Do children like Peter Capldi?
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I like Peter Capaldi as The Doctor, as apparently do the critics, but I do wonder how children regard him. It seems to me that the Doctors since the revival have all been personable characters that children could regard as their "best pal". How do they regard a somewhat sinister Doctor though? Anybody who watches with young children like to comment?
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Lot of love for Capaldi, on the whole.
Is 12 young? Anyway - 12 year old fan is enjoying this series and really likes Capaldi. (His 14 and 16 year old sisters like him too.)
Heck, I remember having a couple of 22-year-old teachers when I was 16. Its surprising when I think how young they were now (and how close in age we were), because at the time, we all just saw them as adults. Of course, we could tell the difference between younger teachers and older teachers, but that really made no difference. They were all older than us.
I'd imagine its the same for most children looking at the Doctor. Adults might look at Matt Smith and think he's a youngster. Kids will see an adult, though. 27 is like a billion years away for a 6-year-old. I imagine the same will be true for Capaldi. They'll just see an adult.
I think it affects your view once there are Doctors who are younger than you are. When you're a kid, they're all older than you.
You've captured my thoughts perfectly. To a child there is really 5 age groups: babies, children, teenagers, adults and old people. Capaldi is not an old person in either look or behaviour, so he is just an adult, like all of the other Doctors, save Hartnell.
And as for Hartnell, when I was young he was probably my favourite Doctor. It gave him a kind of grandeur and gravitas being old. I don't believe that children can't respect or like a character if he is old. That is a ridiculous notion if you think about it for 5 seconds. Most people have grandparents. Kids look up to the Doctor; they don't associate with him; the companion is the association character. The fantasy is that you will be walking down the street and see the TARDIS and in you go...
This was another reason I loved Hartnell! He could be scary. He, Sylvester McCoy and Tom Baker were the creepiest Doctors from my perspective. I always thought of that as being one of the Doctor's character traits growing up. He's essentially a good guy but he could be creepy and strange and not 100% trustworthy.
To me, although I don't dislike any of the Doctors, Capaldi is the first of the relaunch Doctors that I can see having that element. I loved Matt Smiths's version but I can sympathize with opinions that the Doctor has maybe been too cuddly.
We shouldn't worry what kids are thinking about the show. They are not stupid or one-dimensional and have a capacity for learning and character growth FAR beyond an adult, who is more or less a decaying lifeform. If introduced to new things they will adapt and incorporate it into their mentality. It's good to challenge kids and give them something involving, not simple or patronizing. There's a reason children are so affected by crazes: they want new things, new stimulus to their imagination.
I feel it's the same when people complain of the show being too complex for children. I was always fascinated by books, programmes, anything, that were compelling but I couldn't quite fully understand. Doctor Who could often be in that category. And here I am now writing about the show. It sure as Hell didn't put me off. Really, it's some adults that find the show too complex, not children. Children will immerse themselves in it. It's an adult trait to want bland escapism for 45 minutes to forget their dreary life.
I think if there's one aspect of the show very unappealing to younger viewers it's romance and with an older Doctor that factor is seemingly reduced (although in actual fact we've had a date and two snogs so far this season already).
One thing they all agree on is Danny and Clara don't work. My niece said straight away "they don't even like each other, why are they on a date?" and the boys said it's stupid, they don't like the forced romance either.
So it shouldn't really matter if the Doctor is 34 or 64.
When I was a kid, there were kids, adults, and very old, and that was it.
Back then I didn't really differentiate that much between adults' ages and probably wouldn't be able to guess their age.
When Peter Davison became The Doctor he was old to me because he was a grown up, even though he was only 29 I had absolutely no concept of that as an age, to me he was simply an adult. He was no different in that respect to me than Jon Pertwee or Tom Baker were.
I think that we develop a bit of an obsession with age as we we grow up because when I was a child it just wasn't a thing I preoccupied any time with. I often think that adults can project their perception of age onto children assuming that they will feel the same as they do about it, and with that in mind will try to second guess what children might think.
There IS hope for the future generations!:D #wisebeyondhisyears !