I also really dislike River because we're forced to think she's a speshul snowflake... without her ever earning said distinction.
Yep! River's specialness is too much tell, almost no show. Also, we get it exclusively from her word, leading us to wonder if she really is as important to the Doctor as she thinks she is.
There have been plenty of female one-offs who have come off fantastic (even in several Moff episodes- like Nancy) without the writing having to browbeat the viewers into it.
Exactly! Nancy and Sally Sparrow were both terrific. I even rather liked Reinette, though I do enjoy shouting "French trollop!" at the screen during GitF, just for the heck of it. Mrs. Moore in Age of Steel/Rise of the Cybermen is another great example. Impossible Planet/Satan Pit featured a whole team of people who all managed to have a personality that we got to know in a natural-feeling manner. Jabe had only a few minutes of screen time and massive amounts of make up, but she still managed to have more chemistry with the Doctor and more likability than River.
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regna
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Date: 2009-10-08 06:48 am (UTC)Yep! River's specialness is too much tell, almost no show. Also, we get it exclusively from her word, leading us to wonder if she really is as important to the Doctor as she thinks she is.
There have been plenty of female one-offs who have come off fantastic (even in several Moff episodes- like Nancy) without the writing having to browbeat the viewers into it.
Exactly! Nancy and Sally Sparrow were both terrific. I even rather liked Reinette, though I do enjoy shouting "French trollop!" at the screen during GitF, just for the heck of it. Mrs. Moore in Age of Steel/Rise of the Cybermen is another great example. Impossible Planet/Satan Pit featured a whole team of people who all managed to have a personality that we got to know in a natural-feeling manner. Jabe had only a few minutes of screen time and massive amounts of make up, but she still managed to have more chemistry with the Doctor and more likability than River.