Written by Kate McHargue When the news broke that the next Doctor will be played by Jodie Whittaker, it seemed as though a few people were having trouble processing their feelings. In an effort to guide these individuals through this transition and help them find peace, I have compiled a handy list of opinions about the new Doctor that are actually not allowed and should therefore be avoided when discussing your feelings on the matter. You’re not allowed to say, 'But the Doctor is a man. Always has been.'I know this is the first reaction for a lot of people and I get it. It’s hard being the dominant identity and suddenly being forced to recognize that other types of people exist in the world. That bubble burst can be a lot to handle. But unfortunately, this opinion is just not allowed because the argument 'that’s the way it’s always been' is not, never has been, and never will be a good excuse for not evolving (just ask Darwin). And sadly, the argument that the Doctor has to be a man is just plain inaccurate. The Doctor is an alien being from the planet Gallifrey and, as a Time Lord, can easily switch genders with regeneration. Past Doctors have even made reference to this being a possibility and have even mentioned a desire to do so. Honestly, you should be happy for the Doctor. It sounds like he’s finally comfortable enough in his identity to start presenting differently. You’re not allowed to say, 'What’s next, a female James Bond?'The main reason you’re not allowed to say this is because, yes, we might be headed towards a female James Bond. And that’s okay! In fact, that’d be awesome! Gender bending is a canon practice in cosplay and fanfics. As geeks, we should be celebrating its emergence in pop culture and media. But, as I mentioned above, the Doctor is not technically canonically male. Yes, that’s the only way we’ve seen him, but the character is a time traveler. Meaning there could easily be regenerations of his that were/are/will be female and we just hadn’t gotten there yet. Unlike James Bond who is a canonically male character, the Doctor is already predisposed to gender bending. If anything, this was a long time coming. You’re not allowed to say, 'This is just PC culture taking over! Making the Doctor a woman is just a publicity stunt!'I hate to break it to you but women did actually exist in the world before 'PC culture' became a thing. We make up 50% of the population which means that statistically, we should be the leads in about 50% of the popular media that is consumed. But we’re aren’t. We make up like 15% of the leads in popular media and that’s the average between TV, film, print, and internet content. So I wouldn’t say that making the Doctor a woman is so much a publicity stunt as it is a move towards accurate representation and smarter marketing. Doctor Who’s fan base is 50% women to 48% men. Seems like the show’s producers are finally paying attention to that. Furthermore, making the Doctor a British white woman instead of a British white man is pretty low hanging fruit for strides in representation. Also, in case no one has explained this to you yet, you can’t just call anything you don’t like 'PC culture'. Mostly cause it’s incorrect but also because it sounds like you’re literally advocating for incorrectness. And maybe you are, but either way you might want to examine your motives. You’re not allowed to say, 'Well at least she’s hot!'The attractiveness of the new Doctor is neither here nor there. If you do find Jodie Whittaker attractive, that’s okay! But what’s not okay is deciding that that’s the only thing she has to offer to the character. She is an award winning actress, not an object. You’re not allowed to say, 'But she’s so unattractive!'The attractiveness of the new Doctor is neither here nor there. If you don’t find Jodie Whittaker attractive, that’s okay! But what’s not okay is deciding that because you personally don’t find her attractive that she can’t possibly bring anything else to the character. She is an award winning actress, not an object. You’re not allowed to say, 'They’ve ruined Doctor Who!'First of all, you really can’t know this yet. I understand that you’re emotional but if you take a moment to think logically you’ll realize that until you’ve actually seen this new Doctor in action you have no way to know whether or not the show is 'ruined'. And even when you do watch it, keep in mind that if it’s ruined it won’t be because the Doctor is now a woman. You might not like the acting. You may not like the new plots and storylines. You may not like new effects or costumes. But none of that will be the result of the Doctor switching genders. And honestly, if Doctor Who is ruined for you because the Doctor is a woman then I am deeply sorry for your loss. But you are, unfortunately, not the last word on whether or not Doctor Who is good.  I understand that this is a scary time and that all of these changes can be difficult to cope with. And it’s okay to have opinions about the new Doctor. You’re allowed to dislike the actress they cast. You’re allowed to wish they’d picked someone different. You’re allowed to say you’re unsure of what this will mean for the show. But what you’re not allowed to do is think or say any of the things I outlined in my list. Because then you’re being exclusionary, rude, and downright sexist (yeah, I said it). I have faith in the geek community to give this new Doctor a chance to show us what she can do. I hope that the new Doctor is given the same respect as her predecessors. And if anyone finds themselves bursting to say the above mentioned off limit comments, I’d be happy to give you a refresher course on the opinions you’re not allowed to have.
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Written by Shae Rufe Guess what! More Animes! Because Anime is totally awesome and I promised you a sequel! I honestly couldn't wait to write it! (I've had a lot of sugar; can you tell!?) Back to High School Animes of awesome. So, shortly after discovering Gundam Wing and the end of that series, a friend introduced me to Weiss Kreuz. Which, is one of the very few Animes I still have! (Or had…my friend Kendra took my copy and it's been a while since I've seen it…) It's about 4 guys who are assassins working for a secret organization; taking out bad guys, and being cool! Somehow, an anime about murdering people just seems to work. I'm not surprised I like it either. I love it enough to hunt down the rare OVA (which I don't know what that stands for anymore…). Next is one equally awesome Anime; Gensomaden Saiyuki. Now, this is a multi-series Anime that covers a lot of ground. The general premise of the story is based off the Chinese story Journey to the West. This Anime takes a look at Son Goku and revamps the tale we all know and love. While it's no DBZ, it certainly has its moments of awesome. There are fights, random cultural bits, and of course, amazing voice actors. I did like this better in the English Dub. That being said, I did only watch the first series. After it changed dubbing companies I decided to not follow it anymore. That, and, I collected the manga up until that point too. It felt right to let it go then.  Speaking of DBZ, is there any Anime fan that hasn't seen that!? I loved Dragon Ball Z. Admittedly, I didn't see Dragon Ball, but that's okay! I also didn't see DBZ: GT either. If you really enjoyed this Anime, I suggest you check out TeamFourStar on YouTube. I normally don't like a lot of 'Abridged' shows, but these guys do an amazing job. They point out everything I ever questioned about the show, and the best part, no ads. These guys do this for the fun of it. Plus, they're great voice actors.
Here I find myself at a crossroads. While I've seen many an Anime, I sadly can't talk about all of them. (Especially in depth like I want to!) But, I'm going to keep with the theme of nostalgia and stick with Animes that I loved in High School (Down the road, I'll share my recent Anime loves!) Now, who didn't love Magic Knight RayEarth? The tale of average high school students, transported to a magical realm where they find out they are Legendary Knights that will save the world and free the Princess? Fantastic. Only…instead of freeing the princess, they have to kill her. Such a cheery Anime, right!? (I have an affinity for the twisted.). Well this completes my Nostalgic Anime trip! At some point, I'm going to share with you the most recent Anime's I've discovered. As always, I'm looking for something new! So feel free to Tweet me your recommendations @SoraLostSoul! Written by Shae Rufe Every single one of us have some kind of guilty pleasure that brings us infinite joy and that we simply can't get enough of and I thought today I'd talk about one of my own guilty pleasures, Anime, and share with you all the anime's that have stolen my heart over the years. I actually got into Anime when I was a teenager (because, really, who didn't) and it all started with Sailor Moon. I watched every episode that ever aired on TV of Sailor Moon. I even would set my VCR (that's right, I was that cool) to record the later unedited versions on Toonami when they aired late at night on Cartoon Network. I have to say, the whole concept of the show makes no sense at all. Looking at it as an adult, it's weird. Teenage girls who transform into magic wielding warriors in heels and mini skirts? Totally not buying it. But at the time, and even now, it's still a great show. I went as far to hunt down the last season, Sailor Moon: Sailor Stars, on VHS and I watched it in Japanese with subtitles. Sailor Stars was never aired on TV, and after watching it and the entire Sailor Moon series completely un-cut and in its original Japanese form? I see why! Still, that's one of the shows that has always stayed near and dear to my heart. Enough so that I've even cosplayed characters from Sailor Moon. For the record, Venus and Mars were my two absolute favorites. Yes, I've even seen the Live Action show. It's cheesy and fantastic! There are two other Anime's that were on at the time of Sailor Moon and wow…looking back, I can't believe I actually loved this show as much as I did, but Ronin Warriors (also known as Samurai Troopers) is another one of those fun, mystical, magical, anime's…but with dudes and magical armor! What could possibly be wrong with this anime? Well, it is horrifically cheesy. Especially the English Dub. While they did change some names, they also just…yeah, it's bad. But an old friend and I used to watch this show religiously after school as kids. If anyone's seen the show, they know exactly what I'm talking about. You have the hero, Ryo, and his 4 comrades who have to stop an evil dead emperor; all have special powers and weapons and it's just…so terrible it's awesome. I rewatched this a few years ago and really….you should never do that. It was amazing, and very nostalgic, but also, wow. So bad. So 80's…so awesome!  And then of course, there was Gundam Wing. Giant Space robots, angsty back stories, and did I mention, Giant Space Robots!? They fight! In Space! Okay, not all the time. Most of it is either on earth, or some space colony. But, come on! Giant Robots! It's like everyone's inner kid is always ready to see Giant Robots fight! Okay, so, technically, they're Mecha, because they have human pilots. But who cares! This show did have a plot, and it was an awesome plot. A lot of it was 'political' and blah, blah blah. Okay, the plot was actually pretty cool. So were the characters. Mostly, Giant Robots of Doom. I used to hunt down the models at cons and random stores. I had all of them at one point (much to my mother's dismay). So, these Models of the Gundams would come with specific instructions and all the pieces are in these plastic things that you had to break them free from. Shae, being Shae, of course, would just take all the pieces out and them put them together hardly ever using the instructions. (As an adult, I now see my parent's frustrations with me!) But, hey, I'd get it done, within a few days/hours and I was quiet for that time! Never did like puzzles, but putting together Gundams is somehow different….
Lastly, on this tour of Anime nostalgia, is one that was not actually on Toonami (if it was, I never saw it) and that is Neon Genesis Evangelion. This show also had Giant Robots! Or Mechas. Or whatever, it was awesome! Futuristic society, in Japan, with random monsters attacking that they called Angels! To this day, I still could not tell you all of what Evangelion was about. I've seen it multiple times and I haven't a single clue as to what goes on after a certain point. It's fantastic, you learn something new every time you watch it! I have seen every version of this Anime, every reboot, every DVD, and every movie. While I may not fully grasp all of what's going on, I still love it. Plus, blood! For some reason that was of huge interest. Before Evangelion, Ronin Warriors, and Gundam Wing had shown a bit of blood, but nothing like Evangelion. There are many other Animes I have seen that totally out do that blood factor. and many more that I want to talk about. So...stay tuned for part two of this segment! I promise, my next 4 picks are slightly more up-to-date. (Yeah, I can't promise that….But I love you guys!) Speaking of, if you have any Anime recommendations for me, please feel free to Tweet me them! I'm always looking for something new to watch! While I'm not as obsessive as I used to be about Anime, I still do love it. Old or new is up to you! |
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