The Forty-First Mikhail
The Tenth Doctor was the Crown Prince of emo.
This was a man who has saved the lives of friends, family, cities, civilizations, planets, and once the existence of the universe. He owns a machine that lets him travel to almost anywhere in time and space, seeing sights and having adventures no one else can match. On top of that, he enjoyed a fulfilling if unconsummated romantic relationship with a woman 880 years his junior, as well as brief flings with the likes of Madame de Pompadour and Queen Elizabeth I.
But, we’re expected to believe that his life sucks, and that somehow he didn’t get properly rewarded for his efforts.
My point here, is not a lengthy rant about how David Tennant’s Doctor was written. He had moments of charm and brilliance, and I’d watch him before Colin Baker most any day. No, his last episode led me to look at my own regeneration. We all do it, you know; though for most of us, the process is far less dramatic. Still, I don’t look, act, or think much like I did when I was sixteen.
Oh, there’s continuity there: I have plenty of memories from that time, and some of my quirks and mannerisms from back then remain in my personality. I certainly look more like I did at the time than Christopher Eccleston looks like Jon Pertwee. But like the Doctor or the Master, I’m simultaneously the same person and not.
Honestly, I’m pleased with the majority of the changes in myself, though I sometimes with I still had my teenage body. (Perhaps a little less scrawny, though.) I prefer being more experienced with life, and perhaps having a touch more wisdom. Being older is the price I have to pay, and since the only other offered option is being six feet under, I’ll take it gladly. Someone should have pointed out to the Tenth Doctor that getting to live a life of daring adventure, plus not having to die when all the rest of us do, doesn’t suck as much as he insisted it did.
Tags: doctor who, philosophy, tv
Heh. That reminds me of a tweet from Warren Ellis the day EoT part 2 aired: Ah, Doctor Who. Hoping the next Doctor doesn’t have his doctorate in FUCKING CRYING. A lot of what I like about Tennant’s Doctor is rooted in the utter ridiculousity of the whole thing though, so I don’t mind so much.
I’m reminded of who I’ve been quite regularly though. Part of it has to do with having friends whom I’ve known for more than 20 years. We watched each other be complete idiots and then we watched each other grow into a semblance of something mature. We can appreciate each other now like we weren’t able to before. I’ve been told on several occasions by several different people that I’m not who I used to be. As if that was a phrase that was supposed to hurt me. Of course I’m not. I wouldn’t want to be. I’m almost not the person I was yesterday, and I like it that way. If I ever stop learning and growing and changing, I might as well just give up.
Heh. That reminds me of a tweet from Warren Ellis the day EoT part 2 aired: Ah, Doctor Who. Hoping the next Doctor doesn’t have his doctorate in FUCKING CRYING. A lot of what I like about Tennant’s Doctor is rooted in the utter ridiculousity of the whole thing though, so I don’t mind so much.
I’m reminded of who I’ve been quite regularly though. Part of it has to do with having friends whom I’ve known for more than 20 years. We watched each other be complete idiots and then we watched each other grow into a semblance of something mature. We can appreciate each other now like we weren’t able to before. I’ve been told on several occasions by several different people that I’m not who I used to be. As if that was a phrase that was supposed to hurt me. Of course I’m not. I wouldn’t want to be. I’m almost not the person I was yesterday, and I like it that way. If I ever stop learning and growing and changing, I might as well just give up.
Heh. That reminds me of a tweet from Warren Ellis the day EoT part 2 aired: Ah, Doctor Who. Hoping the next Doctor doesn’t have his doctorate in FUCKING CRYING. A lot of what I like about Tennant’s Doctor is rooted in the utter ridiculousity of the whole thing though, so I don’t mind so much.
I’m reminded of who I’ve been quite regularly though. Part of it has to do with having friends whom I’ve known for more than 20 years. We watched each other be complete idiots and then we watched each other grow into a semblance of something mature. We can appreciate each other now like we weren’t able to before. I’ve been told on several occasions by several different people that I’m not who I used to be. As if that was a phrase that was supposed to hurt me. Of course I’m not. I wouldn’t want to be. I’m almost not the person I was yesterday, and I like it that way. If I ever stop learning and growing and changing, I might as well just give up.
Heh. That reminds me of a tweet from Warren Ellis the day EoT part 2 aired: Ah, Doctor Who. Hoping the next Doctor doesn’t have his doctorate in FUCKING CRYING. A lot of what I like about Tennant’s Doctor is rooted in the utter ridiculousity of the whole thing though, so I don’t mind so much.
I’m reminded of who I’ve been quite regularly though. Part of it has to do with having friends whom I’ve known for more than 20 years. We watched each other be complete idiots and then we watched each other grow into a semblance of something mature. We can appreciate each other now like we weren’t able to before. I’ve been told on several occasions by several different people that I’m not who I used to be. As if that was a phrase that was supposed to hurt me. Of course I’m not. I wouldn’t want to be. I’m almost not the person I was yesterday, and I like it that way. If I ever stop learning and growing and changing, I might as well just give up.
Heh. That reminds me of a tweet from Warren Ellis the day EoT part 2 aired: Ah, Doctor Who. Hoping the next Doctor doesn’t have his doctorate in FUCKING CRYING. A lot of what I like about Tennant’s Doctor is rooted in the utter ridiculousity of the whole thing though, so I don’t mind so much.
I’m reminded of who I’ve been quite regularly though. Part of it has to do with having friends whom I’ve known for more than 20 years. We watched each other be complete idiots and then we watched each other grow into a semblance of something mature. We can appreciate each other now like we weren’t able to before. I’ve been told on several occasions by several different people that I’m not who I used to be. As if that was a phrase that was supposed to hurt me. Of course I’m not. I wouldn’t want to be. I’m almost not the person I was yesterday, and I like it that way. If I ever stop learning and growing and changing, I might as well just give up.
Heh. That reminds me of a tweet from Warren Ellis the day EoT part 2 aired: Ah, Doctor Who. Hoping the next Doctor doesn’t have his doctorate in FUCKING CRYING. A lot of what I like about Tennant’s Doctor is rooted in the utter ridiculousity of the whole thing though, so I don’t mind so much.
I’m reminded of who I’ve been quite regularly though. Part of it has to do with having friends whom I’ve known for more than 20 years. We watched each other be complete idiots and then we watched each other grow into a semblance of something mature. We can appreciate each other now like we weren’t able to before. I’ve been told on several occasions by several different people that I’m not who I used to be. As if that was a phrase that was supposed to hurt me. Of course I’m not. I wouldn’t want to be. I’m almost not the person I was yesterday, and I like it that way. If I ever stop learning and growing and changing, I might as well just give up.
Heh. That reminds me of a tweet from Warren Ellis the day EoT part 2 aired: Ah, Doctor Who. Hoping the next Doctor doesn’t have his doctorate in FUCKING CRYING. A lot of what I like about Tennant’s Doctor is rooted in the utter ridiculousity of the whole thing though, so I don’t mind so much.
I’m reminded of who I’ve been quite regularly though. Part of it has to do with having friends whom I’ve known for more than 20 years. We watched each other be complete idiots and then we watched each other grow into a semblance of something mature. We can appreciate each other now like we weren’t able to before. I’ve been told on several occasions by several different people that I’m not who I used to be. As if that was a phrase that was supposed to hurt me. Of course I’m not. I wouldn’t want to be. I’m almost not the person I was yesterday, and I like it that way. If I ever stop learning and growing and changing, I might as well just give up.
Heh. That reminds me of a tweet from Warren Ellis the day EoT part 2 aired: Ah, Doctor Who. Hoping the next Doctor doesn’t have his doctorate in FUCKING CRYING. A lot of what I like about Tennant’s Doctor is rooted in the utter ridiculousity of the whole thing though, so I don’t mind so much.
I’m reminded of who I’ve been quite regularly though. Part of it has to do with having friends whom I’ve known for more than 20 years. We watched each other be complete idiots and then we watched each other grow into a semblance of something mature. We can appreciate each other now like we weren’t able to before. I’ve been told on several occasions by several different people that I’m not who I used to be. As if that was a phrase that was supposed to hurt me. Of course I’m not. I wouldn’t want to be. I’m almost not the person I was yesterday, and I like it that way. If I ever stop learning and growing and changing, I might as well just give up.
Okay, so I’m late to comment. I don’t LJ regularly anymore. Anyway…
This is a really good point, Michael. It’s something that I’ve been reflecting on because I’m in the middle of a regeneration right now. I don’t know who I’ll be when it finishes, but I do know there’s continuity.
I hadn’t thought of it in Doctor Who terms, but I think it’s an apt way of describing it. Thanks for the analogy!
Okay, so I’m late to comment. I don’t LJ regularly anymore. Anyway…
This is a really good point, Michael. It’s something that I’ve been reflecting on because I’m in the middle of a regeneration right now. I don’t know who I’ll be when it finishes, but I do know there’s continuity.
I hadn’t thought of it in Doctor Who terms, but I think it’s an apt way of describing it. Thanks for the analogy!
Okay, so I’m late to comment. I don’t LJ regularly anymore. Anyway…
This is a really good point, Michael. It’s something that I’ve been reflecting on because I’m in the middle of a regeneration right now. I don’t know who I’ll be when it finishes, but I do know there’s continuity.
I hadn’t thought of it in Doctor Who terms, but I think it’s an apt way of describing it. Thanks for the analogy!
Okay, so I’m late to comment. I don’t LJ regularly anymore. Anyway…
This is a really good point, Michael. It’s something that I’ve been reflecting on because I’m in the middle of a regeneration right now. I don’t know who I’ll be when it finishes, but I do know there’s continuity.
I hadn’t thought of it in Doctor Who terms, but I think it’s an apt way of describing it. Thanks for the analogy!
Okay, so I’m late to comment. I don’t LJ regularly anymore. Anyway…
This is a really good point, Michael. It’s something that I’ve been reflecting on because I’m in the middle of a regeneration right now. I don’t know who I’ll be when it finishes, but I do know there’s continuity.
I hadn’t thought of it in Doctor Who terms, but I think it’s an apt way of describing it. Thanks for the analogy!
Okay, so I’m late to comment. I don’t LJ regularly anymore. Anyway…
This is a really good point, Michael. It’s something that I’ve been reflecting on because I’m in the middle of a regeneration right now. I don’t know who I’ll be when it finishes, but I do know there’s continuity.
I hadn’t thought of it in Doctor Who terms, but I think it’s an apt way of describing it. Thanks for the analogy!
Okay, so I’m late to comment. I don’t LJ regularly anymore. Anyway…
This is a really good point, Michael. It’s something that I’ve been reflecting on because I’m in the middle of a regeneration right now. I don’t know who I’ll be when it finishes, but I do know there’s continuity.
I hadn’t thought of it in Doctor Who terms, but I think it’s an apt way of describing it. Thanks for the analogy!
Okay, so I’m late to comment. I don’t LJ regularly anymore. Anyway…
This is a really good point, Michael. It’s something that I’ve been reflecting on because I’m in the middle of a regeneration right now. I don’t know who I’ll be when it finishes, but I do know there’s continuity.
I hadn’t thought of it in Doctor Who terms, but I think it’s an apt way of describing it. Thanks for the analogy!