Of course, I write about the fear/trust dynamic a lot. I think the reason that falling in love (if not being in love) is so closely related to fear is because it involves trust, and when you choose to trust someone, there's always a moment of utter freefall, a leap of faith. Yes! Which, I think, is where the image of River jumping really takes its arresting power: she, in essence, re-enacts her initial leap of faith over and over in their relationship. And I'm not sure that fandom would agree with me on this, but I find the most affecting aspect of the timey-wimey structure of their lives to be not the in-built tragedy of them forgetting each other, but that aspect of choice. They don't have the luxury (or curse) of inertia that most couples have: they have to take that risk of choosing each other over and over, not quite knowing who they are going to find each time they come back but trusting that the essentials will be there.
I like Moffat's Who on a level below analysis, and I think part of it is that he keeps reaffirming that trust can be beautiful, that you can trust the alien, whether the alien is the Doctor or the Star Whale or your own child. Lovely, this whole paragraph.
Very much agree with you about adult River's fearlessness. And when she faced the overriding fear of her life head-on, she came out better on the other side--that's a powerful lesson in itself.
Hmmm, I hope you are right about Confidential. I myself am going to miss it, and I do usually enjoy hearing Moff talk about his writing. But there is something to be said for forcing the work to stand on its own, and I think he definitely needs something to reign him back from some of the extremes of this year.
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Yes! Which, I think, is where the image of River jumping really takes its arresting power: she, in essence, re-enacts her initial leap of faith over and over in their relationship. And I'm not sure that fandom would agree with me on this, but I find the most affecting aspect of the timey-wimey structure of their lives to be not the in-built tragedy of them forgetting each other, but that aspect of choice. They don't have the luxury (or curse) of inertia that most couples have: they have to take that risk of choosing each other over and over, not quite knowing who they are going to find each time they come back but trusting that the essentials will be there.
I like Moffat's Who on a level below analysis, and I think part of it is that he keeps reaffirming that trust can be beautiful, that you can trust the alien, whether the alien is the Doctor or the Star Whale or your own child.
Lovely, this whole paragraph.
Very much agree with you about adult River's fearlessness. And when she faced the overriding fear of her life head-on, she came out better on the other side--that's a powerful lesson in itself.
Hmmm, I hope you are right about Confidential. I myself am going to miss it, and I do usually enjoy hearing Moff talk about his writing. But there is something to be said for forcing the work to stand on its own, and I think he definitely needs something to reign him back from some of the extremes of this year.