Anonymous asked: There's been a lot of talk about the Doctor's companions lately and it got me thinking about Martha Jones. A lot of people talk about how awesome Rose Tyler was or how magnificent Donna Noble was, but Martha doesn't really get talked about. And that makes me curious, just what is it that made Martha Jones such an unspectacular companion?
I don’t think Martha was unmemorable; she just cops a lot of undeserved flak for the crime of not being Rose Tyler. Given that she shows up directly after Rose is lost and develops an identical crush on the Doctor - the only difference being that he doesn’t reciprocate her feelings - the two get compared a lot, with the result that, as Rose eventually does end up with the Doctor (or a version of him, anyway), Martha’s affection for him is seen to diminish her character rather than enhance it, because he was never going to love her back. Which, for me, is grossly unfair: she’s competent, she doesn’t stand for his bullshit, she develops awesomely over the course of her run, she single-handedly saves the world, and in the end, she has the courage and strength to walk away from a relationship she knows is hurting her while still retaining self-confidence.
There’s also a racial component to how Martha is treated, too: I’ve seen a lot of vicious criticism directed at her for things that both Rose and Donna did, but which are taken as failings specifically on her part (and which play into negative stereotypes about black women), plus a lot of snide remarks that serve to undermine both her skills and appearance, even though she’s utterly gorgeous and the most educated of his recent companions.
Anyway - I don’t think Martha’s unspectacular; she just gets a raw deal in the fandom.
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astheshadowslovethecastle liked this jennifergearing said: Let’s be real, a lot of the flak Martha copped was textual as well as within fandom. But then, I am team Martha forever, so *shrug*
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