(no subject)

[frelling_tralk]

Doctor Who legend Sylvester McCoy says only a MAN can play the Time Lord

Obviously there's been a backlash against his statements in fandom, but can I be super-unpopular and admit that I'm not sure how I feel about a female Doctor either? Not that I'm agreeing with Sylvester McCoy reasoning though, "If they changed it to be politically correct then it would ruin the dynamics between the doctor and the assistant” doesn't even make sense as an argument when the dynamic between the Doctor and his Companions changes all the time? It's hardly an established dynamic that shouldn't be touched, they all relate to one another differently depending on differing individual personalities?

But anyway, it seems like the popular thing these days in fandom is to root for a female Doctor, and I'm just not sure how I feel about it. The canon suggests that Time Lords have some control over their changes, so why would the Doctor suddenly choose to regenerate as a woman when he has kept a male identity through 12 regenerations, and seems to have always identified as male? I mean I'm not entirely opposed to a female Doctor by any means, but I guess that's why it's a little bit of a sticking point for me at the moment. The argument seems to go that the Doctor is a Time Lord and can easily choose to regenerate as female without it being a big deal, except that he hasn't through 12 regenerations so far, nor have other Time Lord's like River and Romana, so clearly Time Lord's still must have some basic concept of gender and whether they identify as male or female?

Obviously the intro of Missy has changed things by opening up Time Lord society dealing with gender identity differently, but that still all seems a bit vague to me at the moment when this is the first time that we know of (I think?) that a Time Lord has chosen to change their sex, and we don't yet know if the Master had any particular reason for switching. I guess that I'm just stuck on, whatever regeneration they go through, it's always seemed like Time Lord's still keep the same basic core personality in the past, so wouldn't the Doctor (and the Master too I guess) continue thinking of themselves as male? I feel like the lone voice in fandom when it comes to this debate, because it always seems to get painted as only someone really old-fashioned and set in their ways could not want a female Doctor. And Idk, there's definitely some interesting casting choices out there that I could see myself enjoying as the Doctor, but at the same time it does feel to me like it would be kind of a simplistic message if the show did go with "oh we're hired a biological female to play the Doctor, that means that the character is suddenly a woman now and thinks of herself that way". I mean I assume anyway that part of wanting an actress to play the role of the Doctor would include that incarnation of the Doctor starting to identify as female?

I'm certainly not opposed in any way to changing the gender of established characters for reboots, I'm just not sure how to feel about it when it comes to a character from an ongoing television series. I'm a bit of a hypocrite I guess though lol as I have been enjoying the portrayal of Missy as the Master so much that they could probably make a female Doctor work for me just as easily with the right casting, but still is there anyone else out there who also feels a bit unsure with how a female Doctor would work when he's always been portrayed as male? (The Master choosing the female form for this latest regeneration just doesn't cancel out to me the way that it's always been shown to us as working in the past for the Doctor)

Comments

[sabotabby]

My objection has more to do with contemporary sexism than Gallifreyan biology or culture. The Doctor has to seem alien. My biggest objection to, say, Tennant, was that he never sold alienness to me; my favourite Doctors seem the least human.

I think the alienness stems from a sort of awkwardness, weird features, subtle mannerisms, etc., and that is a thing that tends to be more culturally permissible among male actors than female. I can think of a handful of women who I think would pull it off—Tilda Swinton, Janelle Monae—but in general even the BBC casts for pretty with women and casts for interesting with men. I would, of course, like to see more weird and alien looking women on screen, but that's tangential.

It's also a very visceral reaction because I grew up with the show and the Doctor's always been male. Internalized sexism, I guess, but it's also hugely important to have that kind of archetype and role model. The Doctor's defining characteristics—compassion, intellect over violence, humanism in the philosophical sense—tend to be derided in men, and having the hero of a sci-fi show be all about words over fists is quite rare and significant from a feminist perspective. He shows young boys how they should act, and young girls an expectation of how men should act.

I do really want there to be a POC Doctor, though. Not for a very long time, because I want Capaldi to be the Doctor for a very long time, but for 13. Specifically, Idris Elba.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

The Doctor's defining characteristics—compassion, intellect over violence, humanism in the philosophical sense—tend to be derided in men, and having the hero of a sci-fi show be all about words over fists is quite rare and significant from a feminist perspective.

Good points :) I feared this entry would make me come off as really regressive, but I mean that's honestly how I feel. We can debate over whether the concept of gender is more fluid for Time Lord's, and perhaps it is, but the Doctor has still always been presented as a male character who is constantly regenerating into the male form, in-show is there really that much justification for him to become a woman on his 13th regeneration?

Idris Elba

Ooh I would die if they ever cast him *g* Sadly it's not looking likely though as his career has really taken off, I can't see him wanting to be tied down to DW at this point :/ But yeah, I'm all for a PoC Doctor too, there's not an sticking point for me in the same way as the Doctor switching genders is.

My biggest objection to, say, Tennant, was that he never sold alienness to me; my favourite Doctors seem the least human.

ITA! Tennant was my least favourite Doctor because he always just seemed too ~hipster cool~ to me, I could never quite gel with him :(

[sabotabby]

Yeah, I think my opinion on this is a bit unpopular amongst the Whovians I associate with. And to be fair, most of the arguments against a female Doctor are regressive. I just don't think yours are, or mine are.

ITA! Tennant was my least favourite Doctor because he always just seemed too ~hipster cool~ to me, I could never quite gel with him :(

Yes. The Doctor shouldn't be cool. Or, well, not cool in that sense.