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enemyofperfectLately I've been working my way through Doctor Who -- not the classic era, but the reboot, starting with the Ninth Doctor. I knew a certain amount about the series through fannish osmosis, but I never actually watched it until this year, and it's been very interesting. Finally I have opinions about some of these characters I've been hearing about for years! (And even a couple of lowkey plotbunnies, although I admit they're entirely about tormenting the Doctor in one incarnation or another.)
What I'm thinking about today is why I bounced so hard off of episode 6x04, "The Doctor's Wife".
When I was watching it, I had all kinds of ideas. Maybe I was too distracted by Neil Gaiman's name in the credits, or maybe I was just really underwhelmed by the TARDIS being turned into a woman and immediately kissing the Doctor -- because what's really important in the relationship between a thousand year old alien and a time traveling spaceship is some heteronormativity! -- or maybe it bothered me that she seemed to fall somewhere between an echo of the Doctor and a stereotype of a madwoman, when I would have liked her to have more poise.
There's probably a grain of truth to all those explanations, and to be honest, I might not have been in the best mood to begin with. But last night as I was going to bed, I realized that regardless of the execution, the concept of this episode would always have been a hard sell for me -- because I prefer to think of the TARDIS as a god.
I never put it into those words before, and I don't mean it literally in the sense of religion or worship as humans tend to practice it. But the TARDIS is an immensely powerful being -- aware of the universe in ways not even the Doctor can fully comprehend -- who doesn't always give him exactly what he asks for, but often gives him what he doesn't yet know he needs. Mysterious, numinous, and on some level unknowable -- that's the TARDIS I believe in; the one who acted to help Rose, but at a terrible, unavoidable price.
The show likes to make out as though the Doctor is something like a god, but I think at most, he's a god's chosen tool and messenger. He's very old and very clever and very very sad, but he's still a sort of being we can approximately wrap our heads around. But the TARDIS, who gets him into scrapes and out of them, who takes him where he needs to be! Who knows all languages and speaks none, who profoundly shapes the universe, and whose death could destroy it! That's a god, if you'd like one!
So any portrayal of the TARDIS as more or less human-shaped and human-sized was likely to fall flat for me. Not that this episode didn't at least attempt to complicate that -- she remembered the future, experienced the past, and had a hard time laying hands on the most mortal of words. But to me, she felt like not much more than a quirky individual who existed mostly in our limited linear world, and that's not what I want from the character.
And I don't think that's just me having a very particular idea about the TARDIS I'd to see realized -- although it definitely is that first and foremost! -- because there's a fairly thorny question that this episode raises I think quite accidentally.
It's lovely that the TARDIS stole the Doctor and was stolen in return, but in the context of her appearance in this episode, it's a little disturbing, too. An object can be stolen, and perhaps a god could as well, if the god chose to act subtly on and through the choices -- even the transgressive choices -- of mortals. But for a person on the scale of Amy or the Doctor to be stolen implies that that person was first property.
So if a TARDIS can and does exist on that human-comprehensible scale, what does that make the Time Lords? Is there someone the TARDIS stole the Doctor from -- was the practice of ownership genuinely reciprocal? Or is that just a bit of window dressing over what suddenly seems like a deep and troubling disparity between his people and hers?
Ultimately, my preference would be for the TARDIS be something unimaginable -- something too big to entirely fit in any of my little human boxes! And so I'm a little sad to have gotten instead just... some dubious backstory ethics and a person who is also a space car.
The bigger on the inside line was really good, though.
What I'm thinking about today is why I bounced so hard off of episode 6x04, "The Doctor's Wife".
When I was watching it, I had all kinds of ideas. Maybe I was too distracted by Neil Gaiman's name in the credits, or maybe I was just really underwhelmed by the TARDIS being turned into a woman and immediately kissing the Doctor -- because what's really important in the relationship between a thousand year old alien and a time traveling spaceship is some heteronormativity! -- or maybe it bothered me that she seemed to fall somewhere between an echo of the Doctor and a stereotype of a madwoman, when I would have liked her to have more poise.
There's probably a grain of truth to all those explanations, and to be honest, I might not have been in the best mood to begin with. But last night as I was going to bed, I realized that regardless of the execution, the concept of this episode would always have been a hard sell for me -- because I prefer to think of the TARDIS as a god.
I never put it into those words before, and I don't mean it literally in the sense of religion or worship as humans tend to practice it. But the TARDIS is an immensely powerful being -- aware of the universe in ways not even the Doctor can fully comprehend -- who doesn't always give him exactly what he asks for, but often gives him what he doesn't yet know he needs. Mysterious, numinous, and on some level unknowable -- that's the TARDIS I believe in; the one who acted to help Rose, but at a terrible, unavoidable price.
The show likes to make out as though the Doctor is something like a god, but I think at most, he's a god's chosen tool and messenger. He's very old and very clever and very very sad, but he's still a sort of being we can approximately wrap our heads around. But the TARDIS, who gets him into scrapes and out of them, who takes him where he needs to be! Who knows all languages and speaks none, who profoundly shapes the universe, and whose death could destroy it! That's a god, if you'd like one!
So any portrayal of the TARDIS as more or less human-shaped and human-sized was likely to fall flat for me. Not that this episode didn't at least attempt to complicate that -- she remembered the future, experienced the past, and had a hard time laying hands on the most mortal of words. But to me, she felt like not much more than a quirky individual who existed mostly in our limited linear world, and that's not what I want from the character.
And I don't think that's just me having a very particular idea about the TARDIS I'd to see realized -- although it definitely is that first and foremost! -- because there's a fairly thorny question that this episode raises I think quite accidentally.
It's lovely that the TARDIS stole the Doctor and was stolen in return, but in the context of her appearance in this episode, it's a little disturbing, too. An object can be stolen, and perhaps a god could as well, if the god chose to act subtly on and through the choices -- even the transgressive choices -- of mortals. But for a person on the scale of Amy or the Doctor to be stolen implies that that person was first property.
So if a TARDIS can and does exist on that human-comprehensible scale, what does that make the Time Lords? Is there someone the TARDIS stole the Doctor from -- was the practice of ownership genuinely reciprocal? Or is that just a bit of window dressing over what suddenly seems like a deep and troubling disparity between his people and hers?
Ultimately, my preference would be for the TARDIS be something unimaginable -- something too big to entirely fit in any of my little human boxes! And so I'm a little sad to have gotten instead just... some dubious backstory ethics and a person who is also a space car.
The bigger on the inside line was really good, though.
no subject
Date: 2019-08-30 11:41 am (UTC)I think there are some of the Eighth Doctor novels that have a more godlike and unknowable TARDIS, but I can't remember which since I didn't read many of them.
I'm excited that you're watching Doctor Who! I got started with the new one myself, so if you'd like to try watching some of the older series once you're done with the new one, let me know and I can give you some recommendations!
(Also hi maintaining multiple social networks is hard and I'm sorry I've been out of touch!)
no subject
Date: 2019-08-31 02:18 am (UTC)That's lovely to hear about the novels, even without knowing which ones! I'll be sure to keep your offer in mind. It would definitely be intimidating to try and find my way through the backlog without any kind of guide!
(No need for apologies at all, I am painfully aware of having fallen off tumblr myself! But it's awfully good to see you again. You are definitely one of the people I've been missing!)
no subject
Date: 2019-09-03 01:58 am (UTC)For the classic series, where to start depends a lot on personal preference, but it also kind of depends on how much old TV and movies you're already used to? I personally tend to like the first four Doctors a bit better, but One and Two (and to an extent Three) can be a hard place to start if you're not already used to black-and-white movies and the slower pace of a sci-fi serial. It starts to feel a bit more modern around Four and Five's run.
(One of the things that brought me back here was realizing how long it had been since I'd talked to you! I'm happy to be back and catch up.)
no subject
Date: 2019-09-03 03:43 am (UTC)(Aww, I'm so happy we're talking again too! And getting to see your story snippets again is awesome. If only I were better at breaking down big impossible ideas ("catch on tumblr") into the parts I cared about most and could actually do ("check particular tags from people I know and like", this could have happened much sooner!)