A bizzare dichotomy

A phenomenon that I have of recent noticed, and which has confused me greatly:

Many fans of New Who who first loved Classic don't really care for the character of Rose, largely, I suspect, because they would rather not see the Doctor in a romantic-type relationship. (I am not trying to say there is no other possible reason to dislike her character, just that I suspect that's the most common one.) This, I understand. Current die-hard shipper status aside, I was a Classic Who fan who for years refused to watch the new show because I had vaugely heard that the Doctor's companion was also a love interest. Obviously, I have since watched the show. RTD wrote a storyline that convinced me that the Doctor I had been committed to never seeing in such a relationship had fallen in love, and that this was the woman with whom he had done so.

I can understand how it might not have worked for someone, though. Here's where I become confused: many people who dislike the character of Rose on these grounds do like such one-off characters as Madame de Pompadour or Astrid, or River Song. This baffles me.

If one likes one of these -particularly the first or last- then one seems to be preferring a string of fleeting relationships/romances to one committed one. One seems to imply that this charicterization does less violence to the Doctor's character. That's where I get lost. Because, for me, my total inability to read fic pairing the Doctor with anyone else is rooted almost as much as it is in my dislike for seeing the character transformed into the sort of generic always-jumping-into-a-new-relationship male lead seen on so much tv as it is in fondness for Rose. I was pursuaded by the writing, by the amazing acting, that this woman, at this time, was special, was an exception.

I can understand wanting the Doctor not to date and allowing one exception, but preferring multiple exceptions to one really just confuses me.

A bizzare dichotomy

A phenomenon that I have of recent noticed, and which has confused me greatly:

Many fans of New Who who first loved Classic don't really care for the character of Rose, largely, I suspect, because they would rather not see the Doctor in a romantic-type relationship. (I am not trying to say there is no other possible reason to dislike her character, just that I suspect that's the most common one.) This, I understand. Current die-hard shipper status aside, I was a Classic Who fan who for years refused to watch the new show because I had vaugely heard that the Doctor's companion was also a love interest. Obviously, I have since watched the show. RTD wrote a storyline that convinced me that the Doctor I had been committed to never seeing in such a relationship had fallen in love, and that this was the woman with whom he had done so.

I can understand how it might not have worked for someone, though. Here's where I become confused: many people who dislike the character of Rose on these grounds do like such one-off characters as Madame de Pompadour or Astrid, or River Song. This baffles me.

If one likes one of these -particularly the first or last- then one seems to be preferring a string of fleeting relationships/romances to one committed one. One seems to imply that this charicterization does less violence to the Doctor's character. That's where I get lost. Because, for me, my total inability to read fic pairing the Doctor with anyone else is rooted almost as much as it is in my dislike for seeing the character transformed into the sort of generic always-jumping-into-a-new-relationship male lead seen on so much tv as it is in fondness for Rose. I was pursuaded by the writing, by the amazing acting, that this woman, at this time, was special, was an exception.

I can understand wanting the Doctor not to date and allowing one exception, but preferring multiple exceptions to one really just confuses me.