Score!

[meddow]

I finally found the solution to my crappy local video store problem in that I cannot find any movies over five years old. It occurred to me that the University Library has DVDs. Hah! So I’ve got a copy of Cry Freedom which should keep me good tonight.

I’ve been watching a lot of Penelope Wilton movies lately because, 1. she rules, and 2. in some fandom therapy. Two weeks after having seen The Christmas Invasion I’m still devastated by what happened to Harriet Jones. She’s my favourite character, she is twenty-five different kinds of awesome and I would have probably made the same decision if I was in her shoes.

I know that what she did was morally reprehensible, but for a start she was right in that The Doctor is not around all the time and it was by sheer luck that The Doctor woke up on time to save the Earth and he didn’t wake up in time to save the lives of two people. With The Doctor being unreliable, humanity has to defend itself and a bloody great big Death Ray is one way to do so. Also, she was entitled to make that decision and not him. The Doctor may be Earth’s self-appointed champion and all that, but she is the democratically elected Prime Minister, if anyone is going to decide how humanity will face the universe it should be her and not The Doctor. By deciding to be rid of her for disagreeing with him (and screw up history in the process) The Doctor is acting like a paternalistic, self-righteous jerk with a god-complex and no respect for the self-determination of a species. And The Doctor totally put her up to it with all that talk of humanity being noticed. Of course she wasn’t going to just shrug that off and decide it’s all good, especially not a person who has witnessed and survived two hostile alien invasions and who has the future security of the planet on her mind.

Really, the better way to do it was have the Sycorax ship blow-up, the Doctor call her a murderer and leave it with the two disagreeing about the matter and him walking away and the audience being left to make their own decision about who to side with. Or have her career in jeopardy because of her actions in shooting down the ship rather than a rumour spread in revenge.

In that vein I watched Match Point yesterday. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is bloody creepy, even creepier than Jude Law. I don’t think it’s the role either because I thought he was pretty creepy in Bend It Like Beckham. Also, Scarlett Johansson kindof bugs me.

I also caught North Country and I really want Niki Caro to direct Half-Blood Prince. She's the director/screenplay writer behind Whale Rider so she has some experience when it comes to tales of destiny and angst.

Comments

[jo-blogs.livejournal.com]

I have *issues* with the new Doctor Who series, but I agree - Penelope Wilton does indeed rule.

In that vein I watched Match Point yesterday. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is bloody creepy, even creepier than Jude Law. I don’t think it’s the role either because I thought he was pretty creepy in Bend It Like Beckham. Also, Scarlett Johansson kindof bugs me.

Hee. Now there are three sentences I enjoyed reading. Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Jude Law creepy? Oh, yes. And what IS it about Scarlett Johanssen? Apart from being a blank slate who's looked totally out of her depth in everything I've seen her in since Ghost World.

[jo-blogs.livejournal.com]

Note to self - learn to count to four this week.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don’t get all the Scarlett Johannson love out there. She is pretty, but I’ve never been particularly impressed with her acting.

Harriet Jones, Prime Minister

[(Anonymous)]

*waves* Lead to your LJ just by reading some of your fan fiction. I've always thought that the Doctor was acting unfair to Harriet. Esp. with the way he went about addressing the fact that yep, the world is vulnerable.
The only way that I could retain respect for the Doc? Had to work out in my own head what his motives could have been (and, of course, do a bit of a one shot introspective fic on it).
After all, we know that the Doc manipulates people to get them to see the world the way he wants :) Sometimes that might be even putting people in a position to hate him - for the greater good.
Sorry to respond so long after the fact but? Just good to see that I wasn't the only one who caught something wrong with that scene.
Had to be a higher plot on his part! Had to be! :)


Jest

Re: Harriet Jones, Prime Minister

[meddow.livejournal.com]

I really like that idea of a higher plot. Though I would also love to see the Doctor find out that by removing Harriet Jones he had screwed up something royally and he has to go crawling to her to get something fixed and in the process have to eat some humble pie.

I do wonder whether if Harriet had remained in power she would have allowed the ghost shifts to go on. Maybe by removing her the Doctor set about a chain of events that lead the season finale (I would say specifics but I'm not sure what your spoiler status is).

Re: Harriet Jones, Prime Minister

[(Anonymous)]

Well, at the risk of sounding like I'm advertising? If you wanted to read my desperate scraggling for a reason - it is on www.whofic.com under 'The Myth of Choice.'
But - enough of that.
Do we know for certain that Harriet was removed from power? Or was that left up as just a very logical next step based on what we saw?
Goodness, if she /was/ removed from power, then how is the fact that the Doc mentions her leading Britain into some bright new great age ever reconciled?
And - no worries about spoilers. I believe I'm fairly up to date on everything.
That's almost an interesting thought - to think that by removing her, the Doctor caused some real damage by preventing a force that would have known 'Um, ghost shifts? Can't be good.'
*grins* You'd mentioned being willing to write anything? Would love to see a reunion between Harriet and Doctor. Heck. Also am interested in Harriet and Jack meeting up. Jack and Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane and Harriet.
Yep. A bit of the 'Left Behinds' fan here ;)
By the way? Really do want to also let you know that I'm enjoying your fiction. Probably find the more appropriate LJ entries to go on in detail on specifics later. But... yeah. Thank you for writing :)

Jest

Re: Harriet Jones, Prime Minister

[meddow.livejournal.com]

I read some place or another that it was suggested in the writer’s commentary to the episode that she did not survive the vote of no confidence. I don’t know how the golden age thing is reconciled if she had been removed.

I’ve a fic on the backburner for a few months now which is Harriet and Jack taking with one another post-Doomsday. I sort of gave up on it, but I just had another look and I think I like it enough to finish it.

I had a read of ‘The Myth of Choice’ and really liked it. It’s a very good piece.