- wow, did you just reply to this, or did LJ just totally fail on the e-mail alert?
I cannot even remember what we were discussing anymore, but I can pick up one or two threads.
Which "what"?
The frozen point in time thing. The Doctor's reaction to that is so instinctive and intrinsically part of being a Time Lord that I have a hard time believing he can dismiss it entirely. He can like Jack, respect Jack, value Jack - but there's always that primal "OH HELL NO" reaction on some level, no matter how deeply he buries it. I have to think that informs his overall method for dealing with Jack whether he wants it to or not. It's totally irrational and beyond his control.
Jack seems much more stable than Ten.
Yes, well - okay. You know those elements at the end of the periodic table? Those ones that get created, exist for like a second, and then go poof? Those are also more stable than Ten. ;)
Anyway, I was kind of understating myself. My take on Jack is, in brief, that his involuntary immortality and numerous, numerous deaths have driven him insane. I don't believe any human being could survive what he has with sanity intact, and his behavior on Torchwood consistently indicates that he is quite incapable of viewing the world from any sort of psychological perspective that a sane person could relate to. He is the only constant in his own life and he has lost touch with the idea that other peoples' lives count, too. He occasionally has moments of being able to remember that, but overall, he is one of the most screwed up characters on television and it drives me absolutely mental that the writers completely ignore that in favor of gay jokes.
So, yeah. I don't blame the Doctor for thinking twice about unleashing that on the universe at large any sooner than he can possibly avoid it. Perhaps he hopes that Jack's situation now will drive some sanity back into him and he'll start being able to empathize with other people again. I mean, if you accept the Face of Boe thing, then obviously something at some point went right. Maybe it was that.
. . . I have written about this so many times that at this point I could probably just go right ahead and compile and edit it all and call it a freaking thesis. XD The waste of potential that is Torchwood's take on Captain Jack Harkness really inspires my tl;dr side.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2008-08-14 08:06 pm (UTC)I cannot even remember what we were discussing anymore, but I can pick up one or two threads.
Which "what"?
The frozen point in time thing. The Doctor's reaction to that is so instinctive and intrinsically part of being a Time Lord that I have a hard time believing he can dismiss it entirely. He can like Jack, respect Jack, value Jack - but there's always that primal "OH HELL NO" reaction on some level, no matter how deeply he buries it. I have to think that informs his overall method for dealing with Jack whether he wants it to or not. It's totally irrational and beyond his control.
Jack seems much more stable than Ten.
Yes, well - okay. You know those elements at the end of the periodic table? Those ones that get created, exist for like a second, and then go poof? Those are also more stable than Ten. ;)
Anyway, I was kind of understating myself. My take on Jack is, in brief, that his involuntary immortality and numerous, numerous deaths have driven him insane. I don't believe any human being could survive what he has with sanity intact, and his behavior on Torchwood consistently indicates that he is quite incapable of viewing the world from any sort of psychological perspective that a sane person could relate to. He is the only constant in his own life and he has lost touch with the idea that other peoples' lives count, too. He occasionally has moments of being able to remember that, but overall, he is one of the most screwed up characters on television and it drives me absolutely mental that the writers completely ignore that in favor of gay jokes.
So, yeah. I don't blame the Doctor for thinking twice about unleashing that on the universe at large any sooner than he can possibly avoid it. Perhaps he hopes that Jack's situation now will drive some sanity back into him and he'll start being able to empathize with other people again. I mean, if you accept the Face of Boe thing, then obviously something at some point went right. Maybe it was that.
. . . I have written about this so many times that at this point I could probably just go right ahead and compile and edit it all and call it a freaking thesis. XD The waste of potential that is Torchwood's take on Captain Jack Harkness really inspires my tl;dr side.