Howling:Why do so many people dislike Amy Pond?
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Why do so many people seem to hate Pond? I just can't understand it. Amy is a magnificant, tragic, and wonderfully complicated character portrayed by a talented actor (both young and grown). People whine about her problems with comitment and trust, and her way of losing her temper and being sarcastic with people. But that's what we call flaw, and it's what makes her such a well-rounded character. People insult her sexual confidence, while they praise Captain Jack for an even greater amount of these types of qualities - gender stereotype, anyone? And as for the names she teases Rory with, well, you forget they were friends as children! Why should they drop that playful dynamic in favour of a solomn, serious one? She also has a great relasionship with the Doctor, with their layers of romantic, platonic, maternal, paternal, and rival-like affections - it's far to complex to be summed up with the word "mates" really, but that's what they are, through and through.
Amy Pond is a beautifuly written and developed character and I'd love to know the reasons people choose to bash her. MidnightCat 09:10, July 21, 2011 (UTC)
Because every companion is bashed by someone. I have actually seen people bashing Peri and Mel, who are easily the two best written companions in the series, but the people who bash companions like this all the time are thankfully in the minority.68.55.218.250 17:05, July 22, 2011 (UTC)
I agree with you that every companion is bashed by someone; everyone has different taste.
But I can't believe anyone would call Mel one of the two best written companions in the series! Which of course just proves your larger point, but I can't leave this alone. If you're talking about the Craig Hinton novels (but not the Gary Russell ones) and the BFAs, then yes, but on TV, she slogged through some of the worst writing ever on display in a major television series, and, as a consequence, she was one of the worst companions in the history of the show. In fact, the only reason Hinton was able to rehabilitate her is that she was so shallowly drawn during her tenure on TV. And much the same is true with the 6th Doctor.
Anyway, back to the main point: I love Amy, and Rory, but I can understand that some people are stupid^H^H^H^H^H^H different from me. --173.228.85.118 04:16, July 23, 2011 (UTC)
Peri was also pretty annoying. The only thing worse than her American accent were the "Americans" in The Chase.Icecreamdif 04:26, July 23, 2011 (UTC)
You are correct that your comments completely prove my point. Every companion is hated by somebody. I personally find Sarah Jane Smith to be one of the worst companions in the entire series. I've never read the novels or listened to the audios, but I think that the Sixth Doctor was one of the best televised Doctors, and he had the best companions. The Fifth Doctor had way too many companions travelling with him at once, all of whom (especcially Adric) were really obnoxious and annoying, so it was a welcome change when the Sixth Doctor went back to travelling with only one companion at a time. I've never noticed anything wrong with Peri's accent, and I've never seen the chase, but Peri is certainly one of the best companions in the entire series. I don't think that any of the other companions would have been able to put up with the Sixth Doctor's rudeness as long as Peri did without killing themselves, and Peri had one of the best "deaths" in the entire series (next to Adric, whose death was a relief). Her death was certainly better than any of Rory's deaths anyway. Mel, on the other hand, was a welcome change to Peri, whose personality rivalled that of Colin Baker's Doctor in originality. She also appeared in some of the best written stories of the series, like time and the rani, and delta and the bannerman. Amy and Rory aren't the best companions that have ever travelled with the Doctor, but there's nothing wrong with them.68.55.218.250 05:11, July 23, 2011 (UTC)
- Hey, I liked Morton Dill's ridiculous accent in The Chase, especially since it's so blatantly obvious that Steven Taylor a few episodes later is the same actor. That whole story was brilliant, even when it was unintentionally hilarious. Advance and attack! Attack and destroy! Destroy and rejoice!
- As for Peri, I don't think she was nearly as bad as Mel on TV, but she wasn't anywhere near the top of my list. And I don't the writing was to blame in her case, since she wasn't much better in brilliantly-written episodes (like The Caves of Androzani) as in the total garbage (like Mark of the Rani). And she doesn't improve in novels or audios, either. Meanwhile, off the top of my head, a short list of companions who could have either put up with the 6th Doctor or, better, put him in his place: Sara Kingdom, Zoe, Romana I, K9, the Robot Master from Shalka, Sam, Fitz, Compassion, Jack, Donna, Amy. Also, I like the 5th Doctor era. It wasn't perfect, but the problem wasn't that three companions are too many, just that one Adric is too many. Do you think Ian, Barbara, and Susan (or Vicki) were too many companions for the 1st Doctor?
- Anyway, as you say, every companion is hated by somebody. And every companion is loved by somebody. Except Adric, of course. I've still never met anyone who puts Adric anywhere above the bottom 5, and I've met Matthew Waterhouse. --173.228.85.118 05:36, July 23, 2011 (UTC)
Yeah, every companion is hated by someone, it just so happens that half the population hates Amy. She's just a Scottish Donna who's been over-sexed, brings nothing new to the table and is accompanied by some annoying tool (a.k.a Rory). The Fifth Doctor had too many companions, but it seemed as if the First was just fine with three. I think some stories, like The Time Meddler, could have done with a third companion.--Skittles the hog - talk 08:36, July 23, 2011 (UTC)
I see no similarities between Amy Pond and Donna Noble. (Unless you count their hair colour, which I don't - we're talking about character here, not the appearances of the actors.) A Scottish Donna? Lets see: Donna grew up in a happy family with her Mum, Dad and Grandad. Amy grew up a lonely daydreamer with only her aunt. Donna deep down considers herself mundane and insignifigant, while Amy has wondered time and time again whether she is insane yet knows her value to Rory and the Doctor. Amy is a damaged soul. Donna is merely a little self-doubting. Donna is grounded, down to earth and sensible. Amy is a dreamer, a believer of fairytales and slightly unhinged - she just likes to put up a gritty front. I could go on, but I don't want to bore you. And let's leave the word "feisty" out of this - that incredably patronising term could be lumbered on any of the female characters in Doctor Who who dare stick up for themselves (and that's many of them, thankfully), but let's not. MidnightCat 17:51, July 26, 2011 (UTC)
You've asked why, and some have told you. Now you're telling them they['re wrong to feel that way. Is that the way to get you to change your feelings? "You're wrong! Feel different!" Boblipton 19:57, July 26, 2011 (UTC)
Well, MidnightCat's post doesn't just say that Skittles the hog is wrong, it lists the reasons why MidnightCat disagrees that Amy is a bad companion. I personally don't see any similarities between Donna and Amy. Amy may not be one of the great companions of all time, but she isn't a bad companion. She is better than most of the companions from the 80s, and she does have a more interesting back story than most companions.Icecreamdif 20:39, July 26, 2011 (UTC)
You miss my point, Icecreamdif. It doesn't matter what any of us come up with. If Skittles sees Amy as a variation on Donna, then that's what he sees, and there's no point in coming up with differences, since "that's why it's a variation." People feel what they feel, they focus on what they focus on and arguing about these things is foolish. As for me, I dislike Amy heartily as a selfish bitch who treats her men badly, but she is fairly interesting so long as I don't have to deal with her whims. As for Midnightcat, it all seems to come down to "yes she is" and "no she isn't" and I'll try to bow out here. Boblipton 20:50, July 26, 2011 (UTC)
There are probably all kinds of reasons some people dislike Amy, just as there are all kinds of reasons others like her. Not only do people's tastes vary but what they look for in a Doctor Who companion, or any fictional character, also varies. Personally, some of my favourite fictional characters are people I'd be very unlikely to want to meet for real. On the other hand, some people only like characters they would like to meet for real. De gustibus non est disputandum. 89.241.70.254 04:47, July 27, 2011 (UTC)
Sorry for any offence I might have caused on Skittlesthehog's part (I see no reason to apologise to you, Boblipton). I respect everyone's opinions, and I see no harm in voicing my own. I'm allowed to disagree - it's what having a debate is all about. I'm sorry if you felt I was rudely contradicting you, I didn't mean to. MidnightCat 10:28, July 27, 2011 (UTC)
As 89.* above said, someone can be an interesting fictional character without being someone you'd want to know in real life. But Amy is the only Doctor Who companion I can think of who that's true of, at least for me. (Even Compassion in the novels—she wasn't too pleasant, but hell, she was a TARDIS, who could turn that down?) And I can see why Amy wouldn't work that way for other fans.
The funny thing is, I liked her in her first few episodes for the exact opposite reason—and going back and watching those episodes, it's impressive how they've completely changed the way she comes across without at changing who she actually is. --173.228.85.118 10:48, July 27, 2011 (UTC)
When I said, above, that some of my favourite fictional characters were people I'd probably not want to meet, I didn't mean unpleasant characters (however interesting). My all-time favourite Doctor Who companion is Ace, who isn't unpleasant (on TV -- I've never read any of the novels) but I know that, if I were to meet her, I'd spend all my time nervously waiting for the nitro-9 to start exploding. I like Ace a lot on screen; I just wouldn't want to get within her blast radius! (I was 89.241.70.254 earlier but my IP address has probably changed since then.) --2.96.29.11 11:35, July 27, 2011 (UTC)
In my personal opinion, the main reason Amelia Pond isn't popular with viewers (the non-Whovians, anyway,) is that she's part of the new era. They found themselves liking Billie Piper, Freema Agyeman and Catherine Tate so much that they either don't think Karen Gillan's going to be up to standard, having not seen it, or simply force themselves not to like her as they think it'll be betraying to Piper, Ageyman and Tate. Gallifrey102 21:29, August 4, 2011 (UTC)
