Five Things Wrong With "The Name Of The Doctor"

I had high hopes for Steven Moffat when he stepped into the executive producer's seat of Doctor Who. For the longest I was irritated at how Russell T. Davies, who can write a good scene or two, could never actually write a full episode that was solid. Moffat on the other hand, with the exception of his last three in the Russell T. Davies era of Who, seemed to hit it out the ballpark.

Fast forward to the season finale of Series 7 which just aired this past Saturday and it's RTD all over again. I set off a firestorm of controversy, after watching the first episode of Series Six, where I stated on ChicagoNow that Doctor Who needed to be canceled. This finale still proves my point.

To keep this short, I will point out five things that bothered me about this entire story.

I will combine one and two here.

The logic of the opening is that in some way shape or form, Clara Oswald (played by the excellent Jenna-Louise Coleman) has helped with The Doctor throughout his entire timeline.

Bullshit.

This was created as a teaser for the 50th anniversary special and not a teaser for the actual episode itself. To make matters worse the editing and super-imposed inserts of Jenna-Louise Coleman in past Doctor Who episodes seems to hearken back to the dark ages of the series during the John-Nathan Turner era. I don't know if that was the entire point, but it just felt cheap (this is not to say it looked cheap).

The other issue I take with this particular opening is that it represents what something which i09's Charlie Jane Anders has with Steven Moffat's direction:

The more you put a hero at the center of the universe, the smaller that hero paradoxically becomes. A larger than life hero has larger than life adventures, encounters huge and unknowable things, and battles foes so great, you can hardly imagine how the hero could win. In fact, what makes heroes epic is how small and insignificant they are — and yet, how much of a difference they're able to make.

The Doctor was never considered the biggest thing in the room in the original series. In fact, there were times in the original series (particularly back in the early 60's) where the people around him were constantly fighting with his ability to make sound choices. To make him a legend within the context of the series itself confines the plot lines to two different tropes:

1. Why The Doctor Is A Hero.
2. Why The Doctor Is Also A Villain.

(I'm really upset that Ms. Anders took the words that I meant to type down right out of my mouth since she makes similar points)

Flawed hero's are fine and dandy. Explaining why over and over again as part of the plot element of the series gets irritating. Moffat, with this episode, has essentially turned  Doctor Who into a fanfic.

Pushing The Doctor into legendary status also reminds me of the fact that everyone who comes in contact with the guy suddenly becomes a gushing fan boy (or girl). That's what ruined Martha, why I couldn't stand Rose and why Donna's transformation into a companion in Series 4 made no sense.

So the episode is titled "The Name Of The Doctor". This suggests that we will finally discover as an audience the real name of the main character. What happens in the episode doesn't actually reveal his name at all.

It does however reveal, strategically, is that a mysterious man who is a past (or future) incarnation of The Doctor did something horrible in The Doctor's name. What that is doesn't matter because the entire name of the episode was designed to get you to watch a collective heap of crap for one great scene (thus making the episode "In The Name Of The Doctor").

Wait! This is RTD all over again.

The fourth issue is with Clara herself and the mystery of her character. I wanted her to be another timelord (Romana perhaps?). I wanted her to be, since the character was originally designed as a timelord, a regenerated Susan. I wanted her so badly to be something that actually makes sense.

To say that Clara's entire purpose is to save The Doctor is completely stupid. A show about a hero should never suddenly revolve around the side-kick. That's like Lois in Superman II suddenly figuring out a way to get Clark back his powers after figuring out who he is.

Now...the final issue.

John Hurt.

I think he is a solid choice to play an incarnation of The Doctor. If Matt Smith decides to leave, put him in his place. Too expensive? Maybe. At least with John there will be a captivating actor in the role as opposed to a guy just looking for a ticket to America.

Sigh. Guess I'll just wait for the 50th anniversary special and watch Moffat screw up his screen time.

Is Nicki Minaj Reeling In A New Man Or A New Song Collaboration?

I would like to think this is some sort of off-shoot of interactive flash fiction where two artists make a song a piece at a time. I would like to think this is a tease for a new album Minaj is putting together and Mario is just getting folks riled up. Something tells me however that Nicki is genuinely attempting to snag the man.

And yes, I was up in the middle of the night when I captured this.

Tina Turner On Twitter? Skye!

Yesterday evening proved to be very interesting: Tina Turner appeared on Twitter. 

As you can see I got excited as well.

I so wanted this to be the real Tina Turner. I grew up on her music. So did my mother. She was very much like Michael Jackson in that she was very cross-generational and she always also navigated between music genres.

The one mention I did get from Tina, aside from wondering whether she was real, was whether there was a version of Proud Mary (a song she is famous for doing) before the one she did. All she answered with was a simple yes. That didn't sit well with me. 

She also kept using the words Doll and Swell and kept putting sentences together like "Loved you in....". Tina, in my mind, would talk so bland. In fact in many interviews she comes across as very direct. This Tina Turner sounded too much like she was a Hollywood agent.

After awhile, someone on Twitter must have gotten hip to what was happening and suspended her account.

Later on, Twitter deleted it altogether. 

I wonder if the real Tina Turner was notified that a fake account was made in her name.

If she was, she probably laughed at the idea that she would follow Porsha Stewart and Keyshia Cole.

Keyshia Cole, K Michelle and Shay Johnson All Want You To Stop Hating

I have to say that I have a strange attraction to "hoodrats". These three, two singers and one model, are semi-famous/infamous and each are pretty in different ways. One thing that's universal about all three of them is that they constantly seem to thrive on "hate".

As a blogger put it best, Hate Is The New Love.

First of all, let me pull up the definition of the word hate straight from dictionary.com:

verb (used with object)

1.

to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest: to hate the enemy; to hate bigotry.

Having followed the timeline of all three ladies, you would think that they were hated just like the Jews during the Holocaust. The "haters" that they claim to get are really just individuals who troll around looking to start a fight and get attention. These particular people in no way shape of form hate anybody.

But these comments, which all three claim mean nothing to them, inspire them to retweet all of the tweets they get that are fannish-to-the-max. This is usually followed by a few choice words saying like "I'm Getting Money", "I'm Winning" and "U Bishes Stay Broke, Watch My Paper Stack". Seeing this with all three of their timelines day in and day out gets to be dull as dishwater.

I would love it if these ladies would say something new such as the following:

1. "I listen to NPR"
2. "I wrote a positive song"
3. "I will no longer share my ass on Instagram"
4. "There are no such things as haters."

Won't happen? Yeah. Better to just unfollow them.