The Saddest Bone Ever Thrown
So! That was a thrilling episode, yeah? Set up an exciting season? Lots of mysteries and twists and turns? OK, we got that out of the way.
So, the most common complaint I've heard about Moffat's seasons are the seeming erasures of characters of color, and characters who are queer.
Last night, we got the weakest presence of either of those things since JKR outed Dumbledore out-of-narrative, three months after the final book was released. (I was glad we found out Dumbledore was gay, I was livid it was revealed in that manner.)
Apologies if I botch the actual text here:
NIXON: So you wanted to get married, eh? Black?
CANTON: Yes...
NIXON: [Something or other]
CANTON: ...he is.
NIXON: We put a man on the moon. That's enough for now.
I'M SORRY WHAT?
So now we've just had the first open acknowledgment of an interracial or gay relationship in Moffat's entire run, and it's an episode-closing gag to make Nixon do a double take? Seriously?
AND NIXON BASICALLY TELLS HIM NO, DON'T GET TOO GREEDY NOW?!?!
I just...WHAT?
This is the sort of BS that causes writers to say WHADDAYA WANT? I PUT A CHICK IN IT! when the "chick" in question is a cipher or unintelligent or there for sex appeal etc...
People ask what my problem with Moffat is, and it's this sort of nonsense. Winking tokenism where you know he knows what he's doing, and does it because he knows people like me will blog about it and give him attention and ink.
While RTD was far from perfect, I felt like his world was actually what London/Space/the world looks like. A world where the white girl can be the poor one living in the council estates, the black girl can be the doctor from a middle class family, even a woman in her thirties can still be worthy of being brought on adventures, and two old married lesbians fly a car in space. (All of these are commentaries on the awful casting/writing choices made in US TV, please apply sarcasm where necessary.)
But Moffat's world? I don't see any of that. I just see young, white, sexy, and hetero.
Even River Song feels like she's there to shoot guns sexily in revealing dresses. Alex Kingston imbues her with intelligence and purpose, but I don't know if I feel it in the writing.
Even the seeming OT3ness/OT4ness of this iteration of Team Tardis is starting to not cut it for me.
Anyway, I've digressed.
That last bit right there between Canton and Nixon was the worst example of a bandaid on a headache I've ever seen.
Feh.
The worst of it is, I'll probably keep watching this season. Ugh.
Cross-posting goodness! Comment where you wish!
So, the most common complaint I've heard about Moffat's seasons are the seeming erasures of characters of color, and characters who are queer.
Last night, we got the weakest presence of either of those things since JKR outed Dumbledore out-of-narrative, three months after the final book was released. (I was glad we found out Dumbledore was gay, I was livid it was revealed in that manner.)
Apologies if I botch the actual text here:
NIXON: So you wanted to get married, eh? Black?
CANTON: Yes...
NIXON: [Something or other]
CANTON: ...he is.
NIXON: We put a man on the moon. That's enough for now.
I'M SORRY WHAT?
So now we've just had the first open acknowledgment of an interracial or gay relationship in Moffat's entire run, and it's an episode-closing gag to make Nixon do a double take? Seriously?
AND NIXON BASICALLY TELLS HIM NO, DON'T GET TOO GREEDY NOW?!?!
I just...WHAT?
This is the sort of BS that causes writers to say WHADDAYA WANT? I PUT A CHICK IN IT! when the "chick" in question is a cipher or unintelligent or there for sex appeal etc...
People ask what my problem with Moffat is, and it's this sort of nonsense. Winking tokenism where you know he knows what he's doing, and does it because he knows people like me will blog about it and give him attention and ink.
While RTD was far from perfect, I felt like his world was actually what London/Space/the world looks like. A world where the white girl can be the poor one living in the council estates, the black girl can be the doctor from a middle class family, even a woman in her thirties can still be worthy of being brought on adventures, and two old married lesbians fly a car in space. (All of these are commentaries on the awful casting/writing choices made in US TV, please apply sarcasm where necessary.)
But Moffat's world? I don't see any of that. I just see young, white, sexy, and hetero.
Even River Song feels like she's there to shoot guns sexily in revealing dresses. Alex Kingston imbues her with intelligence and purpose, but I don't know if I feel it in the writing.
Even the seeming OT3ness/OT4ness of this iteration of Team Tardis is starting to not cut it for me.
Anyway, I've digressed.
That last bit right there between Canton and Nixon was the worst example of a bandaid on a headache I've ever seen.
Feh.
The worst of it is, I'll probably keep watching this season. Ugh.
Cross-posting goodness! Comment where you wish!