Pointless meanderings about the 13th Doctor's clothes

I like it. The trousers, which seem to be a matter of odd fixation amongst fans at the moment, probably look a lot less shapeless in motion. I like the suspenders, classic Doctor apparel there. I like the fact that there's a rainbow but not an actual, legit pride rainbow so you can't prove nothin' in your rambling letters of complaint, conservatives who suddenly care about this show for some reason. Its a fashion disaster, I am told, and to my mind that makes it perfect. Just because the Doctor is now a woman they should not have suddenly regenerated with the ability dress themselves.

That doesn't seem like enough for a post, does it?

Okay then I'll defend the piercings to make myself feel like I'm not just writing filler because its Friday evening right now and I am full of cake.

You see, the best worst take I have read about this costume so far come from those who are fixated with the fact Whittaker has piercings in her ears. Some have even (obviously but still depressingly) claimed that this Doctor having pierced ears when no other Doctor has pierced ears proves they are fundamentally changing the character beyond all recognition and therefore the Doctor should only ever be played by a man.

Yeah, okay, fake nerd boys, listen up!

For a start, we don't know that the Doctor wakes up from regeneration with pre-pierced ears. For all we know she could pop out to get her ears pierced during whatever costume choosing montage creates this glorious fashion disaster. Second, and most importantly, Jon Pertwee (who I feel we can all agree was definitely the Doctor and whose status as such cannot be denied) woke up from regeneration with a tattoo. We know this because we got to watch him showering in his debut story.

So maybe pierced ears are not the breaking point of canon. 

I am so tired of pissbaby men right now

I say this as someone who is only 50/50 on the idea of the new Doctor Who. Not Jodie Whittaker, to be clear, I still haven't seen her in anything. My ambivalence is purely down to being rather so-so on Chibnall's Doctor Who work to date.

Its not because I believe “no one wants a TARDIS full of bras”. Yes, that is an actual thing an actual person put in a comment on one of the announcement news stories.

And its not like this is some sort of isolated case, either. There was that whole bollocks with guys going mad over the Alamo Drafthouse cinemas in the US doing ladies' only viewings of Wonder Woman. There was even one guy who went out of his way to acquire a ticket to one of those women only viewings.

Why? I mean, what is the damn point? What this guy did was go out of his way to buy a ticket just so he could sit in a dark room watching a movie whilst surrounded by women who didn't want him there just to prove that he could. I mean, I'm just guessing here but I imagine the only novel experience for him in this scenario is the darkened room and the movie.

I am so fucking tired of this. I am so fucking tired of the loud idiots whose masculinity can be threatened by Ghostbusters of all damn things getting an average remake starring female comedians. I am tired of this being what men are in the public consciousness: fragile babies incapable of empathising with any character who is not like them.

I just don't get it. I mean, there but for the grace of God go I, I know that. I was raised mostly by women. My father had to travel for work a lot because he was an engineer in a recession started by the government-sponsored destruction of primary industry in this country so, for the most part, I was raised by my mother and two grandmothers. A lot of my friends growing up were girls and for most of my professional life the majority of my co-workers have been women.

So I just don't get this idea that I, as a man, cannot invest in female characters. The Doctor is a woman now, the Ghostbusters are women now, the lead Jedi character in Star Wars is a woman. Okay. I'm aware that there are people who think it odd that I don't feel threatened by this and that is pathetic.

It is pathetic that anyone could have their fragile damn masculinity threatened by a series moving from a male to a female protagonist. It is pathetically sad that this can turn someone off from the series, that all other content of the series is less important than the gender of the main character. It is pathetic that the existence of a remake can so threaten someone's enjoyment of the original that they will go out of their way to protest its existence. It is pathetic that there are people so invested in the critical reception of DC movies that they couldn't stand the idea that Patty Jenkins might get more praise than Zack Snyder and went through mental gymnastics to try and prove tat Snyder was the one “really “ responsible for Wonder Woman's success.

It is pathetic that this the mainstream understanding of my gender. It is pathetic that this is how we're seen and that even women who know me, who know my past and my politics will assume I'm one of these pathetic pissbabies just because I also happen to be a man.

And I am so tired of being lumped in with these losers. 

Jodie Whittaker IS the Doctor!

I have to admit, I don't know her work. I'm told she was in Broadchurch and that's yet more motivation to check out that show and see what Chibnall is like as a showrunner. Also, casting a reliable star the showrunner knows from a previous way worked with RTD and Ecclestone (for a bit, at least).

I'm really going to have to remember there are two Ts in her name. You watch as much Classic Who as I do you get used to spelling it “Whitaker”, usually with the word “genius” somewhere close to it.

Anyway, the Doctor is going to be a woman and the internet is losing its mind in all directions. On my side of things its party time! The relentless groundwork of the Corsair, the General, River, Clara and Missy has finally paid off. Incidentally, I don't blame Moffat at all for not casting a woman himself for the simple reason that this is the sort of thing where the BBC was always going to need a lot of proof of concept spadework aka all those characters I just mentioned. Also, it seems pretty clear going back through old DWMs from Smith's casting that Capaldi is very much the sort of Doctor Moffat imagined before Smith walked through the door and blew his mind.

On the other side, of course, things are hilariously bitter. Its the death of Doctor Who for like the hundredth time! The SJWs are ruining everything! First they came for our Ghostbusters and now this! No one wants a TARDIS full of bras!

(That last one straight from a Dail Mail Online comment section, as if you couldn't guess).

Some rag has already found pictures from a role where Whittaker did a nude scene, of course, because for some reason visible evidence that a woman has breasts is always the best way to discredit their work. Fandom at large has, of course, responded with Seventies Porn Colin:

Hey, I had to see that so you do, too.

So, am I excited? A bit. Reservedly. I really need to watch Broadchurch because as much as I like that this has finally happened I still don't know much about Chibnall as a showrunner. I mean, he basically ran the second season of Torchwood aka the only one I liked but that was a decade ago. His Doctor Who episodes run the gamut from great fun (Dinosaurs on a Spaceship) to meh (42) stopping at all stations in between.

So, cautious optimism has been restored, roll on Christmas.