Representation

No taxation without representation was a rallying cry of sorts in the days leading up to the American Revolution, the American settlers were forced to pay taxes and obey laws, but were unable to have any say in how those taxes and laws were set and spent. One could make a pretty good argument that we are pretty close to a similar situation today, if one were cynical about the state of democracy anyway.

But that isn't what I am here to talk about, I am here to talk about Dr. Who.

Yes there is a new Doctor coming, and it will not be a man this time, in the context of the show it makes sense, it has long been established that when an actor gets bored when the Doctor dies, they regenerate into a new form, with the same basic memories and skills but a different personality, except for they all are pretty much manic and witty, so it really means they just look different.

Anyway this has made many people quite angry, because women don't care about sci-fi, or aren't interesting enough, or maybe- you know what? I couldn't be less interested in their arguments, reading the desperate wailing of misogynistic fanboys is not how even I want to waste my day, and I literally spent dozens of hours over the last two weeks re-watching the entirety of Burn Notice.

The point I am trying to make, if I have one at all, is representation is important, the country was founded on that principle, among others of course. And while including women in "traditionally" men's rolls on TV isn't precisely what the founding fathers were talking about, it is no less important in a lot of ways.

"But Logan" I hear you say, "Stupid time traveling shows aren't important! They are stupid, and dumb, and no one should care who plays the lead!" To this I say "fuck you, get out of my house!" See the thing is we only have these conversations when women intrude on what is traditionally considered men's stuff, the very fact that so many men get upset about it shows how important representation is to people, I mean, they feel like they are losing their influence on a show or genre they love and for some reason build some of their identity around.

Perhaps you have had a similar feeling, perhaps not, but try to imaging that sense of betrayal, justified or otherwise, the sense that the thing you love is no longer for you.

Now imagine that half of the population had a similar feeling for literally their entire lives.

Roll models are important, not just for someone to look up to, but as an expression of how society sees you in the first place. A little boy growing up could see Dr.Who, The Ghostbusters, or an astronaut or something similar, on TV and not only could he think to himself "that could be me" He also got the message that "The world wants me to be that", a woman could watch the same thing and still think the first message, but there was no chance at all of getting the second part.

Until the last few years anyway, suddenly there is a generation that will grow up knowing only a female Ghostbusters team, the Doctor is a woman now, there are good super hero movies and TV shows featuring women. Hell even female politicians are getting louder and demanding more attention, and there are more of them too!

And you know what? People are buying into it, Wonder Woman made basically all the money during its (still ongoing) theater run. about 90% of the remaining powerful characters in Game of Thrones are women and coincidentally the show is better than it has ever been, you know that is no accident. Women are finding representation, and the companies and individuals who are providing it are being rewarded for that, for making an effort.

You could call it a blatant cash grab by the companies involved, and it is to be sure. But it is a cash grab that comes with the side effect of helping to empower half the population, and when everyone grows up seeing that society thinks they can be special, then at least some of them are going to prove society right.