Potterhead. Comics Geek. Bones Fan. Whovian.
This is where I let the fangirl go mad.
Oh! Feel free to hit up my ask. I like to talk geek.
There’s been some frustrating debate about sexism in Doctor Who lately—you may have noticed I got caught up in one of them earlier (a Sisyphean task, alas.)
But I was thinking about another thing, and figured I’d provide a link. Dealing with sexism in a popular culture thing is nothing new. In the mid-90s, a popular web commentator (and brilliant satirist for a few comics fan pages) who loves superheroes noticed a disturbing trend, namely that “being a girl superhero meant inevitably being killed, maimed or depowered.”
So this fan/commentator, made a list of every superhero woman who had been killed, maimed, depowered, or raped (or all of that, unfortunately) and posted it on the internet.
And that’s when stuff hit the fan.
Both positive and negative, of course. People who were thrilled to see someone else point out these issues. People who were annoyed that feminists expected nothing bad to ever happen to women in superhero comics—doesn’t bad stuff happen to men all the time?!?
Sounds familiar?
Well. It’s not like things are fixed in superhero comics, not by a long shot. But that commentator, a woman named Gail Simone who you may or may not have heard of, did make a difference.
Because Gail Simone went on to write for the Simpsons comics (the publishing industry had seen her work—satire, parody, and commentary, and gave her the chance to write comics herself) and then to Deadpool and Agent-X at Marvel. But she’s most well-known for her beloved runs on Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman, Secret Six, and Batgirl. She’s written Batman, Superman, Firestorm, and The All-New Atom, as well as her own series,Secret Six. She’s a respected and popular writer, who actively tries to write strong women and people of color and of different sexual and gender identifications. And people are listening
Stuff’s still messed up. And even Gail will probably tell you the inherent sexism of society works its way into her work in weird ways, no matter how hard she resists it or purposely tries to undermine it. And comics is still primarily a boys’ club and this stuff still happens.
But all that aside, “Women in Refrigerators” did make a difference.
do you remember when we met?
feeling a little angst and a little love, and had this song in my head all day. thus.
doctor who meme → two quotes [1/2]
doctor: who was she?
madame vastra: i don’t know, but she was very brave.
doctor: they’re always brave.
Written for The Doctor/Rose Fix Spring Fix-a-Thon!
Response to the following picture:
Title: “Of Mountain Lakes and Grecian Urns”
Pair: Ten/Rose
Rating: Teen
Spoilers: Quick mention of Krop Tor, nothing too specific. Takes place late S2
Doodle got out of hand. NOW I HAVE TO STUDY
most memorable people of color on doctor who (in no real order):
- martha jones - freema agyeman
- mickey smith - noel clarke
- zachary cross flane - shaun parkes
- liz ten - sophie okonedo
- rita - amara karan
- billy shipton - michael obiora
- kel - abdul salis
- melody “mels” pond - nina toussaint-white
#Also Donna’s two fiancees #Doctor Who #queue
You know, here is a thing I thought was interesting. Donna’s two fiancees were black, but in Forest of the Dead, her “fantasy” fella was white. Not that I didn’t think he was sweet and wonderful, but when she ended up with Lee (who I think is lovely, actually, I’ve read some odd criticisms of him), I was like, I knew she had a type.
To this list I’d like to add:
- Yasmin Bannerman as Jabe (Forest of Cheem)
- Christine Adams as Cathica in “The Long Game”
- Paterson Joseph as Rodrick in “Bad Wolf” (a villain of sorts, but still)
- Nina Sosanya as Trish Webber
- Abisola Agbaje as Chloe Webber
- Ronny Jhuti as Danny in “Impossible Planet/Satan Pit
- Lenora Crichlow as Cheen in “Gridlock”
- Hugh Quarshie as Solomon in “Daleks in Manhattan”
- Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Trish Jones
- Adjoah Andoh as Francine Jones
- Clive Rowe as Morvin Van Hoff in “Voyage of the Damned”
- Jessica Williams as Anita in “Silence in the Library”
- Rakie Ayola as the Hostess in “Midnight”
- Ayesha Antoine as Dee Dee Blasco in “Midnight”
- Velile Tshabalala as Rosita in “The Next Doctor”
- Gemma Chan as Mia Bennett in “Waters of Mars”
- Chook Sibtain as Tarak Ital in “Waters of Mars”
- Sharon Duncan Brewster as Maggie Cain in “Waters of Mars”
- Davide Harewood as Joshua Naismith in “End of Time”
- Meera Syal as Nasreen in “The Hungry Earth”
- Lucian Masamati as “Guido” in “Vampires of Venice”
This list is a little…unbalanced, yes?
I do not think Stephen Moffat is actively racist, that’s not what I’m saying. But there has been a significant drop in the number of names PoCs (not just black, either) since he’s taken charge. Sherlock also has a pretty obvious lack (except for Donovan, who is presented in a terrifically unsympathetic light…which struck me a bit like Mels—Oh, really, the black incarnation of River is a car thief and ends up in jail all the time for causing trouble? Huh.).
I’ve often thought that Davies, as a gay man, had a more active and specific goal to represent minorities as showrunner because of his own experiences with discrimination and marginalization. I believe he’s said as much in regards to the ways he represents gay characters. So, while many of us talk about the issues of female representation in Moffat, I think it may also be worth pointing out the lack of POC representation.
Again, I’m not saying MOFF IS A RACIST ZOMG. And I also don’t want to minimize the awesomeness of Queen Bess or Rita (I have issues with Mels). But one of the things I did really appreciate about the Davies era is that characters of all different ethnicities were just around, from the first episode to the last. It didn’t seem like tokenism, in large part because there were so many folks so frequently on the screen.
And it’s one of the 923,432,321 reasons I’m sad Rita isn’t our next companion, no offense to Jenna-Louise.
EDITED TO ADD: I’m also not saying the Davies’ representations were never problematic or that his run was perfect. Just pointing out the numbers.
Playing around on Shaun’s iPad, testing an app. It was pretty responsive and my Doctor turned out well so I am posting it here. I guess other generations probably eat celery, yes? As long as it’s not purple.
#I’m going to bawl like a baby when Eleven really DOES regenerate#Doctor Who#The Doctor (via gallifreyburning)
A thing that I think will help (or maybe make it worse):
Eleven won’t be like Ten, desperate to cling on to himself. Eleven hates himself. There was a brief moment of a fresh start, but by the end of series 5, not only must he deal with the pain of loss as Ten, he’s “ruined” Amy’s life, too. There’s a possibility of hope through the Big Bang, but once Series 6 happens it all happens again, and maybe worse, considering the outcome of the River puzzle. On top of it, Series 6 frequently referenced the losses of Ten—meaning he’s not moving on, he’s connected those losses and “mistakes” he continues to make.
The Silence and everything. Amy and Rory’s promised “tragic” and “definite” exit. The burden is too heavy.
I hope that Eleven will find something that will bring him to life again. Maybe the new companion will be good for him.
But I have a feeling, when the time comes, Eleven will be happy for a fresh start.
Whether that makes it better or worse? I don’t know.
doctor who meme | two quotes [1/2]
“If it’s time to go, remember what you’re leaving. Remember the best. My friends have always been the best of me.”
