Doctor Who [4]

Really?! How could that happen!

Heck, I'll wade in here too.

It seems to me that in theory all the Doctor's companions need to have human flaws and slightly messed up live or there's no point to them. I'm glad they're not all the same, and I don't see the point in having favorites, just like with Doctors.

Having said that, Baker and Sarah were the first Doctor/companion I followed, and all others are unavoidably weighed against them. So I have to admit that when Rose (whose cheekiness I'd enjoyed till then) started talking shit to Sarah Jane my old loyalties flared up and I've never quite forgiven Rose, though her behavior was entirely in character.

Funny how you can get sucked into these things.....

It seems to me that in theory all the Doctor's companions need to have human flaws and slightly messed up live or there's no point to them. - David

I dont think they do- you sight Sarah Jane and the 4th Doctor- a great companion/Doctor combo- but she has no hang ups- she is a reporter chasing a story, she is determined, she is ambtious, she has a plan for herself in life before the Doctor ever meets her.
Amy is messed up becuase of the Doctor interferring in her life- so he feels responsibility to put that right somehow.
But for me what both those characters have in common is a slightly fiesty, abrasive outward manner concealing a lot more underneath.

I find Rose quite shallow in comparison to either Amy or Sarah Jane. Before she meets the Doctor Rose is, as the BBC billed her, a chav. Going nowhere, doing nothing, and not got any plans or goals or ambitions. And not like she gets any of those things over her time on the show- she leaves it as she began- just wanting the Doctor- so much so they had to go give her a spare to keep her happy. I just didnt find that a likeable companion.

Warning- has spoilers for Amy/Rory season 7A finale.

Pettytyrant101 wrote:It seems to me that in theory all the Doctor's companions need to have human flaws and slightly messed up live or there's no point to them. - David

I dont think they do- you sight Sarah Jane and the 4th Doctor- a great companion/Doctor combo- but she has no hang ups- she is a reporter chasing a story, she is determined, she is ambtious, she has a plan for herself in life before the Doctor ever meets her.

I guess my point is that at the heart of any time travel fantasy is the question, "If I could go back in time knowing what I know now, could I fix my mistakes (or other people's mistakes)?"
So you need to have things that need fixing, perhaps personal regrets, to make it interesting. I admit that the thought of Rose as a girlfriend.... .... well, enough said.

But I still think it's interesting to see how she tries to solve the same problem differently. In the fantasy, everybody should get a chance.

Wow, when I innocently asked who would you rather have a drink with, Rose or Amy, I had not the slightest glimmer of a conception of what I was starting....

I think you should watch Diary of a Call Girl, Petty. You won't see Rose in the same way again...

Amy Pond is everything I hate and despise about the way women are portrayed and betrayed by tv writers like Moffat. Amy acts like the “feisty female,” paying lip service to female independence, brains and sexual freedom. She was an empty vessel through which Moffat could showcase the timey wimey theme of the week. She never maintained an interest in anything, forgot to care about things she was passionate about the episode before , and had only had one consistent trait or interest. her marriage to Rory. how banal how cliche. this is a bizarre downward spiral of the quality of the writing, and the dependence on ‘feminine issues’ like babies and boyfriends for a subject matter. you used to be able to rely on Doctor Who for being one of the few shows that didn’t delve into the bag of cliched female backstories when they were stuck for ideas. My favourite thing about the female characters in Doctor Who is that they are more interested in the adventures than relationship problems. That’s what we’re constantly told women are interested in, but DW usually gives us something more interesting. If you were going on dangerous, fun adventures with the Doctor, shagging and kids wouldn’t even occur to you. you’d never have had Rose stuck in a box waiting to give birth while the boys went off and had all the fun and you’d certainly never have had Martha doing a big dramatic reveal that she can’t have children (especially when she’d had most of the second series dedicated to her childbearing abilities.) It’s a shame Amy has left the series now, because I was really looking forward to all those episodes dedicated to shoe-shopping, menstrual cycles and organizing the perfect fucking dinner party. because the Moffat ran out of ideas having failed to establish a really strong character in the first instance, there was nowhere else for Amy to go but back to boring reality. When the imagination runs dry, writers use idiot stereotypes for their characters, and it’s the women who suffer without a writer with imagination, they just look pretty, get married, live in nice houses and pop sprogs, oh and become strip-o-grams.
Rory might be something of a wimp, but credit where it’s due he does completely define Amy Pond’s character. How does someone so pointless and boring get to define the main companion? Well, he’s her husband. DUH!. When he marries her, she immediately transforms into a stereotype of a whining, snarky bitchwife, constantly criticising everyone and everything and generally just pissing on the parade. Once you’ve married your boyfriend, you can be as mean to him as you want. That’s alright, isn’t it? It’s OK to just constantly tell someone to shut up or hit them for no reason at least once an episode.
Amy is not exciting, adventurous, quick-witted or kind. She’s just sexy. what a great role model for young women. NOT.
The great thing about the other companions is that flying off to have adventures with the Doctor has given them a chance to really show what they’re made of. Their relationships are not central to their character developments. Rose, Martha and Donna have constantly dashed lazy gender and class stereotypes by becoming really strong, interesting and inspiring female characters. I loved Martha because she was ultra-smart She was ambitious and sharp and actually carried on using her skills and brains after she’d left the Doctor. Rose is my favourite because you really felt that in some way, the Doctor both saved and ruined her life – how could any character go back to the way things were after everything she’d done? In particular, Donna’s strength did not come from her having a boyfriend, being drop-dead sexy. Donna’s strength came straight from herself, and her own, comparatively insignificant, life. And Donna’s goodbye was really devastating Amy Pond is a step backwards. and worse people fall for this bullshit.

Well...Annie Oakley is my favourite companion.

A worthy rant, Mrs Figg. I haven't gotten far enough into Who to have seen more than a few minutes of Amy but I think I need to now, if only to see what's got you so riled up!

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/03/17/doctor-who-posters/

I just want to say sorry again to Petty, I dived in with my boots first as per usual, I noticed I do get riled up by Amy, a lot, and its mostly comparing her to Rose that does it. Rose in my opinion is a very positive role model, she epitomizes what a companion should be, bravery loyalty and cheerfulness in the face of insurmountable odds, untrammeled by her past. In my opinion Amy is like following a character from a random 70s tv show that was unaccountably plopped in the DW show by mistake, I see too much of this stuff on Italian tv, and it gets me riled.

No need for any apology Mrs Figg- passions run high as it should be!

I have to say though I just dont see it- especially the accusation that Amy is a sexist character or an attack on women somehow.
Moffat has a long history of writing feisty independent women going all the way back to Press Gang. So I find it hard to see what the complaint is about Amy regards her 'representing' women in a negative fashion. I just dont see how you came to that conclusion- given what happens to her I think she is remarkably strong, she could easily have become a victim to circumstances but she doesn't she takes control of her own life and makes her own decisions.

But she IS a victim of circumstance, in every episode nearly. How is being impregnated and forced to give birth in a box taking control of her life? How is carrying around a man she is at best ambivalent about like the Ancient Mariners Albatros, being strong? How is being turned into a wooden doll, a robot and a clone not being a victim? How come the men who 'supposedly' love her, abandon her for eternity because she happens to chose the wrong door and grow older in another universe? its still Amy, and her pathetic boyfriend just allows the Doctor to leave her behind because of some timey wimey rubbish made up at the last minute. When Rose's Doctor uses the power of a supernova to speak to her for 5 minutes. Where they gladly sacrifice their lives for the other, no Rory just whinges a bit and lets the Doctor do this heinous crime. Amy is a victim from the moment she meets the Doctor. She gains nothing from him in the end. She doesnt become a Doctor like Martha, she doesnt become a hero warrior like Mickey, she doesnt lose a man who loves her like Rose, she doesnt find confidence and excitement like Donna, she just goes back to being a model like nothing particular and extraordinarily wonderful and terrifying had happened, no she went back to surburbia with a drip.

'But she IS a victim of circumstance, in every episode nearly.'- Mrs Figg

I think blaimng Amy for getting kidnapped is a bit of a strecth- if you take Rose as a comparison-

Rose- needs rescued by the Doctor at the beginning- treats Mickey terribly and dumps him cruelly.

End of the world- gets locked in a room with no shielding- needs rescued by the Doctor- takes no proactive part in saving the day- the Doctor and self sacrificing tree-lady do that.

Dalek- accidently reactivates a Dalek- spends most of the rest of the episode running away and being rescued by the Doctor. She also, on a whim, picks up a new boyfriend and gets the Doctor to bring him along with them.

The LOng Game- in the first scene, when her new man passes out at seeing the earth in the future from a space station, the Doctor mockingly says "He's your boyfriend." To which Rose glibbly replies, "Not any longer" -so she just burnt through him quick enough then, no grieving for Mickey there either.

Fathers Day- selfisly interferes in time and causes a massive paradox- lies to the Doctor about her initial intentions- again not proactive in the outcome- her father saves the day with self sacrifice.

The empty child/Doctor dances- throws herself at Captain Jack and uses him to tease the Doctor with. Flirts mercilleslly from start to finish. Gets stuck hanging from a barrage baloon and needs rescuing by a man. Plays no part in resolving the situation.

And that is just the first pat of her first series- she needs rescuing all the time, she is rarely instrumental in resolving any situation, she is just there being cocky and bitchy, or flirting at everyone.


'How is being impregnated and forced to give birth in a box taking control of her life?'

She is kidnapped without knowing it has happened, as her conciousness is in the flesh avatar- she got pregnant to the man she loves on the night of their wedding.Nothing unusual about a woman having sex with her husband on her wedding night- I dont see how that makes her any less in control- she is in control as far as she is aware- she is not forced into preganacy, its not against her will (her main concern is that it will have a 'time-head or something' from being conceived in the TARDIS whislt its in flight- its just not knowing she is pregnant thats the problem- and that is out of her control just as much as all the times Rose needs rescuing.

'How is carrying around a man she is at best ambivalent about like the Ancient Mariners Albatros, being strong?'

I dont agree at all with your premise here- Amy loves Rory, always has done, thats not the problem for her- the problem for her is her life is crammed full of paradoxes and inexplicable things- it doesnt make sense and she needs to sort that out in her head before she can come to understadnd how totally she does love Rory- that takes 3 series to play out and I dont know how anyone can watch their final episode and not see Amy coming to her understandng and her conclusion. And it is very much her choice- she chooses her husband over all else. She is never in anyway ambivalent about Rory- but she is running form marring him at the start becuase her life isnt right, she does not know if she is ready for that or what sort of life she wants to lead, its not just the commitment but all the other things she needs to sort out first.

'How is being turned into a wooden doll, a robot and a clone not being a victim?'

Again see all the times Rose is captured or requires rescuing- there are loads of them- needing rescued is a traditional requirment of a Who companion. Amy is no different in that, nor was Rose.

'How come the men who 'supposedly' love her, abandon her for eternity because she happens to chose the wrong door and grow older in another universe?'

Did you watch the episode? As that is fully explained within it- the Tardis cant go back as that would mean crossing its own timeline- a very long standing WHo rule. Once the mistake is made they are stuck in old Amy's timeline until its resolved. It has nothing to do with them choosing to abandon her, they do not choose to do so.

'Its still Amy, and her pathetic boyfriend just allows the Doctor to leave her behind because of some timey wimey rubbish made up at the last minute.'

The whole emotional punch of the episode is the fact it is still Amy and they are efectively executing her to keep their version- the Doctor lies about the two Amy's being able to exist- this is the darker side of the Doctor, that will do what has to be done to put things right, no matter what- the same Doctor remember who wiped out both the Daleks and his own race to end a war.
And Rory does not just leave her- he fights the Doctor on it, tells him he doesnt want to travel with him any more becuase he is too recless and when the Doctor tells him to choose Rory replies "This isn't fair. You are turning me into you."
And thats the whole point- its NOT fair- but it is the only solution.
As to timey-whimey stuff made up at the last minute- um its long standing Who canon that the TARDIS, any TARDIS cannot stand a paradox- they are extremely time concious creatures- thee are numerous examples of the TARDIS freaking out, or even runnng from a paradox going back well in to the classic era- nothing last minute about it- two Amy's coudl never exist on the TARDIS- the Doctor knows that from the start- but if he tells the truth Old Amy wont go along with the plan and they wont get their Amy back.


'When Rose's Doctor uses the power of a supernova to speak to her for 5 minutes. Where they gladly sacrifice their lives for the other'

Yes the Doctor does do that but its hardly a self sacrifice- at no point does Rose sacifice herself for the Doctor- im not saying she wouldn't- only she doesn't.
She gets sucked into another dimension, against her will, and completely out of her control and is trapped there (until they crappily brought her back for the finale stuff), she doesnt stay there willingly, or to save the Doctor, she would go back in a heartbeat if she could. Its all out of her control. Rose is entirly a victim in what happens to her- she makes no choices, they are all forced onto her by circumstances- she is sucked into the other dimension against her will, she is trapped there against her will, she has to remain against her will. And they have to contrive a ridiculous Doctor Double out of thin plot air becuase Rose can only have a happy ending if she gets her man- as its all she has ever wanted her entire time on the show.
So I dont see how you can complain Amy's choice is to be with her husband.

'no Rory just whinges a bit and lets the Doctor do this heinous crime.'

The Doctor has committed many henoius crimes in his 1000 years- I would agrue genocide was worse. The 6th Doctor spent and entire series on tiral by the Time Lords for his crimes- and that was before the genocides (Trial of a Time-Lord).

'Amy is a victim from the moment she meets the Doctor.'

There is some truth in that- her whole life has been manipulated, not just by the Doctor but by the Silence too as bait for the Doctor. BUt she takes control of it, thats the point. She works out was is going on, she makes her own deciosns within that context and finds in the end her own resolution to it all.

'she doesnt lose a man who loves her like Rose'

I just cant see it that way- I dont think he did love her, not in the human way, he isnt human. I tend to think of his 'releationship' with Rose as a blip, something that would never normally have happened and was a result of post traumatic stress and surviver guilt from the time war. Its completely out of chararacter for him and she is so young that by Gallifrean standards she would still be at nursery school. Its all sorts of wrong.
I often think in the Amy's Choice episode there is a dark undercurrent in light of the Rose thing when the Dream Lords taunts the Doctor with the words, "the old man who prefers the company of the young."
I dont think Rose would be one of the things the Doctor would want to tell his fellow timelords about!


she just goes back to being a model like nothing particular and extraordinarily wonderful and terrifying had happened

Um, did you watch Angels in Manhattan, thats not where she ends up.
As to her being a model, I dont see a problem with it- Karen Gillan came from a small scottish town and was a model, Amy looks the same as Karen so no reason she couldnt make it as a model- and she models for a perfume which seems to be her own line, so she is not just a model, she is a busness women- bit like another Scottish lady in real life who models and owns and runs one of the biggest bra lines. That women is praised as a role model for young girls who want to be entrepeneurs, I dont see why Amy should be critiscised then for seeming to be doing something similar.


As to consitently callig Rory a drip, wimpy ect- you can name call all you like but I dont see how he can be called any of these things over the whole course of the run. Rory in my view is easily the best male comapion of NuWho and in the top 3 of my all time favourite male companions (just behind Jamie and before Harry).
His character has lots and lots of development over the run, and he grows significiantly.

How you can call the man who waited 2000 years gaurding Amy, who risked his life against the Headless Monks to defend his wife and child, who punched out not just the Doctor but Hitler too, and who in the end was willing to sarifce himself for everyone else a wimp, its beyond me.

Rose saves the Doctors life the first time she meets him, she rescues him, have you actually seen the episode?
Rose actually saves the world on a regular basis, she is never helpless and a victim that just pouts and runs around like a headless chicken, she does things, she is active and positive, not a whinger who cant get over some plonker with a bowtie who flounced into her room when she was a kid. I mean get over it, whats the big deal?

Rose swings on a rope and hits someone- Beast Below Amy saves the ship, the Doctor from having to take yet another innnocent life and the star whale. Next episode she saves the professors life and everyone else by seeing what the Doctor cant and appealing to the professors humanity.
Time of Angels when the combined efforts of River and the Doctor cant rescue Amy from the Angel she works out and executes her own successful plan- getting a "You were brilliant!" from River.
Vampires in Venice she conceives and volunteers herself for the dangerous mission to inflitrate the vampires.
And thats just her first few episodes.

And to say I judge her on the way she looks is completely insulting to me. That really is shallow. I am judging her as a character in a fiction, same way I would Betrice in Much ado about nothing or any other fictional female character.

You say Amy is just a facade yet the episodes content contradict this- her entire stroy line is about Amy coming to terms with herself.
Think of the episode in the hotel-the God Complex-

Amy: Doctor, it's happening. It's changing me. It's changing my thoughts.
The Doctor: I can't save you from it. There's nothing I can do to stop this.
Amy: What?
The Doctor: I stole your childhood and now I've led you by the hand to your death. But the worst thing is I knew. I knew this would happen. This is what always happens. Forget your faith in me. I took you with me because I was vain. Because I wanted to be adored. Look at you, glorious Pond. The Girl Who Waited for me. I'm not a hero. I really am just a madman in a box. And it's time we saw each other as we really are. Amy Williams. It's time to stop waiting.

Amy is many issues, one of them is her childhood fixation which continued into adulthood over the Doctor- with everyone from family to docotors telling her he doesnt exist when she knows he does. She got so focused and defensive of that she built him up into a fantastical fairytale like person in her head- the whole theme and style of series 5 is a fairytale- and Amy cast the Doctor as the good wizard- but he isnt.
This is all part of Amy's character arc, and this one strand of it alone, her releationship with the doctor is already deeper and more complex than Rose's entire character.

It is why I find the conclusion so satisfying for that character, its a complete arc.
Rose has no character arc- she is exactly the same when she leaves as when she started- with the one single same driving motivator- to always be near the Doctor.

Amy doesnt have a character arc because she doesnt have a character. she is defined by those around her like a mirror, she has no inner self worth the toss. she’s barely a character, mostly a body and occasionally an attitude. A main contention in Amy’s story line is her conflicting attachments to her husband Rory and the Doctor. But you know what? I never feel conflicted. I never feel any affection or love from her towards Rory. I feel an attraction to the Doctor, and a dependence, but no selfless love. The only person Amy Pond loves is herself. They have to kill Rory like, a billion times to elicit any emotional response from her, Amy is not competent. The one time she was competent was when she was an older version of herself that then ceased to exist after being locked out of the TARDIS. She needs saving by Rory. She needs saving by the Doctor. Even when she saves the world it’s sort of involuntary, being drawn from her memories.
What’s amazing about Rose is her sheer enthusiasm. She gets the Doctor. She knows what he needs to hear, when he needs to hear it. She responds to him eagerly and she possesses exactly the same spirit of adventure. she is an extremely competent human being with the same values and talents as the Doctor. Even when she tells Donna “I’m sorry” you can hear echoes of the Doctor in her voice. she brings out the best in him.

if I remember correctly you accused me of the exact same charge, that of judging her by her looks, that was insulting to me but it didnt stop you saying it did it?

Its probably a bit late now but this entire conversation between Mrs Figg and I should be avoided by anyone still watching to avoid severe spoilers. Sorry!


I think Amy's character arc is very clear but complex- she is all over the place at the start- 'the girl who didnt make sense. How could I resist' as the Doctor says of her.

She is part of a trap set by the Silence, and she has had her childhood wrecked by her encounter with the Doctor.

She loves Rory. She does from the start- but she has built up by then such an impregnable front that she shows it in an immature fashion- like a little boy pullng a girls hair because he likes her- she is like that with Rory to begin with. She is already running away in a fashion before the Doctor reappears.

rule 1- the Doctor lies.

The Doctor: So: coming?
Amy: No.
The Doctor: You wanted to come fourteen years ago.
Amy: I grew up.
The Doctor: Don't worry. I'll soon fix that.

He does in fact do the opposite, he helps her grow up by the end, even into motherhood. And we know he is lying here because he keeps lying. When Amy then asks why her he tells her 'no reason'- which he later confesses was completely untrue. She was an enigma he couldnt resist, as good bait should be, and he felt personally responsible for screwing up her life to that point.
As he says to the holographic image of young Amelia in Let's Kill Hitler-

The Doctor: Ah! Amelia Pond. Before I got it all wrong. My sweet little Amelia.

Rory, knows the cold, aloof Amy is not the real Amy too, the person he has grown up with, and he sticks with her because he is a hopeless romantic who trully believes one day she will see that she does in fact love him as much as he loves her. He of course also has his own character arc as the Last Centurion.

Amy has a complex character arc because there are several parts to it- there is the fact she has several different versions of her childhood in her head, there is her relationship as a chid with the real Doctor, and the one she created in her head making up stories about him, drawing pictures of him, making cardboard TARDIS's and then being confronted by him again as an adult. There is her releationship and complexities that go with her daughter and at her own actions in response to dealing with Madame Kovarian.

River: How are you doing?
Amy: How do you think?
River: Well I don't know unless you tell me.
Amy: I killed someone. Madame Kovarian. In cold blood.
River: In an aborted timeline. In a world that never was.
Amy: Yeah, but I can remember it, so it happened. So I did it. What does that make me now?

And at the heart of it all is her releationship with Rory- the one constant throughout and the one thing in the end she realises is the most important thing.

The Doctor: What have we got, eh? Tell me. Come on.
Amy: I won't let them take him. That's what we've got.

That marks the moment of complete choice- from then on, continuing onto the roof top scene when she climbs up onto the wall with Rory to jump and says "Together, or not at all" she confirms that choice.
And its not just made in the peril of the moment- as she is in no peril in the graveyard when she takes the final step cementing it forever.

I would call that a character and a complex (for a tv family show) arc. One I find immensely satifying both just on the entertainment level to watch, and on the thinking about it later level.
With Roses character I can occasionally take her at the entertainment level but what you see there is all there is- there is nothing to think about later. And I like thinking about Who stuff long after Ive watched the episode.

I think we're seeing personality clashes by proxy here. P & F both clash with R & A respectively. And nothing is more unpredictable (or sometimes illogical) than a personality clash.

I could give examples from my personal life, but instead I'd rather just eat popcorn.

BTW, having watched no full episodes with either one, I was judging purely by looks and whiffs of personality from short clips. Shallow and proud of it.

Moffats disgusting sexism exhibit one.

"Amy, basic fact of our relationship is that I love you more than you love me…Two thousand years, waiting for you outside a box. Say this isn’t true".

The fact that Rory brings this up is problematic because it guilts Amy into feeling bad for ending their relationship and for, supposedly, not loving Rory enough. No man is ever owed a relationship or love from a women just because he loves her. Though this is never explicitly stated by Rory, making Amy the one who is in the wrong for having kicked him out, validates this belief.
When Rory makes this statement Amy reveals that she only asked him to move out because she couldn’t have his children, and she knew this was something Rory wanted. She was “setting him free”. how noble.
This is nothing to do with her character arc its about her relationship with Rory. The trauma she has been through can only be acknowledged when it prevents Rory from having the children he has, apparently, always wanted. Even then, Amys feelings and emotions are barely mentioned. It’s all about Rory’s desire to have children and Amy not being able to fulfill that role for him. Moffat has made Amy infertile to provide a plot twist. This is disgusting.
this seems to be just another case of quick, lazy resolution.

Moffats disgusting sexism exhibit 2.

Queen Nefertiti of Egypt.

This is so unbelievably problematic. What we have here is a powerful Ancient Egyptian Queen, a woman of colour, being reduced to an object to be brought and sold. I really, really hope I don’t need to explain why this is fucked up.
Nefertiti, having witnessed the above exchange on the ships CCTV, makes the decision to go with Soloman. It was really great to see a women asserting her right to make decisions and refusing to allow The Doctor and Riddell to undermine her choice. The scene which follows, however, gets even more creepy and problematic.
After she has made the decision to go with Soloman, Nefertiti still refuses to allow him to touch her. His response is to use one of his crutches to pin her against the wall and leer at her, saying:

"I like my possessions to have spirit, means I can have fun breaking them, and I will break you in with immense pleasure".

Nefertiti has already been objectified, being referred to several times, as a possession, but the writers felt the need to take it further by having Soloman threaten to rape her. This is absolutely vile and is not something I would ever expect to see on a television show primarily aimed at children.
Seeing this kind of behavior, and seeing no one call him out on this particular comment, is exactly the kind of thing which perpetuates rape culture. Ask yourself, what is a young girl watching this going to take away from seeing a powerful women being threatened and physically held down by a man, whilst her friends stand by and do nothing?
I am sure there are those who are of the opinion that this was not a threat of rape. Even if that is your view Soloman was still threatening to hurt and abuse Nefertiti. It still sends the same message to all those watching.


Moffats Homophobic idiots exhibit 3

"First boy I ever fancied was called Rory. Actually, she was called Nina. I was going through a phase."


Hurrah! Perpetuating the idea that sexual orientations which deviate from the perceived heterosexual norm are just phases, and not legitimate and valid identities, because that’s not problematic at all.
yes some people question their sexuality and come to the conclusion that they’re straight. Yes, for a lot of people sexuality is fluid. But that is not what this line was attempting to illustrate.
To be perfectly honest I’m still not sure if this line was an attempt at a joke, because apparently queerness is inherently funny. Or if it was an attempt to make Oswin seem sexy and to appeal to the straight male gaze. Either way, it’s offensive and it invalidates the real lives of real queer people. It also reinforces incredibly harmful attitudes which invalidate queer folks identities.


so just who is Amy because I havent a clue, she doesnt seem to know either. she quickly got over the fact that she was kidnapped and had her child taken from her, just as she quickly got over the Doctor dropping her off into the real world, forcing her to find work as a model, and then eventually a travel journalist.
Not Doctor Donna. Not a member of Torchwood or UNIT. A sometimes-model and thats it.
Amy goes from being a stroppy model on the verge of divorce, to a homebody and alleged journalist who does little more in The Power of Three than make funny faces and run around without purpose simply because they haven't given her another
When Rory and Amy do make the decision to stop jumping in and out of their normal timelines to travel with the Doctor, we see Rory working in his hospital as a nurse. His manager says to him that he's really valued at the hospital, he saves lives and they want him to work full-time. and Amy?
She's asked to be a bridesmaid at a lesbian wedding (political correct bollox), and says yes. wow impressed!
Rory wants to save lives, and she gives up all of time and space TO BE A FUCKING BRIDESMAID.
Are those really Amys values? Are you effing kidding me?!
Is Amy not angry? Is she not frustrated? Is she not just as jaded as the Doctor from her losses? Why can she not have the same depth that Rose and Donna had?

If waiting 2000 years for someone outside a box cant be used in a heated exchange with your missus when can you use it?- and dont tell me both sides in a domestic argument dont sometimes cast up things from the past to score points. They do.
And it was 2000 years.
Amy doesnt have to voice her desire for a child in this scene- we have had a long time already given over to Amy and her child- we have seen her with her baby, and what she went through for River- the viewer knows what it means to Amy when she says she cant have children after the experiments and frankly torture she endured at Demons Run.
Amy has alrady resolved her issues about her love for Rory, she is now ahead of his arc in that regard, he is made for a period unsure she does love him by the presence of the Doctor- and he is now unsure of it- that scene is as much about Rory as Amy.
And i am willing to bet Amy is not the first nor last woman who upon finding out she can not have children feels like an empty vessel and worth less. Marriages have broken up over it if one side feels strongly enough they must have children.

Nefretiti- the point of the scene with the allusion to rape in it (not the first I may add there are least two in classic Who including a second doctor story with an implied gangrape by viking invaders- you only see the afermath and the shell shocked woman) is to put the bad guy into the completely unredeemable position so that the Doctors final action- sentencing him to death and then acting as his executionar can be justified at all.
And that scene ends wih Nefretiti saving herself and getting the upperhand over her captive- she is very proactive in her own rescue whislt the men stand by.


Homosexuality- I see nothing wrong in this- Moffat Who has several gay refrences, all positive, if the show acknowledges homosexuality as a constant, and homosexual releationships as a norm, which it demostrably does, then its fair enough to also, once, meet someone for whom it was just a phase- it does happen- I know of several women who experimented in their youth (its what youths for afterall) and in no way at all would call themselves lesbian for having done so. Sometimes it is just a phase.
For an excellent;y written character who is homosexual in Moffat written Who you need look no further than Imp Astronaut/Day of the Moon and Canton.

And noone complains about Captain Jack who fulfills the stereotypical gays will sleep with anything role.

"she quickly got over the fact that she was kidnapped and had her child taken from her, just as she quickly got over the Doctor dropping her off into the real world, forcing her to find work as a model, and then eventually a travel journalist."- Mrs Figg

None of this is what happens.
She doesnt quickly get over it- she knows there is no way round it as she understands the paradoxes involved. She grew up with River when River was Mels, which is some compensation- and the adult River visits her regular after the point in Amy's timeline where she knows who River is.
She also murders Madame Kovarian in revenge for her kidnap and for stealing her baby from her-

Madame Kovarian: Amy. Help me.
Amy: You took my baby from me and hurt her. And now she's all grown up and she's fine. But I'll never see my baby again.
Madame Kovarian: But you'll still save me though. Because he would. And you'd never do anything to disappoint your precious Doctor.
Rory: Ma'am, we have to go. Now.
Amy: The Doctor is very precious to me, you're right. But do you know what else he is, Madame Kovarian? Not here. {she puts her iDrive back on her} River Song didn't get it all from you. Sweetie.

She both exacts revenge and affirms her claim on River as her daughter here. Hardly forgoetting or not having a reaction to it.

The Doctor drops her and Rory off because he knows how things tend to go with companions-

Amy: Even so, it can't happen like this. After everything we've been through, Doctor. Everything. You can't just drop me off at my house and say goodbye like we shared a cab.
The Doctor: And what's the alternative? Me standing over your grave? Over your broken body. Over Rory's body.

And he is not dumping them or forcing them into anything-

The Doctor: You're thinking of stopping, aren't you? You and Rory.
Amy: No. I mean, we haven't made a decision.
The Doctor: But you're considering it.
Amy: Maybe. I don't know. We don't know. Well our lives have changed so much. But there was a time—there were years—when I couldn't live without you. When just the whole everyday thing would drive me crazy. But since you dropped us back here, since you've given us this house, you know, we've built a life. I don't know if I can have both.
The Doctor: Why?
Amy: Because they pull at each other. Because they pull at me, and because the travelling is starting to feel like running away.
The Doctor: That's not what it is.
Amy: Oh come on. Look at you, four days in a lounge and you go crazy.
The Doctor: I'm not running away. But this is one corner of one country on one continent on one planet that's a corner of a galaxy that's a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and growing and never remaining the same for a single millisecond, and there is so much—so much to see, Amy. Because it goes so fast. I'm not running away from things, I am running to them. Before they flare and fade forever.
The Doctor: One day—soon maybe—you'll stop. I've known for awhile.
Amy: Then why do you keep coming back for us?
The Doctor: Because you were the first. The first face this face saw. And you were seared onto my hearts, Amelia Pond. You always will be. I'm running to you, and Rory, before you fade from me.
Amy: Don't be nice to me. I don't want you to be nice to me.
The Doctor: Yeah you do, Pond. And you always get what you want.

Her choice of career is entirely her own- and as I said before as the perfume is named after somethnig in an episode it woud seem to be her own company she has- as to her then drfiting and becoming a travel writer- it shows she still has the travel bug and the desire to travel with the Doctor, she is not yet settled and its something the Doctor questions her on.

The Doctor: How's the job?
Amy: We're about to be hit by missiles and you're asking me that?
The Doctor: I work best when I'm multi-tasking. Keep talking. How's the job?
Amy: I gave it up.
The Doctor: You gave the last one up.
Amy: Yeah well I can't settle. Every minute I'm listening out for that stupid TARDIS sound.
The Doctor: Right, so it's my fault now is it?

So I dont say how you can say the Doctor forced her into any of it.

'she gives up all of time and space TO BE A FUCKING BRIDESMAID.'

only if you were to take a very shallow and literal interpretation of it. The point is they are both making plans ahead when before they never planned ahead becuase they expected, and wanted to be off on another adventure with the Doctor.

Rory: I've got my job.
The Doctor: Oh yes, Rory. The universe is awaiting but you have a little job to do.
Rory: It's not little, it's important to me. What you do isn't all there is.

That last line of Rory's is important. How many times in Who has the Doctor had to be reminded of that? Many.
That scene is about them realising they are having a normal life, doing normal people things, and they like it.

Rory: I said yes. I committed.
Amy: And I committed to being a bridesmaid. Months in advance. Like I know I'm gonna be here.
Rory: So the Doctor's god knows where. The cubes aren't doing anything at all. Did real life just get started?
Amy: I like it.
Rory: So do I.

And how many times has the viewer been reminded of the importance of the little things, no matter how trivial they might seem, even being a bridesmaid at a wedding.

Rory brings this up in the God Complex too-

Rory: You know, Howie had been in speech therapy. He'd just got over this massive stammer. Quite an achievement. I mean, can you imagine? I'd forgotten not all victories are about saving the universe.


So I cant agree at all with what you see here.

i'm with petty on this.