Something random and spoilery about DW

[lizbee]

"The only water in the forest is the river."

It's obviously about the Doctor's other wife, but but it amused me, becase this week, in an RL context, I encountered a person named Forest Song. Which is rather one in the eye for everyone who says that you couldn't possibly get a person named River Song in a real life context, horrible smug Mary Sue bitch etc.



Also watched this morning: my BFF piecesofalice has a video blog about Korean pop culture. And also sometimes wrestling. It's hilarious. And pretty much like hanging out with her in RL, only in real life we don't usually have captions appearing out of thin air to add meta-commentary. Which is a shame.

Comments

[skipthedemon]

My mom had a student named Rainbow Bright once. That's just one of a number of "No, really?" names she's had in her classroom.

I'm guessing whatever the forest is, the Ponds won't be there.

[violetisblue]

I knew a girl in school named Spring Star. And "Song" is a perfectly average Asian surname and "River" is well within the range of possibility, so, I don't get the whinging.

[lizbee]

Well, I don't think the people complaining about her name were really concerned about realism so much as SMUG MARY SUE BITCH etc.

[violetisblue]

Yeah, it is kind of unforgivable when a female character can do things and doesn't despise herself.

[lizbee]

No one ever watched Doctor Who for mysterious time travellers of uncertain origin and agenda.

[infiniteviking]

"The only water in the forest is the river."

And my first thought was 'meaning, not the pond...?'

[lizbee]

Ironically, I didn't even think of the Ponds.

They haven't any ducks, either.

[idlerat]

lolz

[neotoma]

I went to school with a girl named 'Meadow Rose' and her sister was 'Summer Rose'. Do not underestimate the likelihood of people giving their kids off-the-wall names.

Also, I figured by the 51st century, naming conventions might have changed some.

[lizbee]

Indeed.

Plus, I'm pretty sure that River's name is meant to distract the audience from the other oddly-named character in SitL/FotD, Doctor Moon. Since in his case, that's not a name so much as a description.

[idlerat]

I had a theory that I sort of fancied that it was an unusual name for an unusual reason, like that maybe it was a pseudonym and/or maybe she was some sort of meta-figure, like say an Egyptian goddess.

I don't think I ever thought about River and Pond. And he has those comments about Amy's name at the beginning. I still smell meta.

moony thought that the river in the forest alluded to the uploaded record of River in the library (Forest of the Dead), which I thought was quite clever also.

[lizbee]

I've wondered about that last one as well! Especially because River's body would still be there, and it's the only one that hasn't been destroyed by the Vashta Nerada. (The human body is, after all, mostly water.) I'm wondering -- and this is a biiiiiiiiiiiig stretch -- if maybe they're setting up for Eleven, or even some future Doctor -- to go back and find a way to download River back into her body.

My sole bit of actual evidence for this is that I've read, and I don't know the source, that Moff wasn't all that thrilled with River's ending, for pretty much the same reason as the rest of fandom. The motherhood aspect was added in a late draft because the producers were concerned children in the audience would think Donna's children were alone and abandoned.

Also, if that was not River's death, then everything we know about her would be thrown wide open again. EXCITE.

[idlerat]

Yes, similar thoughts about the downloadableness of future!River. I worry a little about the fact that River can't be recast; it depends on her body. I feel like the open-endedness of Doctor plots in the future rather depend on the possibility of new bodies. I wonder how mature Alex Kingston will be allowed to get & still be romantic interest for the new, more commercial, sexier, younger Doctor. But I'm game if they are!

[akashasheiress]

I don't know. Surely, her story has to end sooner or later? Nobody stays forever in DW except the Doctor and the TARDIS. Not saying this because I don't like the character, btw.