Bits and Bytes: Republicans Like Doctor Who, But Will They Dig A Black Doctor?
K. Tempest Bradford
William Shatner Upset That George Takei Didn’t Invite Him To The Wedding
All I have to say about this is: I wouldn’t invite Shatner to my wedding, either. Well, not if I was George. I personally would totally invite him just for the drunk toast. Where was I? Oh yeah, Bill is being a bit of an ass about this whole thing, don’t you think?
Democrats and Republicans Respond to TV Differently… Film at 11
Nielsen (the ratings people) apparently rate the “engagement” people have with the shows they watch and crunch this data along many lines, including political affiliation.
“Engagement” refers to the amount of attention paid to a television program by the average viewer. [...] Nielsen’s analysis found that the cable programs that received the highest overall engagement scores… also received the most bipartisan support…
According to the table at the link, shows with the highest Republican engagement include Doctor Who. I know, a bunch of question marks popped above my head, too. Apparently conservatives engaged with our dear Doctor even more than they engaged with the ladies vying for Bret Michaels’ love. I’m not sure how to wrap my brain around this.
The most engaging SF/F show for Dems? TIN MAN. That’s right, dear readers! Liberals are all about the bad Sci-Fi channel movies. I may have to switch parties…
My Black Doctor Brings All The Racists To The Yard
Nick Kaufman finds crazy Doctor Who wank so you don’t have to. Apparently there’s a rumor about that when David Tenant finally gives up the mantle of the Doctor, one of the guys being considered for the role is British actor Paterson Joseph. He was the Weakest Link finalist with Rose in the first season DW finale and also had a prominent role in BBC’s Jekyll. Besides being absolutely brilliant and handsome, Joseph is also black. This, predictably, is making Who fans freak the hell out.
Nick’s picked out some of the choicer quotes for your amusement and head-shaking, but it’s interesting to point out that some fans are completely okay with a black Doctor. But a woman? HELL NO, SIR.
I weep.
The Con Anti-Harassment Project
If you’ve ever attended a large SF convention, you’re well aware why such a project is needed. Check out what GirlWonder.org is doing about the lack of con anti-harassment policies.
1 • Randy Henderson said:
October 24th, 2008 at 1:21 pm, permalink
(fictional comment): I think it is a good idea to make the Doctor black, you know, to be fair and all to those people, but he doesn’t need to be black on the OUTside.
If his true alien form were said to be POSSIBLY black, and his always taking a white outer form were his way of throwing off his enemies, then I think that would be a good way of easing into it. Maybe in the future, say, Doctor 23, after there are more blacks and such people in the world, it would make sense to have the first externally black doctor.
Also, I don’t think the Doctor needs to be a woman. I see the Doctor as being kind of A-sexual, and everyone knows when you refer to mixed gender you use the default of “he.”
(end fictional comment)
2 • Randy Henderson said:
October 24th, 2008 at 1:23 pm, permalink
Bill Shatner is SO not going to book George a kickass honemoon deal on Priceline now …
3 • JS Bangs said:
October 24th, 2008 at 1:29 pm, permalink
Dr. Who: This reminds me of the brouhaha over the new BSG, when Starbuck and Boomer were changed to women. As one writer pointed out, people were more upset that Boomer was a girl than that she was an evil killer robot.
For Dr. Who, though, I can sorta understand. Gender goes deeper than race, and it’s reasonable to ask whether a female Doctor would actually be the same Doctor.
4 • Lisa said:
October 24th, 2008 at 7:18 pm, permalink
I’m a woman, and I would NEVER want a female Doctor on Doctor Who. I am a huge David Tennant fan, and it won’t matter who replaces him. Whichever actor it is has a tough road ahead of him to win over audiences after Tennant’s gone, and this is true no matter what race The Doctor is.
5 • K. Tempest Bradford said:
October 26th, 2008 at 9:45 am, permalink
I think adding a female Doctor would be awesome. But then my enjoyment of the show isn’t predicated on how hot I think the Doctor is. But then, I would still enjoy it if so.
6 • Elaine said:
October 26th, 2008 at 1:36 pm, permalink
Tin Man? Tin man! Who the heck did they ask? A lifelong liberal, I am definitely in the Doctor Who camp and changed the channel about 20 minutes into the Tin Man. This must be a sinister plot to make liberals look bad.
7 • Black Is The New Doctor « The Angry Black Woman said:
November 25th, 2008 at 5:32 pm, permalink
[...] Yes, I hear the wank coming for us, too. There’s already been a bit. [...]
8 • steadycat said:
December 8th, 2008 at 11:15 pm, permalink
I’ve never watched the Tin Man and I love Doctor Who. I started watching it when Martha was his assistant and cried when she left. I didn’t want anymore replacement women. I wanted only Martha. So now the Doctor Who that I’ve grown to love is leaving the show. Damn. First of all. I didn’t want any of my characters to change. But since they are changing, a black doctor is just as good as a white one. We do have a black President ya know. Those Repub thugs are going to have to realize that the world is changing, as it should. They need to learn something or they will follow the path of the dinosaur.