A Journey through Space, Time and TV

It really wasn’t so long ago that I didn’t know anything about Doctor Who. In those dark days I thought that it was about a time-travelling Doctor who was progressively getting younger (like I’m not sure I realised he had to die when a new actor came along? And I definitely thought he was a medical doctor of some kind). I had a niggling feeling for some years that I would probably enjoy it but just didn’t have the willingness to commit to such a well… commitment.

When I was at school, ABC used to play old episodes of Doctor Who at about 5 in the afternoon. They were always in black and white, I think, so they were all First and Second Doctor stories. I don’t remember anything about them except that the music made me scared and my mum would always say “oh I was so terrified of Daleks when I was a little girl”. I was pretty fearful myself to be honest and would usually subtly change the channel in an attempt to not seem like a scaredy-cat. 

In the years leading up to 2011 (when I became a massive fan) I saw parts of The Shakespeare Code in a second year drama class at uni. We discussed the historical accuracies (vulgarity, men dressed as ladies etc.) and inaccuracies (racial diversity, mostly, and also you couldn’t perform at night because there weren’t any lights). I thought to myself, “well that was silly” but also I was annoyed my lecturer skipped through parts because I wanted to know more. I also saw The Waters of Mars on the TV once. I suspect it was when it was actually released for the first time. I had *zero* idea what was going on, but I kept shushing people when they came into the room because it was good (the robot was not good though, the robot was dumb).

So, those of you who are long time readers (first time writers) will remember my first proper foray into Doctor Who. I decided to begin with Season 5 of the modern reboot because it was the start of the current Doctor and I didn’t want to make too big of a commitment. Hahahahaha. Hilarious. I was instantly hooked. And, of course, doing that introduced me to the mysteries of River Song and everyone was like “you have to watch back further to understand her” and I was like “oh no an excuse to watch more of this brilliant show” so instead of continuing on into Season 6 as I had originally planned, I went back to Season 1… and I took my housemates and my boyfriend with me.

We began marathonning the shit out of that show. I used to finish work in the afternoon and would basically run home across New Farm Park so that we could start as soon as possible. Whole weekends were devoted to Who. And we often had to rewatch episodes to catch up Boyfriend or others visitors to the house. We watched all of Eccleston’s run as the leading man in about 2 days, we hated Martha together, we loved Donna together, we watched Season 5 AGAIN (probably about my fourth time at this point) and finally moved on to Season 6.

And then suddenly, we were caught up. AND WE HAD TO WAIT. Just like every other fan, we had to wait for Let’s Kill Hitler. Admittedly, we didn’t have to wait anywhere near as long as others, but still, it was quite a shock to our systems. I’ve just checked the dates, I started watching in early June, 2011, and the second half of Season 6 started up again on August 27^th. So I think that gives you an idea of just how much TV we were watching and just how quickly we became fans.

Yesterday I got up at 5:30 in the morning to watch the live simulcast of The Day of the Doctor 50^th Anniversary Special with Boyfriend. I made TARDIS shaped biscuits for the occasion and almost hyperventilated when it started. I know there are fans who’ve loved this show since 1963, or who have watched every classic episode, or who waited decades for the reboot. I know. But I feel like the episode yesterday was for all of us, new and classic, young and old, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

My Doctor Who journey has been swift but intense. I loved it instantly and completely, and continue to love it every day. I have Doctor Who shirts and an apron and a mug, I have a Sonic Screwdriver and more TARDIS biscuits than I know what to do with right now. In just over a month I am visiting Cardiff, Wales, almost entirely because that's where they film it. 

And on Christmas day this year, I have to deal with my first ever real-time regeneration…

*Ugly sobbing*

Further Reading

If you like blogs and Doctor Who and blogs about Doctor Who I can highly recommend this post by Britt, and this, this and this, by Alex. 

Loving the Problematic

I am, as you probably know by now, a consumer of media. I devour books, I mass watch TV shows, I obsess about things that “aren’t real”. This means I’ve read and watched a lot of good things in my time, but it also means I’ve encountered a lot of shit things too. Especially because, no matter how crappy something is, I will usually finish it. I persevered, for example, with four whole seasons of Smallville before final giving it up in frustration. I read the entire Twilight series in the vain hope that the writing might get better, or perhaps that the damage it was causing to my brain might lower my expectations.

As you also know from my ranting, and my overanalysis of such media, I am a feminist, and I believe in equality of all people regardless of race, culture, gender identity or sexuality. Unfortunately, most of the media I consume does not think like this. Most of the media I consume believes that “sex sells”, that putting women in revealing outfits means they are just “giving the people what they want”, that gay guys are funny, that Asian people all sound the same, that white, middle class, athletic American dudes are the “everyman” that we can all identify with. In short, media is a bit shit. Books are a bit shit. Stuff I enjoy is a bit shit.

So how can I justify this to myself? Well… by writing a blog about it and trying to make it ok, I guess is one way to look at it. The answer is, I can’t really. It’s important to me that I recognise that the last scene in the most recent Game of Thrones season has a problematic depiction of people of colour, that Sherlock doesn’t pass the Bechdel Test, that Cho Chang from Harry Potter has a name that is actually two last names from the wrong culture. It’s important for me to register those things in my brain. And it’s important for me to discuss these things with other people, to talk about why they are problematic, to write blogs about them, because I think those are discussions worth having.

And yet… I still enjoy the books and TV that contain these problematic elements. How can that be? How can I reconcile myself with these things? Sometimes I worry it makes me a bad feminist or even just a bad person to consume some of the media I consume. Doctor Who for example, is pretty much all out hated by feminists these days. And I can, for the most part, understand why. But I don’t hate it. Yes I groan at certain parts, yes it shits me at times, but I still watch and enjoy it. It’s still a really good show. I like it for all the things that don’t shit me, for the amazing stories, for the silliness, for the drama, the music and the sets. I like it for Clara and for River and for Rory and for history and aliens.

Probably my worst crime of the problematic at the moment is Supernatural. I just marathoned all eight seasons of that thing. And holy freaking shit it’s the most misogynistic piece of crap I’ve watched in a long time. Women are killed every few minutes, one of the main characters uses the words, “bitch”, “whore”, “slut” etc. to describe pretty much every woman they come into contact with, and the series of sexual encounters of both Dean and Sam are described like conquests all the time. But I still liked the show. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? I’m not even sure. Yes, I would definitely enjoy it more if I didn’t spend large portions of the viewing experience with my fists on my forehead in what I like to call the “god damn it misogyny!” pose, but I didn’t hate the show. It has action and fighting and comedy and good characters and ghosts and vampires and angels and increasingly, Felicia Day. I am in fact looking forward to the 9^th season.

So what am I saying? I guess… that we live in a problematic world, and our media reflects this? It’s nigh on impossible to find a book, TV show, movie, comic etc. that doesn’t have problematic elements. It doesn’t mean we should accept it as “normal”, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be angry, or frustrated, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have discussions about how the things we love could be better but it doesn’t mean we can’t love those problematic things. In fact, I would argue that loving these things means there’s a better chance of them getting better.

I think there’s something to be said for being a discerning audience member, an involved reader. Watch and read what you like, but do so cleverly, do so with nous. Because it’s intelligent discussion and discerning analysis that bring about change, just as much as revolution and boycott. If something offends you, switch it off, if you want, but if something is problematic but still enjoyable, keep watching. Register the problematic elements, talk about them, blog about them, write to the writers, make a video. Say “I love ______, but it worries me that the following things keep happening”. The show runners and writers aren’t going to change their product for the people who turn it off; they are going to change it for the people who keep watching, for the people who keep reading…. For us. 

The "Goddamn it Misogyny!" face, copyright L. King 2013

Why Everyone should be Watching Game of Thrones

Everyone should be watching Game of Thrones: A Year 9-style Persuasive Essay

By Lizzy King

Everyone should be watching Game of Thrones because it is really well made, has seriously good actors and appeals to every kind of viewer. Lots of people already watch Game of Thrones, suggesting that it is pretty good, but if you are not one of those people, this essay aims to persuade you that you should be.

Game of Thrones is really well made. It’s made by HBO, who are really good at all things. If HBO had to perform brain surgery, they could totally do it. They would research brain surgery to excruciating detail, design surgeon costumes more realistic than actual surgeon’s outfits and score it with the most bad-ass music you’ve ever heard. They would also be the best brain surgeon in the world. Game of Thrones is based on a series of books, but rather than following the trend of most book to screen adaptations (the old slap dash, nah the fans won’t notice if we completely change everything technique), HBO does an astonishingly good job of making adaptive changes where necessary (lol George RR Marting almost certainly can’t remember all of his characters or places - seriously those books are DENSE) while still keeping the show true to the books in a really satisfying way. Game of Thrones is the ONLY book to screen adaptation where I am not vehemently in support of reading the books first. The books are good, but if you are a slow reader, or not that great at reading GIANT, DENSE BOOKS with APPENDICES, then seriously just watch the show, it is that good.

Another really excellent thing about Game of Thrones is the casting. First up it has Peter Dinklage in it so don’t even talk to me, that guy is amazing.

Loathed though I am to use a paparazzi shot, this guy makes carrying a baby look bad-ass

 Next it has bad asses like Charles Dance, and Jason Momoa being amazing. 

Regal

This isn't even from Game of Thrones but I googled "Jason Momoa badass" and this showed up so....

They have a lady who is a 6 foot 3 model playing an ugly, sword-wielding hero 

Gwendoline Christie is better than you.

and Natalie Dormer just like politically owning everybody with her brain and her boobs. 

"Booyah! Another win for Margery!"

Most amazing of all, in the first season they cast a whole bunch of children and teenagers in main roles and all of them have grown up to be amazing, attractive, clever, GOOD actors. It is just not possible in any reality I understand for that many child actors to be actually good actors, so obviously they have used some kind of witch-craft.

Perfect humans are perfect.

Thus far I have tried to sell you a show without really telling you what it’s about. Here’s the thing, Game of Thrones has such a broad range of appeal, it’s actually kind of difficult to pinpoint what exactly it is about. But let me at least list a bunch of things that Game of Thrones has in it, to demonstrate that there is not a single person who would not find it in some way appealing. Game of Thrones has sword fighting, battles, strategy, castles, pretty dresses, bizarre hair-dos, dragons, giant wolves that have psychic connections to humans, political intrigue, power play, boobs, bums, penises, sex scenes, flashes of surprise vagina, prostitutes, amazing scenery, comedy, torture, gays, bad asses of all genders, gods, demons, zombies, a giant wall made of ice, wine, beer, history, maps, cool weapons, pirates, sexy horse-riding dudes, sexy cleavage-showing ladies and MUCH MORE.

In conclusion, Game of Thrones is really good. Like, way better than you think it is after watching the first (admittedly pretty confusing) two episodes. Due to its amazing production qualities, brilliant actors and broad range of appeal, it is literally my favourite thing to watch right now, even more than Doctor Who (WOAH I know right, THAT’S HOW GOOD IT IS). If you are already watching it, congratulations, you win all the prizes (including the ability to kill your most hated character and guarantee life for your favourite*). If you are not already watching it, I am confident this essay will have persuaded you to go borrow the first season on DVD.

*Disclaimer: this competition is not a thing, EVERYONE YOU LOVE WILL DIE**

** Non-viewers should leave their trust at the door, EVERYONE YOU LOVE WILL DIE

Bonus reason you should be watching Game of Thrones: this video.