Dr. Who xmas special spoilery rant

[badgerbag]

Bitching about Dr. Who Xmas special and latest Wallace and Grommit...



I loved the evil scheming workhouse matron in the harlot-red dress, but OMGWTF power mad scheming woman who then loses her mind just at the stunning truth of the Doctor's point of view (of her) or "see yourself as you REALLY ARE" and then she is overcome with helpless shrieking?

Seriously, What?

I guess that smart women are so frustrated by their powerlessness in society that when they get even a hint of power, they go berserk and take over the universe. As I always suspected. I kind of was wondering why it's so important for patriarchy to be keeping us down. Oh right! It's because otherwise we'd fry them all with our cyber armies!

ALSO.... Rosita does nothing but just run around holding up her skirts. she's spunky in a perfunctory way and then caring about Jackson Lake, and does wield an axe for a brief moment. Then what is her reward? Lake goes, "Oh, well my son will NEED A NANNY" Oh no, I didn't hear that! I thought they had a budding romance going on.... NO....

How unnecessary was that! They could have left it ambiguous if they had a romantic thing about to develop or not! Instead of trying to hammer it home that there was just no way they ever would because of class and race! Am I alone in shuddering at this incredibly stupid racist moment?

Aside from all that, wow, it was so awesome ! giant metal robot coming up out of the Thames! so good!

Onward to Wallace and Grommit.

PLOT:

Woman loses job because she's too fat.
She's incredibly rich with a giant mansion.
Men find her unbearably attractive.
She seduces them then kills them. (For the money? that's why she's so rich?)
I just can't laugh about a movie about a female serial killer who kills because she's fat.
Meanwhile, the little-girl poodle batting eyelashes and simpering and whimpering and acting helpless, and actually being kicked around.
Then when the little froofy helpless girl drives a forklift around in her moment of being fighting-tough, it is against the other female character of course. Women can be tough and fight, of course, this will be directed against other women.
Note the good girl here is not only a dog but is tiny and frail. Tiny/frail/helpless = virtue. I don't see why she's so "good", actually. Lock that puppy up in jail for being an accessory to 12 murders!!!!!

update... quote from wikipedia entry...

Davies characterises Miss Hartigan as "a victim of abuse", for whom the subtext suggests a "terrible backstory" which is symptomatic of her being "part of [this] Victorian Age." Davies describes this as being "a powerless woman who's been in servitude or far worse all her life", but holds his tongue from saying her precise profession, relaying: "I'm talking quite discreetly around this because there are children listening and watching and there's only so far I should go." He does however explain that "She's had terrible things done to her" which is responsible for her "really twisted character where she sexualises everything." In terms of costume, "she wears red" because "everything's inflammatory with her". "And in the end, actually" Davies discusses how to escape her male oppression she "becomes a man, she becomes the CyberKing. She has to go through this extraordinary process because she's so damaged."[11]

Comments

[zond7.livejournal.com]

I was pissed off by the screechy bit, but I read the nursemaid line as being more a huff-puffingly subtle concession of the romantic interest by JL --- "Ah, yes, well, I do suppose we should spend more time together". (RTD's scripts are usually very blunt in their class and race critiques of, well, almost anything).