Dr. Who is state-sponsored propaganda against citizens owning guns

The British government has disarmed the people of Britain, and to keep them satisified with their deprival of basic freedoms, they run officially-sanctioned propaganda programs encouraging people to hate guns, and see guns as bad.

For example, in the science-fiction program Dr. Who, the main character is a Time Lord who makes frequent preachy arguments against owning a gun, using a gun, or using a gun to get out of dangerous situations.

But here's the problem:

Dr. Who is a fantasy.

In real life, it's not always possible to talk the bad guys out of shooting you when they are determined to do so. In real life, sometimes you need a gun to defend yourself.

But not Dr. Who. Even the Daleks are forced to listen to him everytime he gives a speech, and somehow he always gets away when the speech is over. They never just shoot him, never. Not ever.

My question to our British PF members, do you believe this government sponsored propaganda that guns are never necessary when faced with hostile threats from violent people?

My second question is this:

Why do you trust your government, when your government doesn't trust you?

 

Disarmed? No they aren't. It just looks that way to folks who believe that anyone should be able to have a howitzer in their front yard. Anyway I'd take a sonic screwdriver over a firearm any day, you can do more with a sonic screwdriver.

 

Really? I haven't watched the series, but even I think that's a lie.

 

If you really think about the show, The Doctor doesn't force others to not own guns; instead he has dealt with weapons so much that he is loath to ever touch something that caused such trauma in his mind. If you want a good analogy, ask a soldier with severe PTSD to shoot a gun; probably not the best idea for his mental health.

Even if that is not the case, the idea that the Doctor doesn't use guns is, in my mind, meant to convince people to try to think of solutions to conflicts that don't involve violence; is that really a bad thing? would you prefer the opposite, would the moral message of Doctor Who be improved if it were about Rambo in a TARDIS?

 

What arrogance. You admit you know nothing about Dr. Who, and then call me a liar, after admitting you know nothing about Dr. Who.

 

Not arrogance. I know you, and I haven't heard anyone talk about political issues when they talk about the show.

 

So, you're calling me a liar?

And yet you admit total ignorance of the topic of this thread.

What a low-down dirty scumbag thing to do.

 

No. Just that I don't believe you. You have yet to prove your claim with anything else other than your opinion. Show me what you are talking about.

 

Go watch the show then. I'm not going to post a link to the show. It's on Netflix. Go watch it and then come back, admit you were wrong for calling me a liar, and apologize.

 

It's the job of the person who made the claim, to back it up. I don't have netflix, and it won't be pratical to watch the entire series. Show me what you mean.

 

Meh, they're disarmed comparatively. Everybody knows the guy with the gun always has an advantage. That's why some places try to take guns away. But if we're talking about fictional weapons here, I'm all about a light saber.

 

I don't believe any of those statements are especially accurate.

The character has always been largely about non-violent solutions to problems, though that has varied through the different incarnations, I believe in response to audience expectations of the day rather than the other way around. It's probably worth remembering that Dr Who was created as a children's program with an elderly professor in the lead role and while it's evolved massively, those beginnings remain relevant by it's very nature. Dr Who is never going to be an all-out action hero.

It isn't as if UK TV doesn't have lots of other programs where guns are depicted as the solution to problems (many, though not all, from America of course). If this is British government propaganda, it's not very competent.

I think I've told you before that I trust our government no more or less than I trust any other group of individuals.

 

This is a key point. He has wielded guns in the past, occasionally and as a last resort, (and, although he usually tries to avoid it if possible, he's killed lots of things by lots of other means, including explosives!) but others who are with him certainly use them plenty - there's no lack of guns and weapons in the show, including on the side of the 'good guys'. Aside from him supposedly being essentially a pacifist by nature that looks for solutions other than violence to solve problems, firearms are ineffective against most of his more regular foes anyway (Daleks, Cybermen, etc.) - bullets simply bounce off them (as do most 'laser' type weapons). The point of the program is not an 'all action hero Rambo' kind of thing, but more of a 'clever detective solving problems that seem impossible to solve' thing - he's supposed to use his intelligence, rather than just having a bigger armoury than everyone else. That's the character, and that's the program. Sure, there's some 'action' scenes thrown in to liven it up a bit, but the basis of the series is not, and never has been, that the Doctor is an 'all action hero' (indeed, the first incarnation was an old man, and several of the others have hardly been young and sprightly super-fit athletic type - in fact, none of them have been). It just isn't that kind of series at all, and anyone who thinks that it is (or should be) is missing the point of it entirely.

One of the reasons for that, of course, is that it has always been intended and considered as a 'family' show, suitable for children to watch (if a little scary for some of them). It's not an adult show, so there is a limit to the kinds of violence that can be shown. It's a little like the original A-Team series, in a way - they used lots of guns and big bangs, obviously, but nobody actually ever got shot or killed or anything - the 'bad guy's would always get knocked out by something rather than brutally killed! That can, of course, get a bit silly! People (or creatures) do die in Doctor who, regularly, but tend to just flash and disappear from some kind of laser weapon thing rather than be shown covered in blood or anything

Is it really a problem for some people in the USA to understand that not every 'hero' of every program (even the 'good guy vs bad guy' type stuff) has to be all about being better at violence than 'the bad guy'? I'm hoping not! TV would be very dull if every character has to be the same, and there's no place for anything different! There are plenty of other shows that do depict guns and violence, of course, but not all shows in the UK are the same, and some of them (some of the better ones, in fact) are a little more intelligent and thoughtful than the likes of Rambo.

To suggest that it is somehow 'state-sponsored' propaganda' is just complete nonsense with no basis whatsoever in reality, of course.

 

The op said it was government propaganda then asked others to prove him wrong. Yawn

 

Where is the evidence that Doctor Who is 'government sponsored propaganda'?

 

He actually presented it as an unchallenged assumption and only asked others whether it is a good thing or not.

 

Which it probably wouldn't be, if it were true, but it isn't, so the question isn't really relevant at all.

 

I am up to season 4 of the series (go Amy) and his repulsion of guns is because of what happened to him and what he himself has done in his past. He also criticizes anything that kills including weird science fiction weaponry that doesn't exist. He is simply nonviolent all the way around.

McGyver was the same way, that wasn't state sponsored and I loved that show. I like the concept of heroes that "out think" their enemies just as much as I like heroes who blow everything up and kickass all the time.

 

Well it being a fantasy is why people watch. It's entertaining. It's not really there to give you tips about how to deal with armed intruders.

1st question: There's no evidence to suggest that it is propaganda nor is there a ministry dedicated to it. It's largely private with a Royal and state charter and that's about the extent of control the state has. Not much really.

We don't need guns. We've got big bloody knives.

2nd question: We don't trust HMG or rather London politics. The last decade has shown that they are not doing their jobs. Ultimately it does come down to voter apathy that has caused this political decay.

I'm not entirely sure about what you mean when you say the government doesn't trust the public.

 

He's taking your track record into account and playing the odds.

 

I've watched it.

The premise of the Doctor not using firearms is....that he figures out a way to solve the situation WITHOUT using a gun, because he's SMART. Or as Isaac Asimov put it-

"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent".

Or the other way to put it "Somebody who sees EVERYTHING as a nail...will only use a hammer".

Either of those two sayings likely apply to BR.

 

The concept is much older than that. Dr Who was a pretty much pacifist from day one and this attitude to guns was established decades ago.

Damn I feel old.

 

By your own admission you have just discovered Dr Who - yet in a matter if weeks you feel qualified to debate the social values of the show.

Well here are a few things for.

U.N.I.T - A main stay of the series for 40 years. It is a United Nations military force designed specifically for the hunting down and liquidation of alien threats on Earth. During the shooting of the 2006 series, one scene involving UNIT was so violent, the noise triggered terrorist alerts in London.

In the episode "The Time Of Angels" We encounter a futurist armed core of Catholic clerics who would nor be out of place in a modern seal team operations. The episode features a number of shootouts with the alien menace featured in the episode.

But lets explore further - Dr Who is government propaganda. So what is the explanation for the Lone Ranger. Never shoots to kill or even harm. never drinks. Are you prepared to lay similar charges against the United States government?

 

Okay, rock, scissors, paper - oops sonic screwdriver meets light sabre.....

 

Cheer up on the old bit - I saw the very first episode when it aired