miss_s_b: An Interesting Bit of Fluff From You Gov - Public Perceptions of Fictional Characters' Politics

miss_s_b (

miss_s_b) wrote,
@ 2012-04-05 07:12 pm UTC

Current mood:	contemplative
Entry tags:	politics

An Interesting Bit of Fluff From You Gov - Public Perceptions of Fictional Characters' Politics

http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/88fhchg0tf/YG-Archives-FictionalCharactersVoting-050412.pdf

So YouGov did a survey on which party people think various fictional characters would vote for. From the little I know, I would suspect most of them are correct, but I want to talk about the one I know is definitely false, and the one I think is probably wrong.

Firstly, Victor Meldrew is definitely a Labour voter. This is canonical, he talks about it in the show, he reads the Daily Mirror onscreen on a regular basis, and in one episode is shown roundly abusing a Tory canvassar, and in another episode castigating a Tory politician in a hospital. So why do the majority of people think of him as a Tory?

There's a definite stereotype effect going on; most of the Tories are characters people don't like, or love to hate, and most of the Labour characters are seen as good fun but a bit thick. The one Lib Dem is the Vicar of Dibley - worthy, does good works and makes people happier, but is ultimately pretty powerless and someone to feel sorry for. So I think people put Victor Meldrew as a Tory because he's so bloody grumpy, and people see him as selfishly grumpy - but he's totally not. He's a tireless crusader against injustice, not just for himself, but for others (see the episode set in the Old People's home), and he has the Labourite's unshakeable conviction that the government ought to sort things out.

The other one that I think is a bit off is the Doctor. The biggest result for him is "wouldn't vote", which is probably correct, because I think the timelord maxim of non interference still has SOME traction on him... But then the next biggest is Green LOL! The Doctor is a scientist. The Greens, despite their hearts being in the right place, are totally wedded to woo. Add to that their occasional authoritarian tendencies and... no, the Doctor is a Lib Dem. I shall stubbornly cling to that belief.

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gwenhwyfaer
2012-04-05 11:54 pm UTC (link)

I fear I'm taking this too seriously, but given the way even the stated party allegiances and commitments have shifted even in the last few years - leaving aside what happens to parties when they get too near power, money and the upper echelons of the Civil Service - it seems a bit daft to talk about party names as though they connote anything at all. I think JMS pretty much sewed up the whole party thing with the Drazi. ("Green!" "Purple!") And I think the Doctor, in any of his incarnations, would have seen right through it. By all means contend that the Doctor's a liberal by nature, but a Lib Dem? I can't see it.

That said, I'm quite sure the Doctor's an anarchist, at least emotionally. A common thread has always been that nobody should have the kind of power he was given by accident of birth, still less that wielded by his species. That kind of thing tends to rub off after a while - and when Ten forgot it, a bullet through someone else's brain reminded him. (There's also a note of power being a huge burden, and one he neither trusts anyone else to carry - especially when they want it! - nor wishes to subject them to suffering.)

Not to mention that the Doctor is the archetypal non-joiner. :)

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	no subject gominokouhai 2012-04-07 12:22 pm UTC (link)
	This comment is bang on. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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