Why the Doctor is such a powerful character
Doctor Who is one of my favourite TV shows of all time. Yeah, the special effects are kinda lame most of the time and the quality of writing isn't always 100%, and maybe the physics aren't always entirely accurate and it's always a bit strange. After all, it's a British show about an alien called the Doctor, who takes human companions on adventure through space and time in a blue box, having adventures and solving mysteries.
Where was I going with this again?
Oh yeah. I remember now. Powerful character.
We live in a day and age where war is a constant. If there isn't a war looming on our borders, there's a war in a far-off land that we're sending troops to. War topples buildings, orphans children, destroys futures. This is the world we live in, and we are going to live in it, at least for the foreseeable future.
This is why I love the Doctor.
The Doctor has two main choices of weapons: his sonic screwdriver and his intelligence. He uses his sonic screwdriver to fix crazy sci-fi looking thingys, to hold open doors that are threatening to shut, to analyse, to stop submarines from exploding and all that cool stuff. I love that. Heroes in our stories have swords that glow when enemies are near, lightsabers, weapons of mass destruction, wands capable of inflicting torture and death with a single spell. And here we have a character who uses a sonic screwdriver to achieve his goals. It has no pointed ends like a regular screwdriver, so it cannot be used as a traditional weapon.
He uses his intelligence (along with his sonic screwdriver) to get out of tricky situations. One of my favourite quotes is, "You want weapons? We're in a library. Books are the best weapon in the world. This room's the greatest arsenal we could have. Arm yourself!" How awesome is that? He's using his education to fix problems, to protect the innocent and fix injustices. I love this because it's so close to Malala Yousafzai's philosophy of creating peace through educating children.
Finally, the Doctor has incredible ideals. He pushes for creativity, wonder, adventure. He's the embodiment of lawful good, where he'll save your life and obey the law at the same time. The Doctor wants to save everyone, every time, and it breaks his heart when he can't. Because how can you save everyone and keep the laws of space and time, and not give up bits of yourself at the same time? He deeply believes that everyone has value, that everyone is important which is a value we don't always have in today's society when people are defined by their BMIs, GPAs, finances. You aren't defined by numbers. Human beings have so much value that can't be measured, which is something that the Doctor shows again and again. Sure, he fails sometimes to live up to his ideals. That's what makes him such a great character. That's what makes him human (despite him being an alien but whatever).
When we look in a funhouse mirror, we see the Doctor's distorted face staring back at us. He's the best of humanity, fighting for injustice with education, creativity, tools and recognising the intrinsic value of every human being. This is what we should strive for as humanity, as individuals. The Doctor is a powerful character in a world crying for someone to look to, and that's a pretty beautiful thing.
(Please note, I wrote this post before 13 was announced. (I am so totally on board with that.))
What do you think of the 13th Doctor? Are there any other characters who are powerful like the Doctor?
Where was I going with this again?
Oh yeah. I remember now. Powerful character.
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We live in a day and age where war is a constant. If there isn't a war looming on our borders, there's a war in a far-off land that we're sending troops to. War topples buildings, orphans children, destroys futures. This is the world we live in, and we are going to live in it, at least for the foreseeable future.
This is why I love the Doctor.
The Doctor has two main choices of weapons: his sonic screwdriver and his intelligence. He uses his sonic screwdriver to fix crazy sci-fi looking thingys, to hold open doors that are threatening to shut, to analyse, to stop submarines from exploding and all that cool stuff. I love that. Heroes in our stories have swords that glow when enemies are near, lightsabers, weapons of mass destruction, wands capable of inflicting torture and death with a single spell. And here we have a character who uses a sonic screwdriver to achieve his goals. It has no pointed ends like a regular screwdriver, so it cannot be used as a traditional weapon.
He uses his intelligence (along with his sonic screwdriver) to get out of tricky situations. One of my favourite quotes is, "You want weapons? We're in a library. Books are the best weapon in the world. This room's the greatest arsenal we could have. Arm yourself!" How awesome is that? He's using his education to fix problems, to protect the innocent and fix injustices. I love this because it's so close to Malala Yousafzai's philosophy of creating peace through educating children.
Finally, the Doctor has incredible ideals. He pushes for creativity, wonder, adventure. He's the embodiment of lawful good, where he'll save your life and obey the law at the same time. The Doctor wants to save everyone, every time, and it breaks his heart when he can't. Because how can you save everyone and keep the laws of space and time, and not give up bits of yourself at the same time? He deeply believes that everyone has value, that everyone is important which is a value we don't always have in today's society when people are defined by their BMIs, GPAs, finances. You aren't defined by numbers. Human beings have so much value that can't be measured, which is something that the Doctor shows again and again. Sure, he fails sometimes to live up to his ideals. That's what makes him such a great character. That's what makes him human (despite him being an alien but whatever).
When we look in a funhouse mirror, we see the Doctor's distorted face staring back at us. He's the best of humanity, fighting for injustice with education, creativity, tools and recognising the intrinsic value of every human being. This is what we should strive for as humanity, as individuals. The Doctor is a powerful character in a world crying for someone to look to, and that's a pretty beautiful thing.
(Please note, I wrote this post before 13 was announced. (I am so totally on board with that.))
What do you think of the 13th Doctor? Are there any other characters who are powerful like the Doctor?
I literally just started watching doctor who from season one because of the new doctor announcement, because the one thing holding me back was the fact that girls were always demoted to the role of "the assistant". Now, the doctor is going to be female, and I for one can't wait.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this post. The doctor I've seen so far (Christopher Eccleston) is eccentric and yes, he is flawed, but he always strives for good in a world constantly teetering on the knife's edge of what is right and wrong. And I love him for it.
So I've never seen much Doctor Who. But I have so many friends who love it and talk about it, that I have a lot of secondhand love for the show. I always tell myself I'm going to watch it soon. So maybe I'll see if the library has it.
ReplyDeleteReading this post and looking at my doctor who figurines, I can't agree with you more. He is probably my favourite character both as a child growing up with Doctor Who and now as a young adult (how did that happen). He is funny, witty and so so smart :) Can't wait to see what the female doctor will bring to our favourite timelord :)
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