![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
So hey, I actually have a question/theory about Human Nature/Family of Blood, though I have no idea if it's already been brought up and discussed to death (point me to if it has)
During the Doctor's final conversation with Joan there's the devastating "on a whim" line bringing home the whole death and destruction follows the Doctor theme. And, also there's the question...Martha is a young black woman...what kind of fucked up is it to place her in that time and situation (even though she did KICK TEN KINDS OF ASS in it)?
But how on a whim is it? Here's a thought kicking around in my head. What if the choice of time and place is actually one of the least destructive options available precisely for the reasons it's so fucked up? It's not just 1913, it's a boys school in 1913. Meaning most of people exposed to the possibility of Doctor related fallout in the event his act of mercy goes horribly wrong are already marked for death. Calculated risk assesment. If the TARDIS or the Doctor (and I'm still not entirely clear on which one made the decision) is looking to minimize potential damage in the larger sense of things it's a logical choice.
So Joan isn't exactly wrong...but I think maybe she's not right either. It's possible that everything about the decision to hide including the where was all of one piece. If you saw things in terms of the whole of the universe, it might not occur to you until it was too late...way too late, that your responsibilty for the individual fate of a specific person is in no way relieved by their theoretical placement in events to come. Just like it might not occur to you that sometimes people fall in love.
I remain fascinated that it's in the episode where the Doctor becomes human that we are so starkly reminded of how alien he is. Then again, you could argue that his later punishment for the Family is the most human thing he's done. Or not. My brain is a big old spinning ball of questions I can't quite wrap my head around enough to answer still. Mostly, hot damn, do I love MY SHOW.
Thoughts?
During the Doctor's final conversation with Joan there's the devastating "on a whim" line bringing home the whole death and destruction follows the Doctor theme. And, also there's the question...Martha is a young black woman...what kind of fucked up is it to place her in that time and situation (even though she did KICK TEN KINDS OF ASS in it)?
But how on a whim is it? Here's a thought kicking around in my head. What if the choice of time and place is actually one of the least destructive options available precisely for the reasons it's so fucked up? It's not just 1913, it's a boys school in 1913. Meaning most of people exposed to the possibility of Doctor related fallout in the event his act of mercy goes horribly wrong are already marked for death. Calculated risk assesment. If the TARDIS or the Doctor (and I'm still not entirely clear on which one made the decision) is looking to minimize potential damage in the larger sense of things it's a logical choice.
So Joan isn't exactly wrong...but I think maybe she's not right either. It's possible that everything about the decision to hide including the where was all of one piece. If you saw things in terms of the whole of the universe, it might not occur to you until it was too late...way too late, that your responsibilty for the individual fate of a specific person is in no way relieved by their theoretical placement in events to come. Just like it might not occur to you that sometimes people fall in love.
I remain fascinated that it's in the episode where the Doctor becomes human that we are so starkly reminded of how alien he is. Then again, you could argue that his later punishment for the Family is the most human thing he's done. Or not. My brain is a big old spinning ball of questions I can't quite wrap my head around enough to answer still. Mostly, hot damn, do I love MY SHOW.
Thoughts?
Tags: