All right, it's gotta be said. But first off...I genuinely don't care if the Doctor is a man, woman, black, white, Asian, straight, gay, bisexual, or transgender. I'm just glad they picked someone with talent. But this next bit's gotta be said.
ENOUGH! Enough of the ridiculous attempts to politicize Doctor Who, a family show that has stood the test of time just fine, and has often demonstrated a love for people of all race, creed, gender, beliefs, and sexuality!
Over the last few days, ever since Peter Capaldi was announced as the actor to play the Twelfth Doctor in the ongoing TV series, there has been a (very vocal) minority of people trying to make a big deal out of the fact that it's still a straight white British male. "Why can't it be an American? Or an Australian?" they say. "Why not a black person? Or Asian? Why not a woman?" The show is even being called partriarchal and being accused of bias against certain people.
Uh, excuse me? Are you talking about the show that has Captain Jack Harness, a bisexual space captain that routinely saves the day with a wink and a smile? The same show that has lesbians as the Doctor's occasional adventurous friends? The same show that has consistently represented people of all genders and sexuality in the best light? That show?
And, just to get this out of the way, this bit here by writer Neil Gaiman even shows how a black actor turned down the role once before: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/doctor-who/10227458/Doctor-Who-writer-Neil-Gaiman-A-black-actor-turned-down-the-role.html
So, yeah, eat it Rolling Stone writer Peter Holslin, and New York Times writer Jennifer Finney Boylan. And you too, Ted Kissell of The Atlantic. Yeah, apparently this is a thing.
I'm also a little upset because I have LGBT friends, and friends of all colors who have struggled against bias in various facets of our culture, and I always get the creeping suspicion that not only are stories like this just jumping on the proverbial bandwagon to incite an argument over nothing, they're also easy and lazy "journalism," and only help to severely water down the actual struggle of the LGBT community. Do you honestly think that, while fighting for the right for people of all sexual orientations to be married, and while dealing with issues of rampant bullying and violence against those minorities, we really need to concern ourselves so much with who the hell plays a fictional alien Time Lord, and lambast the showrunners of a TV series that have already given us the aforementioned bisexual space captain, along with countless other adventures demonstrating peace, love, and tranquility between all peoples?
Also, let me drop this bit of wisdom on you. This nugget comes in the form of a question: If you"journalists" feel the need for straight, white males to understand gay people and other sexes, then why in the hell would you want to change a character that is, quite arguably, the most popular sci-fi hero who is white, straight, and male, and ALSO is a pacifist, peace-loving alien who resolves things through intelligence and not brute force, all while showing love for his various friends, be they gay, bi, straight, white, black, male, or female?
As many who agree with me have said, why don't we just do a remake of Sex & the City, only now all the "women" are transgender, because that topic is "in" now? Seems kind of silly, doesn't it? Heck, if you want a show about a pre-op transsexual assassin, just watch the very excellent Hit & Miss on Netflix right now.
In short, if you want shows with more "diversity"--which is a word I'm coming to believe really just means a minimum amount of straight white people (I take no offense to it, I just think that's what people secretly mean when they say that word now)--then there's nothing stopping you from making original shows with this content? If it's well written, I'll watch anything. Besides, who the heck wants to make a political statement on someone else's show? Talk about tacky. Especially for a show that has remained marvelously and gorgeously non-political, and has accepted other ethnicities and sexual orientations without judgment.
Now, personally, I don't give a fig if the Doctor is a woman or a man, black or white, gay or straight, I just want it to be what it's always been: a fun show with some mind-bending ideas. But if you really believe that RACE and SEX and SEXUALITY ought to trump the ability of the superior actor, the one who gave the best audition, and that it also ought to trump the direction the show's writers and director want to take it...then who's the real bigot here?
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