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Further thoughts on 13th Doctor casting
(I mean, aside from giggling a little maniacally about how the numbering has been screwed up since the DoD retconning wherein there have been, like, eighteen Doctors already)
0. In case this was not already clear from my gleeful ficlet, I AM FUCKING STOKED about Jodie Whittaker being the new Doctor. She will be awesome.
1. All of the Tardis-parking, women-mean-tampons, women-mean-kitchens, painting the TARDIS pink* (or the console) and other jokes. They are so fucking sexist. No, joking that now she'll be off sick the first day, or on maternity leave, or only work half the time and be on the phone all the time, or... UGH. It's so fucking gross. And people don't even seem to realize that they're reinforcing these ugly stereotypes when they make what seems to be a quick joke (I've seen lots of reactions on Twitter, and quite a few supportive responses that included "let me make this women are THIS joke").
I expect if the Doctor had been a black dude there would have been 'supportive jokes' about him being in gangland/into weed/etc (perhaps he gets locked up more often).
I mean, I get it. There is nothing sacred, and everything can be mocked. But. It's still gross.
2. "Moffat leaves, so of course we finally have a woman Doctor."
Well. Um, yeah. While I think Moffat should have cast either a woman or a non-white male with Twelve, I also appreciated that he didn't cast yet another 20-something in the role.
(on the other hand, though, I don't really read a lot of Moffat interviews, so I'm sure he's said a lot about how he'd never ever write a female Doctor.)
However, one thing you I have noticed over the last little while is that, well, he's just, y'know, consistently shoved the idea into the canon as often as he possibly could.
Since at least The Doctor's Wife. (The Corsair)
And loathe Let's Kill Hitler though many of you do, a black woman regenerated into a white woman, explicitly canonizing the idea that skin color did not define a Time Lord. (I think Big Finish got there with Don Warrington as Rassilon first, but BF wasn't canon until... um. That Moffat-written short)
In addition, if he hadn't wanted to prepare the way for the idea, I doubt he'd've allowed any of it.
Which, well, I feel like maybe the way needed to be paved a little? Give the idea more of a basis than just some knee-jerk "we're casting someone not white or male now!" sort of announcement. Give everyone a little canon to hang that hat on.
My conclusion, unscientific and not particularly sustainable though it is, is that Moffat was paving the way for this to happen. Whether he thought he would manage it himself, or whether he was certain it would be someone after him, isn't something I'll speculate on. But I do feel that acting like he never would have let a woman be the Doctor is a bit... wrong?
It also helps that right now, female-led properties are doing fairly well (even if you hated Ghostbusters, it made a respectable return). And Wonder Woman? Is still killing box office returns. This made it a 'safe' option when presented to upper management at the BBC (and given that everything is about deliverables these days...).
And anyone who thinks they would have cast someone without care for their race or gender is lying to themselves. Business wise, they would not have made the decision without vetting it.
(maybe after Black Panther kills it, we'll get more support for Paterson Joseph as the 14th)
(ok, really, I want Indira Varma to be the Doctor. She'd even be continuing the Torchwood cross-over-actor-action)
3. I still keep seeing people claiming that Moffat doesn't know anything about the original series/doesn't reference it... and I'm just. Are you people even watching the same show I am? Because Moff's Who is FULL of references/reliances upon the original series.
Although I don't have an example at all right now. I just. I feel like his Who is steeped in the original series almost to the point that it's a little cloying with it.
(though I don't think you can have too much classic Who)
Anyway. In closing, if you pick one Big Finish audio arc to buy, get the Black and White TARDIS sets (Survive and Defend; Black and White; Gods and Monsters), re-watch Curse of Fenric, and then dive into Gods and Monsters.
(and then rant about how this would have been a fucking amazing TV episode and whine about actors aging)
*OTOH, I would be ok with a Happiness Patrol sequel. BRING ON THE DEPRESSING TOTALITARIAN STORIES, BEEB. Even if they are an accurate picture of America today.
0. In case this was not already clear from my gleeful ficlet, I AM FUCKING STOKED about Jodie Whittaker being the new Doctor. She will be awesome.
1. All of the Tardis-parking, women-mean-tampons, women-mean-kitchens, painting the TARDIS pink* (or the console) and other jokes. They are so fucking sexist. No, joking that now she'll be off sick the first day, or on maternity leave, or only work half the time and be on the phone all the time, or... UGH. It's so fucking gross. And people don't even seem to realize that they're reinforcing these ugly stereotypes when they make what seems to be a quick joke (I've seen lots of reactions on Twitter, and quite a few supportive responses that included "let me make this women are THIS joke").
I expect if the Doctor had been a black dude there would have been 'supportive jokes' about him being in gangland/into weed/etc (perhaps he gets locked up more often).
I mean, I get it. There is nothing sacred, and everything can be mocked. But. It's still gross.
2. "Moffat leaves, so of course we finally have a woman Doctor."
Well. Um, yeah. While I think Moffat should have cast either a woman or a non-white male with Twelve, I also appreciated that he didn't cast yet another 20-something in the role.
(on the other hand, though, I don't really read a lot of Moffat interviews, so I'm sure he's said a lot about how he'd never ever write a female Doctor.)
However, one thing you I have noticed over the last little while is that, well, he's just, y'know, consistently shoved the idea into the canon as often as he possibly could.
Since at least The Doctor's Wife. (The Corsair)
And loathe Let's Kill Hitler though many of you do, a black woman regenerated into a white woman, explicitly canonizing the idea that skin color did not define a Time Lord. (I think Big Finish got there with Don Warrington as Rassilon first, but BF wasn't canon until... um. That Moffat-written short)
In addition, if he hadn't wanted to prepare the way for the idea, I doubt he'd've allowed any of it.
Which, well, I feel like maybe the way needed to be paved a little? Give the idea more of a basis than just some knee-jerk "we're casting someone not white or male now!" sort of announcement. Give everyone a little canon to hang that hat on.
My conclusion, unscientific and not particularly sustainable though it is, is that Moffat was paving the way for this to happen. Whether he thought he would manage it himself, or whether he was certain it would be someone after him, isn't something I'll speculate on. But I do feel that acting like he never would have let a woman be the Doctor is a bit... wrong?
It also helps that right now, female-led properties are doing fairly well (even if you hated Ghostbusters, it made a respectable return). And Wonder Woman? Is still killing box office returns. This made it a 'safe' option when presented to upper management at the BBC (and given that everything is about deliverables these days...).
And anyone who thinks they would have cast someone without care for their race or gender is lying to themselves. Business wise, they would not have made the decision without vetting it.
(maybe after Black Panther kills it, we'll get more support for Paterson Joseph as the 14th)
(ok, really, I want Indira Varma to be the Doctor. She'd even be continuing the Torchwood cross-over-actor-action)
3. I still keep seeing people claiming that Moffat doesn't know anything about the original series/doesn't reference it... and I'm just. Are you people even watching the same show I am? Because Moff's Who is FULL of references/reliances upon the original series.
Although I don't have an example at all right now. I just. I feel like his Who is steeped in the original series almost to the point that it's a little cloying with it.
(though I don't think you can have too much classic Who)
Anyway. In closing, if you pick one Big Finish audio arc to buy, get the Black and White TARDIS sets (Survive and Defend; Black and White; Gods and Monsters), re-watch Curse of Fenric, and then dive into Gods and Monsters.
(and then rant about how this would have been a fucking amazing TV episode and whine about actors aging)
*OTOH, I would be ok with a Happiness Patrol sequel. BRING ON THE DEPRESSING TOTALITARIAN STORIES, BEEB. Even if they are an accurate picture of America today.
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LOL< that's hilarious. Moffat-hate seems to incline to the jaw-droppingly stupid.
As to Steven Moffat and a female Doctor, he even wrote Curse of Fatal Death back in the 90s, so Thirteen was a woman then, too. He did say, in a DWM interview not that long before he took over that he wasn't sure whether or not the Doctor could be a woman, but he clearly went home, thought, actually why not? and has been working towards it ever since. Not only what you mention, but the General (regenerating from white male to black female) in DotD, but most especially by casting the Master as female. I think that's the big thing that will have convinced the PTB - Michelle Gomez successfully carrying that off. (If, to be fair, they needed convincing, which I'd assume, but may not necessarily be true.)
(though I don't think you can have too much classic Who)
Indeed.
Anyway, I think she looks like she should be a good Doctor, and if the writing's not up to scratch, what's new? And there's always fic... <3
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Oh, yes! I'd forgotten Curse. And to be fair, it was played for laughs. But I guess that means he'd thought about it more often than I'd realized.
And right, Missy and the General were both massive steps as well (Missy especially. If she'd failed, there's no way production would ever have been convinced to change the formula).
But basically, I'm pleased and hoping the writing is good. And also that we get a bit more character beats from her so we can start writing all the River/Thirteen/Liz X. Or whichever pairings. (and adventures)
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Ha, yes, we'll need something to go on while we wait!
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I want Indira Varma to be the Doctor.
Could still happen - I mean, we've got a lot of catching up before there's parity. Maybe it will be women all the way down for the next ten or so regenerations? (I know it won't, but still. We could still have Indira, one of these days.)
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And there were some skeevy bits at times.
BUT. But, a lot of things offset that, like all of the bits you mention.
And, just, making Clara so central (I mean, RTD made Rose central, but there was also this sort of undercurrent that she wouldn't manage it on her own, which is not me tearing Rose down, more me being utterly frustrated at the little boxes she was put into. Parts of season four at least helped, and I'm going off on a mental tangent about Rose and Torchwood in my head, so I'll stop)
argh. That got way from me.
BUT. I'm really looking forward to this series and crossing my fingers and hoping they'll snag some women for their writer's room. And directing. (I know, I know, I'm moving the goal posts...)
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If we had just dove straight into, FEMALE DOCTOR! then hooo, I think reactions would've been worse. A lot of us fans would be fine, we've been through endless regenerations already, we're good with whatever.
But you start out in the show by casually mentioning the Corsair's gender change, so you drop the seed that it is absolutely a possibility.
Then you've got Missy, so you see that it's already happened.
Then you have a gender based regeneration happen on screen (With bonus change of race!), so all the pieces necessary, slowly turning the water up to boiling, so we don't jump out.
(I know the frog in water analogy is false, shush.)
I am legit surprised I have not seen one joke yet about sonic screwdriver/vibrator now that the Doctor is a woman.
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Or even second.
And as much as I wanted a woman or a non-white dude with Twelve, I sort of feel that we needed an old guy again just to break up the thread of young men and also remind everyone that change happens.
er.
And maybe not on LJ, but I've seen a few on twitter. I've also seen way too many "but she's a woman, she won't be able to park/ask for directions" things (thank goodness for Colin Baker, who shot back that none of the male Doctors could park or pilot the TARDIS, either)
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As for the Black & White trilogy - hell yeah. Protect & Survive is scary as shit! One of my favorite DWs of any medium. (Haven't gotten to the newest Doc7 audio - listening to Invisible Man at the moment...)