119. Well, I thinkt eh problem isn't an overgeneralization, but a misinterpretation and a flawed value judgement. A Sue/Stu is an idealized self-insert. It's someone taking themselves and putting them in a story, only changing it so they're really awesome or dramatic or something. But Sue has become shorthand for any idealized cahracter who is more awesome than the average person and doesn't have some kind of ginormous flaw for it (or sometimes, evne those who do). True sues--self-inserts that serve no function except to gratify the writer or reader, are bad. They often have the features of other stuff that gets called a sue, and those can be bad, but they can also be good. I mean, for crying out loud, fucking Gilgamesh is a Sue by many people's contemporary definition.
The thing here is that the Doctor used to be a bit of a self-insert, but he isn't anymore. Now the companions seem to be the main point of self-insert; the Doctor is portrayed as foreign and alien and morally twisted. Would you call Cthulu a sue? Also, in terms of Mary Sues, the doctor carries himself like one, but ever since at least 4 or so we've seen what a dick he can be when he's not paying attention. The real sue in the new series, though, is Rose Tyler. She's obviously RTD self-insert. I mean, the Doctor has some Sue moments, and she has some moments that are brilliant, but if you think about the series she becomes a little distracting... especially with that ending of Journey's end, holy crap.
The human race has always had stories of strange, non-human or above human, but still anthropomorphic, beings who intervene on humanity's behalf. Doctor Who is and has always been a myth story. Which isn't for everyone, but don't go calling the Doctor a Sue unless you're going to call Gilgamesh, Hercules, and Jesus the same, am i rite?
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The thing here is that the Doctor used to be a bit of a self-insert, but he isn't anymore. Now the companions seem to be the main point of self-insert; the Doctor is portrayed as foreign and alien and morally twisted. Would you call Cthulu a sue? Also, in terms of Mary Sues, the doctor carries himself like one, but ever since at least 4 or so we've seen what a dick he can be when he's not paying attention. The real sue in the new series, though, is Rose Tyler. She's obviously RTD self-insert. I mean, the Doctor has some Sue moments, and she has some moments that are brilliant, but if you think about the series she becomes a little distracting... especially with that ending of Journey's end, holy crap.
The human race has always had stories of strange, non-human or above human, but still anthropomorphic, beings who intervene on humanity's behalf. Doctor Who is and has always been a myth story. Which isn't for everyone, but don't go calling the Doctor a Sue unless you're going to call Gilgamesh, Hercules, and Jesus the same, am i rite?