“He Had No Idea Where He Got The Crutch From.”
After listing all the Doc quotes I like, it seems only fair (and balanced) to note one I really have a problem with. The average Whovian will have noticed a bias towards quoting from the episodes written by Steven Moffat, probably the best writer on the staff and tapped by Spielberg and Jackson to write the new Tintin movies (which sound fucking excellent, too), and the quote below comes from his “Empty Child” episode from the first season.
The Doctor: 1941. Right now, not very far from here, the German war machine is rolling up the map of Europe. Country after country, falling like dominoes. Nothing can stop it, nothing. Until one tiny, damp little island says “No. No, not here.” A mouse in front of a lion.
Yes, a mouse that spent the previous couple of hundred years invading other continents, slaughtering the natives and building an empire. I’m not taking away from the incredible defence and counterattack that not only protected Britain from Nazi invasion but went on to liberate Europe, not in the slightest. But the fact that I feel I have to drop that disclaimer in shows how difficult it can be to discuss this kind of thing objectively, or in context.
Everyone loves to be the plucky hero, and the Doctor’s words make us all feel warm and fuzzy and patriotic and from a family line of courageous martyrs, but it’s inaccurate and misleading. I don’t like it when the American administration cast themselves in the role of the oppressed, so I can’t condone it when a Brit does it, not least because the kind of person who usually comes out with statements like this in one breath claims to be the underdog, and then feels the need to emphasise how incredibly superior their military and their country is to everyone else’s. You can’t really have it both ways.
Like it or not, Britain wasn’t a tiny damp little island saying no, it was a world-spanning empire of considerable resource and military might, with an economy in a state of total war. Britain hasn’t been a tiny damp little island all on its owney-wone since Henry VIII, if not before. Again, it’s not taking away from the successful defence of the island to point this out, it’s just an attempt to deflate a somewhat disingenuous and borderline jingoistic world-view.
And don’t get me started on the UK’s constant obsession with re-fighting the Second World War generally, and Germany specifically.
In other news, the story about a man dressed in a bin bag attacking the members of a Jedi church has been making the rounds, and I feel a patriotic duty to point out that the parties are fellow countrymen of mine.
Earlier, when Hughes failed to arrive [at court] on time, District Judge Andrew Shaw issued an arrest warrant, adding: “I hope the force will soon be with him.” …Defending, Frances Jones said alcohol was “ruining his life” and he had no idea where he got the crutch from… The judge warned Hughes that jail remained a possibility before adjourning for pre-sentence reports until 13 May.
And if you ask me, they missed a trick by not setting the next court date for May 4th.
