This may be becoming a habit
I do have other things I could be doing. Unfortunately, it's a vaguely defined paper about my gender socialization process, so, since I have no idea how to approach it except as a reminisence, I can't exactly resist the urge to take a break. On the first two episodes of S3 of Doctor Who, and the first of S2 of Torchwood:
Runaway Bride. I was just... not especially impressed with Donna. She did slap Ten; that counts for something; just not hard enough, and for the wrong reasons. The writers said, "Let's have someone who doesn't like Ten! Spice it up!" and someone else said, "At first, anyway. Who wouldn't like Ten?" and the reply was, "Probably a self-centered, fiery nag..." Which I take as an insult. Granted, it was her wedding day, but... she wasn't slapping Ten because he'd done something wrong; she was slapping him because he told her something she didn't want to hear. In general. Wasn't a fan of the crying at the reception... I don't hate her, not at all, she's just... the same girl, a different direction, being pushed the same way.
Like her fiance: when he came back to face that spider queen, I thought maybe they were going to do something interesting and have him actually be a decent, fairly brave guy. There'd still be the question of what would leave her free to fall in love with the Doctor, then, but he could die in the attempt, or she could eventually just leave him anyway. But no; nothing so ambiguous as that; he had to be evil. And die. Death is a great punishment as long as the Doctor doesn't mete it out directly. Hypocrites. And so she'll fall in love with him, like everyone else; but maybe she'll at least have the sense not to admit it.
What gets me is that they all have to fall in love with him; that with her boyfriend dead, she's now free to be transferred into his posession... Maybe it's baseless suspicion planted by radical feminist propaganda, but I don't like it, not at all.
Smith and Jones-- I like Martha so far, excepting her questionable taste in men. I liked the whole "linchpin of the family tempted to go out, follow her will for once, and leave them all to fight it out" angle. The alien rhinoceros mercenary Vogons... meh. And SweetOldLady!alien? Not quite as clever as they thought.
And Ten. That radiation scene was a beautifully compressed example of everything that is wrong with his persona. (Add in some callous arrgoance, and it would've captured all that's wrong with his character.) Hopping around and storing radiation in his shoe. That? Was a manic episode. On meth. The "I'm just a human from the detox ward!" tactic was actually moderately clever. The kiss was another excuse for me to yell "Slutbunny!" and "Vapid whore!" at him. The oxygen dial tactic was patently ridiculous. You're saying they have a device that detects the level of oxygen in the whole hospital? That was clearly an oxygen tank readout. Which, by the way, they would have taken advantage of, instead of just lying there to die like slugs.
When he started with the clang ("Jidoon platoon on the moooon") I wanted to hit him. Entirely too much fun with those o's. And I thought they should've gone with the more comprehensive explanation for him being able to cross her path before ("You told me about it; meant I'd already done it, so no changing history there, had to save it, in fact") insted of the "cheap trick" one, though it did have some validity.
I don't like what he's doing with Rose. Now she's gone, she's his Tragic Pain; he brings her up whenever he needs to feel angsty, and of course, now that she's gone, she has no faults. (cf. that damn scene in Shakespeare Code-- "Rose would have..." She would not. I love her, but she would not.) If I were Martha, I would've slugged him, or left, or at the LEAST told him he was NOT going to get away with comparing me to some other chick after he snogged me and let me on his time machine. Of course, if I were Martha, Ten would be Eleven by now. It's a stupid thing to do, having him bring her up like this; it demeans everyone involved. Much like the show at large.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang-- James Marsters was good. (Mom: "Where'd he come from?" Me: "A better show...") I'm slightly ashamed to admit it, but I enjoyed the bar scene. I do not trust Owen any further than I can throw him, especially as he's starting to close in on Toshiko, the only character I really like. I think he's looking to settle down-- emphasis on "settle". And "down". Can't end well.
Gwen is still an idiot; Ianto is finally almost a character. The plot was fairly dumb. Not thrilled with the ending. Heavy foreshadowing that the Mysterious Thing from Jack's Past isn't going to leave him alone much longer. Not a fan of the Gwen/Jack vibe; surely, once she shags two coworkers, cognitive dissonance will finally catch up with her? "Huh. I love Rhys, but I keep usurping his basic human rights and shagging other men. I should either admit I don't love him that much, break it off, or stop shagging my coworkers. Ah, well, Toshiko was feeling left out, anyway." I don't like Caring, Moral Center Gwen, not even in theory, and her tendency to be neither just makes it worse.
Now, I am going to post this damn thing before Saturday rolls around. Again. I already have a feeling there's going to be a rant coming on about Torchwood's suspicious definition of "bisexual"...
Runaway Bride. I was just... not especially impressed with Donna. She did slap Ten; that counts for something; just not hard enough, and for the wrong reasons. The writers said, "Let's have someone who doesn't like Ten! Spice it up!" and someone else said, "At first, anyway. Who wouldn't like Ten?" and the reply was, "Probably a self-centered, fiery nag..." Which I take as an insult. Granted, it was her wedding day, but... she wasn't slapping Ten because he'd done something wrong; she was slapping him because he told her something she didn't want to hear. In general. Wasn't a fan of the crying at the reception... I don't hate her, not at all, she's just... the same girl, a different direction, being pushed the same way.
Like her fiance: when he came back to face that spider queen, I thought maybe they were going to do something interesting and have him actually be a decent, fairly brave guy. There'd still be the question of what would leave her free to fall in love with the Doctor, then, but he could die in the attempt, or she could eventually just leave him anyway. But no; nothing so ambiguous as that; he had to be evil. And die. Death is a great punishment as long as the Doctor doesn't mete it out directly. Hypocrites. And so she'll fall in love with him, like everyone else; but maybe she'll at least have the sense not to admit it.
What gets me is that they all have to fall in love with him; that with her boyfriend dead, she's now free to be transferred into his posession... Maybe it's baseless suspicion planted by radical feminist propaganda, but I don't like it, not at all.
Smith and Jones-- I like Martha so far, excepting her questionable taste in men. I liked the whole "linchpin of the family tempted to go out, follow her will for once, and leave them all to fight it out" angle. The alien rhinoceros mercenary Vogons... meh. And SweetOldLady!alien? Not quite as clever as they thought.
And Ten. That radiation scene was a beautifully compressed example of everything that is wrong with his persona. (Add in some callous arrgoance, and it would've captured all that's wrong with his character.) Hopping around and storing radiation in his shoe. That? Was a manic episode. On meth. The "I'm just a human from the detox ward!" tactic was actually moderately clever. The kiss was another excuse for me to yell "Slutbunny!" and "Vapid whore!" at him. The oxygen dial tactic was patently ridiculous. You're saying they have a device that detects the level of oxygen in the whole hospital? That was clearly an oxygen tank readout. Which, by the way, they would have taken advantage of, instead of just lying there to die like slugs.
When he started with the clang ("Jidoon platoon on the moooon") I wanted to hit him. Entirely too much fun with those o's. And I thought they should've gone with the more comprehensive explanation for him being able to cross her path before ("You told me about it; meant I'd already done it, so no changing history there, had to save it, in fact") insted of the "cheap trick" one, though it did have some validity.
I don't like what he's doing with Rose. Now she's gone, she's his Tragic Pain; he brings her up whenever he needs to feel angsty, and of course, now that she's gone, she has no faults. (cf. that damn scene in Shakespeare Code-- "Rose would have..." She would not. I love her, but she would not.) If I were Martha, I would've slugged him, or left, or at the LEAST told him he was NOT going to get away with comparing me to some other chick after he snogged me and let me on his time machine. Of course, if I were Martha, Ten would be Eleven by now. It's a stupid thing to do, having him bring her up like this; it demeans everyone involved. Much like the show at large.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang-- James Marsters was good. (Mom: "Where'd he come from?" Me: "A better show...") I'm slightly ashamed to admit it, but I enjoyed the bar scene. I do not trust Owen any further than I can throw him, especially as he's starting to close in on Toshiko, the only character I really like. I think he's looking to settle down-- emphasis on "settle". And "down". Can't end well.
Gwen is still an idiot; Ianto is finally almost a character. The plot was fairly dumb. Not thrilled with the ending. Heavy foreshadowing that the Mysterious Thing from Jack's Past isn't going to leave him alone much longer. Not a fan of the Gwen/Jack vibe; surely, once she shags two coworkers, cognitive dissonance will finally catch up with her? "Huh. I love Rhys, but I keep usurping his basic human rights and shagging other men. I should either admit I don't love him that much, break it off, or stop shagging my coworkers. Ah, well, Toshiko was feeling left out, anyway." I don't like Caring, Moral Center Gwen, not even in theory, and her tendency to be neither just makes it worse.
Now, I am going to post this damn thing before Saturday rolls around. Again. I already have a feeling there's going to be a rant coming on about Torchwood's suspicious definition of "bisexual"...