Reflection and Analysis

Doctor Who - The Problem with R. Noble

So--

I am going to admit I've not yet watched the special.

However, I am aware of the discourse, and I am aware of what the person cast in the role of R. Noble has said, but something they said to me honestly gets to the root of the problem with R. Noble's character.

And if anyone is paying attention, I've been referring to that character specifically as R. Noble which is for good reason.

Basically, the character's name is rifted from another Doctor Who character.

Here is a summary of what the trans woman playing R. Noble said.

The name isn't stolen because she's named after Rose.

And I call bullocks.

Because of hard cold fact, we all know that Donna Noble didn't call her child Rose. It's the child who picked the name Rose.

Now, Donna naming her daughter Rose makes sense as she does in fact have a connection with Rose, but that child's connection to Rose is tentative, precisely because from what I've heard, there is nothing in the episode explaining how or why said child came to pick that name. In fact, we only have the word of the person cast as R. Noble that the character is named after Rose, rather than--you know, the narrative actually showing this.

So does the character actually add anything to the narrative by being trans?

I'm going to say no. While it is true that Donna having a child could explain why she's not killed when she becomes Doctor Donna again--which for all I know could have been an attempted hand wave than a real explanation, the child could have been a biological female, a biological male, even a trans man and the story wouldn't change.

And from what I've heard, there wasn't any real chemistry between mother and daughter on screen, despite a certain someone claiming they greatly admired the actress who played Donna Noble, just as they admired the actor playing the fourteenth doctor, only to be from what I heard having to correct the Doctor of all people on the issue of pronouns, which is in effect where the character being trans comes into place and--

Well, it's not integral to the narrative, is it?

It's there to--well, from what I heard there is a definite bashing of masculinity in this character, which is--gasp, a form of sexism, believe it or not. Doesn't matter that women are most likely to fall victim to sexism, that doesn't mean men don't. It's a double standard, but everyone is getting tired of hearing people who talk so much about exclusivity and respecting others turning around and doing exactly what they complain about being done to a certain group as some form of recompense for either the wrongs committed by someone else entirely, or even what is a perceived wrong.

I mean, as a female I'm tired of all the hating on males we've been getting of late. As a POC, I'm tired of hating on white people (which by the way, includes POC who are white-passing) that's been happening. Or any of the hating on the "other" because that "other" is lumped together as "the perpetrator".

And if the person really respected the actor playing the Doctor--oh, wait. They attacked the character, and this is a new reincarnation, just the same face? So that makes it right?

Sure.

Sorry, but with the lack of chemistry with the one actress I've heard and the bashing of the actor's character, I actually don't believe they respect either actor or actress as they so call claimed.

Oh! And nobody is complaining that Donna has a child who is mixed!

Now, I've only heard about this through word of mouth, and really don't want to look into it, but I've heard the usual "ist" lines got thrown out because Doctor Who fans called the trans actor out for - well, you know, not being a good actor.

Because, you know, Donna being sexually attracted to Black men is canon fact, how she was introduced even, so her having a mixed child isn't out of the question.

The real issue lies with not casting based on a person's talent, but instead to virtue signal, aka fulfill some kind of quota.

Well, kind of.

I say kind of because the person making the specials has sadly openly admitted they're purposefully enjoying ticking off fans, alienating them, and driving them away because--

It does boil down to the message the art sends being prioritized over actually making art that is enjoyable to a wide audience.

This isn't to say this doesn't have its place, but that place is and always has been to a very niche audience. I say this as someone who writes for some really niche things in fandom.

We're talking, though, about works that aren't meant to target a niche audience, that are supposed to be turning a profit for not only the owners of the copyright but the shareholders of the owners of that copyright.

So what is going to happen to these individuals who've decided to prioritize message over their actual job of entertaining people? What are going to happen to some of the individuals caught up in this mess, such aspiring young Black actors and actresses who despite their talent were treated by those who hired them as a way to virtue signal, with plans on throwing them aside the moment they're no longer useful?

And this isn't representation.

I've talked about this before. Having more representation is important, definitely. But instead of say supporting the works of Black writers being adapted, they go and do things such as race swap, although I do wonder if some of this has to do with the fact Black writers aren't willing to sign over their copyrights out of fear of their work being changed because something they did was thought to not be right, such how Ava DuVernay ended up removing the character Naomi's agency from her titular show, just because she wanted to get--

Okay. That's not about getting the message across, but self inserting themselves, saying as one comic book retailer recently said, "telling the story of what they would do if they were the character", which is not what their job is. Aka, their job isn't to tell people their self-insert fanfic, but instead add onto an existing canon, something that should be seen as and treated as an honor, rather than this chance to fix something that doesn't need fixing.

And some aren't at all aware how a lot of this isn't going to age well, although in saying this I'm not saying the works won't fade into obscurity.

Which, my admittance of their works not fading into obscurity may be seen as a victory, but their works are not going to be fading into obscurity for the same reason the six films of the Cultural Revolution starring Madame Mao are remembered.

Aka, they'll be remembered for the attempt at pushing propaganda as well as the attempt to censor any message that didn't agree with them, resulting in a whole era of film dedicated to a specific propaganda over actually churning out something actually entertaining, something that--gasp--actually respected the original source material! Whereas movies such as the sequel for Top Gun are going to be remembered from this era because they did precisely the opposite.

This is not how a film maker, actor, actress, ecetera wants to remember.