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Re: Dr Who and Religion

Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2015 7:38 pm
by KR Wordgazer
I don't know Scribe-world, but perhaps I should define what Sayers means by Story vs. Reading. The Story is the self-expression of the Author to the world. The Reading is what happens when the Story enters into and is entered into by beings other than the Author, who understand or try to understand, interact with and interpret it.

Re: Dr Who and Religion

Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2015 5:24 pm
by met
KR Wordgazer wrote:I don't know Scribe-world, but perhaps I should define what Sayers means by Story vs. Reading. The Story is the self-expression of the Author to the world. The Reading is what happens when the Story enters into and is entered into by beings other than the Author, who understand or try to understand, interact with and interpret it.
Likely, the best tip we ever got - handed down from this prof through one of her students - was to carefully re-situate your reader after every chapter ending or scene break, ie don't disorient readers who may (or may not) have just picked up your story again after an indefinite period.

Re: Dr Who and Religion

Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 5:02 am
by Metacrock
KR Wordgazer wrote:Sigh. I guess no one else here is a Doctor Who fan. But I would think it might be interesting to talk in general about fictional characters with deity-like characteristics. What other characters fit the bill? What is the allure of such characters, and what are the weaknesses of using them in film or literature?

Any takers?

I can't believe that no one here reads anything but philosophy! :mrgreen:
why would I say I love dr who if i'm not a fan?

I took about 27 hours in lit at graduate level a lot of that involved lit crit. in fact most of postmodernism at that time was lit crit. but that stuff was over 20 years ago.

Re: Dr Who and Religion

Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2015 12:26 am
by Superfund
The messiah confronts his ancient enemy; (A Particular nasty version of Krishnamurti's "thinker" imho.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGzUNlP4WUY

Re: Dr Who and Religion

Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 2:51 pm
by Metacrock
Superfund wrote:The messiah confronts his ancient enemy; (A Particular nasty version of Krishnamurti's "thinker" imho.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGzUNlP4WUY
hey that's pretty good. one of my favorite Tom Baker's. :D

Re: Dr Who and Religion

Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2015 11:56 am
by Michael Hill
KR Wordgazer wrote:In a television series run by atheists and which criticizes religion, the main character in many ways is a religious figure, even a kind of Messiah. Check out this article:

http://www.themarysue.com/doctor-who-theism/

Any thoughts?
They said the same of Charlie Brown and Superman.

Dr Who is someone who goes around "fixing the Universe" and also defending the Earth.

Re: Dr Who and Religion

Posted: Sun May 08, 2016 7:39 am
by The Pixie
I appreciate this thrread is neary a year old, but I was on thiese fora then, so here is my belated response.

Dr Who as messiah?
As the centerpiece of the show, The Doctor operates like a monotheistic deity (i.e. Jesus Christ) who possesses incredible power, knowledge, and an uncanny ability to resurrect himself in the face of death. He often travels many miles to spread truth and illuminate the minds of those who are lost.
Fair comment, and this is a problem with the modern show. Not that I object to messiahs on TV (it is fiction afterall), but because it loses the dramatic impact if he is all powerul. For once I agree with Metacrock that the fourth doctor was the best. He (like all the original doctors) was not powerful, and while he knew a lot, there were plenty of things he did not know.

Re: Dr Who and Religion

Posted: Sun May 08, 2016 9:35 pm
by met
We don't have TV - ya hear that, Pixie? - but a friend visiting from Ottawa hooked us up with some episodes last summer, which had me thinking about this thread. I forgot to post about it, however.

Seems like they want to move the latest Dr. away from his Messianic/Savior/Good Guy role somewhat. One episode had him stand aside and let mankind decide for themselves if they wanted to blow the moon out of the sky when it turned out to really be a huge egg from an long-lived interstellar creature that was about to hatch. :) Another once had him trying to humanize a Dalek by using his own consciousness, but then discovering that (for the Dalek anyway) his real deepest impulse was a intractable hatred of the entire species that leads the Dalek to go on a murderous rampage against his own kind.