First of all – yes I am aware that Doctor Who is now very popular in the US, and has had a cult following for a long time. (It seemed as if every other essay in Chicks Dig Time Lords started with ‘When I was young I discovered this odd British show on PBS…’) Although I believe the main breakthrough has been since 2010. (Astonishing, considering how BBCA butchers it on transmission. Maybe most people pirate it?) But yes – popular show, both old and new.
Uh. We appear to operating on two different wave-lenths here. Because your responses are really bewildering. Actually all of these responses are bewildering. (Seriously, what does my nationality have to do with this? Or where I live? I have friends who are American who adore Doctor Who and are old school Who. Including a homosexual, Unitarian Universalist Minister.) The fact that you are bewildered sort of perfectly demonstrates my (our) point. To you (to audiences worldwide, generally) it’s just another TV show, and you categorise it as such. (It has scary monsters, ergo it is horror.) To people in Britain it is culture, and it is history - basically, it’s an institution. It’s people’s shared childhoods for three generations. Daleks, Police phone boxes – these are cultural icons, much like red post boxes or London cabs or bowler hats. It’s entirely possible that British children are born with a knowledge of Doctor Who somewhere in their DNA. Because they know. (I’m only half-joking here.) It’s not about being a fan (like you say, there are plenty of American fans), it’s about shared cultural history. I’m sure more kids would recognise a Dalek than a picture of Jesus, even if they’ve never watched the show in their lives. When we say it’s a fairy tale, we mean that quite literally. The story about the daft old man who stole a magic box and ran away is as familiar to British people as Snow White or Cinderella. Except it keeps regenerating, the story ever-evolving. (And do you categorise fairy tales as horror? They certainly qualify.)
I’m not quite sure what to compare it to in American terms. 4th of July celebrations maybe, or Thanksgiving? Something so deeply embedded that people don’t think about it. Maybe the Muppets could be a vaguely similar thing. Everyone knows Kermit, right? Even if they’re never watched any of the TV shows/movies.
The show itself is unashamedly left-wing, anti-war, etc. (See paratti’s comment) F.ex. ‘The Happiness Patrol’ (from 1988) was a direct (and very thinly veiled) criticism of Thatcher and her policies.
Craig Ferguson encapsulated the show perfectly with ‘Intellect and romance triumph over brute force and cynicism’. If you want to categorise it as ‘horror’ then that is your prerogative – but you are missing a vital component. (It’s almost like a British in-joke, and you don’t get it unless you live here – or go out of your way to study its cultural significance. Much like I know how there were parts of Doing Time on Planet Earth that fell just that bit outside my understanding/knowledge. Most things travel, but specific cultural markers often fail to make the transition completely.)
So, I'll rephrase... I personally don't tend to enjoy television shows where people are chasing and fighting monsters constantly. It's a thing. Well, it *is* aimed at 8 year olds… Grown-ups are allowed to enjoy it, but the show belongs to the children. And no, it’s not too complicated. F.ex. this week, Darcy – about halfway through – said something about how he’d understood nothing so far. I had to physically stop my ten year old from explaining it to him (at great length), as he was quite simply being facetious, which she didn’t realise. (She knew what was happening.) I can still remember once when the girls watched an episode a few years ago – on replay – at my in-laws. Their grandfather came in and asked what was happening. To which the response was (and writing does in no way convey how dismissive it was): “Oh it's way too complicated for you granddad– you don’t even know who River Song is!”
It’s their show, and they know it. Until they grow up and can complain how it's not as good as it was, and nowhere near as scary. ;)
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2015-09-30 12:33 pm (UTC)Uh. We appear to operating on two different wave-lenths here. Because your responses are really bewildering. Actually all of these responses are bewildering.
(Seriously, what does my nationality have to do with this? Or where I live? I have friends who are American who adore Doctor Who and are old school Who. Including a homosexual, Unitarian Universalist Minister.)
The fact that you are bewildered sort of perfectly demonstrates my (our) point. To you (to audiences worldwide, generally) it’s just another TV show, and you categorise it as such. (It has scary monsters, ergo it is horror.) To people in Britain it is culture, and it is history - basically, it’s an institution. It’s people’s shared childhoods for three generations. Daleks, Police phone boxes – these are cultural icons, much like red post boxes or London cabs or bowler hats. It’s entirely possible that British children are born with a knowledge of Doctor Who somewhere in their DNA. Because they know. (I’m only half-joking here.) It’s not about being a fan (like you say, there are plenty of American fans), it’s about shared cultural history. I’m sure more kids would recognise a Dalek than a picture of Jesus, even if they’ve never watched the show in their lives. When we say it’s a fairy tale, we mean that quite literally. The story about the daft old man who stole a magic box and ran away is as familiar to British people as Snow White or Cinderella. Except it keeps regenerating, the story ever-evolving. (And do you categorise fairy tales as horror? They certainly qualify.)
I’m not quite sure what to compare it to in American terms. 4th of July celebrations maybe, or Thanksgiving? Something so deeply embedded that people don’t think about it. Maybe the Muppets could be a vaguely similar thing. Everyone knows Kermit, right? Even if they’re never watched any of the TV shows/movies.
The show itself is unashamedly left-wing, anti-war, etc. (See paratti’s comment) F.ex. ‘The Happiness Patrol’ (from 1988) was a direct (and very thinly veiled) criticism of Thatcher and her policies.
Craig Ferguson encapsulated the show perfectly with ‘Intellect and romance triumph over brute force and cynicism’. If you want to categorise it as ‘horror’ then that is your prerogative – but you are missing a vital component. (It’s almost like a British in-joke, and you don’t get it unless you live here – or go out of your way to study its cultural significance. Much like I know how there were parts of Doing Time on Planet Earth that fell just that bit outside my understanding/knowledge. Most things travel, but specific cultural markers often fail to make the transition completely.)
So, I'll rephrase... I personally don't tend to enjoy television shows where people are chasing and fighting monsters constantly. It's a thing.
Well, it *is* aimed at 8 year olds… Grown-ups are allowed to enjoy it, but the show belongs to the children. And no, it’s not too complicated. F.ex. this week, Darcy – about halfway through – said something about how he’d understood nothing so far. I had to physically stop my ten year old from explaining it to him (at great length), as he was quite simply being facetious, which she didn’t realise. (She knew what was happening.) I can still remember once when the girls watched an episode a few years ago – on replay – at my in-laws. Their grandfather came in and asked what was happening. To which the response was (and writing does in no way convey how dismissive it was): “Oh it's way too complicated for you granddad– you don’t even know who River Song is!”
It’s their show, and they know it. Until they grow up and can complain how it's not as good as it was, and nowhere near as scary. ;)