This morning, I found a post on one of the very very select few remaining internet forums I frequent that asked for other forum-goers opinions of the new Doctor (Matt Smith) on Doctor Who. The opening post described how that poster had watched a few episodes of the new Series 5 of DW in hopes of Matt Smith growing on her; she said in so many words that he hadn't and she was beginning to cringe every time he came onscreen. She wanted to know if anyone else felt this way. People came out of the woodwork to post that yes, they, too felt adverse to Matt Smith, that they couldn't bring themselves to watch it at all, or that they were actively boycotting the new series because of Matt Smith and had invented inside jokes that basically demeaned his performance.
For a few minutes I debated about whether or not to post. As one infamously anonymous person once said: "Don't feed the trolls." It has been many years since I was involved in an internet debate. I knew it wouldn't be smart to get involved. But I just had to. So I took my time developing a reply that would be clean-cut and hopefully a bit more eloquent than the previous posts. Essentially, what I said was that once you let go of looks, the writing, the actor himself, and any attachment you've had to previous performers... the Doctor is, at the end of the day, the Doctor. And if you stop loving the Doctor because he looks different, sounds different, and acts a bit different, then you missed something. The argument that he isn't "your" Doctor is irrelevant to me. That's like going back to a Doctor before our current time and discrediting those early actors' rights to the role because they aren't "yours". It doesn't really matter who he is. It doesn't. We think it does, but that's because we're human and our brains can only handle so much. If he is the Doctor, then nothing else matters. And right now Matt Smith is. And if you can't deal with it, then maybe it is better that you don't bother. But it'll be your loss.
I can't fathom someone loving the Doctor and then "quitting" that love because they don't like the details. Remember when Richard Harris died, and they replaced him in Harry Potter with Michael Gambon as Dumbledore? Yes, they are both venerable and skilled actors. Yes, Dumbledore is super important and NEEDED to be replaced so that he could participate in furthering the story. Yes, it was 'real life.' But raise your hand if you didn't have a hard time, even for a moment, getting used to Michael Gambon's portrayal versus Richard Harris'. I did. I definitely did. Richard Harris had the twinkle in his eye (literally!), the grandfatherly demeanor, and the bemusement in his voice. But Michael Gambon had the control, the confidence, and the infinite understanding that Dumbledore in later movies would need. So yes. Dumbledore was regenerated. But because he was STILL DUMBLEDORE, no one really spoke up about it. Not in a big way, at least. Do you get what I'm saying?
This brings me to another point about fandom. This Matt Smith debacle is also reminiscent of when "The Fans" reacted to the epilogue in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I specifically remember hearing people say (or reading it online) that (and this is just me paraphrasing what I remember) "the entire series was rendered totally worthless because of that epilogue. Right down to the names of the children, that epilogue ruined everything for everyone and J.K. Rowling should be ashamed of herself." Really? She should be ashamed of ruining your favorite series for you? She invented that world. Those are her characters. They have never belonged to you, no matter how much fanfiction you wrote. I'm all in favor of fanfiction. I know what it's like to love a character so much you have to do something about it, or to see an opportunity for someone in a story that doesn't get what you think they deserve. Fanfiction is dangerous, but useful. But the thing is, writing fanfics doesn't make them yours. It gives you an opportunity to investigate or discover a new side or incarnation of those characters, those stories, that world. But they do not -- THEY DO NOT -- belong to you. People tend to forget that. Another thing people tend to forget is that Harry Potter books recreated magic for our generations. Before that, older generations had Tolkien and the great fantasy writers of the 60's, and before that, it's my understanding that the genre of fantasy was very small and lumped in with other genres altogether. It's true that before good ol' J.K. sat down at a café to write a novel on napkins there were other fantasy books and authors out there. I've been reading fantasy my whole life. But it was Harry Potter that became a true household name, a social phenomenon, a subculture-turned-mainstream. Magic had been totally reborn. Can you imagine life now without Harry Potter? What would current pop culture be like? Not to mention the innumerable children inspired to read more and read better by the series. It really changed things.
So I'll admit here that in the dawn of this magic revolution I was ALL OVER the fanfiction, fanaticism and fan discussion of Harry Potter. At the age of thirteen I wrote a novel-length fanfic that for the most part was totally awful (of course) but happened to be extremely important to me at the time. Then I began to see how crazy the online forums had become, how cruel and unnecessary the commenting on other people's work was. It wasn't fair. I looked at myself as an aspiring author, and realized that the world I just spent so much time in belonged to someone else entirely, and rightfully so. I quit fanfiction and never looked back. Well, sure, sometimes I do a one-shot flash fiction of a character or storyline I can't get out of my head. But I know now there's a line between my relationship to/understanding of the character and the character as the proper author meant it to be.
I'm not saying all fanfic authors are bogus. A number of them are extremely talented at what they do. In my opinion, these are the authors that tend to write characters and situations as the reader already knows them -- familiarity to the 'canon' if you will. Realistic. Thorough. Passionate but similar to the original source.
To sum up, I have spent all day considering this peculiar issue of fandom and person-to-character relationships. The issue of fanfiction, I know, is dangerous and delicate. But mostly, the incident this morning just blew my mind to think that people on a forum that has absolutely NOTHING to do with Doctor Who or television were so eager to discredit a young, very talented, very genuine actor, and, by proxy, the production team that supports him. As an actor, too, that's absolutely disheartening and downright painful.
If I had two hearts, one might have broken at the way these fans are treating the Doctor.
Can't we all just get along?
