Somewhat complete thoughts on Tenth Doctor, Rose, etc. It’s not a working title.
mhm it is seven am1, and I have given up on the concept of sleep because who actually needs more than four hours a night. I mean, pointless when you have the Internet to keep you busy! So, seeing how I cannot sleep, I decided I am going to take this as an opportunity to properly address my issues with the Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler. It is a subject I am repeatedly asked about on Livejournal, and I am sort of worried about the implications, but whatever. I think it is about time I dig a little deeper than “All right, I just don’t like those motherfuckers”, y’know?
First, let’s set the record straight. I do not hate Rose Tyler. I never have hated Rose Tyler. I will never hate Rose Tyler. My issue is not with her or Billie Piper, though I admit I do not fancy her that much as an actress. As a person, she is extremely charming, endearing,
sort ofbeige, but a good person. I have no qualms over that. I also not jealous any way or bitter over the treatment of Martha Jones or Donna Noble. Well, I am bitter, but my issues do not align with Rose Tyler. I squarely place all my damage with the Tenth Doctor and RTD. While I have and forever will have issues with Rose’s characterization, I take more offense to the Tenth Doctor’s existence than Rose. So, ja, if anyone find them disagreeing with my assessment, do not play the jealous card. I will shut that down, quick and effortless. I don’t fuck around with this shit. Let us now begin.Like many, I was introduced to Doctor Who through RTD’s revival/”reboot” in 2005 starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper. I still have the Livejournal entry up citing my enjoyment over the program, because it was really a fun program. It had its flaws3, but it was charming, so I continued watching it through series two, and by series three was obsessed. I was a full blown Doctor Who fanatic. I started absorbing, not watching, Classic Who. I got a little into the radio plays. I started high key stanning for the program. I was and still am a mess over this program. And throughout all that, I identified Ten as “my” Doctor. It made sense. Tennant was around longer than Eccleston, and I had the fondest memories of chatting his tenure with my friends. That, however, all slowly started to change when I started rewatching the program last winter. I always had my reservations on the Tenth Doctor. Throughout series three, I hated how he treated Martha. I was seeing through that pathetic bullshit. Then I hated how he treated Donna in the series four finale. I mean, just gross, ignoring her wishes, then using her tragedy—truthfully both Martha and Donna’s losses—as emo fodder ridiculously pissed me off. Then we got introduced to Eleven during series five, and it was seemingly like Moffat was correctly all the mistakes RTD made throughout his tenure, then it clicked. I sort of hate the Tenth Doctor. That doesn’t take away my continued enjoyment of his series, but I hate Ten, and that makes sense to me.
He was a smug selfish asshole to be blunt. He frankly did not care about anyone outside his small little exclusive circle. I don’t care how the canon spun. He was a selfish person so entwined in his own created image of “a lonely God” and disturbing codependent relationship with Rose Tyler that he repeatedly failed to recognize this, and we the viewers were suppose to read it as some great tragedy and feel horrible for him, not anyone else helplessly caught in his game. Like, okay. That’s cool. I guess. But it was really not, because whenever we had people challenge Ten on this behavior, they ended up fucked pretty much. I mean, look at what happened to Harriet Jones, Prime Minster, after The Christmas Invasion. Even Donna Noble, fan favorite, got a fucked up ending. She was one of, like, two people who genuinely called him on his bullshit and tried to shake him out of the Lonely God Complex™, and like I said before, she only up becoming another plot device for his Man Pain. O OK. Let me continue to be down with that. Wait, no. I won’t, because that’s bullshit. I am suppose to believe he cares for his companions though he treated Rose like a pet2 majority of the time, Martha like an afterthought and worthless, and thought he stated Donna was his best mate, he still talk down at her like a child? I know he is a travel travelling alien with Encyclopedia-like knowledge, but he doesn’t have to go around thinking he knows better than everyone. I get it. However, that is not a good marker of friendship, man. Then, at the same time, I am supposed to feel worst for him than the supportive woman who had to deal with a hell year travelling the world, on the run, due to his ex-boyfriend drama, and ended up deciding to better herself and her family by leaving? I am supposed to feel worst for him than the woman who had her memory wiped and reverted back to the empty temp worker? Like OKAY, RTD, let’s play that game. Wait a minute, no. No. No. No. Let’s not. I will not, and I cannot.
Now I know this is getting a especially long for Tumblr, and I should count it down a bit, and I still haven’t gotten to my Rose issues yet, but mhm Ten gives me these rambling feelings. Don’t you just understand? Let’s get to the point on why I dislike Rose’s characterization from series two onwards. It turned Rose into this weird codependent woman who could not even fathom living without the Doctor. To me, that was not romantic. That is creepy and warning and problematic as fuck. I liked how Martha was interested in travelling for adventure and a vacation from her life. Ja, she had an added “bonus” of crushing on alien boy, but she was also primarily motivated by a sense of an adventure. Donna did have her plans on saying with the Doctor forever, but even then, she still wanted travel out of it. She wasn’t obsessed with him. Her character didn’t go from someone I wanted to chill with, which is sort of a funny thing to admit in this “essay”, to someone so lost in someone that they willing to royally fuck up the universe to get back to him4. I am side eying that a bit. Or, rather, a lot. No character’s life purpose should boil down to one person, especially if that person has a great family support system going on, while expecting the viewer to read it as romantic, because it is not. It is troubling to see such viewpoint in the media, because it enforces the belief that women are only here to obsessively service the men in their lives. Rose Tyler went from being a loyal, warm, thoughtful character to just another plot point within Ten’s Tragically Complex Time Lord Angst™ with the addition of creepy codependent behavior, and I do not like that. Thank you, but no. RTD, you can keep that mess for someone who cares.
I am not trying to guilt anyone into hating the Ten era of the Doctor Who canon by writing this out, because that would be unfair. Despite all my issues, I do enjoy these episodes. I still have fond enjoyment of 3.00 The Runaway Bride. I can quote 3.12 Sound of Drums from memory. 3.10 Blink and 3.10 Midnight continue to scare me. 4.07 The Unicorn and the Wasp is forever a comedic highlight in my life. I can’t with the chemistry between Tennant and Tate; they should really have their own comedy show on, like, BBC3. I mean, it was a fun era, but I still manage to hate it. There was so much potential for Ten and Rose after 2.00 The Christmas Invasion that I just don’t understand what happened. RTD seemingly cares more about the “emotional journey”, “epic finales”, and his clear favorites that he fails to do them proper justice. There was no reason to do with what he did with Rose and Ten, so I am just a little lost, and these are my feelings.
1It’s fifteen until nine now. I have been writing this for all most two hours. SMH.
2There is no such thing as a flawless program in my eyes, truthfully.
3Like I can’t with their relationship.
4Also known as The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End.
Just all of this. God Crystal you are so spot and I will continually wonder just how you manage to do so.
I think I’ll even reblog this to Team TARDIS even though it’ll get a fuckton of shit.
(Source: formerlyaeraspais)
