Fear is the Mind-Killer

[promethia_tenk]

Hello, flist! Long time, no see. In answer to your questions: yes, I have been avoiding you. Have also been avoiding Doctor Who and watching Fringe at a frankly unhealthy rate (Mini rxn: Fringe! <3 <3 <3). I have lots of lovely posts queued up for reading, though, and shall be trying to catch up with you all as soon as possible.

I'm back, though, because I have finally had a eureka moment on a question that's been eating at me ever since Let's Kill Hitler: What the frak did they do to Melody? And I know I'm not the only one who had a hard time seeing any River in Mels or who was dissatisfied with Moffat slapping a "psychopath" label on her and counting that as explanation enough. So here's my theory:

Basically, it's all about fear: I think the essence of what the Silence did to her is to make her terrified of the Doctor (He's gonna get me! Gonna eat me!) and leave her with no tools for recognizing it or expressing it or addressing it but to kill him. The sort of omnipresent fear that shadows everything else, clouds judgment, makes every moment about trying to manage the fear, somehow . . . So, the end of LKH wasn't about letting go of anger, or a vendetta of some sort, but about facing a fear, which is why the turn-around seems so sudden. And fear, not hatred, is a catalyst for love (chemically, this is true: falling in love involves massive quantities of anxiety hormones--hence the butterflies. Also where Stockholm Syndrome comes from).

I think it's basically an Occam's Razor kind of thing. They didn't have to make a psychopath--they just had to make her irrationally afraid of the Doctor. It's like what they talk about in Inception: to plant an idea in someone's head and make them accept it as their own, you have to reduce that idea to its simplest emotional form and let them build it themselves from there. Why does she want to kill the Doctor? Because she's afraid of him (The Silence may be the stuff of nightmares, but young Melody didn't actually run away until the Doctor showed up . . .). They plant the fear . . . they use the Silence to do it . . . which means she can't remember why she's afraid of him . . . which is like a perpetual motion machine for crazy. And from there she'll pretty much do all the work for them: learn everything she can about him, soak up any skill that might help her neutralize him, think about him all the time because she doesn't know why she's afraid of him and doesn't know how to stop it. She can't feel anything else because she's afraid all the time, but she can't be afraid because she doesn't have a reason to be afraid . . . so she won't be afraid. She'll test herself against every scary, dangerous thing she can find to prove to herself that she's not afraid. She'll come up with flimsy alternate excuses for everything she does (psychopath?) because she's certainly not motivated in everything by fear. She'll go over everything about it over and over to try to come to grips with it. She'll basically tear herself apart at the seams trying to cope with a fear that she can't feel because it doesn't have a reason.

But then, as they also point out in Inception, negative emotions are less potent and less durable than positive ones. And fear is not so different from falling in love. So how do you "trick" programming like that? Love is a more stable, more desirable state than perpetual fear.  And of course she fell in love too quickly. What holds people back from falling in love? Ultimately, it's fear. And she'd already spent her whole life afraid.

I think this explanation also makes more sense of how quickly she seems to recover all her normal faculties as River than if you assume she had much more involved brainwashing: once she faces her fear, all the parts of her that had been misdirected trying fruitlessly to manage that fear would be freed up to do what they were meant to.

ETA: All y'all should probably go read kaffyr's lovely meta River Song is Not a Psychopath, which I would say helped get my head moving on this.

Comments

[elisi]

And now I'm thinking of Brave New World... Mmmm, good stuff.

Also, this ties in beautifully with the whole thing that she sees him as just a man, that she is from then on the person to drag him off any cloud he might like to sit on, and nothing he can do will frighten her (and vice versa). (I'd ramble some more, but you know it all, and I'm half-asleep now...)

[promethia_tenk]

And now I'm thinking of Brave New World... Mmmm, good stuff.
It's been awhile--what's the connection?

Also, this ties in beautifully with the whole thing that she sees him as just a man, that she is from then on the person to drag him off any cloud he might like to sit on, and nothing he can do will frighten her (and vice versa).
*nods* And I think the fact in general that there's just so little she seems afraid of.

[promethia_tenk]

*forehead!smack* One of the most arresting things about River's relationship with the Doctor is the depth of her trust in him. Naturally that is born out of and equivalent fear.

[lonewytch.livejournal.com]

Nice.
I like what you say about the connection between the experience of fear and the experience of love, the similarity between the anxiety associated with them. My personal philosophy is that fear is the opposite of love, and that all negative emotions have that at their fundamental root. so i totally buy the idea that all they needed to do was instil her with a deep deep fear of him, and let everything spiral from there. Also, Moffat plays so much with dualities that it makes sense to me to see it that way - fear/love.

And you're right - what is more scary than fear itself? It feeds on itself, especially when ignored, leading to the type of extreme behaviour - all the behaviours we see her displaying in LKH because she can never ever admit she's terrified.

And when she goes through that gateway, faces her fear then releases it, love is on the other side. And that's where she acts from there onwards. She has utterly no fear of death as we see from future River, it's her love for him that lets her stand in his place and Ascend in the library.

[promethia_tenk]

Thank you : )

My personal philosophy is that fear is the opposite of love, and that all negative emotions have that at their fundamental root . . . Also, Moffat plays so much with dualities that it makes sense to me to see it that way - fear/love.
That is a very good point, and everything else you say. I think what I like about this theory is that it makes this part of her story something more profound and more generally applicable to human behavior and how love works and how people relate to each other than saying she's brainwashed and a psychopath.

Have you ever seen Moff's Jekyll? A key line in that is "love is a psychopath," which I actually like in the context of that show because the whole thing is basically a six-hour long meditation on what happened in that moment where River faced down the Dalek: all about how love (namely the more primal romantic and parental bonds) can inspire crazy/protective/violent/obsessive instincts. And with River's story he seemed to be coming back to the same themes except . . . as far as I could tell he had cause and effect all backwards. In Jekyll love is the impetus for "psychosis," but here it was, what? Psychopaths fall in love? But if it's not really about psychosis but fear . . . I think that's something everyone can relate to: we all have fears about each other that play a profound role in how we connect with other people.

[owlboy]

IA. I've thought for a while that the "spaceman" she was talking about was actually the Doctor, but I hadn't seen how that could apply to her reactions in LKH. Makes perfect sense. And it's something a lot of kids experience, I think - being terrified, and not knowing why. Just feeling like SOMETHING is out there in the dark, that wants to eat you. And Moffat is always pulling from childhood stuff like that.

[promethia_tenk]

I've thought for a while that the "spaceman" she was talking about was actually the Doctor, but I hadn't seen how that could apply to her reactions in LKH.
Yeah, me either! I feel like maybe Moffat meant for us to make the connections but he was just a little too oblique about it? Holes! This season has too many holes! And I think most everybody got that her childhood was meant to be scary and scarring but pinpointed the Silence as the focus of that fear, rather than the Doctor himself.

And it's something a lot of kids experience, I think - being terrified, and not knowing why. Just feeling like SOMETHING is out there in the dark, that wants to eat you. And Moffat is always pulling from childhood stuff like that.
That's a good point. And as much of a fail as it was on the show's part not to make any explicit parallels between Melody and George from "Night Terrors," the connection was pretty obvious anyway. And the point with George was that all the chaos he caused was a product of fear.

[beerbad.livejournal.com]

I like it.

[promethia_tenk]

=D Thanks!

[kaffy_r]

This is brilliantly to the point when it comes to the way in which River could have been - and probably was - programmed.

I think sometimes people forget that the best "programming" is either fear- or love-based, because it's simple and efficient (so many times we make the mistake of thinking that brainwashing and programming has to be some variegated multifaceted sophisticated thing when it not only doesn't have to be that way, but probably never ever was that way.) Mental torturers (which is exactly what any brainwasher is) are like physical torturers: brutal and to the point. We make the mistake of believing all the crap in Bond movies and Batman comics; that such people want to go for indirect showiness. Nope. As my Best Beloved just said, "I don't really think there are a lot of Manchurian Candidates out there."

Also, I nodded when I saw the title: "Fear is the Mind Killer," which took me right back to the first time I read Dune and the scene in which Paul has to deal with the gom jabbar. Fear is the mind killer, as you so cogently point out. You can be so afraid of something, so frightened of something that the fear itself becomes a creature of which you're afraid. Not for nothing did Franklin Delano Roosevelt say "the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."

(And I am happily gobsmacked if my ramblings were of help to you.)

[promethia_tenk]

Thank you very much--I'm glad this is resonating with other people too.

That's a very good point about the efficacy of brute tactics--the things that most stick with us tend to be very primal. And there continues to be something very primal in River's relationship with the Doctor through the rest of her life. These aren't subtle forces Moff is writing about and in River they are extremely focused on the Doctor.

It's been long enough since I've read Dune that I don't particularly recall the scene you're referring to, but I like that idea of fear being its own creature.

(You laid out so much about River in your post and put up a very good argument against the psychopath label . . . I just found myself itching at the sense that some key point was missing in the middle of all of it, and it's been a feeling that's been annoying me with my own thoughts about the character and often when I read fic that tries to get a handle on Melody.)

[janie-aire.livejournal.com]

Wonderful meta, and spot on! And like Owlsie points out, the whole motivational technique is perfectly described in the previous episode. lonewytch points out the great duality of fear/love, and dualism runs through the whole era like a razor.

I too think Amy's role is sketchier, and takes diving a bit deeper into the monster metaphors. In TIA, she's devastated the Doctor has died. Then, seeing him alive, her love and fear become sundered. She wants to kill the Apollo to save her Doctor.

And the Apollo is her daughter. So deep down, Amy, the Rememberer, has some antipathy towards River. She shot at her at the end of TIA. And then, and *then*, the AmyBot (spelled out as a metaphor) tortures River, River the Doctor-killer -- and as AmyBot she's completely lacking in emotion, absent of love *and* fear. So while she puts on a good face at the beginning for seeking out her daughter, when it's all spelled out there has to be some horrible conflicts wedged in her soul.

[promethia_tenk]

Thank you very much!

I think you're right about Amy, and you lay it out very well. It's all so compelling in the symbolism; I just wish it could have been fleshed out a little more thoroughly. She also points a gun at River at the end of AGMGTW, so I think there's also something in River as the one who steals the Doctor away from Amy generally (not just in her role as his killer) and even as someone complicit in stealing her baby self away from her parents. Definitely a lot of room for conflicting feelings between Amy and River.

[rumpelsnorcack.livejournal.com]

Yay! You are returned! I have been toying the last few days with sending you an email basically making sure you're okay. Good to see that you are and that all this lovely meta thought stuff is (partially) behind your absence :D

This is a very interesting post and I shall go away and assilimate it and ponder it and work these thoughts into the fic I am writing to help myself deal with LKH.

*wanders off to read the recced meta post*

[promethia_tenk]

I am returned! In fits and starts. Sorry for making you worry : ) I hope to be around more consistently here.

Ooo, fic! *claps* I hope this helps you some because it was a huuuuge missing piece for me. I think by the end of the season . . . I'm not necessarily dissatisfied with where things ended up. But I do feel cheated out of massive amounts of resolution: character exploration and interaction and people working through things and just issues being acknowledged and such. Which: at least fic is very good for that? But it's still rather disappointing and frustrating the amount of work it's taking to patch so much of this up *grumph*

[sea_thoughts]

*claps* Brilliant! Makes so much sense. I think it explains her fascination perfectly. You're always fascinated by the things that scare you. Spielberg made a career out of it.

[owlboy]

The Doctor: So, why are you interested in fish?
Kazran: 'Cause they're scary.
The Doctor: Good answer.

[promethia_tenk]

Thank you! And exactly about the fascination of scary things : )

[stargatecrazy.livejournal.com]

That's wonderful!!

The one thing that annoyed me about LKH and TWORS was how quickly River seemed to love him, but this explains that beautifully :D

So thank you :D

[promethia_tenk]

Thank you! I'm glad to hear this is helping people--it's been a tricky season to come to terms with.

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

Fringe! I still haven't gotten around to watching the pilot, although I have it sitting in my backpack. This fall I watched, like, nothing after DW ended, although I finally did see my first episode of Buffy and a couple episodes of Futurama.

That is a very interesting and sensible theory re: River. I am still edgy about what they did this season, but I am nonetheless looking forward to the Christmas special. :D

[promethia_tenk]

Ooo, Futurama is a fun one. And good for watching in little chunks rather than getting drawn into a super marathon and neglecting everything else in your life : )

Glad you like the theory. I'm edgy too, but I think it will be easier to get over and past if we get some new DW and everything feels back on track again *crosses fingers*

[keep-counting.livejournal.com]

This is interesting and very plausible: I didn't like the direction Moffat took River in LKH and beyond, but your thoughts certainly casts a light over her reasonings and choices in life, as apart from the 'she's nuts!' we were given on the show

[promethia_tenk]

Thank you very much! I was quite upset about a lot of River's storyline this season, but I feel like it's at least starting to make sense, which counts for a lot.

[aareavis.livejournal.com]

Well, I think it's quite likely that Melody/River has/would have Reactive Attachment Disorder which would definitely leave her without the proper tools to deal with fear. RAD is all about fear. Notice, in LKH, during her school years, that, in her opinion, everything bad that ever happened, happened because of the Doctor. From here (http://www.attachmentdisorder.net/Negative_Belief_System.htm): "The child may learn as an infant/toddler that they must take care of themselves. That they cannot depend on adults for their safety, hence their need for control to make sure they stay safe. They believe that they stay safe if they push you away by making you angry, grossing you out, etc., any way they can to distance themselves from you emotionally and physically.

Many times these hurt children really believe that if they do things your way by obeying you they will die. They don't think that doing things your way is what will keep them safe. They learned this in those first few years of life when they learned they had to depend on themselves. Bringing them into your home will not change this belief about all adults – including you."

It didn't help that her own mother shot at her. :/

[promethia_tenk]

This does all sound entirely apt--thank you for sharing : )

The child may learn as an infant/toddler that they must take care of themselves. That they cannot depend on adults for their safety, hence their need for control to make sure they stay safe.
We probably saw this happening right in TIA/DotM--she calls and calls for help and who shows up? Her worst nightmare . . . and her parents. Who don't know who she is, are associating with the Doctor, and as you say, her mother shot her. Then she ran away.

[honeynoir.livejournal.com]

This makes so much sense! It is fantastic. <3
You’ve explained all the things I didn’t really care for about the arc, even the pacing in LKH, and you’ve done it brilliantly.

once she faces her fear, all the parts of her that had been misdirected trying fruitlessly to manage that fear would be freed up to do what they were meant to.
I’m seeing Melody completely differently now.

(Also: thank you for easing the can’t-put-my-finger-on-it there’s-something-more-to-this feeling I’ve had re: Melody and the Spaceman.)

[promethia_tenk]

You’ve explained all the things I didn’t really care for about the arc, even the pacing in LKH, and you’ve done it brilliantly.
I'm very glad to hear that! Yeah, I've been feeling for awhile that . . . Moff may have genuinely bungled it this time. But I'm finally coming around to thinking, ok, he did know what he was doing; he just really didn't show his work very well. Still waiting for a bit more resolution with Amy and Rory's storylines, but at least we know they're coming back?

I’m seeing Melody completely differently now.
*nods* I rewatched LKH after writing this, and it's a completely different episode!

[lyricwrites.livejournal.com]

I like it. 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. No matter how much evidence you have of someone's trustworthiness you can't know them completely, and thus you can't be one hundred percent certain they won't hurt you. It's just that for most friendships, and most undamaged people, the instant passes so quickly that you never have time to feel the vertigo.

In fact, one of the things that attracts me to Doctor Who is the scary wondrousness of trusting onesself to a person who is mysterious and unknowable and sometimes spooky and on occassion as scary as all hell—while still being deeply and truly good. 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. There are amazing landscapes, there's love and friendship and excitement, beyond that leap of faith. That's a good message for a fairy tale, every bit as good as the traditional, Of course there are monsters. But monsters can be beaten.

This theory also might well explain why River seems so totally fearless in the face of danger; she got so used to fear when she was young that she can utterly dismiss it as meaningless background noise.

(Oh, and n+1 on the idea that "Let's Kill Hitler" needed to be a two-parter. People will hate me for this opinion, but part of me thinks that losing Confidential might be good for Moffat as a writer, because he'll have to stuff everything he wants to say into the show proper or else leave it out. Not that that's a consolation for fans who've lost the show, of course.)

[promethia_tenk]

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.