Planet of the Dead

[glory_jean]

Well, I watched Planet of the Dead. And I liked it- stuff at the end, I'm pretending that I didn't hear, aside.

I might as well face it: I'm RTD's bitch. Use me, abuse me and I come back for more. It remains to be seen whether the Moff will have that effect on me.

I still hate the comic book story arch. I still hate the idea that it's desirable - or even acceptable - to take your hero, wreck him with survivor's guilt, fix him and then proceed to deconstruct his life bit by bit. That's clearly sadism and I feel a little dirty even watching.

Comic book writers say that kids don't want their heroes happy and settled. (Sound familiar?). But I don't see that being true. They may not want to see adults kissing, but that doesn't mean they want them miserable.

My son was only seven when he saw DD and his only comment at the time was "If Rose wanted to stay with the Doctor she should have held on tighter." But I noticed, where before he would bounce off the walls when he heard a new ep was coming, chattering non-stop during the ep and for twenty minutes after, as S3 progressed, he was more and more blase about it. By S4, he watched almost as an afterthought. He would consent to be in the room with us and glance at the screen from time to time. We haven't bought S4 (more due to money trouble than anything else) but we do have S3. Whenever I can manage to coax my son into a DW watching, he always asks for an S2 or S1 ep. He never wants to see S3. And this isn't a kid who's lost interest. We have a permanent TARDIS in the living room. He spent an hour shopping in the dealer room at Outpost Gallifrey. He pined for an R/C Dalek that we couldn't afford. (And bought anyway on the sly. Happy Easter!)

So when they say this is what the kids want - you couldn't prove it by me.



ETA: I just asked my son if he wanted to watch POTD and he responded "no, thank you." So, I asked why and got the shrug. But when I asked if he thought that the show was too sad now, he answered with a sad little, "yeah." Put that in your pipe and smoke it, RTD.


ETA x2: Well the little one watched and enjoyed for the most part. Then when the end turned dark, I could see the dismay in his eyes. The only saving grace was that it was brief and the previews were sufficiently distracting.

Comments

[shield-wolf.livejournal.com]

You know that there's something seriously wrong somewhere when you're unable to be certain that a showrunner actually likes his main character....

For all that I continue to hold out hope of a truly heroic and possibly even satisfying ending for Ten, I also recognize the irony of how the RTD era has backtracked from setting up potentially groundbreaking changes in the fundamentals of the show into yet another apparent retrenching of many of its most frustrating aspects. For example, it's difficult to argue, in the wake of JE, that the Doctor is not afflicted with a Peter Pan complex -- or at least an insurmountable level of emotional cowardice -- that renders him incapable of developing anything resembling a healthy adult relationship. And how "heroic" is his existence, really, if all the good he does for humanity and others is possibly grounded in guilty attempts at overcompensation for his own inability to form meaningful attachments on a more intimate basis?

It's good to hear that even some children are rejecting this currently depressing perspective in favor of episodes that convey a much more balanced approach to the adventures of possibly the most remarkable man in the universe.

[pncwho.livejournal.com]

Comic book writers say that kids don't want their heroes happy and settled. (Sound familiar?). But I don't see that being true. They may not want to see adults kissing, but that doesn't mean they want them miserable.

Indeed. I think kids have a decent idea of how relationships are supposed to be, and that you can't just retcon yourself back to square one. Kids are much smarter than we grownups give them credit for.

ETA: I just asked my son if he wanted to watch POTD and he responded "no, thank you." So, I asked why and got the shrug. But when I asked if he thought that the show was too sad now, he answered with a sad little, "yeah." Put that in your pipe and smoke it, RTD.

Case in point. I think your son understands that this isn't how the Doctor is supposed to be, and it's rather ruined his enjoyment of the show. Smart kid.

PS: happy birthday! :)

[catsfiction.livejournal.com]

It would be very interesting to see an age profile of the people who didn't like JE. My impression is that people with kids of their own are less happy with it. And that figures. When you're young there's a certain coolness in emoting and being tortured. You think it somehow has more integrity than settling down and being conventional, or telling stories about how you'd like the world to be. I feel that's one of the reasons a younger age profile got into S3 and the Martha character arc.

But I do think having children makes you aware of the power of myth to inspire us and create hope, and how important that is. Religious myths in childhood can do incalculable harm and I would love to see DW as a spiritual humanist narrative that can include everyone. It doesn't seem to be going that way - they're more interested in a glitzy formulaic show right now, and that bothers me.

[sensiblecat.livejournal.com]

Have to say, if they're planning on giving the Teen Angst a miss, the way they've presented Matt Smith so far doesn't bode well. He looks very Twilight to me.

The one group I can't see DW ever appealing to is teens, as it happens. As the parent of two myself I know from experience that there is only one thing worse than liking what your parents watch, and that's liking what 10 year olds watch. DW is both. My son won't touch it with a bargepole.