Quote:
Originally Posted by Oliver_W
I saw it more as a jab at the yoofs who never look up from their screens, though that's the obvious "surface level" read of it.
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Yes and there is an obvious commentary on race, at the surface level, but really the whole thing is a commentary on being guided/controlled by "groupthink" and unwilling to consider things independently. "We can't follow you - you're not like us!", there's clearly yes a comment on race, but the real message is a quite scathing look at the concept of "If you are not of us, you are against us" that prevails in online groups.
The doctor saying "Don't follow the arrows, actually look!"
The girl panicking and shouting "Find me a safe space!!" and generally getting anxious and upset whenever the Doctor asks her to think about the world.
There's a huge comment on (and criticism of) "privileged Western online wokeism" thrown in there - "It's just about OK for us to communicate on screen, but actually TRAVEL with you...?"
I also keep seeing a misinterpretation that she blocks him at the beginning JUST because he's black but that's only part of it - she reacts to what he says, as well... there's a strong implication that she initially blocks him because
he says something that she doesn't want to hear. She also mutes the goth kid who is saying things that she doesn't want to hear or think about.
Also consider the part where she throws someone she supposedly really likes and admires under the bus to save herself without a second thought
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Finally I feel that the end is totally misinterpreted as well with SoMed branding the central character as just some evil racist. I however thought it was very well shot to show that Lindy Pepper-bean herself knows that the doctor is right, deep down actually wants to go with him, knows it would be safer, knows they're probably going to die out in the world because they have no idea what they're doing... but she still goes with them, essentially because of peer pressure, and because they'll turn on her if she dissents from the group consensus.
I honestly think standalone it's an excellent piece of TV. Plays out more like a Black Mirror episode than an episode of Doctor Who. The social media complete misreading that "it was just about racism all along" is such a delicious irony
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My only real criticism is that is seems unlikely that in 2000 years of travelling the universe that this would genuinely shock The Doctor. I know there's an argument that it's because it's the first time he's experienced it first hand but logically, that only makes sense in terms of him interacting with current-day humans as a white/black man ... he's experienced vast amounts of the past and future on planets all across the universe, there's no way he hasn't experienced the same thing from another group at some point. Like there's bound to be a spiny-headed alien out there who was disgusted by his lack of head spines. The end of the episode slightly forgot that The Doctor is not actually human. But RTD is guilty of that quite often. It worked for the storyline, just not entirely for the actual lore of the character.