One thought.

[elisi]

OK, I am in no fit state to discuss all the ZOMG WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT aspects of the episode.

So for now, all I'll say is WELCOME BACK GAY AGENDA, and... who else is now thinking Canton/Peterson?

I mean, it would add a whole other level to the whole 'Do not compliment the intruder!' business! :)

So, unless it's actually refuted on screen, this will be my canon.

(The rest of the episode will have to wait. My brain is just desperately trying not to implode...)

Comments

[eilowyn.livejournal.com]

I LOVED the gay agenda in this episode. "Mr. President, Canton just wants to get married!" Was there any sign that he was gay earlier? I'm gonna re-watch both episodes together tonight, so I might just answer my own question.

But yes. My brain imploded with the flailing around about this episode. Waiting for it to download was the longes 45 minutes of my life.

[elisi]

Was there any sign that he was gay earlier?
Oh yes:

Canton (about why he was kicked out): "I just wanted to get married."
Amy: "Is that a crime?"
Canton: "Yes."

[ianto-love-jack.livejournal.com]

Lol gay gay gay! Love it when he did the thing with the bow tie!

[elisi]

It was LOVELY, all of it! :D

[liliaeth]

I love how subtle they played it. No stereotypes, nothing to make you shout 'this guy is gay' until he mentions the bit about the person he wanting to marry being a man.

Think this might be the first Mark Shepard character that I actually like.

[elisi]

I love how subtle they played it. No stereotypes, nothing to make you shout 'this guy is gay' until he mentions the bit about the person he wanting to marry being a man.
*nods* I was HOPING he was gay, but - like Nixon suspected - it could perfectly well have been that he was in love with a black woman. Or a Communist or something. Even the little adjustment of the bow tie was something the Doctor engineered, rather than something for people to point to. (Not that I didn't love it, mind you.)

Think this might be the first Mark Shepard character that I actually like.
I've only seen him on Firefly otherwise, where he was a bit of a creep... So yeah, I can agree with that!

[promethia_tenk]

He plays a lawyer on BSG and it is complete and utter win!

[elisi]

One day I shall watch that show...

[promethia_tenk]

Yes, yes you will.

*grin*

[elisi]

And you'll watch Buffy...

;)

[cinderbella333.livejournal.com]

I love Canton. I adore the return of the so-called 'gay agenda' though I say that term with mockery for people who believe us asking for equal rights equals some kind of conspiracy/agenda. Kudos to Moffat for having the guts to link it to the civil rights movement for race. There are a lot of people, particularly in the minority community, here who HATE that they are linked with the LGBT community that way. Definitely not all, but certainly some. So doing that is actually a bit more touchy than one might think. Though, if he were going to do that, I have to admit that it would have had more punch if they actually hadn't been ignoring the civil rights problem of the day for the rest of the two-parter. Meaning, during this time period, *none* of those secret service officers would have been African-American. So it was very weird for me to see Moffat ignore the race-issue for most of the episode and then bring it up at the end. So no, I don't ship Canton/Peterson in my head because if we're going to be accurate to history here, Peterson would have been a white character with color-blind casting in the show. Also, Nixon's line about being liberal about the idea of Canton even marrying a black woman? Completely and utterly out of character for Nixon. In a big, big way. Nixon once said (off the record, though also not) that there were instances that abortion shouldn't be illegal. You know, for things like incest and when black and white people mix. I kid you not. Isn't that horrendous? So to have Nixon even as a fictional character be portrayed as any bit open-minded on this issue... I don't know what I'm asking of Moffat. I definitely appreciate what he was saying for the LGBT community there. However, in some ways, it was really, really downplaying the truly awful racism that was still rampant at that time.

I love Canton. I love that he is brave enough to be rather openly in love with a black man during a time where that could easily get him more than fired, but locked up, or even killed. I love that Moffat and the show were willing to go there. I hate the inequalities in our very recent past (and present) that make the idea of going to the moon seem more accessible than treating everyone like equals. Cheers to the show. Boo to inequality.

[elisi]

I love how you wander in and say all the things I'd say if I had the time. :)

Having just rewatched it, then I'd say that Nixon is definitely rather uncomfortable there at the end - I remember reading about those remarks he made, but in this instance I can see him 'being the politician' and telling someone what they want to hear. Plus, it'd be a perfect example of 'I have piles of interracial couples as friends - ergo, that totally means I can discriminate against them' (that was from someone who wouldn't perform interracial weddings, like, last year!) Anyway, the gay thing clearly threw him (Nixon) a lot...

Anyway, I am wondering how much they've actually re-searched, and mostly think that the episode reflects today's struggles (the way fiction so often does) - gay marriage is a thorny issue in America, so that's what they wrote about (and very well too). History just got a big mangled.

(Again, look at the outrage when Martha's family were all put in servant's uniforms by the Master at the end of S3 - I doubt the problematic nature of this would ever have crossed RTD's mind, nicely proving that colourblindness can be a handicap.)

And now I'm waffling (I've just woken up...) - mostly though, I loved how the show framed it: 'Canton just wants to get married'. Simple enough for a child to understand. Simple enough for children to say 'But why can't he?' And simple enough for any adult to struggle with an answer. Really, you just summed it up beautifully with 'Cheers to the show. Boo to inequality.' :)

[peroxidepirate.livejournal.com]

THIS.

[elisi]

:D

[angearia.livejournal.com]

Love your new journal header! And the visual prompted a thought:

They stand back to back, so that they're never turned away from the Silence surrounding them. Her eyes are his eyes, his eyes are hers. And if they trust each other implicitly (which I think the Doctor does, but he willfully wishes not to because he doesn't know her so how can he trust her?) then they don't need to remember because their other half will.

[elisi]

Mmmm, I love your brain! ♥

[angearia.livejournal.com]

If you think about it, the visual of them back-to-back also symbolizes how they experience time together. They're facing in opposite directions and every time they meet, they trust each other to not spill the beans.

The Doctor is always the one pressing for knowledge from River (spoilers! He can't resist a mystery, especially when he embodies the mystery with his implicit trust of her) -- but it goes both ways as he knows how she'll die.

It makes me think of how one may view marriage as being the person entrusted with your partner's secrets -- only to the point where you know more than your partner does. The Doctor tells Amy his life is in her hands, but it's almost like a willful choice -- he knows his life is already in River's hands, his future is in her mind, and he can't know it. His turning to Amy is part rebellion for how River has control over him always (he'll choose! he's in control!) and part sincerity for his connection to Amy. I love that moment, how Alex Kingston closes her eyes in quiet resignation when he deliberately rejects her and turns to Amy -- she can tell he's acting out, she knows him better than anyone, and she accepts it because there's more important matters.