Addressing the Hatred for Rose Tyler

[scifiunicorn]

I love Doctor Who. More specifically, I love the companions. All of them, Rose, Martha Donna, Rory, and Amy. They each have their own individual strengths and purposes and help the Doctor in different ways. Sadly, I've seen a lot of unnecessary hatred for them, and it's just really gotten to a point where I can't stand it anymore.

I'm starting with

Comments

[kilodalton]

... don't forget that she was a horrible daughter to Jackie because she kept travelling with the Doctor, an awful girlfriend to Mickey, and totally Daddy-obsessed!

Lastly, a lot of people accuse Rose of being the reason the universe was collapsing. There is nothing in the context whatsoever to suggest that.

I think where people are getting that from is the very beginning of Journey's End. Mickey is explaining how the dimension cannon works, and says that it rips a hole in the universe every time it's used. They never go anywhere with that as a plot point, but I think that Rose's critics noted that statement and piled on a bit.

[scifiunicorn]

The thing about the whole dimension cannon thing is that I think things were pretty bad in Pete's world, so Torchwood decided that they had to use the dimension cannon. I think that Rose simply volunteered to be the one who used it, because there's no way Torchwood would build a dimension cannon simply so that Rose could get back with the Doctor. They had to have a good reason to use something that carried that kind of a risk with it, so even if the dimension cannon was an influence in the universe collapsing, the hatred piled on Rose for it is really pretty idiotic.

[kilodalton]

Oh, I completely agree with you!

The combination though of the Mickey line + (can't believe I forgot ...) this line of Rose's dialogue:

ROSE
Basically, we've been building this um... this travel machine, this... uh... Dimension Cannon, so I could... well, so I could...

THE DOCTOR
(raises eyebrows)
What?

ROSE
(like it's obvious)
So I could come back!
(the Doctor beams and giggles)
Shut up...! Anyway, suddenly, it started to work. And the dimensions started to collapse.

Now, personally I don't think there's anyway Davies would have written this - or that the Doctor would be in love with her - if this weren't well-intentioned, safe, and innocent. However, I can see just enough fuel there that if someone hates Rose, then they could take those lines and twist her into something she's not >.< ...

[scifiunicorn]

Yeah, I see your point. Most Rose-bashers (and character-bashers in general), like to take dialogue out of context and twist it around to their advantage. The thing is, while Rose wanted to get back to the Doctor, I just can't see her using the dimension cannon to get back to him when she knew it could cause problems of catastrophic proportions. I mean, we've seen times when she's been willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good (World War Three, Doomsday).

rebuttal to Rose's purported "clinginess"

[mabeljean]

I'm a Rose Tyler fan and, though I usually keep silent and let others think what they want, I do get heartily sick of the bashing. I agree with your comments 100% and want to add one more of my own regarding her reported clinginess with the 10th Doctor. What fans have to remember is that Rose watched the 9th Doctor basically die right in front of her. Yes, he regenerated into 10, but the man she knew and trusted was gone. She watched 9 sacrifice himself to save her AFTER she had already taken enormous risks to save him. I think that would mess anyone up a bit, maybe make them act a bit differently (I'm being sarcastic - doesn't come through the same without the facials). Perhaps she was clingy and selfish where the 10th doctor was concerned, but that was because she had already lost him once and was justifiably terrified of losing him again.

Completely agree with this as well

[lir1983]

I also get sick of the Rose bashing. I would also emphasize two points. First, she and the Doctor were in love. I want to repeat that. She AND THE DOCTOR were in love. That was the point of series two, and them slowly falling in love was the undercurrent of series one, and had been planned even before Billie Piper was cast. You can tell that by the interviews of Christopher Eccleston at the time. He's very clear on that topic. I would argue she is not particularly clingy at all, no more so than he was. I also don't see the selfishness bit. In Father's Day she made a mistake, but it was unplanned and impulsive, and the Doctor made a mistake by even taking her there the first time, let alone the second time. Who of us wouldn't try to save a loved one from dying

[astonmartin96]

Thank you for your lovely essay. I learned a lot of intresting things about Rose, and I remembered good old times in Who again. May I translate your text from English to Russian and publish in my blog, please?