Doctor Who analysis. Oscar Perillo

Doctor Who analysis. Oscar Perillo

 

The doctor who clip, Men are seen as the more dominant gender, however women are capable of turning this around with the power of words, the stereotype being that women will often use words when men are using physical strengths.

 

Opening with a high angle shot over the shoulder of the Master looking down upon Martha connotes the idea that she is imprisoned by him and now beneath him. The tall security guard also helps this, as she appears much smaller in comparison.

 

As the scene starts goes on, we see Martha’s family who have been imprisoned; and the women are seen wearing maid uniforms, and the men are wearing uniforms designed for manual labour. This is the stereotype that men are good at only manual jobs and women are not.

 

The low angle shot of the master from Martha’s perspective implies that he is very powerful and above Martha and this is the idea that men are more powerful than woman and remain dominant over her because he has the power to do so.

 

He commands her to kneel, a symbol of power over someone in all known societies. This very much represents his need to be feared and have power over people; the idea that men are controlling and only consider physical aspects, such as a person kneeling.

 

The clip of rockets edited together is a visual representation of the Master’s power being used for chaotic purposes, as a male character he must be represented as powerful with something physically dangerous such as launching rockets into space to take over the universe.

 

The dark tinted image used during her flash back implies that he had been through some difficult times, the idea now being that she is now becoming more powerful than him because she has been through this difficult act. The use of jump cuts also during this flashback explores once again that she had been through difficult times.

 

The song that introduces the clip is almost Wild West fashioned. This is the idea of a duel about to occur. And the sound gradually builds up until she turns the tables upon him.

 

As Martha starts to sarcastically talk to him, implying that she doesn’t fear him, and that his power is meaningless against her. She is still seen in High angle shots because the master still has control over her but these responses from her imply that his control is only physical. The music builds up to an almost angelic song, the implication being that this is a religious copy, and that she is the saviour and point is also reinforced by his line “is that your weapon? Prayer?” The religious ideal meaning that Martha is the saviour of the human race just as Jesus was.

 

The two stereotypical characters in the scene, Captain Jack and the Master’s wife are seen chanting the doctors name in this, defying their stereotypes as the man hasn’t done something physical and the woman no longer belongs to the Master or is seen as her property. The woman chanting especially implies that she is no longer a servant to the master. She is often seen in mid-shots, meaning that we are always able to see her cleavage and view her as something rather than someone.

 

The moment when the Doctor rises above the master with a high angle shot of the master to represent this change in power combined with loud biblical type angelic singing means that we view him above all in this clip, and this is possible thanks to Martha.  His stance is like Jesus’ when he was crucified showing him off as the saviour for the human race. Another religious point occurs earlier when 

 

The use of a ticking clock is used for suspense during the clip, giving time for Martha to counter the Master’s plan. This countdown is of course a way of building suspense ready for the seen, as if a fight would occur, only we see nothing physical occur.

 

The Master’s final plea for people to obey him: “stop it, I Order you!” is the implication that he has resorted to using words as well as a final attempt and the use of editing to transform the doctor into a younger version of him means that we see the power of prayer in this situation. The scifi Jargon used is an attempt to explain what is occurring.

 

Women are seen at the beginning of the clip, we see women are not in control and silent. The males in the clip are all attempting to assert their dominance through physical movements. This later flips around once Martha starts talking and then we see the effect of her words.