Wherein I Reveal My Geeky Soul

To fully appreciate my mind set whilst reading this, please turn on Blur, preferably either the song “Girls and Boys” or “Song 2”.

I’ve been on a Doctor Who kick for the past week and some. It’s such a fun and campy show, and classic. The show, since being resurrected by Russell T Davies in 2005, elevates its actors statuses to that of house hold names.

I originally got into the show in summer 2007, though I’d caught glimpses of it before that didn’t interest me. Mostly because of Christopher Eccleston’s more brooding take on the classic character. Anyway, I was on vacation with my family, godparents and best friend—who that day was annoyed at me. So, I sat down, and with nothing else on except Deadliest Catch, I began watching the Doctor Who marathon on the Scifi Channel.

And I fell in love with it.

Oh, yeah, I’ll be honest, it wasn’t immediate. I had to get used to it. But David Tennant’s Doctor’s energy is infectious and makes the show fun. It initially reminded me of younger Michael Shank’s character of Daniel Jackson, though please don’t ask me why. Perhaps the glee surrounding new and different cultures and things.

I recently had the pleasure of watching Doctor Who with a child. Namely, a nine-year-old boy called Quinn, who during ‘Blink’ bit both of his thumbs, hid his eyes, pulled at his dirty, tangled hair and cried, “Don’t blink! Don’t blink!” at the computer screen. It was terribly fun and I suddenly understood that whole “hiding behind the sofa” thing.

Recent Googling of our late Doctor’s name (by now I assume EVERYONE knows that Matt Smith is the new Doctor) came up with some excited comments all over the internet about him being interested (and apparently everyone else being interested) in him being The Riddler in the next Batman flick.

And here comes the confession: I am quite possibly the only person left on the planet (nay! the universe!) who has not seen The Dark Knight. It’s on my to-do list. On top of this, I am a child of the nineties and when you say Riddler, I say Jim Carrey…and spandex (shiver). I always disliked his version of the Riddler as I can't help but think of the character as a bit of a tranny in all that glitter.

I have trouble seeing comic books as anything beyond campy, fun junk food for the mind (and I grew up surrounded by a lot of Superman and Star Wars comics). So this new rise in comic books films and also Nolan’s ability to turn campy comic villain into full-blown, frightening, multi-facetted, three-dimensional characters with the ability to do the worst things is a bit unnerving for me.

Let me be clear: I think Tennant would do a brilliant job, as well as the other rumored pick, Johnny Depp, though he’s a bit overused these days. I think I’d only be able to say “that’s Johnny Depp”, not “that’s The Riddler”. I think Tennant’s manic energy he puts into the Doctor could easily be manipulated to make a very scary Riddler, but I wonder if the Riddler (along with the Penguin) might be too camp for these new Batman films. Though, if you would have told me that commercials featuring The Joker would frighten two years ago, I wouldn’t have believed you.

So, here’s hoping that I like The Dark Knight when I watch it because a) I’ve just been informed by my brother that it is un-American not to like it and b) I think I might agree. Here’s also hoping for a gangly, Scottish Riddler.

-Ani