No picking from me on this one. I think it's easy, when we've grown up with this sort of stuff, to forget that there are people who haven't. I know people who don't/won't watch anything that smacks of sci-fi, because it's just not their thing. I loathe soaps and reality shows. Each to his/her own, I suppose.
We know that RTD intended to create a world with which viewers are familiar - all the pop-culture references imply that, anyway, so I suppose it's safe to assume that there are people who don't watch/aren't familiar with sci-fi in the Whoniverse and that Donna's one of them.
I think that Donna knew she wasn't ready for this at the end of TRB - and even though she's spent the intervening time regretting her decision not to go with the Doctor and looking for him, just wanting it can never prepare anyone for the reality of it. I wonder if some of it is also due to the fact that Donnna's older and more settled in her ways than either Rose or Martha. She's certainly open to possibilities, but has had longer to, I don't know how to put it - formulate her personal "code" of ethics? So it's maybe harder for her to change her mindset. But the thing is, that once she does change it, that's it - she gets it. I said this over at the rewatch comm, but I don't think it helped that Ten didn't explain things very well. The argument "because I say so" isn't going to work well on someone like Donna - and although, dramatically, I can see why it was written that way (because we had to see Donna make that leap) it did make him look a bit unsympathetic and dictatorial.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2010-11-16 05:50 pm (UTC)We know that RTD intended to create a world with which viewers are familiar - all the pop-culture references imply that, anyway, so I suppose it's safe to assume that there are people who don't watch/aren't familiar with sci-fi in the Whoniverse and that Donna's one of them.
I think that Donna knew she wasn't ready for this at the end of TRB - and even though she's spent the intervening time regretting her decision not to go with the Doctor and looking for him, just wanting it can never prepare anyone for the reality of it. I wonder if some of it is also due to the fact that Donnna's older and more settled in her ways than either Rose or Martha. She's certainly open to possibilities, but has had longer to, I don't know how to put it - formulate her personal "code" of ethics? So it's maybe harder for her to change her mindset. But the thing is, that once she does change it, that's it - she gets it. I said this over at the rewatch comm, but I don't think it helped that Ten didn't explain things very well. The argument "because I say so" isn't going to work well on someone like Donna - and although, dramatically, I can see why it was written that way (because we had to see Donna make that leap) it did make him look a bit unsympathetic and dictatorial.