Bob and Rose: Harriet Jones, FTW!

[butterfly]

Bob's mother is Harriet Jones! And she mentions Hannibal crossing the Alps (also, Rose Cooper was wearing (I kid you not) a Union Flag shirt in the second episode). I had no idea that Hannibal was an in-joke (which is what makes it work -- in both shows, it's completely in-context with the conversation around it).

The show reminds me a bit of the movie Bedrooms and Hallways (highly recommended -- Lucius and Marc Antony from Rome have sex together) in that it explores more about what being 'gay' means and doesn't mean. Love and sexual attraction are messy and unpredictable.

Bob and Rose are so intensely adorable together. Seriously, she makes him laugh and he tried to hide his magazines from her because even when he only just met her, part of him was confused about what he wanted from her. And I love the way he talks! About being gay and always knowing and how this attraction to her completely throws him. There are actually more than a few Doctor/Rose parallels to be drawn -- he's never been attracted to a woman (human) before and doesn't know how to deal with it. But just being around her makes something inside him happy and it's not about her being a woman yet he oddly finds himself physically attracted to her and it clearly absolutely stuns him. He's not straight... but he's in love with her. It's like the inversion of a fanfic cliché.

There's also a bit of unrequited love going on with Holly and Bob, which is another of RTD's common themes. Holly is clearly in love with Bob in pretty much their first scene together. She also clearly has a bit of an entitlement thing going on -- we saw her chase off a bloke that really liked Bob in the first episode because it seemed like it might actually be relationship material. She's probably comforted herself for years with the notion that the only reason she and Bob aren't together is because he doesn't fancy women. And Rose makes that look not true.

Comments

[queenrikki-hp.livejournal.com]

LOL. When I first saw this series I literally screamed "Bob's Mum is Harriet Jones!" I'm not sure it that was a particularly adult response, but it was honest (full disclosure, I did the same thing when I saw Shaun of the Dead).

I rather liked that they enjoyed each others company. I see so many shows where people are supposed to be in love but they don't really seem to like each other at all. I like that the situations and relationships are complicated.

*pets RTD fondly*

Now I'm in the mood to rewatch the series.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I rather liked that they enjoyed each others company. I see so many shows where people are supposed to be in love but they don't really seem to like each other at all. I like that the situations and relationships are complicated.

Yes. I fully believe that his 'love' relationships actually involve two people adoring the hell out each other and enjoying each other's company and that's what makes them work so well for me.

[solielle.livejournal.com]

Bob's mother is Harriet Jones!

YES! And she's so wonderful in this series. On a tangent, I quite like that RTD tries to bring in actors (or possibly pushes for, I don't know how much involvement he has in casting) he's worked with before.

And as far as in-jokes, there's a doozy of one in the last episode. I'm sure you'll find it. ;)

And I love the way he talks! About being gay and always knowing and how this attraction to her completely throws him.

One thing I love about this series is that Bob is gay. It's completely odd that he's attracted to a woman. He's not bisexual. The fact that he's attracted to men was never a fad. He just...loves Rose. It's weird, and it's complicated, but it's the truth. (And I'm totally a sucker for relationships that have complications and shouldn't really happen. Eheh.)

Holly is clearly in love with Bob in pretty much their first scene together.

When I first watched this series, I thought Holly was completely insane. I can't imagine sabotaging a friends' relationship. However (after re-watching), I have a good deal more sympathy for her. At times I think she's a bit broadly drawn, but that mostly measures out as the series goes on.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

One thing I love about this series is that Bob is gay. It's completely odd that he's attracted to a woman. He's not bisexual. The fact that he's attracted to men was never a fad. He just...loves Rose. It's weird, and it's complicated, but it's the truth. (And I'm totally a sucker for relationships that have complications and shouldn't really happen. Eheh.)

Yeah. It's a really fantastically drawn relationship and Bob and Rose are such believable characters.

When I first watched this series, I thought Holly was completely insane. I can't imagine sabotaging a friends' relationship. However (after re-watching), I have a good deal more sympathy for her. At times I think she's a bit broadly drawn, but that mostly measures out as the series goes on.

*nods*

It's clear that she's kinda built her world around being Bob's best friend. And that her doing that has taken something from her (it's like... she's actually doing what Cameron accused Stuart of doing to Vince). And then he goes and falls in love with a woman and it isn't her. Her big comfort was that he was gay. That was the reason that he wasn't in love with her. And then Rose goes and proves a fundamental truth of Holly's world to be completely wrong. There's a woman that Bob can fall in love with; it's just not her (again, I suspect that Paul Cornell has watched Bob and Rose because what Martha says in that episode (which even has the actress who plays Holly in it!) is very close to what Holly says here).

[gigitrek.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed "Bedrooms and Hallways" (and not just for kinky Hugo Weaving. Although he didn't hurt.)

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

He was great in that, too! It was a very interesting movie. I really liked it.