The Aztecs
Apr. 29th, 2012 11:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethI rewatched The Aztecs.
I didn't fast forward through it. There are a great many stories I fwd through, even in Doctor Who, because old TV is a bit slow and making it go faster helps. But I didn't feel the need on this one.
Which is pretty much why I chose it for my early comparisons episodes.
The Doctor figures things out and makes a pulley, Ian gets in fights and kicks a lot of arse, Barbara gets and awesome pretty dress and knows history and tries to change it and fails because she's trying to disagree with the Doctor and Ian and all the other blokes history is like that sometimes, and Susan gets sent to school to learn how to be a housewife and have an arranged marriage with a sacrificial victim. Which she refuses, so they were going to pierce her tongue and ears. Which would have been a very punk look for the rest of her episodes.
Except, also, the Doctor is the one doing what is often the Companion's job, making friends with the locals and getting in amusing romantic entanglements and cultural misunderstandings. Chocolate equals marriage. And he claimed he knew all the customs. So everyone gets to LOL because his knowledge is not about marriage.
And then he panics that Ian got drowned, even though he had logic that the tunnel leads to somewhere that doesn't involve drowning.
So the Doctor gets to be wrong in both amusing and worrying ways.
So when he's all 'you can't!' then we know he's wrong quite a bit so it isn't straightforward.
And then he says Barbara saved one man and sometimes that's all you can do.
So the conclusion is you can't change history... much. Which isn't what he told her.
Ian getting in fights is fun. Dude was a science teacher? How many science teachers could beat a chosen warrior who spends all their time training? Without even magic upload plasticising or anything. Wiki says it's from his national service bit, but I wasn't aware swords or clubs with sharp edges were a major feature there. He's just that cool.
I kind of love that he gets dressed as big bird in this one. Macho!
... the tardis wiki reckons he kills Ixta accidentally. Like, accidentally after three times of being attacked and one time of being framed for murder, after a great big fight with sharp edged clubs, by what looked in the context of his earlier fights as a neat little judo throw off the side of a big tall thing. Obviously that's the kind of accident anyone can have.
I kind of reckon he defended himself and didn't seem that fussed about it.
He doesn't get to have the knowing of things in this story.
Does he ever? If he's science teacher guy he'd be worse off than Liz Shaw standing next to the Doctor. Is he stuck with 'what is it, Doctor?' duties or did that not come up?
Really I should watch more of the black and white stuff. Thus far I've seen this and the Web Planet and one of the Daleks ones, and those not recently. I have a stack of DVDs I haven't even watched yet. When there's more color eps to watch I never seem to get around to watching the black and whites. I'll have to get over that to get proper context for studying things.
Susan's story wasn't very complicated. I can write a bit about historical constraints on women and how the 60s assumed it was normal to not do the arranged marriage thing but it won't be a very interesting bit.
Cameca's pretty cool. She's in the garden for over 52 year olds and everyone goes there to consult the wisdom and she gets the most consultations. Which sounds good, but then everything she knows that's relevant to the plot turns out to be about a bloke who was courting her. Conveniently, builder bloke gave her pretty shiny things, and she knows his son. Which is useful knowledge of a sort, but not the sort the Doctor gets to have. I think she knew plants a bit as well. Then she breaks Susan and Ian out, but not because she decided to, it's all because the priest dude asked. Plus I think she only talks to blokes. Mostly about marrying them. So she's interesting a bit, but is mostly The Love Interest. Not even that really, the mistaken love interest, with the comedy crush. So even the age bit turns it comedy.
I was waiting for Susan and Barbara to talk to each other. But that only happened once and they were discussing one of the high priests. Other than that, blokes everywhere. Bechdel fail?
The bits about the costumes in the info subtitles and in the BBC website directly contradict each other. Handy. The subtitles say the Aztecs didn't wear much so the costume designer decided to ignore authenticity. The BBC website says that's a myth. Neither references other sources. So *big shrug*.
If I study the episode do I have to study actual Aztecs to see how they were represented?
Or if I focus on gender can I skip that?
Probably can't skip reading some. Oops. Should pick a (futuristic) science fiction one instead.
The basic argue of the episode though is that if the Aztecs hadn't done human sacrifice then when the Spanish turned up they wouldn't have been all *oooh, shiny!* and killed people to nick their stuff, they'd have been all loving the culture and just made friends.
Seeing as there's really quite a lot of the world where the locals didn't, to the best of my knowledge, do human sacrifice, yet when the Europeans turned up they went *oooh, shiny!* and killed people to nick their stuff, I suspect Barbara / the story was just plain wrong on that one.
Mind you, it's amazing how much of the world was secretly idol worshippers who did cannibalistic human sacrifices when Europeans wanted to nick all their stuff. And kill them. In a totally not sacrificial way that was clearly morally superior because the other dudes started it.
You wonder how Europe avoided such a common cultural practice.
... come to think, didn't Caesar have a few suggestions about what the barbarian locals did to each other, back in the day? The ones he was planning to kill so he could nick all their stuff.
:eyeroll:
... the version of history that relies on the testimony of people who just wiped out the other dudes, I no trust it an inch.
Not that any version of Aztec history is shy about the human sacrifice bit, but how extensive it was and how much it really had to do with the other dudes behaving the way they did, that's a big argue.
Argh, I'm going to have to do actual studying even if it's only one book. Bother.
Maybe I could do Daleks instead? Daleks are always popular. I might even find relevant essays about Daleks.
I can think of some things to say if I'm studying this one, but not a whole enthusiastic lot, like I can for more recent episodes. Splitting my dissertation between this one and the recent one... I don't know. Unequal parts maybe? Or maybe I'll think of more to say about it when I poke it more.
I keep changing my mind about what episodes to study. Is no helpful.
... yet it does tend to lead to watching lots of good stuff :-)
I didn't fast forward through it. There are a great many stories I fwd through, even in Doctor Who, because old TV is a bit slow and making it go faster helps. But I didn't feel the need on this one.
Which is pretty much why I chose it for my early comparisons episodes.
The Doctor figures things out and makes a pulley, Ian gets in fights and kicks a lot of arse, Barbara gets and awesome pretty dress and knows history and tries to change it and fails because she's trying to disagree with the Doctor and Ian and all the other blokes history is like that sometimes, and Susan gets sent to school to learn how to be a housewife and have an arranged marriage with a sacrificial victim. Which she refuses, so they were going to pierce her tongue and ears. Which would have been a very punk look for the rest of her episodes.
Except, also, the Doctor is the one doing what is often the Companion's job, making friends with the locals and getting in amusing romantic entanglements and cultural misunderstandings. Chocolate equals marriage. And he claimed he knew all the customs. So everyone gets to LOL because his knowledge is not about marriage.
And then he panics that Ian got drowned, even though he had logic that the tunnel leads to somewhere that doesn't involve drowning.
So the Doctor gets to be wrong in both amusing and worrying ways.
So when he's all 'you can't!' then we know he's wrong quite a bit so it isn't straightforward.
And then he says Barbara saved one man and sometimes that's all you can do.
So the conclusion is you can't change history... much. Which isn't what he told her.
Ian getting in fights is fun. Dude was a science teacher? How many science teachers could beat a chosen warrior who spends all their time training? Without even magic upload plasticising or anything. Wiki says it's from his national service bit, but I wasn't aware swords or clubs with sharp edges were a major feature there. He's just that cool.
I kind of love that he gets dressed as big bird in this one. Macho!
... the tardis wiki reckons he kills Ixta accidentally. Like, accidentally after three times of being attacked and one time of being framed for murder, after a great big fight with sharp edged clubs, by what looked in the context of his earlier fights as a neat little judo throw off the side of a big tall thing. Obviously that's the kind of accident anyone can have.
I kind of reckon he defended himself and didn't seem that fussed about it.
He doesn't get to have the knowing of things in this story.
Does he ever? If he's science teacher guy he'd be worse off than Liz Shaw standing next to the Doctor. Is he stuck with 'what is it, Doctor?' duties or did that not come up?
Really I should watch more of the black and white stuff. Thus far I've seen this and the Web Planet and one of the Daleks ones, and those not recently. I have a stack of DVDs I haven't even watched yet. When there's more color eps to watch I never seem to get around to watching the black and whites. I'll have to get over that to get proper context for studying things.
Susan's story wasn't very complicated. I can write a bit about historical constraints on women and how the 60s assumed it was normal to not do the arranged marriage thing but it won't be a very interesting bit.
Cameca's pretty cool. She's in the garden for over 52 year olds and everyone goes there to consult the wisdom and she gets the most consultations. Which sounds good, but then everything she knows that's relevant to the plot turns out to be about a bloke who was courting her. Conveniently, builder bloke gave her pretty shiny things, and she knows his son. Which is useful knowledge of a sort, but not the sort the Doctor gets to have. I think she knew plants a bit as well. Then she breaks Susan and Ian out, but not because she decided to, it's all because the priest dude asked. Plus I think she only talks to blokes. Mostly about marrying them. So she's interesting a bit, but is mostly The Love Interest. Not even that really, the mistaken love interest, with the comedy crush. So even the age bit turns it comedy.
I was waiting for Susan and Barbara to talk to each other. But that only happened once and they were discussing one of the high priests. Other than that, blokes everywhere. Bechdel fail?
The bits about the costumes in the info subtitles and in the BBC website directly contradict each other. Handy. The subtitles say the Aztecs didn't wear much so the costume designer decided to ignore authenticity. The BBC website says that's a myth. Neither references other sources. So *big shrug*.
If I study the episode do I have to study actual Aztecs to see how they were represented?
Or if I focus on gender can I skip that?
Probably can't skip reading some. Oops. Should pick a (futuristic) science fiction one instead.
The basic argue of the episode though is that if the Aztecs hadn't done human sacrifice then when the Spanish turned up they wouldn't have been all *oooh, shiny!* and killed people to nick their stuff, they'd have been all loving the culture and just made friends.
Seeing as there's really quite a lot of the world where the locals didn't, to the best of my knowledge, do human sacrifice, yet when the Europeans turned up they went *oooh, shiny!* and killed people to nick their stuff, I suspect Barbara / the story was just plain wrong on that one.
Mind you, it's amazing how much of the world was secretly idol worshippers who did cannibalistic human sacrifices when Europeans wanted to nick all their stuff. And kill them. In a totally not sacrificial way that was clearly morally superior because the other dudes started it.
You wonder how Europe avoided such a common cultural practice.
... come to think, didn't Caesar have a few suggestions about what the barbarian locals did to each other, back in the day? The ones he was planning to kill so he could nick all their stuff.
:eyeroll:
... the version of history that relies on the testimony of people who just wiped out the other dudes, I no trust it an inch.
Not that any version of Aztec history is shy about the human sacrifice bit, but how extensive it was and how much it really had to do with the other dudes behaving the way they did, that's a big argue.
Argh, I'm going to have to do actual studying even if it's only one book. Bother.
Maybe I could do Daleks instead? Daleks are always popular. I might even find relevant essays about Daleks.
I can think of some things to say if I'm studying this one, but not a whole enthusiastic lot, like I can for more recent episodes. Splitting my dissertation between this one and the recent one... I don't know. Unequal parts maybe? Or maybe I'll think of more to say about it when I poke it more.
I keep changing my mind about what episodes to study. Is no helpful.
... yet it does tend to lead to watching lots of good stuff :-)
no subject
Date: 2012-04-30 09:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-30 10:33 am (UTC)