tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post4377280715910374713..comments2024-03-17T11:05:22.464+00:00Comments on The Life And Opinions of Andrew Rilstone: Last Best HopesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-48508307330204086602019-06-02T16:11:36.538+01:002019-06-02T16:11:36.538+01:00There are no silly questions: any continuity probl...<i>There are no silly questions: any continuity problem which occurs to you has almost certainly occurred to J.K Rowling</i><br /><br />Oh, such naïveté. I don't know very much at all about <i>Babylon 5</i>, but I know enough about the <i>Harry Potter</i> fandom to tell you that it is positively riddled with plot-holes and continuity problems. Perhaps moreso in these post-<i>Pottermore</i>, post-<i>Fantastic Beasts</i>, post-<i>Cursed Child</i> days… but even then, twas always so. Literally the most central bit of continuity across the seven novels (the circumstances of Harry's parents' murder, which coincide with the 'death' of Lord Voldemort and the origins of Harry's mysterious cursed scar) is retold in different and contradictory ways in nearly every book.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07236266517330722633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-72204732130447109362018-03-26T14:53:23.950+01:002018-03-26T14:53:23.950+01:00His distaste for Jodie Whittaker is simply a dista...<i>His distaste for Jodie Whittaker is simply a distaste for trans people.</i><br /><br />I transitioned in 1997. until Michelle Gomez did such a good job as Missy, I, too would have argued (and did argue) against casting a woman as the Doctor. and I also find it impossible to believe that the BBC did not allow (if not mandate) a female Doctor for political reasons. with that said, I think/hope that Whittaker will do a great job.Riahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16597365331879792818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-10385487375545764172018-02-14T02:40:07.238+00:002018-02-14T02:40:07.238+00:00Also, since you mention the symbionts from DS9, in...Also, since you mention the symbionts from <i>DS9</i>, in my headcanon Susan would still be the Doctor's granddaughter if they met again, even if their sexes were reversed and Susan was now older. Kind of like how Sisko always addressed Dax as "Old Man."Benhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06590397694589547524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-16348967482974201002018-02-14T02:19:14.770+00:002018-02-14T02:19:14.770+00:00Given the average or even plausible human lifespan...Given the average or even plausible human lifespan, David would likely be dead long before Susan had to regenerate at all. This seems like a more significant concern than the off-chance that she might start packing something extra down there.Benhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06590397694589547524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-61584723151710097882018-02-14T01:08:20.472+00:002018-02-14T01:08:20.472+00:00David Cameron?
Really?
Well, it might be the case...<i>David Cameron?<br />Really?</i><br /><br />Well, it might be the case that on the TV he was "David Campbell". But the book (of the Web Planet) definitely says "David Cameron."Andrew Rilstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05786623930392936889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-70661773113119967352018-02-13T18:19:09.218+00:002018-02-13T18:19:09.218+00:00Yes. In fact many people at the time were highly c...Yes. In fact many people at the time were highly critical of Missy BECAUSE she opened the way for a female doctorNick Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03741867414321172768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-37364835307428190922018-02-13T16:29:31.025+00:002018-02-13T16:29:31.025+00:00Casting a woman as the Doctor, though, does rather...Casting a woman as the Doctor, though, does rather shake the format up in a way that the 'Missy' thing didn't (there have been female baddies in <i>Doctor Who</i> before, but there has never been a female lead).SKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09102522819364312684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-50883189003706368882018-02-13T16:12:58.276+00:002018-02-13T16:12:58.276+00:00Did people who are refusing to watch Dr Who becaus...Did people who are refusing to watch Dr Who because the Doctor has regenerated as a woman not notice the whole "Missy" thing?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-42123313661411543252018-02-13T11:25:21.214+00:002018-02-13T11:25:21.214+00:00I suppose I could say, 'It's no longer rea...I suppose I could say, 'It's no longer really <i>Doctor Who</i>; I won't be watching'. But then out of honestly I'd have to admit that it hasn't really been <i>Doctor Who</i> for years, and I kept watching. I mean, what am I gong to do, <i>not</i> watch a programme called <i>Doctor Who</i>?<br /><br />I think there is a commonly-held view that sex is intrinsic and essential to humans in a way that, say, the colour of one's skin, one's height, one's hair colour, even one's personality, and so on, is not. That you can imagine 'what would X be like if he was taller? If he did more exercise and was slimmer? If he was just a little bit less annoyingly obsessed with being right all the time?', and those questions make sense, but to say 'What would X be like if he was female?' is nonsensical because at that point you're not just positing an accidental change in X but such a fundamental shift that X would no longer be X. <br /><br />(Not that I'm saying this view is correct, but that it is commonly-held, even by people who can't quite articulate it; such as, apparently, that intelligent ten-year-old. And not, of course, that this view necessarily implies that the 'essential' sex always matches the body shape.)<br /><br />I thought it became obvious, if it wasn't earlier, at the point where the guy who was born from the looms regenerated into the guy whose mother was human, that 'regeneration' is not a process that takes place at one point in time, but that it reaches backwards and forwards across the regeneree's whole history, remaking everything from their earliest moments to their death. <br /><br />It's not that the male Doctor regenerates into a woman; it's that after the regeneration, the Doctor <i>has always been</i> a woman, just like the regenerated eighth Doctor <i>had always been</i> half-human, even though, a few hours earlier, he wasn't.SKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09102522819364312684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-15411745972101179702018-02-13T10:32:17.425+00:002018-02-13T10:32:17.425+00:00An incorporeal intelligence isn’t masculine or fem...<i>An incorporeal intelligence isn’t masculine or feminine, any more than it is Northern or Scottish,</i><br /><br />You didn't make it to the end of <i>Perelandra</i>, then? :-)Mike Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06039663158335543317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-51236859007844886212018-02-13T09:50:45.975+00:002018-02-13T09:50:45.975+00:00I am more or less on board with Jodie, not because...I am more or less on board with Jodie, not because I want a female Doctor, especially, but because I think it's a good idea to shake the format up. (Female Doctor + older male companion will probably get us away from the slightly stereotyped post-Rose Doctor/assistant romances we've head. Not that an older male companion can't have a crush on a younger female Doctor but the dynamic will be different.) <br /><br />I did have a conversation with an intelligent ten year old girl who said that of course the Doctor could be old or young and of course he could be a black or white but there was something about him that meant that he <i>ought</i> to be a boy.<br /><br />Am I correct in thinking that proper etiquette is to refer to previous incarnations of the Doctor as "she" from now on. (Although if there was ever a person who ought to be referred to as "they"...)<br />Andrew Rilstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16934052271846235431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-11011776559863273372018-02-13T09:09:19.809+00:002018-02-13T09:09:19.809+00:00Last year I showed my (then 3½ year old) daughter ...Last year I showed my (then 3½ year old) daughter the Jodie Whittaker walking through the forest announcement video. She looked at me excitedly and said "oh wow, that's so cool". Just as the first Doctor I remember is Tom Baker, the first Doctor she will remember is a woman. I'm really looking forward to watching it with her.<br /><br />(Also, I've got several human friends who have changed gender. The Doctor being a woman is pretty much the least implausible thing that's ever happened on the programme.)Nicholas Jacksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15775255162195697218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-63021614635686711562018-02-12T22:26:07.065+00:002018-02-12T22:26:07.065+00:00Bingo. It's the trying to make sense of it th...Bingo. It's the trying to make sense of it that is the fun. And (deep down) also knowing that "if I were in charge, we'd do it like <b>this</b>" whilst accepting that we're never going to win the lottery (and therefore we are incredibly envious of those who do, or even - like Mr Levine - come close.)<br /><br />Of course, I'm not a fan. I'm certainly a nerd (in the sense that I could hold my own in a trivia contest, and, yes, I've written my fair share of retro-continuity.) But I'm not a fan, because I refuse to join a "team". Scurrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15182486408258989295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-68190466698081600042018-02-12T21:15:06.484+00:002018-02-12T21:15:06.484+00:00David Cameron?
Really?David Cameron?<br />Really?Nick Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03741867414321172768noreply@blogger.com