Approximately two and a half years ago, Jodie Whittaker was unveiled to the world as the first female actor to take on the role of The Doctor, succeeding Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor and becoming the Thirteenth incarnation of the time lord. An iconic moment for the history books that got people across the world talking and the biggest change that Doctor Who had ever implemented. Like everything else though, a small minority of people were not a fan of the change and Jodie's casting and immediately took to social media to voice their fury that the alien character known for being able to change their entire biology was finally going to become a woman and it spawned the online 'movement' known as "#NotMyDoctor".
Ordinarily i might post an image to show a logo or an example of something but frankly, i'm not inclined to give any more recognition to these people than just writing this article. Lets press ahead.
Skip ahead two and a half years to the present day. Astonishingly after nearly two entire seasons with Jodie Whittaker's Doctor, "#NotMyDoctor" is somehow still a thing and the same small minority of fragile, egocentric folk are still in uproar about.....just about everything that this show does. It doesn't matter what this show has to offer, be it Daleks, Cybermen, The Master, Judoon and so on, the NMD's still manage to find issue somewhere along the chain. Everyday i see videos being posted across social media and when i search anything Doctor Who related on YouTube, i get recommended videos from the likes of 'MatrixLord212', 'NoelZone', 'Nerdrotic' or 'Bowlestrek' when frankly, all i really want to do is watch the Doctor Who episode reactions from some of my favourite reactors - shout out to 'FailWhale34' and 'Sesskasays'.
Those two are my favourite reaction channels. Please do check them out.
Going back to the core subject of the "#NotMyDoctor" lot though, i want to simply say that their so called 'movement' or 'cause' - whatever synonym you want to dress it up as, is completely irrelevant at this stage. There's an argument that it's been irrelevant from the get go but thats another discussion entirely. Those of us who have and continue to support Jodie Whittaker and the current era of Doctor Who are often put on blast by these people, especially on YouTube. We're called all sorts and have all kinds of abuse thrown at us and been credited as "fake fans" and "traitors" and we've even been labelled as "J-Bots". It speaks to the general maturity and etiquette of all of those who proudly parade themselves as being part of the "#NotMyDoctor" cause but its also massively ironic too. These same people often claim to have insider information about choices being made by the execs that very conveniently suits their anti-Jodie agenda, having been proven wrong on absolutely everything they've ever claimed in relation to (non-existent) "sources". When called out, they don't respond in any civilised manner, they go straight for the block. Be it social media or YouTube, they don't want actual facts being put out there to their audience, they'd rather spread their own alternative facts and have their followers/subscribers lapping it up.
I'd love to say that it ends there...it doesn't. The reaction after the revelation of the Jo Martin incarnation was beyond horrifying. Bad enough that "#NotMyDoctor" revealed the blatant misogynistic side to certain so called fans, introducing the first POC actor to play The Doctor also, unsurprisingly revealed that the very same people carry extreme racist views and were more than happy to use disgusting and derogatory racist terms when talking in videos about this big moment in series 12. Words that i wont even type but i'm sure anyone reading this can probably imagine what some of those words were. Heck i'd almost say go and watch some of the reactions from the people i've talked about but i honestly don't recommend it if you have even a shred of faith in humanity.
So, what's the message here?
The message is in the title of the article. The fact that hashtag 'NotMyDoctor' is an irrelevant cause, whether they accept it or not. We all know it. They know it.No matter how much they metaphorically kick and scream, they won't win. Nothing will change just to suit their collective agenda. My aim isn't to make them stop, we all know that a leopard doesn't change its spots after all. My message is to all my fellow fans, who support Jodie, support this era and still love and appreciate Doctor Who. They'd try and have us believe that they are right, that we are wrong. They'd have us believe that they have influence over the fandom and the show itself, that's how deluded they are. They actually believe their own delusions. They have no power, no influence. They have no connections to the show's production or decisions made by the BBC in relation to Doctor Who.
They are just a loud minority who do not speak for the huge majority of decent, positively driven fans. They speak only for themselves and their fellow hatred spouting individuals who despite their insistence of loving the show previously, have clearly never received it or its message of kindness and acceptance for all properly. They thrive off hate and as long as we give them any kind of reaction across social media platforms, they'll continue to use it. So lets not give it to them. I'd encourage anyone and everyone, take measures to block these people from your social media profiles. Report their posts, their accounts and then block, whatever platform it is. Nobody needs to see their consistent hatred and i'm hopeful i speak for more than just myself with that.
I know that it might seem like they win that way but it doesn't. We do. You do. All of us do. It's one less person for their hatred to reach at the very least. If a social media post or an account, a video or a YouTube channel is removed, it cuts them off from spreading their hatred to the outside world. That's a step in the right direction. This isn't an instruction, its just advice from one fan to another. We are stronger together and ultimately, i like to think that we all represent the true values of Doctor Who. We're all children of the TARDIS.
She might not be their Doctor, but she's absolutely ours.
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