An Opinion On Gender Regeneration: Plot or Politics?
Guest contributor Andrew Bohman offers a viewpoint on Time Lord gender change.
Last month I wrote an article
So, as most have guessed by now I really am not a fan of the Master changing sex, but I am dealing with it with as open a mind as I can, and my previous article is basically my way of coping. I’m not going to give the I-hate-this-idea-and-this- is-why-it’s-wrong-fix-it-or-I’m-not-watching argument, because for one that approach seems pouty and arrogant. Instead, I’m going to present my ideas as food for thought, not to change the minds of those who disagree but to help shed light on why myself and others hold this opinion.
This topic has touchy corollaries, I am fully aware, so I will tread as gently as I can, but I’d like to ask for some leeway and forgiveness of anything which might come across as minor political incorrectness, etc.—I know some are easy to offend. I’m striving to be as un-bigoted as is possible here, as sexism or other such discrimination is the opposite of my intent; I respect every opinion and viewpoint equally.
Now that all that’s out of the way, the first step in approaching any problem is to identify it—so that leads to the main question: why do people want a female Doctor or Master? What is the reason behind turning those iconic male characters into women? Is it because it would make for a better storyline, or is it to promote a better representation of women in the show?
A Question of Plot
Taking a moment to assume some might answer the former—I will ask the question, how would it enhance the storyline? Maybe it might introduce a few interesting scenarios and provide some opportunities for character development and exploration, but still I feel the consequences would overall outweigh the advantages. I don’t see the point of making such a drastic and controversial alteration to such important characters for what might be a little bit of storytelling fun.
That being said, my main problem with having a main character within Doctor Who change his or her sex is that it all seems a bit… silly. (Even if it does make sense scientifically.) And I feel that’s the main problem some people have when they can’t put their thoughts into any words but, “No, just… no!” Much like in The Curse of Fatal Death, a change of sex in regeneration seems to me like more of a comical situation than a serious one. To use the clichéd argument, what would it be like if James Bond or some other iconic character got a sex change? Jane Bond, Shelly Holmes and Jenny Moriarty, Mr. Marple, Marty Poppins—it all seems silly, doesn’t it? (Sincerest apologies for these puns.)
Now, I’m not saying that sex change recipients or transgender individuals aren’t to be taken seriously by any means whatsoever—I’m simply saying that changing the sex of an iconic character doesn’t seem to have a serious plot purpose or any storytelling merit. The only serious instance in which changing the main character’s sex in any show makes sense is if that individual is transgender, and typically such a show would be one focused on or possessing a main theme of sexual identity. But Doctor Who does not fall under that category.
As far as what has already happened on the Master’s side, one of my biggest grievances is the direction this has taken the Doctor’s and the Master’s relationship. To think they started out as two little boys who were best friends with each other, and all of a sudden a couple thousand years later one is a woman snogging the other? I would have been more okay with this if their relationship remained that of old friends who disagree, as it used to be, but instead as soon as the Master is a woman the relationship is suddenly sexualised. It really is a canonical Curse of Fatal Death, isn’t it? (Hey, they do have the writer in common…)
And now I will mention Robert Heinlein’s “All You Zombies.” Enough said there. Moving along…
A Problem of Politics
The second, and possibly more common argument is the touchy area of politics. Accusations of sexism fly back and forth on the battlefield of the Internet—some perhaps justifiable, but many I would say are not. If something in the world mentions or includes (or fails to mention or include) anything pertaining to sex/gender, it seems someone somewhere will label that sexist. So it comes as no shock that Doctor Who and/or its head writer are often attacked as sexist for not “properly representing” women.
But I personally believe the show has an excellent representation of women. I would even go as far to say that there are more good female characters than there are decent male characters. Nearly every female companion is an exceptionally strong and capable woman who sometimes equals or even surpasses the Doctor in certain respects. Just look at Zoe, Leela, Romana, Ace, Donna, River—who could argue that they don’t fall under that category? (And that’s just a small handful.) Plus, there are fewer male companions. Just because the main character of the show is not a woman does not mean it is discriminatory, especially if it has a greater number of good female characters than good male characters. Why does that not satisfy everyone? There are plenty of characters for the young schoolgirls to look up to. Even still, the solution for providing a better representation of women—or any sort of group, for that matter — within a TV series is not to turn the strong male characters into females, it’s to create new strong female characters!
Another consideration is over giving actresses a chance at the famous roles. I see the logic behind this, but picking someone for a role based on their outward attributes is often necessary. (Now this might be a bit of a controversial statement, bear with me.) One would not, for example, cast the role of Margaret Thatcher with a man, or Nelson Mandela with a Caucasian. Sure, maybe some men would play an excellent Thatcher, and some white people could probably act out the part of Mandela superbly, but would they be right for the parts? I for one wouldn’t think so. Such castings lack key attributes which define the individual, in these cases gender and race—which are in those examples particularly essential to the part. While normally selecting people for a job based on such attributes would be horribly discriminatory, it makes sense in the case of acting a role in which those characteristics are important.
Not every role in a show has to be open to everyone—rather, a show should have roles available to everyone, and there are plenty of characters in Doctor Who open to actresses. The Doctor is a man, plain and simple! Yes, there are some women who I’m sure could play the part of the Doctor to perfection. But it doesn’t mean we should change a fundamental part of the character’s identity to accommodate that, at least not within the canon of the show. I have no qualms about the specific casting of Michelle Gomez; she plays a magnificent Master, but I just don’t like the idea of altering such a prolific character like that. I would have preferred that she be the Rani, or better yet some new renegade Time Lady somehow connected to the Doctor’s past. It would be just as effective in the plot (if not more so), but without all this controversy.
I’ll also ask this question: what if River or Romana regenerated into a man? (RoMANa, anyone? No? Sorry, I’ll get my coat.) I certainly would dislike that as much as I dislike it for the Doctor and the Master. Would those of you in favor of having the Doctor or Master become a woman approve of that? Not to sound rude here, but if one does not, if I were that person I’d question whether or not my goal was to give a stronger representation of women within the show or to give a weaker representation of men.
But all in all, Doctor Who should be a show which unifies people over a good story, not one which divides people over the headaches of politics. While I understand that not every facet of having a character regenerate into the opposite sex may be related to political correctness, I can’t help but feeling it’s a main focus.
Concluding Remarks
A female Master seems to me like a first step—a test to see whether we could handle a female Doctor or if such a change would harm viewership. But hopefully it’s an alternative to rather than a preparation for a female Doctor, in which case I would sincerely thank Mr. Moffat for his grace to those of us in dissent. I can deal with a compromise. But I sincerely hope I won’t have to cope with the Doctor changing gender…
