S
I was waiting till after my campaign to write this essay. It will be a short essay on how the Doctor (or the Daleks) made me better. Yes, it's a Doctor Who thing, but get over it. We all need something to believe in. For some people it's God, for some it's Cows, for some it's being a Jedi (which I'm totally serious about. See polls of religions in Britain and Jedi is on there). While I identify as Jewish, I believe more in the Doctor, the good of the human race and the paranormal. This is about the Doctor. How stories can really help all of us.As I've stated previously, Doctor Who was always on the periphery of my life. I knew what it was, who was involved and vaguely what it was about. I would watch the Christmas specials when I lived in England and just enjoyed the odd story or two. It wasn't until this year that it made an effect on me in a big way and partially it was because of him.
He and I were close once and he loved Doctor Who. In fact, just after Christmas he showed me the little Tardis he received as a present. He's English, you see and I miss the English. When he left, I think that's when I really got into the Doctor because I miss Britain so much. Doctor Who is so British sometimes that it isn't funny (Tea actually heals the Doctor at one point). So, I started following Doctor Who and the Tardis on Facebook because of this:
When the Daleks got introduced in the first season, that's when I fell in love with the show. I love the complexity of them. How they are so driven by hatred for everything that isn't Dalek, yet their confusion when they are free. Whenever the Daleks show up in a season, that is usually my favorite episode. They aren't elegant, they are singularly driven and sometimes they are humorous like when they serve tea in World War II. The first episode of season 7, "Asylum of the Daleks," was my favorite because it made me cry. You can see it here. That episode had so much to do with a fractured mind that I could relate to it.
As for the Doctor, he is the loneliest man in the universe. I felt that someone understood the depth of isolation that I felt. I like 10 and 11, but I love 9 because he was so strange looking. The Doctor, like all humans, needs someone to offset himself with. The Doctor is better with someone, not necessarily a lover, but he needs a companion. I need a companion and I'm not talking about a pet, I'm talking about a deeply affectionate friend. My fear is that I will never have one again because I, like the Doctor, have lost companions. None of them have died, but they have left. I remember all of them. He was my Rose Tyler in a way. I lost him and I'm alone again.
Doctor Who is a story. We're all stories in the end. Maybe that's why I'm a historian, to read and write stories. Just because the Doctor is an alien doesn't mean that he doesn't possess all the good and bad traits that humans do. They are just shown under extreme circumstances. Compassion is not a weakness, but a strength. The Doctor even shows compassion to the Daleks, his worst enemy.
The Doctor helped me through this hell that was forced upon me. It taught me that we are all important and have a part to play. We can miss someone, but we have to carry forward. Maybe, if we're very lucky, they will come back. Thank you, Doctor.
S
