Doctor Who Vid: When I Was A Boy [Amy, Amy/Rory]

[beccatoria]

I originally planned to post this today in order to get it out there ahead of the new series premiere, but it feels wrong and conspicuous to do so, now, without mentioning Elisabeth Sladen. This is not a vid about Sarah Jane, but it is a vid about a show that would have been much lesser without Elisabeth Sladen. The universe, both fictional and real, is a worse place without her in it.

Title: When I Was A Boy
Video: Doctor Who
Audio: When I Was A Boy // Dar Williams
Summary: Amy Pond was a boy too.

Direct download available here. 51 megs approx. RightClickSaveAs.

Password: vidses

Watch on Vimeo

Cross-posted to vidding and dwfanvids.

Other vids available here.

Comments

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

How lovely! That song is so perfect for Amy, especially the beginning!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_thirty2flavors/]

I've never heard the song before but it worked well here. I liked this, good job. =)

[purplefringe.livejournal.com]

Oh oh oh that was amazing and complex and brilliant! I loved the change to Rory's POV at the end, and the way you made the clips fit the lyrics in really interesting ways. Lovely :-)

[pellucid.livejournal.com]

Oh, interesting!!! This is one of my favorite songs ever, but I wouldn't have thought of it for Amy--but it really does work beautifully, especially the opening sequence, which I adore. And I think it works particularly well when we move beyond the literal gender identity stuff of the lyrics and think more broadly in terms of imagination and opportunity to be the person you're going to be, etc. Also perhaps on the meta level of gender and sci fi. That is, I don't particularly see Amy as ever having been much of a "tomboy"; for better or worse, she seems to wear her gender identity pretty comfortably within the stereotypical norms for these things. But part of what I've always loved about this song is the way it's as much about childhood and the things children dream as it is about gender identity, and it's the first of those things that makes it such a great song for Amy.

(OMG NEW RIVER SOOOOOOON!!!!!!!! *ahem* And Amy and Rory and Eleventy, too.)

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

YESSSSSS. YES YES YES.

Okay so probably I would be better off replying to this when I'm not about to have to run off for bed, but it's so awesome I MUST DO IT NOW.

Because you are so right and like...the one thing that gave me pause about using the song for Amy was that I've never seen her as a tomboy either; so much of her identity is powerfully and assertively female. And...I didn't want it to come across as a straight switch like that. But - while I don't want to take away the part of the song that very much is about gender identity - I also don't think that's the crux of what I find powerful and compelling about it. It's about not conforming, it's about being you when being you is hard because people think you should be someone else. It's about not forgetting that and not being forced to grow out of it. And like I said, the song definitely deals with some specifics that don't necessarily map to Amy but I think there's a...deeper emotional resonance that does?

eta!: (In the cold light of the next day – I’d add I think one of the reasons why the childhood/gender roles idea works so well in this context is that, of course, it’s something that’s so hammered into us as children, to the detriment of, probably, us all, whatever our sexual orientation or gender identification – some more than others, obviously, but even those privileged by them – those who are cisgendered and heterosexual, as the song’s protagonists may be, are more harmed than helped by the restrictions imposed on the ways they are allowed to be children, to be boys or girls. Aaaand we’re back to the way it’s one of the most powerful examples of societal identity suckerpunching… ;) /eta

Anyway, I'm so pleased to hear that, given you love the song so much, you think it works for Amy, and, as I said, SO MUCH YES to all your comments about the song itself and what it's about. ♥

(OMGS THREE SLEEPS TO RIVERRRRR.)

[promethia_tenk]

Oh, this is lovely and brilliant and, actually, I got quite choked up towards the end. V. much agreed that it really works on that deeper emotional level despite not strictly fitting with all the implications in the lyrics.

[lysimache.livejournal.com]

Oh, this was terrific! I wouldn't have thought to pair this song with Amy, but I think you really made it work and made it believable, and I really, really liked this vid! Great job!

[emmiere.livejournal.com]

Made my night, which is now full of happiness and excitement Doctor Who is coming back. But really, this is wonderful for being a little wistful and a lot about remembrance and the process of growing up. I'd never heard this song, so it was unexpectedly sweet when Rory came in at the end. MADE MY NIGHT!

I very much agree with your thoughtful words about Elisabeth Sladen, even though I've seen her in very little else.

[chaila.livejournal.com]

This is so Amy; she's so active and imaginative and expressive, and she is not like other people but she does not need to be fixed. I love the sense in this that she has grown up from wee Amelia, smiling that glorious kid smile at the Doctor, but not away from her. And that's such a vital part of Amy, I think. The way you've vidded the song, it comes across really strongly as identification with childhood, with who Amy was and what she dreamed of then. When you're a child, you don't care about expectations or rules, and Amy grew up and...still didn't conform to expectations or rules. I really do like the POV switch to Rory at the end, as well as the preceding section that blends them; with all the use of Roman!Robot Rory and the Pandorica (and maybe I was paying better attention this time), I got a great sense of that time being pivotal, changing Rory too, into someone who won't want to change Amy into everyone else's idea of a grownup in Leadworth but will want to go have adventures with her.

Casting the Doctor as Peter Pan is just perfect, both for all the ways it's perfect for his role in Amy's life and for all the ways it doesn't play out like that. Though the vid is so much more than that section, I think that whole metaphor perfectly encapsulates the whole vid and all that's great about season 5 so I'm going to ramble about it for a minute. (Confession: I love Finding Neverland, like, A LOT). The Doctor, the perpetual child mischief-maker, who forgets in order to stay young--has to forget to stay young, because truth is hard and steals your innocent wonder and makes you old--surrounding himself with other children who can only stay and have adventures as long as they too are young and innocent and full of wonder (his youth is artificially imposed; theirs is real and so it doesn't last). When they grow up, they have to leave and forget him and forget their adventures and go back to "real life." And so it's a tragedy every time someone grows up. (Oh hey, Donna).

And Amy goes to Neverland, finally (he promised Amelia that she could go, and then he left without her and she grew up, but not all the way because she didn't forget that he'd promised and she was afraid of growing up before she'd gotten to go; adults can't get in, you know, because they have forgotten how to believe). And then she has impossible adventures and she does grow up and has grown up, but it doesn't change her into someone who wants to do anything but live in Neverland as a grownup. She doesn't have to forget and she doesn't have to leave. Growth and adulthood don't have to mean forgetting the joy and wonder of being a kid; there is no "adulthood" line you cross, beyond which you must either want different things or do things you don't want. Instead, Amy Pond goes to Neverland and changes and grows up there and then Amy Frakking Pond remembers it all. Amy Pond lives in a fairy tale and scoffs at your Neverland rules. (Oh Amy, why have I not vidded Amy? <333) And now I've cast Rory in Peter Pan too, because that's where "To die will be an awfully big adventure" comes from. <-- Look, feelings about Rory! \o/

In conclusion, we're all fairy tales. And thus, it is really about River?

(And oh look, I'm vomiting sincerity and fairy tale rainbows and parentheses all over your journal. You know what that means: THREE SLEEPS TO DOCTOR SONG).

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

i love this!!!! this is perhaps the first time that i feel on board with amy/rory, which is a major accomplishment on your+the vid's part. i feel there are layers and layers in this, so i'm looking forward to rewatching this vid many times :)

[daybreak777.livejournal.com]

Aww, Amy. You must have known I was thinking of your Amy vidlet today. I love that vidlet. And with Dar Williams! You pick the most awesome artists for Amy.

Amy as Wendy! That's perfect, really. I love this render. It's so crisp and clear I feel I'm looking straight through a window into their world.

I think I will be continue to be content to watch Dr. Who through your vids. :-)

[beerbad.livejournal.com]

Amyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy <333333

[ghanimasun]

This is really gorgeous. I love how you incorporated the lyrics with the clips, awesome work :)

[nicole-anell.livejournal.com]

Amy. Rory. AMY. I've only seen two episodes of this season (and um, *still* have not been introduced to your beloved River yet) but I love her already so eeee this vid. This is just beautiful.

[jess-squirrel.livejournal.com]

Aw, this is beautiful!

[tabbyclaw.livejournal.com]

Sweet, and very fitting.

[dashan.livejournal.com]

this is simply beautiful! thanks for sharing. :)

[tabbyclaw.livejournal.com]

According to Moffat, the Peter Pan parallel is exactly why Amy spends her first off-planet adventure in her nightie.

[mymatedave.livejournal.com]

Really good. Bravo.

[fallingtowers.livejournal.com]

I'm intrigued by the idea of using that particular song for an Amy vid, and I'm looking forward to watching it later, during the weekend, when I'm not at work. :)

[pellucid.livejournal.com]

even those privileged by them – those who are cisgendered and heterosexual, as the song’s protagonists may be, are more harmed than helped by the restrictions imposed on the ways they are allowed to be children, to be boys or girls

Very much agreed! (I do love Dar, in all her earnest glory.)

And yes, the more I think about it, the more I think this song really is perfect for Amy, and for the whole ambiance of series 5: faith in the power of memory and imagination and all that.

[such_heights]

Awwww, this continues to be totally lovely - and her face in that last shot, I can't even deal. TWO MORE SLEEPS!

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! :D

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm really glad I got to introduce you to the song if you hadn't heard it before. :)

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :D I'm so happy the POV shift worked for you and yeah, the lyrics were just super great to work with. Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it! :D