The BBC's announcement created some interesting trends in Google searches, and it also sparked almost immediate debate about whether or not Capaldi is a good choice for the next Doctor. Even before the announcement Slate's Laura Helmuth was calling for the next Doctor to be a woman; Neil Gaiman weighed in; and Jennifer Finney Boylan at the New York Times expressed disappointment about why this choice is so dispiriting.
I'm inclined to agree with Boylan. Given a character who can regenerate in any human form, why has the character's regeneration been limited to such a small segment of the population? The historic argument (the Doctor has always looked this way) doesn't hold much water with me, and while I certainly understand that the show will want to cast the best actor possible (not just someone who fits a certain demographic), the very safe choice of the older, white, male Capaldi suggests that Moffet, et. al. are looking backwards, rather than forwards. And given that Doctor Who is a science fiction show, this is looking in the wrong direction.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
Here are some other fun things we found for you around the web this week:
- Speaking of gender and science fiction, Damien Walter has a really interesting article over at the Guardian.
- And if Doctor Who is your thing, AND you're planning a wedding, check out these Doctor Who-inspired wedding ideas. The bright blue dress might be a bit much, in my opinion. (A Blushing Bride to Be)
- New fairy tales have been discovered! A lot of them! (The Guardian)
- Neil Gaiman is working a video game project called Wayward Manor that seems like it's going to be a sort of free-form puzzle game. Very cool. And most likely, very creepy. (The Escapist)
- Apparently Luke Skywalker really should take a weapons safety course. (Imgur)
- And finally, a new trailer for the Ender's Game movie has been released. I don't know about this--I loved the book so much, in part because the epic scale of things wasn't clear until the very end. Not to me, not to Ender. And this seems to give Ender so much more knowledge, and make it more about the ultimate battle and less about the game itself, which is what was so fantastic about the book in the first place. I really hope they don't mess it up too badly. (YouTube)
