Here’s something that has always bothered me about Martha hate.
Most of it originates from her following Rose as a companion, and threatening to replace her despite not actually attempting to. That’s why I think so many people have an initially bad reaction to her, while as for Donna it’s much different because The Doctor and Donna have a very different relationship that’s much more platonic in nature. Essentially, people don’t like Martha because she fell in love with The Doctor, our Doctor who was still extremely (and oh my golly he was) mopey and detached after leaving Rose, still recovering from that heartbreak, and Martha was seemingly intruding on that.
The thing is, Martha didn’t know about Rose for quite a while. She literally had to drag the information out of the Doctor, and it took forever. When she learned, when she came to understand exactly what he was coming from, she respected that. In the meantime, she was falling in love with him, and I don’t understand why that’s such a terrible thing — wouldn’t we all? Can none of us honestly relate to being in love with someone who obviously prefers someone else; can we really not empathize with that? I think Martha was an excellent companion to the Doctor in spite of that. She was still loyal and fierce as fuck even though she harbored emotions that he never reciprocated, and eventually she grew into her own was able to move on without him. That’s what I love about Martha and her story. Even though I don’t personally relate to her that much as a character as far as her personality traits go (just because she’s far more of a bamf than I could ever dream to be), she represents to me what it’s like to move on from the pangs of unrequited love stronger and better, another way in which Doctor Who has shown how a person can grow immensely by exhibiting how truly extraordinary any ordinary human can be.
I love Martha for other reasons, I love her entirely as a character, and I love her despite her flaws — her flaws which, I think, she overcame quite impressively. (And for the record, I don’t hate Rose — I didn’t realize there was ever a Rose/Martha side to pick — I love every single companion for their unique qualities! Rose is one of my absolute favorites, and believe it or not, Martha follows closely behind. There’s not a single companion on Doctor Who I dislike*, because as he has said, he only takes the best.)
*Yes, even Mickey. I adore Mickey.
Most of it originates from her following Rose as a companion, and threatening to replace her despite not actually attempting to. That’s why I think so many people have an initially bad reaction to her, while as for Donna it’s much different because The Doctor and Donna have a very different relationship that’s much more platonic in nature. Essentially, people don’t like Martha because she fell in love with The Doctor, our Doctor who was still extremely (and oh my golly he was) mopey and detached after leaving Rose, still recovering from that heartbreak, and Martha was seemingly intruding on that.
The thing is, Martha didn’t know about Rose for quite a while. She literally had to drag the information out of the Doctor, and it took forever. When she learned, when she came to understand exactly what he was coming from, she respected that. In the meantime, she was falling in love with him, and I don’t understand why that’s such a terrible thing — wouldn’t we all? Can none of us honestly relate to being in love with someone who obviously prefers someone else; can we really not empathize with that? I think Martha was an excellent companion to the Doctor in spite of that. She was still loyal and fierce as fuck even though she harbored emotions that he never reciprocated, and eventually she grew into her own was able to move on without him. That’s what I love about Martha and her story. Even though I don’t personally relate to her that much as a character as far as her personality traits go (just because she’s far more of a bamf than I could ever dream to be), she represents to me what it’s like to move on from the pangs of unrequited love stronger and better, another way in which Doctor Who has shown how a person can grow immensely by exhibiting how truly extraordinary any ordinary human can be.
I love Martha for other reasons, I love her entirely as a character, and I love her despite her flaws — her flaws which, I think, she overcame quite impressively. (And for the record, I don’t hate Rose — I didn’t realize there was ever a Rose/Martha side to pick — I love every single companion for their unique qualities! Rose is one of my absolute favorites, and believe it or not, Martha follows closely behind. There’s not a single companion on Doctor Who I dislike*, because as he has said, he only takes the best.)
*Yes, even Mickey. I adore Mickey.
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