I once read a feminist blog that a friend suggested. The blog stated how and why Amy Pond of Doctor Who was terrible. I was rather shocked. In season five she was fun, courageous, flirty and at the same time unavailable, had a dark and mysterious past, and a future that she was avoiding. In total, a good mix for a Doctor Who companion. At that time I wondered why anyone would ever not like Amy Pond.
Now I kind of understand. In season six... I don't really know what happened. I think they only have a certain amount of coolness that can be divided between the companions, and they deeply wanted to make Rory a cooler guy. Well, they succeeded in making Rory cooler to the detriment of Amy's character. She has become the helpless damsel in distress while Rory gets to threaten aliens and shove Hitler into closets.
The scene that the feminist blog cited as being a pivitol moment in disliking Amy, the scene where she craddles her new baby and hides from the evil aliens, also annoyed me. First off, she didn't watch the fight like a good companion would. A good companion would watch so that they; 1) knew when to run further away, or 2) knew when to come in to help. Second, she never looked like a brand new mom. That was the fault of the costuming and make-up departments, but it was a flaw nonetheless. Lastly, Rory and the expendable characters are the only ones doing something cool in this scene. Amy is a captive/hides while other people decide her future. That is something that bother feminists pretty universally.
So far this has been pretty disjointed, but I don't know how to flesh out my ideas to make it better. I just know that as I've watched the new season of Doctor Who, I've found Amy to be more and more dependent and helpless, and it bothers me. Amy is supposed to be a 'go getter'. She and Rory can share being cool. It needn't be one sided coolness, in either direction.
No comments:
Post a Comment