In an effort to build a space for queer people like myself, every Saturday I’ll be posting interviews, opinion pieces (like this Doctor Who one), listicles, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community from a Latina perspective. Welcome to Queerly Not Straight!
Enjoy and leave a comment below if you have a suggestion for what I should cover next. P.S. I, Lyra Hale, do not give any site permission to copy or repost my work in any form. If you are reading this on any site besides Fangirlish, it has been stolen.
Anytime Doctor Who breaks boundaries people get mad. This time around it has to do with Yasmine Finney‘s character Rose Noble. She was just introduced to audiences worldwide and apparently, it got people in such a tizzy that the BBC Corporation reported that they got 144 complaints that Rose was “inappropriate inclusion of a transgender character” and “anti-male.” Now, we knew this was coming. When they first announced that Finney was going to be joining Doctor Who, people were mad. Finney was dragged on social media and the incels came out of the word work to call the BBC woke, as if they were being erased or as if this show hasn’t had men primarily play the title character. The same thing happened when the Fugitive Doctor was introduced or when Jodie Whittaker became the 13th Doctor. And now with Ncuti Gatwa joining the show as the next Doctor, it’s not going to stop. The only solace that I can take in these people complaining, is that they’re showing that they never truly understood Doctor Who in the first place.
Doctor Who started off as a kid show in 1963. It was meant to educate and entertain children whose households paid for the BBC license. You see, for those not in the know, the British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. And every home in the United Kingdom is required to hold a TV license if you are receiving any television transmissions. That means that the BBC is a network for all people. That includes transgender children. And I understand that when Doctor Who came back in 2005 it was a slightly different version of itself. Things are a little darker and a little spicier. But the same message stands. This show is meant to be for everyone who lives in residences that have a TV license. That includes children, who love the doctor and all the adventures they go on. And some of those children just happen to be transgender and they deserve to be seen on screen just as much as anyone else. Because again, the BBC is a public body that services the people.
There’s also the fact that The Doctor has always been kind and inclusive. Sure they have had their ups and downs; moments where The Doctor was on a dark path, lost to the pain of once more being separated from their companions. But The Doctor always believed in their companions and has said that they have never met a person who wasn’t important. This is an alien who understands that the outside doesn’t matter. It’s what’s on the inside. The Doctor is so intricately tied to this concept that they have changed from a man to a woman and still at their core they are a hero. So when I see people complaining about how Rose Noble is inappropriate I can’t help but laughing. Because these people clearly don’t understand The Doctor at all and the hero that they love would be disappointed in them in the first place for even questioning Rose Noble’s existence or her importance. It also ignores that The Doctor themselves is not defined by the binary or human standards. They are an alien.
These complaints by 144 viewers of Doctor Who also give me perspective on the people these haters are. Because they’re okay and can accept aliens. They’re okay with time travel and monsters that look like salt and pepper shakers. And they’re more than capable of accepting realities where death, destruction, and war happens on this show. All of that is a reality for them or is in the realm of reality. But including a transgender character in Doctor Who crosses a line for them. It’s like they can’t even imagine that someone like Rose Noble or Yasmine Finney are real. And they’ve spent so long ignoring that transgender people are real and didn’t just pop up like daisies in the 2000’s, that they feel insulted that a uniquely progressive show like Doctor Who would include someone that has a shared living experience of someone today in the world. It shows the selfishness of these 144 viewers and how they’re disconnected from a reality that isn’t solely focused on white and male presenting. Because it isn’t all about you Karen and Todd or whatever your names are.
Doctor Who is about making people feel accepted and loved for being uniquely themselves. So if you want to stop watching Doctor Who because you’re threatened by Rose Noble, go ahead. Act a fool and show that you are oddly interested in other people’s genitals when it’s none of your goddamn business in the first place if someone is transgender or not. Us Doctor Who fans will actually be watching the episodes and having a grand old time knowing that there will be a kid somewhere watching Doctor Who and feeling accepted and loved by their hero The Doctor. We’ll also be here when Gatwa joins the show and in a full capacity as The Doctor. And we’ll be there when you and your incel buddies, that don’t understand Doctor Who in the first place, come back to complain about this black and queer actor becoming the famed Time Lord. Because while you’re walking out of the door and showing that you’re homophobic, transphobic, and racist, a new wave of Doctor Who fans will be joining those who are glad to see the show continue to evolve.
Doctor Who doesn’t need you and your hate. And the fandom doesn’t either. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Queerly Not Straight posts Saturdays with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latine community since I am Latine.)
I’ve had the misfortune to see at least one person on whatever-they’re-calling-Twitter-today openly say they watch the show because it (somehow) represents “white (male) authoritarianism” to them (because they’re white, male and fascist themselves, natch). I find myself scratching my head about people. You’ve got to wonder if they have in fact seen the show at all, because… just how do you get that?
I love the inclusion of Rose Noble played by Yasmin Finney! I just wish that she was the full-time new companion which is what the earlier news story seem to indicate not that the military character will also be amazing but I was super excited about a gay actor playing with a trans companion through the new series but I guess Rose will be coming back just not in the same role I originally imagined.
I don’t like the character rose in the show, i have my own reasons, but everything you said in this article is just assumption on what other people are thinking then name calling them saying they’re incels, homophobic, transphobic, and racist, just because they dont like a character. grow up