Doctor Who - Spoilers!

[Magpie 7]

Idris Elba or Colin Salmon would make perfect Doctors, they both are an age that can get across the sense of wisdom that anyone under 45 will struggle to do. I'm just waiting for the Doctor to be a lesbian now...

 

[crows]

Who cares if it's a woman, couldn't the Doctor be anything?

So when would it be ok to have a woman Doctor? Ever?

There have been like 15 incarnations of Doctor who. Doctor who has been old, young, blonde, brunette. All those times I read no outrage.

Under what circumstances would it be acceptable to have a woman as Doctor who? Or is there some gender lock on a char crater that keep "reincarnating"?

Under the same circumstances that Wonder Woman should be male.


What does either change add to the character besides an unnecessary face-lift?

Idris Elba or Colin Salmon would make perfect Doctors, they both are an age that can get across the sense of wisdom that anyone under 45 will struggle to do. I'm just waiting for the Doctor to be a lesbian now...

so this begs the question....

what is worse, Gender Swap, or Race Swap???
Is it worse for the Doctor to simply change gender but remain the same race? or is it more annoying if the doctor just became a different race? what would be the worse change?

 

[Wor-Gar]

Dangerous bait.

 

[ali032373]

Under the same circumstances that Wonder Woman should be male.


What does either change add to the character besides an unnecessary face-lift?

Awful analogy. By definition WW is a woman. If you change her gender the character is no longer Wonder Woman. Her gender is central to her story and her character.

Is that the same case for Doctor who?

 

[pixletwin]

We'll see. I wouldn't have even done a double take at a non-white Doctor. But I am somehow not freaked out with this new casting decision. I'm willing to see how it plays out.

Anyone notice that the Police Box in that announcement is the Tennant/Eccleston version?

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

I haven't heard anybody say James Bond should be a woman. Yet.

You didn't see the "Jane Bond" articles?

Anyway, I want the next Bond to look like Sean Connery. Clone him, or find some unknown actor that looks just like him.

 

[crows]

Dangerous bait.

i wasnt trying to bait. wasnt trying to be a smartass either, im genuinely wondering

Awful analogy. By definition WW is a woman. If you change her gender the character is no longer Wonder Woman. Her gender is central to her story and her character.

Is that the same case for Doctor who?

is Doctor Who's race central to his character? im not being sarcastic or trying to bait, im genuinely wondering because I Personally dont have as much of a problem with gender swaps in general. sometimes they can be cool or interesting

 

[Wor-Gar]

OK, I'll say it: in most cases I think gender swap is 'worse'. I say that after considering making James Bond a female. Or Speed Racer, or Ghostbusters... Or Dorothy as a little boy, or The Little Merman.

Some cases are far less dramatic of course, and some might even benefit. But in general it seems like you can switch nationality quite easily, race seems harder for people to digest, and finally gender. Just look at our Presidential elections for proof.

 

[crows]

OK, I'll say it: in most cases I think gender swap is 'worse'. I say that after considering making James Bond a female. Or Speed Racer, or Ghostbusters... Or Dorothy as a little boy, or The Little Merman.

Some cases are far less dramatic of course, and some might even benefit. But in general it seems like you can switch nationality quite easily, race seems harder for people to digest, and finally gender. Just look at our Presidential elections for proof.

ghostbusters is a bad example because that movie was completely loaded with political tones. the casting itself was a political move. But if they got emma stone and they got the two girls from the show Community or the girls from Big Bang theory, i could have seen that ghostbusters movie being really well received though.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Awful analogy. By definition WW is a woman. If you change her gender the character is no longer Wonder Woman. Her gender is central to her story and her character.

Is that the same case for Doctor who?

Granted, but I couldn't at that moment think of another female example -- Dorothy from OZ would be a better example; no reason she couldn't be a little farm boy.

But you didn't really answer the main question: what does the gender change add to the character? Why do it at all?

ghostbusters is a bad example because that movie was completely loaded with political tones. the casting itself was a political move. But if they got emma stone and they got the two girls from the show Community or the girls from Big Bang theory, i could have seen that ghostbusters movie being really well received though.

What is it with people criticizing an example but not answering the core question? And why is it in concept a bad example? It is a perfect example of a totally unnecessary change -- its only purpose was as an excuse to reboot a well-known franchise for financial reasons.

 

[DarthTrafford]

I wonder if the inside of the TARDIS will transform into a kitchen? Will she have a Sonic Spatula?
LOL?

 

[Magpie 7]

Colour of skin is just that colour, it's the same as hair colour so why should it matter? When you get down to gender it's an all together different package with the different hormones and everything else associated with the differing sexes.

So if they show Susan does she still call the Doctor Grandad? It wouldn't matter if the Doctor was black, Asian, oriental or Latino they'd still have the same relationship with the audience and the show's history. If they want a female Timelord then why not just create one or bring back Romana...but then that would be appeasing the original DW fans and it seems they don't want to do that to much.

 

[Jmek]

The show has been awful for years, so what if they change the sex of the Doctor? It's still going to be awful. That said it does seem to be an ongoing culture war to change the sex or race of established characters or make more science fiction and fantasy based entertainment more female centric. I'm not convinced tearing down the establishment is the right way to go about it though. You're inevitably going to lose some of your audience.

 

[BagginsOfBagEnd]

Colour of skin is just that colour, it's the same as hair colour so why should it matter? When you get down to gender it's an all together different package with the different hormones and everything else associated with the differing sexes.

So if they show Susan does she still call the Doctor Grandad? It wouldn't matter if the Doctor was black, Asian, oriental or Latino they'd still have the same relationship with the audience and the show's history. If they want a female Timelord then why not just create one or bring back Romana...but then that would be appeasing the original DW fans and it seems they don't want to do that to much.

My thoughts exactly!

 

[ali032373]

Granted, but I couldn't at that moment think of another female example -- Dorothy from OZ would be a better example; no reason she couldn't be a little farm boy.

But you didn't really answer the main question: what does the gender change add to the character? Why do it at all?





What is it with people criticizing an example but not answering the core question? And why is it in concept a bad example? It is a perfect example of a totally unnecessary change -- its only purpose was as an excuse to reboot a well-known franchise for financial reasons.

Did all of the 15 previous doctors "add to the character"? Did you even ask that question when a new Doctor came on?

How would have doing the same thing for the last 15 times been adding to the character?

 

[crows]

sometimes race swaps changes the personality, background and culture of the character. a gender swap of the same race can still work as the original because that female could have grown up in the same environment or family or culture as the male counterpart.

a boy or a girl growing up in a specific background or culture can still have the same experience. You could technically still have the same story with the same elements if the character became a girl in a movie, im not saying men and women are literally 100% the same, but their lives can be very similar.

when you do a race swap, some things will be different. some things are expected to be different. the audience will not accept the character acting the same way if he was white, some elements of the story could not work with a race swap (in any given story)

 

[Wor-Gar]

Did all of the 15 previous doctors "add to the character"? Did you even ask that question when a new Doctor came on?

How would have doing the same thing for the last 15 times been adding to the character?

If you're going to answer a question with a question then we can't play anymore.

People here have answered your question above, like Magpie, read it. Changing gender begs the question: why? If you don't see a difference then you're just being idealistic.

 

[Magpie 7]

Just out of curiosity, who would've liked it if this was the image announcing the 13th Doctor?

 

[Jmek]

Just out of curiosity, who would've liked it if this was the image announcing the 13th Doctor?

View attachment 353243

Colin Salmon

 

[ali032373]

If you're going to answer a question with a question then we can't play anymore.

People here have answered your question above, like Magpie, read it. Changing gender begs the question: why? If you don't see a difference then you're just being idealistic.

Fair enough.

You choose to change the character's gender for a bunch of reasons- to create a buzz, to expand what the character can do, to tell the story from a different perspective, to try attract new viewers.