“Science fiction has created a superior Jesus.”
In this discussion episode, we kvetch about Steven Moffat, current writer for Doctor Who, and how the show’s writing may not be as spectacular as it used to be. We also talk about what we like about the Doctor’s character – and other hyper-competent, somewhat inscrutable characters like him.
Remarkably, very few spoilers in this one!
That’s some interesting stuff about DOCTOR WHO. You guys did a great job of verbalizing my feelings. I quite enjoyed the first Smith/Gillan season, but I absolutely agree that the quality dropped afterwards (both in terms of the way women were treated and I feel the writing in general took a downturn).
I always felt like Martha was the most “feminist” character in the series; the way she basically dumped the Doctor was awesome. She took the control right from him and went on to be an effective world saver in her own right. I could see why the way she was handled could bother some people, “My lady feelings for you are so strong that I can’t be around you,” but as a dude her decision actually really resonated with me. I thought it was super weird/maybe a bit gross that they decided to pair her with Mickey.
Have any of you guys seen FROZEN? IMO it actually deconstructs two of Disney’s most prominently regressive themes in some interesting ways. I absolutely loved it; it is probably my favorite Disney movie (or tied with MULAN, or right behind MULAN depending on the day I suppose).
Sorry for the ramblings, thanks for the awesome episode!
We recorded this before Frozen was released; from the press it was getting and how it was being presented in trailers (which BTW don’t represent the movie at all) it seemed like it was going to be very problematic. It turns out that it wasn’t, and was actually quite progressive in the ways you’ve pointed out. But that begs the question: why didn’t Disney market it as the movie it actually was, especially after the kerfuffle about the art issues?
Probably for some gross reason like, “Boys won’t go see a movie that stars two girls.”
I try to do everything in my power to not think about weird corporate marketing. It is so core (and if not core then symptomatic) to so many problems in our society that I think it is important to discuss, but for me personally it gets in the way of my enjoyment so much that I feel like I need to ignore it. I can’t imagine how I would have felt after seeing SPRING BREAKERS had I let the commercials affect my perception of a Harmony Korine film. I wouldn’t have bothered seeing it had I believed the marketing, but instead it ended up being one of my favorite movies of the year.
It does make me sad that Disney’s confidence is so low that they have to market their movies like a Dreamworks film.