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technological
Friday, 24 February 2006 10:19 amSpace Opera! Probably one of my favourite genres in the multiverse, and currently represented in the forefront of my consciousness by two diametrically opposed exemplae: Doctor Who, and Serenity. (Of the latter, incidentally, a rather entertaining detailed recap here). Watching the entire first season of the new Doctor Who has, regrettably, forced me to confront an essential difference in ethos which situates them, roughly, at opposite ends of the Great Science Fiction Spectrum: the one that goes all the way from Red (as in Red Mars, the lovingly-detailed, often dry-as-dust exploration of realistic technology just one step removed from the current) to Violet (the colour of the Tardis's outward-bound time-tunnels. Well, OK, they're closer to blue, but poetic license, people!).
Primarily, despite my adoration of all things Tardisoid, I am currently haunted by a deep philosophical dilemma, viz. where the hell do they go to the bathroom? Or, for that matter, sleep? Do they sleep? Or is life for Rose Tyler and the Doctor (and, latterly, the very cute, slutty and sexually indiscriminate Captain Jack) a process of hopping from one bewilderingy alien experience to another, with no pauses for anything? because, let's face it, the Tardis travels instantly in time and space and leaves little space for catching up on sleep during the journey. From what we've seen during the first season, Rose has eaten a few cups of coffee and some chips, all on Earth, one weird futuristic take-out and some champagne, and hasn't slept at all, although she's been unconscious once or twice. She should be (a) tottering, (b) hallucinating, and (c) dead.
One of the things I really liked about the Firefly universe is its attempt to actually deal with the realities of a space-travelling existence: the crew have individual quarters with slightly icky ablution facilities, a central eating area, a sort of kitchen thingy, and an actual cuisine. The Tardis, despite being a telepathic creature who should damn well be able to figure out what people need, doesn't. Its giant main room, which is all we ever see of it, has a couple of benches and a lot of random struts and shiny crystal widgets. There's a Mysterious Door which leads off into other spaces, and we know that this contains (a) a wardrobe for costumes from different periods, and (b) well, um, nothing else, for all we've seen.
Don't misunderstand me here, I'm not trying to knock Doctor Who, which is working from different genre rules, for different purposes, and which operates within these unrealistic, slightly kooky parameters very successfully. But when I'm involved with a series, it's fairly comprehensively: I like to actively engage with the lives of the characters, to imagine them existing beyond the boundaries of the narrative. The inhabitants of Serenity clearly do. The inhabitants of the Tardis like to pretend they do, but their references to out-of-narrative events are all external to the Tardis - amazing planets visited, etc. The Tardis is not a time-ship, it's a giant narrative McGuffin that allows the arbitrary linkage of exotic locations.
This annoys me, partially because I think it would strengthen the sense of Rose's dislocation for her to have to adapt to weird daily life as well as strange places/times. But mostly it annoys me because I think daily life aboard the Tardis must be interesting, and quirky, and slightly mind-bending, and although I can and do construct those details for myself, I'm never sure they're actually right. I think Doctor Who could be slightly more detailed and realistic about the Tardis without losing its off-the-wall vibe. Is all I'm saying.
*fangirls off*
p.s. how cute. Whedonesque.com is overloaded, and its server tells you "Grrr, aaargh" when it's unable to connect.
Primarily, despite my adoration of all things Tardisoid, I am currently haunted by a deep philosophical dilemma, viz. where the hell do they go to the bathroom? Or, for that matter, sleep? Do they sleep? Or is life for Rose Tyler and the Doctor (and, latterly, the very cute, slutty and sexually indiscriminate Captain Jack) a process of hopping from one bewilderingy alien experience to another, with no pauses for anything? because, let's face it, the Tardis travels instantly in time and space and leaves little space for catching up on sleep during the journey. From what we've seen during the first season, Rose has eaten a few cups of coffee and some chips, all on Earth, one weird futuristic take-out and some champagne, and hasn't slept at all, although she's been unconscious once or twice. She should be (a) tottering, (b) hallucinating, and (c) dead.
One of the things I really liked about the Firefly universe is its attempt to actually deal with the realities of a space-travelling existence: the crew have individual quarters with slightly icky ablution facilities, a central eating area, a sort of kitchen thingy, and an actual cuisine. The Tardis, despite being a telepathic creature who should damn well be able to figure out what people need, doesn't. Its giant main room, which is all we ever see of it, has a couple of benches and a lot of random struts and shiny crystal widgets. There's a Mysterious Door which leads off into other spaces, and we know that this contains (a) a wardrobe for costumes from different periods, and (b) well, um, nothing else, for all we've seen.
Don't misunderstand me here, I'm not trying to knock Doctor Who, which is working from different genre rules, for different purposes, and which operates within these unrealistic, slightly kooky parameters very successfully. But when I'm involved with a series, it's fairly comprehensively: I like to actively engage with the lives of the characters, to imagine them existing beyond the boundaries of the narrative. The inhabitants of Serenity clearly do. The inhabitants of the Tardis like to pretend they do, but their references to out-of-narrative events are all external to the Tardis - amazing planets visited, etc. The Tardis is not a time-ship, it's a giant narrative McGuffin that allows the arbitrary linkage of exotic locations.
This annoys me, partially because I think it would strengthen the sense of Rose's dislocation for her to have to adapt to weird daily life as well as strange places/times. But mostly it annoys me because I think daily life aboard the Tardis must be interesting, and quirky, and slightly mind-bending, and although I can and do construct those details for myself, I'm never sure they're actually right. I think Doctor Who could be slightly more detailed and realistic about the Tardis without losing its off-the-wall vibe. Is all I'm saying.
*fangirls off*
p.s. how cute. Whedonesque.com is overloaded, and its server tells you "Grrr, aaargh" when it's unable to connect.
