Sexualized Saturdays: On Shipping Questions and Questionable Ships

How many of you here are in the Supernatural fandom? Yes, all of you? Then you probably know about NJWank2013: one of Supernatural‘s many chances to gank us all with angry feelings before the season finale. Let’s recap the events: At a Supernatural convention in New Jersey (“Salute to Supernatural 2013″), there was a panel with Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, otherwise known as Sam and Dean. The first questioner at this panel was a young lady who started her question with “I’ve loved seeing Dean’s character become more comfortable with himself this season. I’m bisexual and I’ve noticed some possible subtext…” She was immediately drowned out by a chorus of booo’s. While a bodyguard confronted her, Jensen said that he couldn’t hear the question, and that he planned to move on. “I meant no disrespect,” said the girl, and that was the end of that story.

Psych.

Sexualized Saturdays: River Song

Oh, Steven Moffat, why do you so often introduce ladies that you claim are bisexual only to never give any hint or evidence in the actual show that they are? River Song is not the first character to be outed outside of her TV show, but is there any evidence in the actual show that River Song is bisexual? And does it matter if there isn’t?

River Song is one of those characters that I find extremely confusing. Don’t get me wrong, she’s extremely interesting, but she’s a time traveler, we meet her out of order, she ends up being Rory and Amy’s daughter, as well as the Doctor’s wife and murderer. Everything with River was very confusing. Add to that a confusing representation of River’s sexuality and suddenly you need some damn strong headache medicine.

What the Puff: Pipes in Pop Culture

I smoke tobacco pipes. I’ve enjoyed them since I turned 18 and even make them. So, I am pleased when I see television or movies including characters smoking their pipes. You’ll never know where pipe smokers are going to turn up in these things, from Colonel Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds to Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean. Even the First and Fourth Doctors in Doctor Who were seen smoking pipes. However, I’m almost always infuriated when I see how they smoke them. This is because many times the characters smoke their pipes wrong. Typically, these characters seem to be most interested in making as much smoke as possible. This isn’t wrong because of arbitrary etiquette, but rather is wrong because it ruins the taste of the tobacco, burns the mouth, and can ruin a pipe over time.

Sexualized Saturdays: The Doctor and His Many Companions

I think I need to take a break from Doctor Who, at least in terms of article writing. As it stands right now, there is only one thing I have not done yet, and that’s to look which of the Doctor’s companions are in love with him and which aren’t.

The interesting thing about the companions is that they spread along the scope of sexual preference. Yes, most of the Doctor’s main companions are females that usually have deep seated crushes on the Doctor. But that’s not the entire makeup of the alumni.

In Brightest Day: the Eleventh Doctor

(WARNING: there will be some minor spoilers from Series 7, so if you still plan on catching up in the series, catch up and come back.)

So, I’ve already tackled how the Ninth Doctor was born into anger and depression stemming from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I also discussed how, while some progress had been made, the Tenth Doctor was still horribly depressed because of how the Last Great Time War went and how he lost Rose Tyler and Martha Jones and Donna Noble. I covered how Ten tried to be the Time Lord Victorious but ended up falling into a deeper depression which ultimately led to an immense hesitation when Ten begun his regeneration.

But we’ve moved past that. And here comes the Eleventh Doctor. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, actor Matt Smith is the youngest actor to ever play the Doctor (Smith was 27 when he took up the sonic screwdriver, second to David Tennant at 34). And his Doctor shows that young bravado. Heck, one of his first actions post-regeneration is to drive a big red fire truck. What a punk kid. Surely, the Doctor is finally recovering from all the bad things that have happened to him since the end of the Last Great Time War?

Nope. And don’t call me Shirley.

An Unearthly Journey: “Tomb of the Cybermen”

It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed any Classic Who here, but seeing as Neil Gaiman’s upcoming episode “Nightmare in Silver” is supposed to feature the return of the Classic show’s Cybermen, now seems like the perfect time to talk about the Second Doctor serial “Tomb of the Cybermen”. (You’ll notice I’ve skipped Hartnell’s third and fourth seasons—I’ll get to them eventually, don’t worry; I never promised these reviews would come in chronological order!)

“Tomb of the Cybermen” is the only Two serial in Troughton’s first two seasons that’s still in one piece; the serials bookending are all lost episodes, and what I have of them is pieced together from audio and grainy stills. There’s a lot I’d do for Doctor Who, but after half an hour of “The Highlanders” I had to call it quits and move to something with existing video footage.

Let me just say that I’m glad I did; this serial alone has put Two on the map as one of my favorite Doctors and features some great storytelling.

In Brightest Day: the Tenth Doctor

This is another post I’ve been putting off for a while. The truth is the Tenth Doctor’s emotional baggage could fill a dump truck. He’s been through the ringer multiple times, and had to deal with a lot of memories that, by the end of his life cycle, would be just too much for a normal man.

But this isn’t a normal man. This is David Tennant.

Are Doctor Who’s Companions Too Sexy?

A few days ago Hypable raised the question, “Is Doctor Who too sexy?” It was in response to The Telegraph‘s piece interviewing Carole Ann Ford (aka Susan, the very first companion) about how working on Doctor Who affected her career. And Hypable isn’t just another site desperate for clicks; this question is a common fan criticism of “New Who,” especially Moffat’s era. Some believe the show’s writing and companions have crossed some sort of risqué line, and it’s damaging the show. So is it?

Doctor Who as a show has a complicated relationship with sex. The show began as a mostly educational children’s TV program, featuring Susan as the granddaughter of “Doctor Who.” Ford reveals that Susan was also originally envisioned to be pretty badass:

“They told me Susan was going to be an Avengers-type girl – with all the kapow of that – plus she would have telepathetic powers. She was going to be able to fly the Tardis as well as her grandfather and have the most extraordinary wardrobe.”

TARDIS Bells Are Ringing: “The Bells of St. John” Review

Well, Doctor Who is finally back! Did the second half of the season start off better than the first? Find out after the jump!

In Brightest Day: Anger Management Issues

We all have gotten angry. Someone has gotten under our skin and we’ve gotten mad about it. Maybe we yelled. Maybe we screamed. Maybe we hit someone. Maybe we started seeing what our enemy’s pet snake was looking at.

Derp

Alright, probably not that far, but anger is part of life. As I alluded to, some of our favorite characters have to deal with anger management issues. Sometimes, the anger management issues add an interesting element to the characters. Sometimes, it makes the character one-dimensional.