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By David Futrelle
A tragic day for whiny baby-men — the BBC just announced that the next Doctor Who will be a lady. Naturally, these sensitive souls took at once to Twitter to make their displeasure known. And to make jokes about Doctor Who turning into Nurse Who amirite fellas high five!
Here are some of the best of the worst Tweets I’ve seen so far. I can’t decide which are my favorites — the ones lamenting the loss of a crucial male “role model” or those suggesting that a female Doctor Who makes as much sense as a male Mary Poppins (which would be perfectly fine to me, by the way).
https://twitter.com/thomasdeeacon/status/886723202168344576
I'm actually quite shocked at the decision to cast a woman the should call it Nurse who now lol 😂😂
— Rhys (@rhysjordanstew1) July 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/Gapehorner/status/886609824242438144
https://twitter.com/DelDiablo007/status/886613308639514624
https://twitter.com/DelDiablo007/status/886629727745826816
"Doctor Who" what's the deal? Pushing the "gender fluidity" narrative now? Remember when entertainment wasn't social engineering propaganda
— Dan (@NotoriousDano) July 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/Amen1924/status/886681803167236099
https://twitter.com/spcwriter/status/886664276877991936
https://twitter.com/Erin_Danielle77/status/886639647387942912
The BBC have literally just ruined all the heritage and history of Doctor Who making the new Doctor a woman
— Aydin Osman (@Aydin_Osman96) July 16, 2017
Doctor Who officially ruined. Time Lords being women not an issue, 50 years of tradition out the window is. What next 007 being Janette Bond pic.twitter.com/Hj3buVMx8s
— Ewan McColl (@TheMcColl) July 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/hucksworld/status/886682969833865217
https://twitter.com/williamparslow/status/886700469648842752
https://twitter.com/GreavesyX/status/886613123666513920
#DoctorWho So patronising to women to be chosen due to political correctness. No room for merit and talent if PC comes first.
— Holomatrix (@Holomatrices) July 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/BasedKielbasa/status/886647001885978625
https://twitter.com/MJDebio93/status/886691678647705600
https://twitter.com/racerdog45/status/886677551770476545
Women have their own heroes like RIpley, Buffy and Wonder Woman, there is no need to take away role models for men #notmydoctor
— P. J. Lowry (@PJ_Lowry) July 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/thomasoldham/status/886712069021683712
https://twitter.com/Keef44002574/status/886700034934362112
https://twitter.com/Electromoth/status/886674967106125824
I remember when Ripley, Leia, Buffy, Xena et al. trailblazed great women characters. But now, feminism seems pleased with mere pandering.
— Bradley Yellop (@bazz83) July 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/winklewilly89/status/886689221418856448
https://twitter.com/revjackashcraft/status/886693656647913473
https://twitter.com/__AlexN_/status/886631666915172352
https://twitter.com/Blackbirds1632/status/886655183224229890
#doctorwho The regressive left are going crazy over the choice, next they will want a transgender to take the role as the Doctor.
— Rust (@Rust_NoMask) July 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/amusedphysicist/status/886655148235161600
No, I don’t understand what that last one means either.
*Warning for animal abuse*
O/T but some folks here may be interested. The guy who killed all those cats has been sentenced to 16 years. The judge read out the names of all the cats before sentencing him. Some kind of justice for them I guess.
http://www.alternet.org/human-rights/judge-rad-out-names-20-murdered-cats-sentencing-their-killer-16-years-prison#.WWusRHa5sgw.twitter
<3 @SFHC
@JS
I assume you’re just joking, but I had a friend who is a Mary Kay rep (don’t get me started) who got angry at me for sharing the fact that they test on animals. In her opinion, it’s not their fault; they had to do so in order to sell in China and Chinese regulations require it. In my opinion, a company can and should choose not to do immoral acts even if they could profit from the immoral acts.
Warhamster RPG rules (free download on that page)
http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/712/370/c47.jpg
Not tested on animals, you’ll be the first!
And sorry to harp on about this when the conversation has seemed to move on a bit, but I’m actually offended at the assumption that liking GoT means you must not be savvy.
I’m well aware that George RR Martin is a European history buff and was inspired by lots of different things writing the books. I didn’t have to Google that the red wedding was based on the black dinner. I already knew it. I also know that the wall in the north was inspired by Hadrian’s wall. The culture in King’s Landing was inspired by the pre-revolution French court culture and the War of Five Kings was based on the War of the Roses. I think these are positives. It’s a fictional universe with all sorts of supernatural creatures and magic, but the basis in actual history grounds it a bit. Things feel real and that makes me more invested in the story and the characters. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to see something that has less of a basis in history and doesn’t use classic literary tropes at all, but feeling differently doesn’t make one ignorant. There are a lot of really intelligent and educated people in the ASOIAF and GoT fandoms.
As a horror fan, I also enjoy the references to classic horror monsters, but I’ll refrain from blathering about that. I don’t want to bore anyone.
tl;dr don’t assume people are ignorant plebes because they’ve gotten emotionally invested in something you’re not emotionally invested in.
Honestly I skimmed past this on my first read through as it was dripping with condescension, but that last line caught my eye just now.
I mean, I get what you’re getting at here; GoT has some gratuitous boobage going on. But in a thread about a woman finally playing the Doctor, I feel like it’s…telling.
I wonder where you get this idea that there is no deep analysis being done on works of art, whether they be primarily visual or textual? Because in my experience you really cannot swing a dead cat on the internet without hitting scores of literary, feminist, philosophical, etc. etc. analyses of everything from commercials to classical literature.
Also, what @wwth said. Honestly, you’re being a snob and while that’s fine, you’re also going to be called out on it.
It sounds a lot like people who insist that other people who enjoy something are “enjoying it wrong”. That’s just not a thing.
@ Alan
A Terry Pratchett quote comes to mind:
I got into tvtropes web site recently.
This whole “The new stories are just rehashes of old ones” takes on a new light, when you realize that a large number of plot devices are older than print, having been in oral histories passed down for generations. Even more have been done at least once before.
Tolkien’s “One Ring”? How about “Der Ring des Nibelungen” which is an adaptation of Norse Mythology.
There’s probably a trope for being annoyed that something has been done before.
19th Century BCE Egyptian poem: “What has been said has been said.”
Ecclesiastes 1:9 : “It has all been done before; there is nothing new under the sun.”
I LOVE the history of storytelling. It’s fun to know that these various things came from before.
There’s certainly less critical analysis on twitter and other constrained social media, but it’s gone elsewhere to sites that don’t force you to say everything in 140charsorless.
@ vicky p
Yeah, the ancient Egyptians had the right idea when it came to penalties for cat murder.
(Did you know nearly all cats in Egypt were called “Mui”? I like that.)
In medieval England the penalty was a fine of enough grain to cover the cat. That acknowledged their usefulness in vermin control.
@ Alan
Kitties rock.
David calls it likes he sees it.
Overreact as you will.
All stories are just remixes of older stories, in the same way that all recipes are remixes of familiar ingredients. The enjoyment comes from the creativity and originality of the remix, not in the originality of the underlying tropes, which is not a thing because tropes are not original. You can create a brand-new recipe using the same old wheat flour and water and yeast depending on how creatively you treat the ingredients.
A story can be creative and refreshing and original while using old tropes and a classic structure. I’m not sure why this needs to be said? Isn’t this a thing we all learn in sophomore English class? If we’re going to piss on media because it rehashes older stories, then every media item back Sophocles is going to get a tinkling, including mafia movies.
I also got in on the “war hamster” joke back when I was young and REALLY bad at drawing.
@ vicky p
Indeed they do. I’ve made a new furry friend recently. He came over one night whilst I was on my way to the shops. Chin ticking and stroking ensued. But when I went near his tail he nearly took my hand off. As suspected he belongs to one of my neighbours who takes in rescue cats. She explained that when he arrived someone (Grrr) had put tape all round his tail. So understandably he was a bit touchy about that. I did some more chin rubbing to show no hard feelings and now he pops round quite a lot (well, until he gets called for supper, then he’s the feline Usain Bolt).
Funny the other night though. I was just reading and dangling my arm so he could rub against it. But he walked a bit far and brushed his tail against my hand. Then it was instant chomp again.
“How the f*ck was that my fault?”
He’s so growing on me though. He’s missing a fang so I asked if he’d been in a fight.
“No, he just ran into a wall.”
We’re kindred spirits. 🙂
Like that long-ass Sherlock analysis from earlier. Which was good! It really honed in on the stuff that had bothered me, while still being fair to the show’s strengths.
If you figure it out let me know. Pepper does the same, and also forgets things exist if they move out of her field of vision, so it’s either a swat or a surprised meow (depending on how safe she feels) when the same had that was petting her 1.5 seconds ago touches her back. Every. Single. Time.
@krazyjoe
How magnanimous of you
Improbable doesn’t mean impossible. Also, where we’re the odds ever given? This is an alien species; we don’t know what factors go into the gender they regenerate as. But if you’re going to bring this up, why in the context of there now being a woman cast as the Doctor? Why not point out that you’re actually okay that the second, third, eighth, etc. Doctors were all men?
Did you look at what this website even is before you read this post?
This isn’t about different opinions. Try reading for comprehension.
@krazyjoe,
Welcome! I’m gonna challenge your statements there, but don’t mind me. I’m mostly harmless.
First: The Doctor as a woman. There are two problems with what you’ve said.
Problem the first: How do you know that the regeneration is 50-50 male or female? If it’s based on genetics, then there’s an extremely low chance that there would be a gender change – not 0%, but very low. If it’s not based on genetics, then the 50% rule you’ve suggested is sourceless.
Problem the second: Just because something has a low probability of happening doesn’t prevent observing that low probability event. It’s wrong to say “This is a low probability, therefore there’s a problem with seeing it happen.” It’s a fallacy, specifically, though I can’t recall what its name is and can’t be bothered to check. Homework assignment for the reader.
Second: David calling people whiny man-babies, and you complaining about him calling them so. One problem here – whiny man babies exist, and they have some pretty awful opinions. If they were just whiny about a fandom then no one would care all that much, but they complain about so much more. They complain about us having freedom to choose things we like, or even existing.
We laugh at them because it’s often the only way we can handle the constant oppressive torrent of abuse they pour out daily.
My turn for a question now. Why are you so offended that he called them whiny man-babies? Are you one of them, or are you just offended for their sake? Or something else?
@Katz,
War Hamsters are so cuuuuuuuute!
@Alan:
So, at least for members of my generation it’s now basically a tax on watching sports?
(Also, I don’t see how this ridiculous policy — just fund the BBC out of the income tax already, that way everyone contributes, including BBC Radio listeners, and it’s no longer a regressive flat tax — can be enforced without pervasive state surveillance of the interiors of private residences. Yikes.)
@Moggie
No. I’m afraid I cannot allow the memory of Madeleine L’Engle to be sullied in such a manner. Pick a different title. 🙂
@troll
That can be addressed if the regeneration is not wholly random, but influenced by the current form, in such a way that gender has a fair probability of being the same as last time. The problem with that is that then it’s implausible if the next several Doctors in a row aren’t female … which, of course, would be fine by me, but something tells me they’ll still mostly be male going forward :/
@kupo
Hrm, I wouldn’t have expected lack of object persistence to be a very adaptive trait for a predator. If a mouse can just break line of sight for a second and thereby be safe, that cat is at a serious competitive disadvantage … or would have been, 12000 years ago, before humans domesticated them and invented kibble.
I will now observe 2 minutes silence to mourn the passing of krazyjoe’s respect for David.
…
…
Dang! There goes my respect for krazyjoe, and it was so very, very, very tragically young, too! Why was it taken from me so soon???
Maybe the Time Lord life cycle is that they start as male, but mature into a female Time Lord at some later point. I think there are some fish that do this. Have we seen a female->male regeneration?
@Surplus
I’m being a bit facetious here. Cats have object permanence; in fact they recently did a study where cats were able to remember which boxes had food and which they had already eaten the food from after only seeing the food once. But she just acts so darn surprised every time I touch her if she can’t see my hand coming towards her. She has anxiety issues, so it’s probably related to that rather than forgetting there’s a hand petting her. She was neglected as a kitten. 🙁
“I’m okay with this thing happening, but I still think it’s silly and maybe shouldn’t have happened because according to my Logik, it’s next to impossible!”
In order to feel bad about losing your respect, one must first find value in it. Call me weird, but I don’t see much value in the “respect” of some internet rando who only popped into the comments section to tone police people and huff and puff about how mean we are for thinking that people who cry and moan that “their” media is getting a female lead are being ridiculous.
First, there’s a world of difference between “I personally don’t want to see a female Doctor”, it’s also “Ugh, there shouldn’t BE a female doctor AT ALL because [insert stupid reason here]”.
I’d have far more respect for these people if they just said “I don’t personally want a female Doctor”, instead of concoct a bunch of bullshit as to why no one should have the experience of a female Doctor because they feel attacked whenever women have anything that they perceive as belonging to men (and let’s face it, the idea that whole swathes of media “belong” to men is fucking stupid on its face).
It’s like saying “I personally don’t like pineapple on pizza” vs “Pineapple on pizza is bad because it funds terrorists! Therefore no one should eat it otherwise you’re a terrorist!”
The first is a personal opinion, and that’s fine. The second is bullshit, and should be mocked because it’s bullshit.
Second, you can argue up down and sideways that these are just “opinions”, but why are we suddenly “babies” for disagreeing with them? Are we not allowed to have different opinions? Are we not allowed to think differently, according to you? Why is it that their opinions are sacrosanct, and ours are immature and childish and worth you coming in here to tell us off for having them?
Isn’t this a teensy bit hypocritical of you to come in here and chide us for having differing opinions?
And at the end of the day, it’s David’s opinion that these people are whiny man babies. And that’s an opinion I share.
Thirding ???
Suchet is the only Poirot for me. I even picture him when I’m reading a Poirot book.
OT, but here’s a picture of the Fellows when they first got to the Shelter.
Here’s a post about how they were found. It mentions their Mama, but sadly no picture of her.
Oh! And the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee has passed their fundraising goal!