Dot bubble — Doctor Who and the fear of living

Mindset

Dot bubble — Doctor Who and the fear of living

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Last night, I caught up with Doctor Who. This morning, I read various reviews of the episode. Most missed the point and focused on Ncuti Gatwa’s late appearance and busy recording schedule. I was googling reviews because, as a POC and someone who has often buried myself in my social media feeds, the episode itself struck a strong chord.

1. Fear — Fear of stepping out of the bubble.
2. Empathy — or lack thereof.
3. Belonging — Not following norms makes you an outcast.
4. Conformity — Being drawn back to the fold.
5. Denial — Lack of gratitude and trust in the face of overwhelming evidence.
6. Racism disguised as elitism.

Let me break these points down.

Fear — Fear of stepping out of the bubble

We fear taking a step on our own and are unable to walk without being told in what direction. Lindy Pepper-Bean would rather live in her dot bubble. Her agency has been removed to the extent that she is told when she needs the bathroom.

This hit home when asking Alexa to play music. I miss being able to scroll through my options of a well-curated playlist. In today’s world I am dependent on a playlist that has been created for me. My agency is reduced to hitting a like or dislike button. Not required to remember let alone choose artists and song names, I forget.

In the same way, self-driving cars and automation of tasks take away agency. Is the driver vigilant and cautious in the same way as before?

The nuances of mastery are lost with automation.

Empathy — or lack thereof.

Lindy Pepper-Bean has never hugged. Ricky September, the only other character we get to know this episode, is astonished.

Lindy has a half-dozen besties she pulls up on her bubble. She tells us she parties with them all day after working a gruelling two-hour shift. When she sees her colleagues being eaten by giant slugs, at no point in time is she concerned for their welfare — only for her own. She shows selective empathy towards her friends but not enough to mourn them.

This lack of empathy is highlighted in society. The over-protectiveness of what is ‘ours’ be it thought, opinion, group or company. Anyone outside our limiters is not worth saving.

Belonging — Not following norms makes you an outcast.

Ricky September spends his downtime reading and researching. Of all the characters, he is the only one who sees what’s going on. He has agency and empathy. He jumps to save her when her dot tries to kill her.

The people of FineTime idolize him for his cool fearlessness. Lindy is starry-eyed and in awe of him. Yet, at some point, she ruthlessly throws him under the bus. He is killed. She has weighed and judged him despite all of the things he has done for her. He is as much a threat to her as the dot.

You see, he is a non-conformist and must be punished.

I see this in social media outrage against JK Rowling for her means of championing women’s rights (in the face of rising trans rights).

I see this when any ‘idol’ comes crashing down because they choose not to conform to what society deems ‘accepted.’ This is the shutting down of opinions and alternative points of view.

When the world values ‘influencers’ then must we protect ourselves from ‘bad influence’? Are we so weak to lose agency in forming an opinion? Or is it that we must shut down the other point of view to take away our audience’s agency.

Bottom line is, if you are secure in your views reading Mein Kampf or the Satanic Verses isn’t going to destabilize your point of view.

When I read JK Rowling’s essays, I learned more about her views and perspective . Learning these things did not affect my views. It did give me a broader understanding of where she was coming from and why. Most of her critics are ignoring context.

Lindy Pepper-Bean’s values are to shut down or lock out anything too difficult to comprehend that requires agency of thinking or curiosity.

The phrase ‘Don’t make me think’ becomes a curse.

Conformity — Being drawn back to the fold.

Many of Lindy Pepper-Bean’s cohorts prefer to go heads down and continue working, although they’re in danger. If I can’t see it, it can’t be happening.

The survivors choose their path despite guaranteed salvation being offered.

I am secretly glad that they didn’t board the TARDIS. Given Lindy’s track record, they would likely disable the Doctor and take over.

The final scene shows Lindy Pepper-Bean’s prejudice. “You’re not one of us.” I had to rewind and rewatch the show from the beginning to realize that none of the cast of Bubble people were minorities. The producers tricked me by including people with blue hair and wild clothing styles of the WOKE and rich. I got the impression that LGBTQ+ people were well-represented in the bubble. What wasn’t represented was the BIPOC element.

When the doctor comes up in a bubble, Lindy dismisses him with disgust. I assumed it was because he came up like a pop up or advert. The doctor also had a condescending tone. I didn’t put the race connection together until the very end.

When I read comments on YouTube recaps most of the white commentators said it was elitism, it was his tone, it was his dress. They didn’t look back and realize Lindy is surrounded by white 20 somethings. Of course all of those things apply but you see how someone who is black specifically cannot fit FineTown? You need fair skin and straight hair to pull off those looks. Its elitism argument doesn’t work either. Clearly the Doctor has a ship and a companion. He is richly dressed. They have literally nothing as refugees fleeing into the wild. Elitism? How are they now elite?

Call it what it is — racism. Lack of gratitude and trust in the face of overwhelming evidence.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash