Speaking of Doctor Who, I came across a pretty good parody, written by Steven Moffat himself back before the series had been revived. I have to say, Rowan Atkinson’s not bad as the Doctor.
Archive | May, 2010
Frankenstein’s Dad
Nice piece by Jeff Riggenbach on William Godwin. And what he says about the respective roles of communism and individualism in Godwin’s theory strikes me as basically right.
It’s also worth noting (since Riggenbach mentions Caleb Williams toward the end) that there’s been a revival of interest in Godwin’s novels as well; indeed I find that among academics he’s perhaps best known for his role in the development of the Romantic novel.
The theme of Caleb Williams might be described as “the problem of other minds, viewed through the lens of class analysis.” It concerns an innocent commoner being persecuted (for complicated reasons) by an aristocrat, where the difference in social status between the two men makes it literally impossible for even the most well-intentioned third parties to take seriously the possibility that the fault lies with the aristocrat; the notion that the aristocrat might be other than as he seems is treated as a skeptical hypothesis that can be entertained in the abstract but cannot seriously be lived. (Godwin had a deep interest in Humean worries about ordinary beliefs’ being unfounded yet impossible to surrender; see my Godwin paper.)
Among Godwin’s other novels, the best known is St.-Léon (originally titled The Adept), about an alchemist who discovers the twin secrets of making gold and of living forever. Just as H.G. Wells seems to have been the first writer to explore what being invisible would actually be like (including the disadvantages it would entail), so Godwin does the same thing for immortality and inexhaustible wealth. Byron once paid the novel a rather Byronic compliment:
[A]fter asking Godwin why he did not write a new novel, his lordship received from the old man the answer, that it would kill him. “And what matter,” said Lord Byron, “we should have another St.-Léon.”
(Given Godwin’s views on archbishops and chambermaids, he could hardly have objected to Byron’s suggested trade-off.)
Beyond Being
The Good is not being, but beyond being, surpassing it in dignity and power. — Plato
According to CBS News, the Department of Homeland Security has had its eye on Faisal Shahzad since 1999. That’s pretty impressive for a Department that didn’t exist until 2002.
Wow, so government agencies can do their jobs just as well when they don’t exist as when they do! I guess that settles the debate over anarchism.
Horton, Here’s a Who
Tom Baker as the Doctor
Until recently, apart from a single 1996 tv-movie I hadn’t watched Doctor Who since the 1970s, back when Tom Baker played the main role.
[Aside to readers unfamiliar with the show (there’s probably at least one): Doctor Who is a British science-fiction series that initially ran from 1963 to 1989, then suffered a lengthy hiatus (interrupted only by the aforementioned 1996 tv-movie, pilot for a failed revival) before being brought back in 2005. The eponymous protagonist, a quirky and enigmatic traveller through space and time, maintains his immortality by periodically regenerating, a process that leaves him with not only a new appearance but also, to some extent, a new personality – thus both allowing the show to survive the periodic loss of its lead actor, and allowing each new actor to put his own spin on the character (there’ve been eleven main actors so far).]
I had some reasons to watch the revived show: I’d liked the original; Steven Moffat of Coupling was now one of the writers; and Catherine Tate of The Catherine Tate Show was now one of the lead actors.
David Tennant as the Doctor
But I had reasons not to watch, too: the few times I’d spun past the new Who and seen a minute or two it hadn’t grabbed me; Tom Baker’s image was too ingrained in my mind as the Doctor for David Tennant to dislodge it easily; with three decades of continuity, plus all the recent interconnected spinoffs like Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures, it seemed like a lot to jump into and get caught up on; and with my busy schedule I tend to be wary of getting hooked on another show (I haven’t even watched Caprica yet). Plus what I primarily liked Tate for was her skill in playing a dizzying variety of characters on her own show, so seeing her play just one character wasn’t as strong a draw. So I ended up not watching it.
Recently I’d found a couple more reasons to start watching. Moffat was moving up from a writer to head writer; and a new Doctor, Matt Smith, had just been cast (thanks to a recent regeneration), which meant to some degree a new start, making it seem like a convenient time to pick up the show. (Though on the downside, Tate had left.) Still, I didn’t make a point of watching it.
But then the other day I came across the new season’s second episode, “The Beast Below,” by accident, and found it rather charming; so I hunted down the first episode, “The Eleventh Hour,” and liked that too. So now I was kinda-sorta committed to watching more.
Matt Smith as the Doctor
Then I read a bit about the show and discovered that two of the upcoming episodes, “The Time of Angels” and “Flesh and Stone,” would make more sense to me if I’d watched three earlier episodes, from the Tennant era: “Blink,” “Silence in the Library,” and “Forest of the Dead” (all written by Moffat, incidentally). So I found those online and watched them – and now I’m much more hooked on the Tennant series than on the new Smith one. (This isn’t a judgment about the two actors specifically; it’s about overall story.)
However, I’m about to watch the new season’s “Victory of the Daleks,” on BBC America, so we’ll see.
The State In Action
Forty years ago today, Ohio National Guardsmen murdered four unarmed students at Kent State and wounded nine others, permanently paralysing one. (CHT Making Light for the reminder.)
The students’ crime? Protesting the invasion of Cambodia (or, in some cases, walking nearby while others were protesting it).
“That is government; that is its justice; that is its morality.”
Mind the Gap
Okay, it’s a fundraising appeal. But it has pretty pictures!