joy magnetism: Daleks are to Who, as Klingons are to Trek




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Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Daleks are to Who, as Klingons are to Trek

Magnet #102 - Dalek

At the risk of letting my inner geek run rampant, I'm about to share an extreme and possibly inflammatory UOA. (That's Unpopular Opinion Ahead.)

Daleks. I don't get 'em. I know they're the UberEpicEnemy of the Doctor in Doctor Who. That much I get. What is completely beyond me is why they are so popular. And so scary. Is it their lack of humanity? Is it their toilet plunger suck-ery thing? Is it their flashing lights and funny voices? Is it their need to conquer the Universe(es)? Was the Last. Great. Time. War. all that bad?

Take me out back and exterminate me, but I gotta say, I'm not a big fan of the Daleks. Every DW episode with a Dalek drives me nuts - it's probably blasphemous, but I skip rewatching any episode with them. Or, at the least, I fast-forward through their scenes.

I was the same way with any Star Trek: The Next Generation / Klingon episode. First, I didn't buy in TNG that the Klingons were no longer enemies. That'd be like the Doctor saying to the Daleks, yes, let's bury the hatchet - I forgive you. Second, while I loved Worf (and even his spawn from Family Ties), I hated every Klingon-centric episode. It was the grunting and the made-up language and the war cries and the scary weapons.

Maybe it's the mythic enemies that I have trouble with - because my dislike might also extend to the Cybermen and the Borg. Or, maybe it's that I haven't a clue of their rich show history - I'll admit that I was never a Classic Who fan, and go even further by admitting I'm one of those annoying fans of only the newest incarnation.

And, yes, I totally get that this post outs me as an unworthy and not-true blue Who/TNG fan, but I'm willing to entertain anyone who can give me good reasons why I should admire and/or fear the Daleks or the Klingons.

And, yes, mean comments will be deleted - I'm looking for reasons to like these guys. Obvi, since I chose a Dalek as my first actual Doctor Who magnet. Otherwise, I'd have used the supercute David Tennant / Ten magnet first. I'm just sayin'.
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4 comments:

julie said...

exterminate! exterminate!

they can exterminate me too... i DO NOT like daleks. really. i wish nick briggs' weirdo voice-changing mic would break!

the only reason i've watched the last episode from series 2 where the daleks take canary wharf is to see the scene with rose and the doctor.

and don't even get me started on when the daleks took over manhattan. LAME.

joy said...

Yep. Much as I like Nick Briggs, that voice changer is annoying.

And, word to the Manhattan eppy - I loved the art deco NY stuff, but I FF'd the Dalek scenes. Which made it a hard eppy to watch.

The Geek said...

I'm on board with your dislike of the Daleks, and would like to add my confusion at why they weren't updated more for the current series? The back-in-the-day BBC multi-part specials featured them, but that was over 30 years ago, and they look much the same. They've updated gadgets, the TARDIS, everything, but those little salt-and-pepper-shaker bad dudes are still running around like poorly driven remote control cars. Why not give them a bit of a make-over when they brought the Doctor back in 2005?

GG

joy said...

Too true. I Netflixed the very first DW ever, and I giggled when I saw the Daleks come trundling out.

Though, apparently - they're quite frightening when you see them up close. So I hear. Usually from adults, though. I wonder if the kids have the same reaction.