Rose Tyler
What people love about her:
Her compassion, youthful perspective, and bravery
Her romance with the Doctor
What people hate about her:
Her romance with the Doctor
She’s selfish, jealous, whiny, mean, and a “whore”
She didn’t deserve to be the Doctor’s favorite
Her face
What I think about her:
Her romance: I’m going to say, first off, that I quite liked
this romance. This is because I felt it was more of a deep respect and
emotional need for each other than an immature lust or teenage obsession. It
was really almost platonic for the majority of what we saw of the two of them
actually together and didn’t read like your average romance thrown in to keep
viewer interest. I thought this was an interesting dynamic and it didn’t bother
me that they went in that direction because I felt it was earned. That being
said, some people obviously disagree with me. I’m not really sure why this is,
but I guess it’s okay.
Her personality: I don’t quite get this either. I don’t love
or hate her personality, I just really appreciate that she actually has one. I’m
really glad that with the reboot they chose to make the show about the
companion just as much as about the Doctor. I think the first season does that
more than any other, because it’s really framed as if from Rose’s perspective,
and the Doctor is still kind of an enigma. I really like this because I think
she’s easier to relate to, and it makes the show, for me at least, more
emotionally worthwhile and less about the superficial coolness of alien
adventures.
So about her personality specifically: selfish, jealous,
etc. Some of this I think is down to poor writing, and some of it is down to viewer
preference. Take, for example, selfishness. This is one thing that just goes to
show that people will see whatever they want to see. People who hate Rose tend
to say she’s selfish and people who love Rose tend to say she’s selfless. I
guess in a way she is both. She’s absolutely willing to risk her own life to
save others, and we saw this in nearly every episode. At the same time, she
sometimes wasn’t very concerned with others’ feelings and tended to prioritize her
own agenda over that of others. But guess who else does this: The Doctor. I
wish the writing had brought out this comparison in a more pronounced way. It
actually makes sense that Rose starts doing this more and more as she spends
time with him. What doesn’t make sense is that people totally rag on her for it
while at the same time giving the Doctor a free pass. I’ve been doing some research
on peoples’ perceptions on different genders doing the same things, and how
female characters are very often viewed more negatively than male characters
when doing the exact same things. These things are usually contradicting or
disregarding a traditionally feminine trait, which means that the female
character is automatically judged for not being “a good woman.” (Nevermind
whether she’s being a good leader or a good hero.) So for example, when Rose
stops being considerate of other peoples’ feelings and starts to let her
relationships slide, she gets punished for it by the viewers because women are
supposed to care a lot about what others think and always pander to other
people to maintain likability. We don’t have this limiting paradigm for male
characters, and so we don’t hold them to it. This is a vast oversimplification
of the phenomenon, but based on my research, I think it stands in this instance
and many others when it comes to criticism of companions.
Then there’s how Rose treats Jackie and Mickey. Again, I think
these are very interesting relationships. People say Rose is selfish because
she chose the Doctor over her family. Disregarding the fact that every
companion ever has basically done this, I find this kind of a lame thing to
hate Rose over. I’m sure I would have made the same choice in her position. And
this is actually a really interesting idea. I think it explores how kids like
Rose grow up and go out and explore and get an education and then feel torn
between what they know now and how much they’ve grown and what they want to do
and their uneducated and not understanding parents. I get that Rose didn’t know
how to navigate this perfectly, but isn’t that the point? That we get to
explore this and feel sad that we want her to have both worlds and understand
that she can’t? I mean, I’m probably reading too much into it, but I just don’t
hate Rose for this.
A lot of people get upset over Rose’s relationship with
Mickey. And it was an unhealthy and sad relationship. But it’s not the
relationship they hate, it’s Rose (note: not Mickey). I don’t mind that the writers
wrote this relationship; again, I think it is interesting and I think it worked
as a story point to add tension and humor. However, I wouldn’t say they did a
fantastic job writing it, which adds to why it is hard for some people to get
into. It felt like the same things were getting re-hashed over and over, and
some of it was under-developed. But overall, I think it did end up going
somewhere and resolving nicely. Here’s what I liked about this relationship: it
was pretty realistic. At least, it rang true to me. It was complicated and
messy and it wasn’t anywhere near the “true love” standard we hold for
relationships. It was really quite dysfunctional in a lot of ways and reminded
me of some relationships I had in high school. It’s just a personal pet-peeve
of mine when people hate on things like this because I think it is some of the
most true to what real people would do. Anyway, it’s interesting to me that
people hate on Rose and not Mickey. After having just watched seasons one and
two again, I’ve come to the conclusion that Mickey was just as dysfunctional in
the relationship as Rose. Rose may have been the catalyst in changing the
dynamic by leaving with the Doctor, but that doesn’t make her wrong. In fact, I
think that was absolutely the right thing to do. She and Mickey were never going
to work. I mean, I thought it was pretty clear from the first episode that Rose
wasn’t super happy in the relationship, but that they had been that way for so
long that she didn’t know if she wanted to get out of it. (I seriously remember
thinking this the very first episode, so it probably isn’t confirmation bias) And
soon she found out that she did want something more. She had literally known
Mickey since she was a baby. Even once she got smart about the relationship
there was no way for her to just erase him. It’s natural to want to stay close
to someone when you have a relationship like that. Mickey did the same thing. He
whined passive-aggressively and continued trying to shove himself into her life
when she had been pretty clear that she wasn’t into it. I don’t really know why
we are more sympathetic towards him than her.
Some people have complained that Rose “cheated” on Mickey
with Jack and Adam, and this is why they hate her. First of all, I don’t really
buy this. I think it was pretty clear that Rose and Mickey were on a “break.”
Furthermore, If Rose cheated on Mickey, then Mickey also cheated on Rose
because he admitted right after Rose met Jack that he had been seeing someone
else for a good chunk of time. And he’d been actually dating her while Rose had
really just been flirting. So why don’t we hate him? There’s also the issue
that Rose flirted with Mickey and Adam and Jack and the Doctor in the first
season and that makes her far too loose to be liked. Again, I think this is silly.
In fact, it’s another pet peeve of mine. I think that most people flirt far
more than they’re willing to admit. And, I think that’s a part of Rose’s
character that is really realistic and nothing to punish her for. She had this
incredible opportunity to completely change her life, and part of figuring out
who she should be now naturally involved testing out her sexuality and
relationships to other people.
That being said, I think there are a few legitimate things
to dislike about the character. One is her jealousy. While I think this is
something you would expect them to explore in the show, I think that the
writers dealt with it really indelicately. I was sad that Sarah Jane had to be
subjected to such abuse. Because that was only really half of one episode, Rose
had to go from a high level of vitriol to a high level of comradery really fast
and it just wasn’t earned or explored or interesting. I think it also was
pretty tropy, though I was thankful that the writers did let her get over it
quickly. I can’t think of any other instance where Rose’s jealousy bothered me
in the show, but this really sticks out in my head.
Another thing I thought was weird was the moment where Mickey
asks to come aboard the TARDIS and Rose gets this really huffy, juvenile look
on her face. While I think that it maybe does make sense that she wouldn’t be
super pleased, I thought this was dealt with really poorly too. It was never
addressed, and though I think Rose got used to the idea quickly once she got
over her initial reaction, this was never explicit and left us with that
distinct negative feeling towards Rose. Because it really was kind of a bratty
reaction, which I think would have been fine (and again, realistic) if only the
writers would have dealt with that tension more explicitly.
And the last thing I dislike about Rose was the whining over
the Doctor’s regeneration in the first Christmas special. It just dragged on
and was turned into a bit of a tantrum, which resulted in Rose not doing
anything for an entire episode. Again, I think the writers were trying to use
her to help us transition from one Doctor to another. I think they
underestimated our ability to transition on our own. After all, who could not
be pleased by David Tennant? It’s also just not a positive attribute ever,
whether it’s realistic or not. I’m sad that they wrote her whiny because to me
that episode was the beginning of a lot of people writing her off as a useless
and stupid teenage girl (in a very pejorative sense, which is just an
unfortunate reality).
What Rose does and doesn’t deserve: Apparently some people
are just mad that of all of time and space, the Doctor chose Rose Tyler. I
think this argument has some classist undertones (among other things) to be
honest. I’ve heard people say that the Doctor should end up with someone more
impressive and accomplished—an astrophysicist or something—and that a “shop
girl” just isn’t good enough for the Doctor. I think these people are totally
missing the point of what the writers were trying to say about the Doctor with this
relationship (whether that’s down to their poor perception and unwillingness to
go with where the writers were taking them or the writers’ poor communication
and failure to convince people). The point was that he fell in love with
someone who was ordinary but innocent. At least that’s what I got. I also think
it was a weird way to set up the show to have the Doctor have this great love
in the first two seasons and then have to measure every other companion up to
her instead of building up to a love interest. I think the writers misjudged
the audience here—we’re not really used to this type of set-up and I think some
people resented it (which turned into Rose-hate). I think people generally got
annoyed with the romance after-the-fact, when we had to see every other
companion compared to her by the Doctor.
There’s also some tension, though, between whether Rose is
his “true love” or not. I don’t think she really even is, because I personally don’t
think there is such thing as true love. She was just what he needed and wanted
at that time and that’s okay. Some people point out that in the 50th
anniversary, the Moment took her form and that must mean that she is the Doctor’s
favorite. However, I actually disagree with this too (shocker!) The Moment took
the form of Bad Wolf, not Rose Tyler. This is because Bad Wolf literally knew
everything about time and space, and there was no one the Doctor was more
likely to trust than someone like that. Of course, it’s also important that he
cared for Rose Tyler, but that doesn’t mean she was his one and only love. So
there’s still hope for whomever you want the Doctor to fall in love with, and
there’s no need to be angry.
And finally, the complaint about Billie Piper’s face. This
is probably actually the one I’ve heard most often, (besides maybe the b-word)
which is pretty disturbing to me. This is obviously viewer preference and has
nothing to do with the writing. First of all, it shouldn’t matter what her face
looks like, because she shouldn’t be there to be physically attractive to
viewers. If the point of her character was to be attractive, I would get it,
but it’s not. It’s to be a realistic person. I mean, no one cares that Mickey
isn’t attractive. The specific thing about Billie’s face that people don’t like
is her teeth and that she does this weird thing that I can’t explain where she juts
her bottom jaw out. I guess I can’t stop people from being annoyed at her appearance,
so whatever. However, I will say one thing. Have you noticed that Captain Jack
also does this really weird thing with his mouth? Well lots of people have, only
none of them say that they hate him over it. Coincidentally, very few of them
seem to think he is too flirty, either.
All the other things I can think of to hate about Rose I put
down to poor character development. I thought that the first season was very
good as far as writing for Rose was concerned. She was capable and curious and
she was interesting because she brought something to the table. There were some
really great moments with Jackie and with Harriet Jones. And Rose stands up to
the Doctor, changes him into a better person, and saves the day. I think that this
is the Rose we love. But the second season is really quite different. They immediately
took away Rose’s victory. She couldn’t even remember that she had done
something so amazing and saved the Doctor, and had known literally everything and
been all-powerful for a few moments. She goes about the entire next episode
complaining, saying that she’s useless without the Doctor, and crying over his
regeneration. It just came out of the blue and didn’t make sense because she
had been really capable in the earlier season; there was no transition to this feeling
of inadequacy, and no transition out of it (when she shows up in later seasons
she is more capable, but we don’t get to see the transition). It’s the next
episode where she’s jealous of Sarah Jane. And then, she’s selfishly rude to
Mickey and doesn’t want him to come along in the Tardis. Both of these come out
of nowhere, which is part of why they were so shocking to us. And she never
gets to save the day again. Not this season, anyway. This is the Rose that we
hate. To me, her character development felt relatively disjointed, unexplained,
and all over the place. I doubt this was purposeful, which could show a lack of
attention to her character development in the second season. I think it’s irresponsible
to treat your main female character this way when your development for your
male character is much more stable and positive. It’s also a real shame.
The first season had 5 different writers with RTD writing 8
of the 13 episodes. The second season had 7 different writers with RTD writing
6 of 14 episodes. I thought maybe this might have had an effect, with the
different writers pulling Rose in different directions. I’m not sure if it did.
And then again, maybe I’m the only one confused by Rose’s changes in the second
season. I just noticed that she was much less endearing and much more annoying
in the second season.
Anyway, these are just my thoughts. I’m still not sure what
to think about why so many people hate Rose. What do you think?
