Hello, my pretties! It’s been so long since I’ve spoken with you (all three of you), but this Summer has easily been the most hectic of my life. So I’m currently trying to readjust. While doing so, however, I wanted to fire back up the rantsite and dish on some Who-news that I just received word of via Twitter (I don’t care what anyone says, that site is just plain genius), hopefully I’m not too rusty at wringing my fists in the air while attempting to type words. I have only recently fallen under the spell of the Dr. Who-nomenon (See what I did there?) that has dominated the BBC on-and-off for the better half of the century, and after falling for it, it has become impossible to revert back. David Tennant is my current favorite portrayal of the good Doctor with Matt Smith following closely behind (It takes a LOT of work to make bow ties cool).
Long story short, I’m just starting to get into the show and TRY to understand the YEARS of backstory that come with the character. Part of the appeal of Dr. Who, for me, anyway, is that it is a thoroughly British show with the most strictly British writing teams, fan bases, producers, and talent. It appears to exist much like the Doctor does himself, in a microcosm outside of the norm. For the Doctor, that norm is time and space, as he can transcend either. For the show itself, that norm is Hollywood and hyper-mainstream-American production. Of course, if a product is garnering money, buzz, and cult attention, Hollywood will never be far behind. Just today, news broke of Johnny Depp being in talks to star as the first American Dr. Who in one of the film installments to the series. While multiple bloggers have already weighed in on the obvious casting, my favorite points have still been made by Tom Chivers at the Telegraph. Here’s the article. Basically my problems are as follows:
1. Hollywood will see Depp interested/starring in the role and automatically consider the series to be viable, at which point they will acquire it with their boatloads of money and ruin everything the series has ever strived towards, all in that order.
2. Depp is an American. While I may seem like a Benedict Arnold by renouncing my own American people’s ability to play British, I would submit that we do it all the time. Much flap was made about the casting behind The Last Airbender (which I hear is a really great flick, BWAAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAAA), and I myself have decried the crime that is remaking Let the Right One In a year after the original simply because American audiences don’t fancy subtitles. So I would further like to submit that an American Dr. Who could only work with an extremely adept actor (Depp does pass this qualification relatively easily) who has as expansive a knowledge of the Who-niverse as any British citizen would (Which I doubt Depp has). Dr. Who is so thoroughly ingrained in British culture that you can find references to the series throughout the last 6 decades across all different forms of pop culture. What I’m trying to relate is that a British actor, born and raised in the United Kingdom, will arguably bring a working knowledge and informed relationship to the Doctor that any average American will only be debriefed on in rehearsals and table-reads. Unless, of course, Depp has had a life-long love affair with the series of which I did not know about. I’m always open-minded!
The bottom line is that Dr. Who exists outside of the sphere of Hollywood influence that has SO oftentimes ruined the nearest and dearest characters closest to our hearts. Dr. Who represents a foreign commodity that is not ours. Almost a cultural natural resource of the United Kingdom. And in the last 50 years or so, Hollywood has managed to become a major colonial force in the cultural world. Exploring and acquiring foreign entries into pop culture and twisting them to become thier own. Look at Kath and kim, Death at a Funeral, and Dragonball, just to name a few (This is a great list of roughly 17 total entries from the AV Club). With a penchant for ruining franchises that have experienced great runs on their own, I am extremely trepidatious of this deal, to say the least. That being said, it would be interesting if former Who showrunner Russell T. Davies got all the elements right, properly brought the Doctor overseas and then exploded the phenomenon onto American soil, making the Doctor the most popular he’s ever been. Man, I play a great devil’s advocate.
Tags: Alex Hluch, Art, AV Club, BBC, Benedict Arnold, Britain, cinema, David Tennant, Death at a Funeral, Doctor Who, Dr. Who, Dragonball, Film, Hollywood, Johnny Depp, Kath and Kim, Let the Right One In, Matt Smith, News, Russell T. Davies, The Last Airbender, Tom Chivers, TV, UK, United Kingdom
