I wish it was good

The new Doctor Who got some people excited because the Doctor is now a woman. I liked the idea, and I think it was about damn time they tried that.  Of course many misogynists yelled on the internet that maleness is a key, necessary part of being the Doctor, but they are just spewing sexism everywhere and making a mess on the carpets.

I am glad that the actress playing the Doctor now really nailed the part.  She has just the right enthusiasm and quizzical positiveness that makes it work.  Unfortunately I am a little bit skeptical about the writing, particularly for the third episode.  The episode focused around the characters visiting Rosa Parks, of US civil rights movement fame.  They had to stop a very racist man from the future from preventing her story unfolding.

I like shows that push back against patriarchal norms.  I also like shows that showcase racism in a serious, wrenching light, and this show did that.  It had the main characters talking about their negative experiences with racism, and dug into the topic.  Great!

But the show was terrible. The writing failed all kinds of basic rules, and left everyone watching with a bad taste in their mouths.  It made little sense, felt shoddy, and was a real let down.  Politically it was good.  The story and scenes though... they were rubbish.

It reminds me of the Ghostbusters reboot a few years back with a female cast.  I wanted it to be good, the sexist trolls on the internet hated it before even seeing it, and it ended up being a bad movie.  There is something extra disappointing when a piece of media aligns with your politics and you want so much for it to be good, if nothing else because that might help more things like it to be made.  There is a guilt that manifests if you say you hate it because it sucks, because you don't want to be one of those people hating it just because it features a woman, or a black person, or a gay person, or whatever.  But you do dislike it, not because of those things, but because it just isn't any good.

So far I have only seen three episodes of the new Doctor Who.  I like the way the show is going, and if you liked the older versions of the Doctor you will probably like this one.  Doctor Who isn't exactly my thing, but this show, and the lead actress in particular, do the thing that Doctor Who does really well.

But the third episode... not so much.  Hopefully it rebounds from here.