Doctor Who and the Maladaptive Coping Mechanisms
I have extremely specific brainworms so I see a parallel between Belinda and Ralph and I need to explain.
So when Three first arrives at the space centre in Ambassadors of Death, he is being super rude in the “I am surrounded by idiot human ants” sort of way. And like it’s genuine. He’s as pissed to be stuck on Earth for Season 7 as I am, and so he is just not seeing people as real people. It takes Ralph standing up to him, refusing to be used like a worker ant so that the Doctor can solve the problem,(1) and thus being the very best friend he possibly could be, to remind the Doctor of the value of his precious idiot humans.(2) He brings the Doctor back to us.
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The way that Fifteen doesn’t see people properly is more subtle, but off the back of DoctorDonnaRose, the Legend of Ruby Sunday and Joy the Star of Bethlehem, he’s fallen into the Sutekh trap of seeing people as stories, as mysteries to be solved, or "adventures" as Belinda puts it.(3) Belinda engages with the Doctor on his level and refuses to go in the Companion box, just as Ralph refuses to go in the Standard NPC Who Is Just There To Provide Information box. He is forced to see her.(4)
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You can see from his reaction that this is a big shift. It’s uncomfortable, because it means looking at the world so much more complexly again, which is scary. But I am sure he will ultimately do it. If Three can, then so can he 💙💙