Q. Since popular British science fiction franchise 'Doctor Who' announced their FIRST openly homosexual educated female mixed-race permanent companion, I see all the homophobes have started to emerge from the woodwork. Was this an intentional strategy to smoke them out?
A. In a manner of speaking, no.
Nor was it intended to silence them, because for the most part they're perfectly happy to exercise their right not to express an opinion, nor have an implied opinion imposed upon them.
This was far worse.
Some background first. We're all familiar with the Assertion of Absurdity as something of a dick (dictator) move—a political power play, a form of brainwashing, thought policing, and general social control. The Emperor's New Clothes is a perfect example of this in action: The Emperor, wishing to test the loyalty of his officials, strolls in naked one day and tells them all about the fine new suit he is wearing. His officials, understanding the way the wind is blowing, all agree that it is the finest suit they have ever seen and that he must introduce them to his tailor. He next approaches his lower ranking officials in a similar manner, to a similar end. Finally, he takes to the streets in a marvellous parade to show off his "suit", and everybody applauds and remarks on his excellent taste and style. All except one little boy, who foolishly shouts, "Why does the Emperor have no clothes on?" Everybody looks awkwardly at one another for a moment, taking involuntary steps backwards to distance themselves from the boy. The boy and his family are soon whisked away by the Emperor's guards and summarily executed for insubordination, while everyone else learns (or has reinforced) a most valuable lesson—you can either enthusiastically concur with that which you know to be horse shit, or you can be branded a traitor.
This telling of the story is of course based off of a much earlier Chinese historical event—Hans Christian Andersen clearly missed the point when he penned his own version, as the caution expressed therein is much less pragmatic in contemporary western society.
We did also run into this very same phenomena more recently when we tackled transgender advocacy, and how those who do not wish to be forced into such a dilema feel the war has been brought to them.
Q. So how does this relate to Doctor Who?
A. Thank you; I was just coming to that.
It is very unlikely that any fans of the franchise would have any problem whatsoever with the presence of such a homosexual character. We know this, because they have previously had such characters fill other major roles, and nobody particularly cared one way or the other. In fact there were enough established homosexual characters in the show that they had to specifically add unnecessary qualifiers for the sole purpose of making this one into some kind of groundbreaking milestone.
But it isn't groundbreaking in the least; no glass ceiling has been shattered, and to suggest otherwise is to imply that the last 50 years simply didn't happen, and that homosexuals continue to be deliberately excluded from having any representation at all in the film and TV industry. Furthermore, it strongly advocates for the continual singling out of homosexuals for special treatment in every aspect of their lives—whether they want it or not.
The absurdity element is that to be in disagreement with this, is the non-bigoted stance, yet is also the stance that will have you branded a bigot. You can either enthusiastically concur with that which you know to be horse shit, or you can be branded a traitor.
It is thought policing, pure and simple. The Doctor Who team are not acting in the best interests of the LGBTP community here—they are using them as pawns in a much more nefarious political move, one that endorses and asserts the most twisted anti-human 'virtues' of the political left. Fans of the show would be right to reject this.
It's becoming a remarkably frequent pattern though. Hillary Clinton was laughably set to be the "FIRST female president of the United States," (each of those words being necessary qualifiers) and those that claimed they didn't want a female president, but would have no problem if the president was female, were branded misogynists. In fact, any time anybody that isn't a straight white male achieves anything, it's branded a groundbreaking first, unless that person holds right leaning political opinions, in which case they can go to hell.
Q. Did it occur to you that perhaps the announcement was made in a wholly innocent fashion?
A. Yes. And that would be worse. That would be the Mad Emperor's New Clothes.
Unlike the regular Emperor, the Mad Emperor genuinely believes that he is wearing a fine suit. And when it comes to facing summary execution for being perceived to have the wrong opinion, life is much much easier when you have the luxury of knowing each day what the right and wrong opinions are.
All such bets are off when it comes to the Mad Emperor.
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