Martha's own main issue there was the lack of romantic love, which was really nobodys fault. It just happens that way sometimes.
Ah come now - in fiction nothing "just happens that way sometimes." It's like Chekhov's law about if if somebody puts a gun into a drawer in the first act, it has to be used by the third act.
RTD chose to have Martha mimic what Rose did - fall for the Doctor - and to have it requited in the first case and not in the second. In fiction one doesn't think, "ah, it just happens that way sometimes", one thinks, "Hmm, what was the writer trying to convey by creating this turn of events?"
Here, I'm afraid the only spin I can put on it is that RTD wanted to hammer home the Doctor + Rose = Eternal Soulmates theme by having Martha aspire to a similar role and being found inadequate.
I'm not saying that RTD wanted to portray Martha as a generally inadequate person. Clearly he wanted her to be a bit kickass. But she put herself forward in the area of romantic interest and the Doctor found her inadequate in that area.
So RTD was pushing Martha as Sorry, Just Not Good Enough. He could've highlighted her adequacy in lots of areas rather than highlighting her inadequacy in this area, but he chose not to. I find it pretty objectionable, and many others did too.
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rosecarmine
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Date: 2007-12-16 06:46 pm (UTC)Ah come now - in fiction nothing "just happens that way sometimes." It's like Chekhov's law about if if somebody puts a gun into a drawer in the first act, it has to be used by the third act.
RTD chose to have Martha mimic what Rose did - fall for the Doctor - and to have it requited in the first case and not in the second. In fiction one doesn't think, "ah, it just happens that way sometimes", one thinks, "Hmm, what was the writer trying to convey by creating this turn of events?"
Here, I'm afraid the only spin I can put on it is that RTD wanted to hammer home the Doctor + Rose = Eternal Soulmates theme by having Martha aspire to a similar role and being found inadequate.
I'm not saying that RTD wanted to portray Martha as a generally inadequate person. Clearly he wanted her to be a bit kickass. But she put herself forward in the area of romantic interest and the Doctor found her inadequate in that area.
So RTD was pushing Martha as Sorry, Just Not Good Enough. He could've highlighted her adequacy in lots of areas rather than highlighting her inadequacy in this area, but he chose not to. I find it pretty objectionable, and many others did too.