(October 30, 2015 at 11:22 pm)Aractus Wrote: Because it's one of the many things that is demeaning to women specifically. "Oh really, YOU chose THAT guy?"
The problem I have with your interpretation of the Doctor as sexist because of this, is that it just doesn't pan out that way. I think the Doctor actually does this because underneath all the boldness and heroics, he is insecure. Let's take Amy and Clara as examples:
With Amy, he meets her as a little girl, and then takes her on as a companion later, the night before her wedding (which she hides from him). However, as soon as he realizes this, and she tries to kiss him, he rejects her advances and even tells Rory, and then tries to patch up their relationship by taking them both on a "romantic" trip to Venice. However, I think he assumed that once everything was patched up, he would be alone with Amy again, and that didn't happen. Instead, Amy took Rory along with her, and the Doctor was insecure about this, hence Rory being belittled all the time. The Doctor wants to be number 1 in his companion's eyes, and every time the series hints that Amy thinks of the Doctor as more important than Rory, it turns out the complete opposite is true. I forget the episode, but it's where Rory can hear Amy talking and interprets her words of adoration as being about the Doctor, but in fact she was talking about him the entire time.
The entire series builds on the strength of the Amy / Rory relationship, and the Doctor's eventual acceptance that he is number 2. This is probably best shown in the episode with Stonehenge, where Amy is dead, and the Doctor refuses to save her because the universe is more important, and Rory punches him for saying so. The Doctor was just testing the duplicate version of Rory to see if his love was genuine. A bit later, Rory refuses to use the vortex manipulator with the Doctor, instead staying behind to guard the Pandorica with Amy inside.
Ultimately, of course, Amy chooses to be touched by a weeping angel and spend the rest of her life with Rory, and never seeing the Doctor again. Once again cementing the view that the Doctor is number 2 in her eyes.
Now with Clara, I think the relationship between Doctor and Companion is changed, because Clara is more independent. Rather than spending all her time on the TARDIS as most companions do, she has a day job, and only sees the Doctor from time to time. I think this is interpreted as the Doctor trying to be less insecure; less attached to his companions. He is still slightly insecure though, as his reaction to Danny Pink is demeaning at first. Of course, by the end of the series, that view has completely reversed, and Clara tries to destroy the TARDIS keys in order to save Danny, which the Doctor admires and tries to help her do.
I really don't think the show is sexist at all. I just think that a show called Doctor Who is going to have the Doctor as the main character, and of course he's going to be better than any of the other characters in terms of intellect and power, but I think people are forgetting the strong female characters that the show has had in the past:
1) Rose Tyler - Absorbs the time vortex, becomes the Bad Wolf, destroys the Daleks, saves humanity, all on her own. Yes, she needs to be saved by the Doctor, but that's more to do with her human form than anything, not her sex. In the later series, she single-handedly jumps between realities and destroys Daleks in order to prevent the reality bomb.
2) Martha Jones - Saves the world from the Master.
3) Donna Noble - Literally becomes half-timelord and saves all reality from being destroyed. Also notable as the only female companion in the new series not to be infatuated by the Doctor. Possibly one of the strongest female characters the show has had.
4) River Song - Yes, she calls on the Doctor to save her a number of times, but she also saves the Doctor on multiple occasions. Also shows herself to be more intelligent than the Doctor on a number of things, such as flying the TARDIS.
5) Clara - Walks into the Doctor's time stream and saves him numerous times throughout his life. Convinces the Doctor(s) that using the Moment is the worst idea, and that together they can save the time lords and destroy the Daleks another way. Honestly, I think her character peaked at this point; I don't particularly like Clara's character in the current season.
