I didn't mind Jack in Who
River was ok at first
The virus is spreading....
As long as there is no Missy praise I'm fine LOL.
My resentment of her and "official" fandom and geek culture's praising of her seeps into my opinions about other characters in other franchises. Seriously. Whenever I look at versions of characters like Topher Grace's Venom or Jared Leto's Joker or Morbius that are deemed poor and get absolutely savaged by stupid websites like Den of Geek, or BGCC, or youtubers or twats on Reddit who all adore Missy I get bitter. I think "well would you have rather Leto played it as a horny Disney character? A bondagey Donald Duck for instance?"
That's where Missy I think is a special case compared to the others. She is
objectively bad. You can make a case for Jack or even Adric being good that does just come down to taste. "I liked that Adric never really fitted in" vs "he was annoying" or "I liked Jack's flirty,old school cheesy heroism" vs "I thought it was off putting and annoying." Similarly Mel "I thought she was cute in a dorky way" vs "She was shrill and annoyingly wimpy." River? "I liked her romantic relationship with the Doctor" vs "no that was inappropriate and she was too smug." etc.
Missy however? No she is bad from all angles. I'm sorry to say that there is absolutely no justification you can make for her being good. You can still enjoy her sure, but only in the sense of you're enjoying something that you know is shit, which plenty of people do all the time. One of my favourite films Split Second objectively has lots of holes in it, but I don't care as it's such fun. If people said that about Missy then fine, but it's this bullshit insanity that she is the best Master that drives me up the wall and like I said makes me bitter. It's kind of like how people who appreciate proper art feel about modern art. Just as plenty of art fans get depressed at shiesters like that git who cut a Shark in half becoming millionaires whilst genuinely talented people languish in obscurity, then yes I get pissed at great characters, or again even poor versions like Leto's Joker coming in for more shit whilst she is celebrated by these shills despite being every bit as objectively poor as the cut in half Shark.
Of course again I'm sure some would say "you can't say she is objectively bad it's all taste" but no she is objectively bad in every way. Yes a lot of things do come down to taste, but there are objective truths as well.
To start with Missy is 100 percent objectively NOT the Master the character she is supposed to be, and the objective proof of that is that in order to say she is, people have now had to literally rewrite the history of the character in official documents and websites to say that Roger f*cking Delgado wanted to boink Jon Pertwee to make her fit, or best of all that one guy on Gallifrey Base who said that the burned Master in Keeper of Traken wanted to dry hump and rape Tom Baker and that's what he does to Tremas at the end. His comment got like 50 likes by the way.
To be honest even the less extreme examples, that claim the Delgado Master was Pertwee's friend and never showed any ill will towards him and his plans were just an excuse to hang out with him. That's absolute shit as well that is demonstrably not true to anyone who has watched the Pertwee era. (Ironically the only actual reading of the Master/Doctor relationship that did have affection, was the idea that they were brothers, which Delgado came up with, but Missy completely and utterly destroys that decades long reading once and for all too.) Even other things like tv tropes claiming after Delgado the Master never fought with the Doctor physically to make Missy fit are demonstrable lies. Every f*cking version from the burned Master to Simm has an iconic moment where they are fighting with the Doctor physically. In fact I'd argue that the iconic moment for Ainley is the end of Survival.
Unlike Simm however Missy doesn't even work as a reinvention. Like I said Simm doesn't follow on from the previous Masters due to the drums retcon, the change in relationship with Tennant, more unhinged manic persona and status as a tragic villain etc. Those are all again objective contradictions. However you can see how if New Who had been a remake, or if you do view it as a loose reboot, Simm is still a proper adaptation of the Master. He fulfills the same role of the Doctors Moriarty/dark twin, he has the same motivation to conquer the galaxy, same manipulative streak with Lucy Saxon, same powers of hypnosis, same cowardice, same themes of staving off his own death at other people's expense etc.
Missy however doesn't even work in that context. She doesn't fulfill the same role of being his Moriarty, she has 0 of his powers like hypnosis, doesn't have the same motive etc. At most she could work in a really experimental remake like Flashpoint or something where things are meant to be f*cked up and different, but she's not meant to be that, in fact unlike Simm they REALLY try and link her to the original, having her fight UNIT and the Brig's daughter and be shot by the Brig, rather than new characters like Jack, Martha and Wilf, so that's less of an option with her. (To be honest she sucks as a version of the Simm Master, never mind Delgado. Reducing his complex relationship to I want to f*ck the Doctor, and ignoring the end of his arc in The End of Time and his previous motives to conquer the galaxy, and the drums etc.)
Meanwhile as we all know she did objectively represent shallow, neo liberal identity politics taking over the franchise which surely now I can say without any fear of being called a bigot was disastrous for the show? She absolutely represented the point where the obnoxious SJW freaks went from being a fringe minority that people laughed at to DW's target audience and the fandom became the shit show it is today.
Also here's the funniest thing. Objectively she is a bad villain from a female empowerment angle. She is a throwback to the absolute worst, sexist cliches of female villains that were so old hat, the Adam West Batman series used to take the absolute piss out of them. The female villain whose entire motivation, reason for being etc is to want to shag the male hero or win him round or be with him. That's it, and the only way she can combat him is to use sex to throw him, and she is also a bunny boiler and she is later redeemed by him and easily forgiven for her horrendous sins because duh, she's just a woman and they don't know what they're doing, they're so simple and cute.
Again this isn't open for debate. Look at Moffat's own words!
There’s this issue you’re not allowed to discuss: that women are needy. Men can go for longer, more happily, without women. That’s the truth. We don’t, as little boys, play at being married – we try to avoid it for as long as possible. Meanwhile women are out there hunting for husbands.Is it any wonder he wrote the female Master like this? I'd argue Missy is even worse than the old examples of this trope from the 30s and 40s as she is a female version of a male villain who used to want to conquer the galaxy from Delgado to Simm, but now that he has become a woman he wants to shag his male archenemy and is more sensitive so he cries? That is like a sexist joke in the pub "if John Simm became a chick he'd want to shag David Tennant." Meanwhile Missy also comes in a post Xena and Buffy world where we'd had female villains who do have proper motivations beyond shagging the male hero, were genuinely deadly in ways that weren't to do with their sexuality, had big plans, explored deeper themes than the writer cranking his meat whilst writing about a dominatrix and were genuinely menacing.
Here dialogue between Xena and her female archfoe Callisto, whose village Xena raided as part of an army which got out of control and led to it burning down and Callisto's family dying.
Callisto: “I’m good! As good as you-- and why not? You made me.”
Xena: “It was you who shot me with that poison dart.”Callisto: “Yes-- you see, it left me free to revive your reputation
as a wonton killer of women and children.”
Xena: “I never killed women and children.”
Callisto: “Well-- you have now.”
Xena: “What did you mean when you said, ‘I made you.’?”
Callisto: “Do you remember Cirra?”Callisto: “Oh, the good Xena. What happened to you? One day you
just decided to fight for justice?”Xena: “Something like that.”Callisto: “And all the shattered people you left behind were now
supposed to cheer you, is that it?”
Xena: “No. What happened to you was terrible. It was my fault
and I’m sorry.”Callisto: “Oh-- well! That makes _all_ the difference. And now, we
can be the best of friends. [Spits] That’s what I think of
your apology.”
Gabrielle: “Xena! Xena-- Melas has gone crazy. He’s organizing a
lynch mob.”
Callisto: “Well, I’m not afraid to die, if that’s what you’re worried
about. What about you, Xena? How will you feel to see your
creation executed without a fair trial, hmm?”
Gab: “Don’t listen to her, Xena. You can’t torture yourself
over what she’s become.”Callisto: “No, no, no, of course not. No, it’s not her fault at all
that I dream every night of my mother’s _screams_ coming from
my burning home! You tell me Xena, do you sleep will at
night?!”
Xena: “No, I don’t. What would you do if I let you go?”
Gab: “What are you doing?”Xena: “I changed; so can she.”
Gab: “No, her heart has been eaten away by hatred.”
Callisto: “The sight, just the sight, of Xena, Warrior Princess,
arguing on my behalf amuses me so-- let me tell you. Let me
answer your question of what I would do if you let me go. You
let me go, and I will dedicate my life to killing everything
you’ve loved-- your friends, your family, your reputation, even
your horse.”Now let's take a look at Missy's dialogue.
DOCTOR: How did you get hold of Time Lord technology? Who are you?
MISSY: You know who I am. I told you. You felt it. Surely you did.
DOCTOR: Two hearts.
MISSY: And both of them yours.
DOCTOR: You're a Time Lord.
MISSY: Time Lady, please, I'm old-fashioned.
DOCTOR: Which Time Lady?
MISSY: The one you abandoned, Doctor. The one you left for dead. Didn't you ever think I'd find my way back?
DOCTOR: Clara. Clara. Clara. I've got to get Clara!
(The Doctor runs to the lift door.)
MISSY: Oh, Clara, Clara, Clara! You know I should shoot you in a jealous rage. Now, wouldn't that be sexy?MISSY: You saved me.
DOCTOR: I saved Gallifrey.
MISSY: Yes, Gallifrey too, I suppose. There's always collateral damage with you and me. It's our Paris.MISSY: (Cockney) Computer helpline, love. That's the one. Best helpline in the universe.
DOCTOR: You put us together.DOCTOR: Why?
MISSY: Cos she's perfect, innit? The control freak and the man who should never be controlled. You'd go to hell if she asked. And she would. The phone's ringing, Doctor. Can you hear that? Now that is the sound of your chain being yanked. Heel, Doctor! (as Clara) Help me, Doctor. Help me. Help me, Doctor.
DOCTOR: Nobody can have that power.
MISSY: You will, because you don't have a choice. There's only way you can stop these clouds from opening up and killing all your little pets down here. Conquer the universe, Mister President. Show a bad girl how it's done.
(Missy drops a deep curtsy. The Doctor rips the bracelet off.)
DOCTOR: Why are you doing this?
MISSY: I need you to know we're not so different. I need my friend back.Yeah I know I'm a bit biased for Xena, but come on here! Now fair enough I'm not saying you can never have a female villain be in love with the hero. I am a huge fan of Catwoman who has always had that be a big part of her character. However it's fair to judge Missy more harshly than Catwoman, as again Missy was intended to strike a blow for female empowerment. Catwoman was just Bill Finger and Bob Kane writing a stupid pulp era villain. Missy is supposed to show how "men and women are exactly the same, look now the Masters a woman and it makes no difference bet that blows you short sighted gammons heads up" and of course "won't it be wonderful as now we can have a lady Doctor given Missy was such a success."
With that in mind yes, objectively she is terrible as she embodies all of the most sexist cliches about female villains and characters that they are more emotional, irrational, their stories always have to revolve around the man etc.
Look at this quote from Paloma Faith, a feminist. This was about her villain Bet Sykes in Pennyworth ( a great series btw.)
I've grown up watching the odd Batman film and also the cartoon Batman and Robin, and what I really observed, for me as a feminist actress, is that a lot of the female characters in the history of all DC have been quite one-dimensional -- in that they really, their only power if they're villains, is really their sexuality or their ability to lure men in.Which of those two villains do you think an actual feminist like Paloma would want to play with that in mind?
The only possible thing you could say was subjective about Missy was Michelle Gomez's performance, but even then it's pretty bad objectively considering once again it's meant to be the Master. You could maybe say for what they wanted it worked, but that's it.
I might add objectively she was also an absolute flop too. Outside of the bubble of new who fans, who hilariously are the most divorced from the general public and consensus there's ever been (something they always used to sneer at 80s fans for being.) The Capaldi era was an absolute disaster. It saw the shows viewers crash and burn to the lowest they had ever been, even with the best time slot after Strictly on a Saturday night in the winter and being advertised in cinemas. Even then Capaldi still couldn't beat Sylvester McCoy being shown on weekdays, with no advertising, opposite Coronation Street and an England qualifier for the World Cup!
Whilst Missy wasn't the sole cause of this, she certainly didn't help and one only has to look at how badly the season after she was introduced in the finale to see her role in it. A f*cking Dalek opener got viewers in the 3 million as a result of the backlash to Death in Heaven from mainstream viewers. Again even in the McCoy era the Daleks could still be counted on to bring in bigger than average viewers.
Yet NONE of that is ever acknowledged by these stupid websites, who still proclaim her the best and one of the shows greatest successes. They don't even write in that she split opinion and include these criticisms which I'd be happy with.
Again it honestly makes me sad as it is kind of like why bother ever trying to make good sci fi and fantasy stories. Geek culture is so f*cking cliquey, and so obsessed with shallow politics, that you can literally do the worst thing like Missy and be praised for it, if you're in with the bricks like Moffat and it espouses the right political views. It has made me want to give up on the genre lots of times, not just with Missy but other things too.
The day geek culture dies is the day the genre will truly live again.
