What are your opinions about this episode?
My understanding this was originally intended to be a Matt Smith and
Karen Gillan episode, set during season 6, and it was later adapted for
the Disney reboot. That means that the original plot twist would have >involved not racism, but xenophobia/tribalism.
It's clear the Doctor was more pushy and condescending, while his
companion took a softer approach. This explains why Lindy reacted >differently to them. Plus, the Doctor committed the horrible "crime" of >bumping Ricky September off her feed during her morning routine.
Of course, in the Gatwa version, the conventional wisdom is that the >audience is supposed to *infer* that all the Finetimers are horribly
racist people and every interaction between them and the Doctor was >"racist". However, this is never made explicit in the episode itself.
All of the dialogue would still work just as functionally if they were >rejecting the Doctor for the same reasons they would have in the Smith >script (he's an Outsider, he's older, he's not human).
Putting the tacked on racism angle aside, it's ironic that RTD chose to >parody and lampoon an entire age demographic as being vapid and shallow, >especially when the show was supposedly trying to appeal to that >demographic.
That said, the episode raises some interesting questions which are
possibly beyond the intellect of the specific audience that it was
pandering to. Particularly, did Lindey become "irredeemable" when she >directed the phantasm ball to kill Ricky instead of her? It's easy for >those who've never actually been in a life-or-death situation to condemn >her, but how many people can honestly say they know for 100% sure they >wouldn't have reacted the same way in a split second while in full Fight
or Flight mode?
How much of her behavior at the end of the episode was informed by her >shock/PTSD/denial/guilt over what had just happened to her?
In almost every review I've read, people seem to be cheering on the idea >that all of the young people in this episode died horrible deaths. It's >very strange that a Doctor Who story would intend to provoke this type
of reaction in its audience. The episode itself does not endorse this
view, but it was left open ended as to what actually happened to them >(although the Doctor says/believes they'll die, but the audience was
never shown why he's so confident of that).
I have a theory that the overrideing reason why many viewers wished
horrible deaths upon the Finetimers is because they saw a lot of
themselves in them, and it hit too close to home.
In retrospect, this felt like it was a "setup" episode, to be followed
up later with a possible twist of Lindey either being redeemed or
becoming a new recurring villain. There was also still the loose end of
how Brewster survived, even though his name was towards the beginning of
the list. What little we saw of him reminded me of Conrad.
Putting the tacked on racism angle aside, it's ironic that RTD chose to parody and lampoon an entire age demographic as being vapid and shallow, especially when the show was supposedly trying to appeal to that demographic.
In article <10gki31$1h5to$1@dont-email.me>,
notemmanuel@mail.fr says...
Putting the tacked on racism angle aside, it's ironic that RTD chose
to parody and lampoon an entire age demographic as being vapid and
shallow, especially when the show was supposedly trying to appeal to
that demographic.
It's the "you're different" pitch. "*Most* people in your
category are terrible, but you're special." It's amazing
how far you can get by insulting *the other* members of a
group to which the listener/viewer belongs.
In article <10gki31$1h5to$1@dont-email.me>,
notemmanuel@mail.fr says...
Putting the tacked on racism angle aside, it's ironic that RTD chose to
parody and lampoon an entire age demographic as being vapid and shallow,
especially when the show was supposedly trying to appeal to that
demographic.
It's the "you're different" pitch. "*Most* people in your
category are terrible, but you're special." It's amazing
how far you can get by insulting *the other* members of a
group to which the listener/viewer belongs.
Melissa
In article <10gki31$1h5to$1@dont-email.me>,
notemmanuel@mail.fr says...
Putting the tacked on racism angle aside, it's ironic that RTD chose to
parody and lampoon an entire age demographic as being vapid and shallow,
especially when the show was supposedly trying to appeal to that
demographic.
It's the "you're different" pitch. "*Most* people in your
category are terrible, but you're special." It's amazing
how far you can get by insulting *the other* members of a
group to which the listener/viewer belongs.
Melissa
The True Melissa <thetruemelissa@gmail.com> wrote in >news:MPG.4397bdd6a76db614989761@news.eternal-september.org:
In article <10gki31$1h5to$1@dont-email.me>,
notemmanuel@mail.fr says...
Putting the tacked on racism angle aside, it's ironic that RTD chose
to parody and lampoon an entire age demographic as being vapid and
shallow, especially when the show was supposedly trying to appeal to
that demographic.
It's the "you're different" pitch. "*Most* people in your
category are terrible, but you're special." It's amazing
how far you can get by insulting *the other* members of a
group to which the listener/viewer belongs.
Indeed. The tacked on racism makes it easy to pretend the story is only >about that specific type of tribe/bubble/echo chamber, as opposed to how
all groupthink bubbles are problematic.
On 01/12/2025 20:00, The True Melissa wrote:
In article <10gki31$1h5to$1@dont-email.me>,
notemmanuel@mail.fr says...
Putting the tacked on racism angle aside, it's ironic that RTD chose to
parody and lampoon an entire age demographic as being vapid and shallow, >>> especially when the show was supposedly trying to appeal to that
demographic.
It's the "you're different" pitch. "*Most* people in your
category are terrible, but you're special." It's amazing
how far you can get by insulting *the other* members of a
group to which the listener/viewer belongs.
You mean losing 6/7 of the entire audience by projecting the writer's
own disgusting bigotry and hate onto it?
--
Melissa
--
The True Doctor https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCngrZwoS0n21IRcXpKO79Lw
"To be woke is to be uninformed which is exactly the opposite of what it >stands for." --William Shatner
On 01/12/2025 20:00, The True Melissa wrote:
In article <10gki31$1h5to$1@dont-email.me>,
notemmanuel@mail.fr says...
Putting the tacked on racism angle aside, it's ironic that RTD chose
to parody and lampoon an entire age demographic as being vapid and
shallow, especially when the show was supposedly trying to appeal to
that demographic.
It's the "you're different" pitch. "*Most* people in your
category are terrible, but you're special." It's amazing
how far you can get by insulting *the other* members of a
group to which the listener/viewer belongs.
You mean losing 6/7 of the entire audience by projecting the writer's
own disgusting bigotry and hate onto it?
The True Doctor <agamemnon@hello.to.NO_SPAM> wrote in >news:10gla15$1qlb6$2@dont-email.me:
On 01/12/2025 20:00, The True Melissa wrote:
In article <10gki31$1h5to$1@dont-email.me>,
notemmanuel@mail.fr says...
Putting the tacked on racism angle aside, it's ironic that RTD chose
to parody and lampoon an entire age demographic as being vapid and
shallow, especially when the show was supposedly trying to appeal to
that demographic.
It's the "you're different" pitch. "*Most* people in your
category are terrible, but you're special." It's amazing
how far you can get by insulting *the other* members of a
group to which the listener/viewer belongs.
You mean losing 6/7 of the entire audience by projecting the writer's
own disgusting bigotry and hate onto it?
I'd like to give RTD the benefit of the doubt and hope that he's not a >bigot, but that he's aware that many of the people who support the same >progressive ideas that he does are in a hyper-cynical place. Then
again, maybe he really is that hyper-cynical and also thinks anyone on
the internet he disagrees with deserves to die a horrible death, just
like Jonathan Blum does. However, that scene in the Reality War between >Ruby and Conrad suggests that he doesn't entirely have a black and
white, us vs them mentality.
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