, and then all her daddy issues are resolved. I'm just not comfortable with the idea it puts in place.
Donna was shallow before she met the Doctor, and I guess his view was 'if she's going to be shallow she might as well be rich' it's just a shame RTD couldn't have come up with something slightly better.
Martha's a weird one. She went from training to be a doctor (aspirational!) to becoming a Doctor for UNIT (double aspirational) and then in the end gave it all up to marry a car mechanic and become some kind if mercenary? Odd.
As for Danny, I can see what Moffat was trying to do (and none of them come out of it very well--see equal opportunities) but I agree it wasn't handled very well.
Alex Kingston, Michelle Gomez, Karen Gillan, Jenna Coleman, Neve McIntosh, Catrin Stewart, and lets not forget Gina Belman...
...are/were being paid a handsome sum to do a job in an unstable industry. If actors (I am one) had the freedom to bite the hands that feed us to that extent, much less crap would make it to the screen.
I think it's pretty clear that Moffat can be an arse at times, but this whole sexism thing I never get.
It's hard to know where to start, but just to be going on with;
"The original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories had a huge female following, which I have never forgotten, and that's because the Victorian ladies liked the way Sherlock looked.
So I thought, 'Use this massively exciting, rather handsome man who could see right through your heart and have no interest.' Of course, he's going to be a sex god; I think we pitched that character right. I think our female fanbase think that they'll be the one to melt that glacier. They're all wrong. Nothing
will melt that glacier."
So, Victorian women couldn't have liked the Holmes stories because of the plot construction or the vivid characterisation, but could only have liked the character of Sherlock Holmes because of the way he
looked on the printed page?
Then there's turning Irene "River" Adler - the woman who beat, i.e.
defeated Sherlock Holmes - into a lesbian dominatrix (and thus making the line about her "beating" him crushingly literal) whose every other line was an innuendo, and having her walk around naked for no discernible reason. Have you noticed how the Doctor seems to feel the need to ask Rory's permission to hug Amy? Oh, and just
WATCH THIS.
In the above skit, Rory causes the TARDIS to materialise inside itself after being distracted by the view up Amy's skirt. Hilarious hijinks ensue, involving Amy flirting with/admiring herself (obviously a favourite fetish because Moffat repeats it with Clara twice), and the scene ends with the Doctor, rather than telling Rory to grow up and get a grip, telling Amy to "put some trousers on". I can't even...
Because
that thinking is never a dangerous path to start down.
Right so, with regard to female actors working (multiple times) with Moffat this is just down to not biting the hand that feeds them. Well that's the kind of conspiracy theory logic it's impossible to argue with because you'll always have a get out, never mind that someone like Alex Kingston isn't exactly struggling to find work and clearly adores playing River, or that Jena changed her mind about leaving (because its such a terrible working environment.)
As for Sherlock being a sex symbol, well it isn't like a lot of women (and men) have developed quite the thing for old Cumberbatch is it? I think the trouble is that Moffat just speaks before he thinks sometimes (and he isn't alone in that).
And I thought Irene was bi anyway? Is there something wrong with lesbian characters? And Irene is hardly portrayed as some kind of victim, in fact most often portrays women as being the ones on top (as it were) going all the way back to Pressgang and Coupling. I also think we need to address the fact of how Moffat writes men, often as a bit rubbish if I'm honest, and again this goes back to Coupling, he's an equal opportunities kinda guy. Jane's the slutty one, Sally's the neurotic one, Susan's the sensible naggy one...and the guys? Well Patrick's the stupid slutty one, Steve's the rubbish under the thumb one, and Jeff...well Jeff's the weird one, none of them are perfect.
Flash forward to Jekyll and the most important character in the whole show is the one played by Gina Belman (in two time periods).
And then we come to Amy and Rory, sigh, you do of course realise that when the Doctor asks Rory for permission to hug Amy this IS FOR RORY'S BENEFIT, because frankly Amy's gonna hug him no matter what, he's pandering to Rory's fear by giving him the illusion of choice in the matter, because really it's just Amy's choice (ha!)there's only one person in charge of the Tardis during that period, and it ain't Rory and it ain't the Doctor.
And two Amy's checking each other out, yes Moffat's so villainous, it isn't like Joss Whedon wasn't doing this back at the tail end of the 20th Century with evil Willow coming on to her non vampy self.
The trousers bit, I'll give you that, but it was just a bit of fun at the end of the day, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and I think he was lampshading the fact that the transparant floors were, in hindsight, a terrible idea.
Okay, I was wrong about AP and RS.
There are plenty of articles on Moffat's views on women, some arguing for and some arguing him being sexist. The Bechdel Test was applied to the lead female characters by a group of university students.
http://rebeccaamoore.com/2014/05/29/university-study-on-sexism-in-bbcs-doctor-who-infographic/
River Song and Amy Pond flopped the test, while Donna Noble passed the test.
Doctor Who has a history of depicting males who aren't as virile as the Doctor and females who need a male to complete themselves.
I was reading a review of "Kill the Moon". In that episode, the Doctor says, "It's your moon, womankind. It's your choice."
The astronaut, Lundvik, wants to use the nukes she brought to the Moon to kill the “parasite” so that its birth pangs do not destroy Earth. Clara’s not sure what the best thing is to do and wants to talk about their options. Courtney is all “Oh please don’t kill the little baby.” And the Doctor refuses to give any advice or help at all — even though he later all but admits that he knew that everything was going to be okay and Earth wasn’t going to be destroyed — because “It’s your Moon, womankind, it’s your choice"
Note: Not humankind. The Doctor does not say “It’s your Moon, humankind.” He very specifically says “womankind.” These two women and one girl, they’re not human, not really. At best, they are a subset of humanity, an offshoot, perhaps. And he also doesn’t say “It’s your decision” or “It’s up to you.” He uses a word that is very loaded when it comes to abortion: choice. (And while abortion is not generally a contentious issue in the U.K. the way it is in the U.S. [except in Northern Ireland], British MRAs are just as opposed to women’s autonomy when it comes to abortion as those in the U.S. are.)
http://www.flickfilosopher.com/2014/10/doctor-blogging-kill-moon.html
Using Chrissie's transcript site, I did a search for womankind. It is only said in this episode.
I think it can be argued that Clara's character wouldn't be such an issue, if the characterization, writing, and story telling were better. I think it can be argued further that her character wouldn't be such an issue, if there wasn't a gradual erosion of rights gained by women in the past century. As the series eight episodes were being premiered, there were numerous incidents of sexism and misogyny against women in popular culture. Take, for example, the Gamergate controversy.
The Bechdel Test is useful, but it's incredibly flawed, especially when applied to a TV show whose central character is male, as The Wormhole says, something like Gravity fails it, whilst some incredibly sexist gross out comedies might actually pass it because two women talk about shoes for 10 seconds or something...
As for Kill the Moon...firstly Moffat didn't write it, in fact he didn't even get a co-writer credit on it unlike some episodes in Series 8. Secondly WTF? This is an episode with women at its core, three strong female characters making an incredibly touch decision, yes the abortion/choice metaphor is a bit heavy handed, but I think the episode's heart's in the right place (although it is a terrible episode).
Really the words 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' spring to mind.
