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While I sit on the porch and wait for stuff to download for my sister-in-law, what's say we talk about Doctor Who. Note ahead of time, I may not be able to get to comments in a timely manner given the internet situation, but I will try and get to comments as soon as I can.
Anyway I want to start here with a premise and that is this, Doctor Who is, at its heart, a show for kids. To be more accurate, it is a show designed for family watching in that it wants everyone to be able to sit down together without parents wanting to stab their own eyeballs out with the nearest fork (and anyone who has had to sit through a lot of kid programming can appreciate that effort).
Living with tiny children again has been an eye opener on that front. My own was nearly grown before I ever discovered Who. But what I have discovered since watching with my niece and nephew is that often the very elements that we adult fans on the internet find repetitive/cheesy/juvenile/obnoxious/frustrating etc are the very same things that appeal to the under 10 set.
To be clear, I'm not saying we shouldn't watch and/or critique it from an adult perspective. Of course we should. It is also a show with a ton of layers and stories that (clearly) appeal and are designed to attract us too! And I know I've wanted a better balance on more than one occasion. And sometimes the shit we go 'wtf' at is the same thing the kiddies go 'wtf' at and vice versa. I am just saying that sometimes it is good when doing so to put yourself in the shoes of the pint sized and ask, is this bit/episode here meant for me or for them, and to take that into account. That it can't always be for both of us, though the show in general makes a mighty effort to try. And on the flipside, remember that some of the stuff meant for us leaves the kid crowd doing the 8 year old equivalent of bored filing their nails waiting for the next scene/episode.
This is not (though it is partly) in response to the reactions to the most recent episode, but just...something I've been thinking about in general since I started watching with tiny children, and it really has changed my perspective on how I look at the show as a whole and what it's doing when.
Thoughts?
Anyway I want to start here with a premise and that is this, Doctor Who is, at its heart, a show for kids. To be more accurate, it is a show designed for family watching in that it wants everyone to be able to sit down together without parents wanting to stab their own eyeballs out with the nearest fork (and anyone who has had to sit through a lot of kid programming can appreciate that effort).
Living with tiny children again has been an eye opener on that front. My own was nearly grown before I ever discovered Who. But what I have discovered since watching with my niece and nephew is that often the very elements that we adult fans on the internet find repetitive/cheesy/juvenile/obnoxious/frustrating etc are the very same things that appeal to the under 10 set.
To be clear, I'm not saying we shouldn't watch and/or critique it from an adult perspective. Of course we should. It is also a show with a ton of layers and stories that (clearly) appeal and are designed to attract us too! And I know I've wanted a better balance on more than one occasion. And sometimes the shit we go 'wtf' at is the same thing the kiddies go 'wtf' at and vice versa. I am just saying that sometimes it is good when doing so to put yourself in the shoes of the pint sized and ask, is this bit/episode here meant for me or for them, and to take that into account. That it can't always be for both of us, though the show in general makes a mighty effort to try. And on the flipside, remember that some of the stuff meant for us leaves the kid crowd doing the 8 year old equivalent of bored filing their nails waiting for the next scene/episode.
This is not (though it is partly) in response to the reactions to the most recent episode, but just...something I've been thinking about in general since I started watching with tiny children, and it really has changed my perspective on how I look at the show as a whole and what it's doing when.
Thoughts?
From:
no subject
DW. You can identify very quickly the differences between a young kids' show, a family show, and, with TW, an adult show.
I actually find DW more sophisticated than a lot of the family viewing I grew up with. To me it's more like a Pixar movie (something for everyone) than it's like, say, Captain Kangaroo.