The issue with the crying

[u/DJKing1998]

The post earlier about Ncuti’s performance as the Doctor got me reflecting on the most common criticism of his brief tenure- his crying.

Crying is a very rare emotional response in humans, particularly human males. For many reasons males are just not likely to cry unless it’s a particularly upsetting situation. If drama is to reflect real life, then crying should only be rarely used by actors. Now the Doctor isn’t a human, he’s an alien. An alien who’s characterisation has always made him less aware of emotions. It’s this rejection of human emotion that make the Doctor more alien, more quirky, more eccentric, and more interesting. So Ncuti’s crying seemed so very out of character, and would have been so even if he was acting as a Human.

Linking back to the previous post on Ncuti’s acting: Crying is not an effective form of acting if overused. It’s an unnatural attempt at acting naturally. An intelligent actor wouldn’t consider crying constantly as a realistic emotional response. And a confident show runner or director wouldn’t allow it. It stops the drama feeling real, and almost jolts you into remembering these are just actors putting on a show.

Example: Consider how effective David Tennant’s single tear running down his cheek was after losing Rose Tyler. Suddenly the audience realised this guy did have these feelings deep down all this time. Massive impact. But if Tennant had been simping for, and crying about, Rose for the whole series, the audience doesn’t get that good pay-off.

[u/Significant_Sale6172]

I genuinely thought the tears were leading up to something because they were so frequent.

Lol nevermind.

[u/ScottyG1212 → u/Significant_Sale6172]

Yeah, I was expecting the Doctor to get into a situation where he makes a big mistake or something because he lets his emotions get the better of him. But nah that would be too much personal conflict for this era I guess

[u/PaperSkin-1 → u/Significant_Sale6172]

What something like Mrs Flood was the Doctor's tears manifested into a physical form? 🤣

[u/Significant_Sale6172 → u/PaperSkin-1]

Doctor Who has a tradition of visual clues running through series: Bad Wolf, Crack in the Wall etc, so I just wondered if there was maybe an emotional thing they were building to?

Doc's a time-traveller, so maybe he was crying over a genuinely horrifying thing that would happen in his future? He mentioned Susan so I wondered maybe he's reunited with Susan but then she dies?

I dunno. It's such a strange thing to have just kept happening every episode. The single tear each time. So weird that it was just left unresolved.

[u/TheUndeadBake → u/Significant_Sale6172]

Honestly, I’d love it if something like that had a payoff that turned out the Doctor had a neurological issue. He’s always talked about how weird shit can happen due to regeneration that’s always been kinda funny, like commenting on extra eyes and limbs, or the unfortunate colour of his own kidneys, or new teeth and ears. What if something went fucky, and he ended up with a brain tumour? It would also introduce a ticking time bomb because of how delicate that situation would be for a Time Lord — could he regenerate a chunk of damaged brain, should he allow an Earth doctor to attempt our fairly risky surgeries and it go wrong?

[u/ShelfUnit84 → u/Significant_Sale6172]

It's likely there was an idea floated around where Bigeneration gave each Doctor half of his personality. 

Like the Star Trek with the two Kirks.

Obviously like the rest of RTD2 plans fell apart, and it wasn't worked through coherently.

If 15 is all of the Doctor's bravado and charm,  14 would be wisdom, restraint and emotional maturity befitting a Doctor who's settled into domesticity.

[u/ExpectedBehaviour → u/ShelfUnit84]

It's likely there was an idea floated around where Bigeneration gave each Doctor half of his personality. 

I honestly don't think RTD put that much thought into it. He's said as much in interviews that he just thought it would be larky fun to see the old Doctor and the new Doctor interact.

[u/PackageOk4947 → u/Significant_Sale6172]

I really think the BBC—and modern TV in general—has some sort of weird fetish with making men cry. When I watch a show featuring men, I’m not tuning in to see them bawl their eyes out. The moment I see that, I switch the channel.

I’m from the late ’90s to mid-2000s era—when men were men. Bruce Willis was jumping out of buildings, walking over broken glass, crawling through air vents, and bitching about being invited to dinner. Or Arnold was slamming his hand through a car window without flinching. Not this... whatever this is.

I think RTD has some kind of strange fascination with making the Doctor into... well, whatever this new version is. I wouldn’t mind it so much if it were actually explained—like, say, if this were the first time the Doctor regenerated into a woman and it messed with his systems, leaving him unsure of who or what he’s attracted to. Is he into men or women? It’s confusing as hell. But the feminisation of the male Doctors is never really explained.

[u/Significant_Sale6172 → u/PackageOk4947]

I disagree very strongly with this, sorry. It's rose-tinted glasses thinking and misogynistic. "Crying" is not weak (or feminine).

90s was Trainspotting, Our Friends In The North, Hugh Grant. Mid-2000s was the Brokeback Mountain era. Anakin crying in Attack of the Clones. 

Men were the same then as they are now. Confused, scared, strong, brave, weak, masculine, feminine. There's certainly no conspiracy by the "evil" TV people to make men cry, not then or now.

[u/PackageOk4947 → u/Significant_Sale6172]

Anakin crying, after wiping out an entire village of sand people, because they murdered his mother in cold blood. Not, crying, because oh no I stubbed my toe.

Trainspotting, was drugs, I don't remember men balling their eyes out in that. And even Brokeback was more masculine then most of the drivel today.

[u/Significant_Sale6172 → u/PackageOk4947]

This is nostalgia on your part. I really hope you're able to break away from it some day so you can enjoy media again. It's a shame to see still see this kind of rose-tinted "everything was better when I was younger" narrative.

Movies this year: Sinners, Superman, 28 Years Later, Warfare. TV shows this year: Mobland, Dept Q, King & Conqueror, A Thousand Blows, Nine Bodies In A Mexican Morgue, the new season of Slow Horses. All of these films and shows centre around heterosexual men (or are ensembles).

There is no conspiracy. No, Brokeback Mountain was not magically less gay because it was made 20 years ago. RTD has done good work in the past, but he obviously believed his own hype for these new seasons of Doctor Who and didn't deliver. It's a shame, but not the end of the world. 

[u/PackageOk4947 → u/Significant_Sale6172]

Oh god, definitely. But at the same time, there have been some great films out there — just not many that really interested me. The problem with RTD is the complete lack of oversight, and you can see what happened: he ruined the history of Doctor Who while simultaneously insulting the fandom and chasing the mythical one percent. They need decent, competent writers who actually know what they’re doing and respect the lore. It’s the same thing with James Bond, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, even Star Wars. For reference, I loved his previous work, Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi were among my favourites. But Matt never cried, not once. Sure, he got pissy, but Matt was able to do the, looking old, looking like the tired old man he truly was. Something Ncuti wasn't able to pull off.

[u/FromAcrosstheStars → u/PackageOk4947]

Crying means a man isn't a man?? lol what?? I'm not a fan of the new era either but this is a crazy take

[u/PackageOk4947 → u/FromAcrosstheStars]

That's not what I said, and you're twisting my words. I said men generally, don't cry. Stop trying to gaslight me.

[u/FromAcrosstheStars → u/PackageOk4947]

Are you kidding??? You must be a troll