That's all at Straight Outta Gallifrey, under Episode 182: Series 12 Part 1
Thanks for listening!
That's all at Straight Outta Gallifrey, under Episode 182: Series 12 Part 1
Thanks for listening!
That's all at Straight Outta Gallifrey, under Episode 182: Series 12 Part 1
Thanks for listening!
Comments
I recoiled the first time I heard the usage of family (fam) to describe the tardis crew. I was never going to be overtly thrilled by the adoption of modern day slang, such developments always feel decidedly needy, but it goes a bit deeper than that.
I'm never too thrilled when critics feel the need to reduce the relationship of dramatic leads down to nuclear family status like a proverbial rorschach test, it reduces the agency of any decent writer.
But the area of true sensitivity it seems to me is the deliberate invocation of the surrogate family phenomena within LGBTIQA+ circles, bearing testament to my gay friends experience that support network is a foundational aspect of their lives, as such, it's always felt slightly like appropriation rather than representation to me, unearned cultural currency if you will, considering that none of the characters identified as being such at the time.
And so, it quite naturally brings us on to Yaz and the Doctor. In many ways, it feels like the acid test of the entire era, just how sensitively or otherwise Chibnall handles the long simmering tensions. Given that it's taken three series for Yaz to finally articulate her feelings to a 3rd party, no less, I don't think it's too harsh to say it's been largely soft-pedalled. It would be a rather unfortunate look if the multi-coloured stripes were largely for show.
As for Yaz, I do wish it had been more overt, but at the same time, it's not a dynamic I enjoyed when they pulled it with Martha or Clara, or for a split second there, with Amy. It's also unclear just where the Doctor would place herself on the gender and orientation scale. Asexual probably, like most Doctors. She sometimes fails to remember she's now a woman and might wear a tuxedo or something. The closest we get to some kind of orientation data is when she's put off by Lord Byron's advances (compare to Tennant and almost any female celebrity historical). Somewhere in there are a couple of letters of the acronym, surely. She doesn't have to be L for the rainbow to mean something.
I expand upon it not only to show the levels of investiture are often markedly different, but because the advanced publicity for S11 lent in heavily upon such notions of diversity and inclusion, the gender swap itself, the rainbow effect pattern being an intentional evocation to show that this particular fam understands. I think there's enough there to suggest an implicit promise was made. That the Yaz/Doctor situation should be handled with due sensitivity and import, not simply squared off under 'other assorted business' before the era concludes. It doesn't necessarily mean L, but it does mean empathy and understanding enough to show Yaz' feelings are legitimate.
I'm personally ambivalent about the Doctor being asexual, I appreciate that the non-violence, asexual aspect has done much to define the unique character of the show and open it out to a diverse audience, but it is apart of human nature, and the Doctor is[ human nature writ large. To deny a showrunner the option seems to pander to certain element of fandom which is fundamentally uncomfortable with any display of human emotion.
You could call it self censorship, I suppose, but it does feel like the plot point has been continuously shunted down the track until there's barely any track left to actually navigate.
It could be the exact opposite, of course, further highlighting the issues. We'll see.