User:SOTO/Forum Archive/Tales from the Tardis/@comment-188432-20140327234318/@comment-188.102.246.124-20140412120224

Clara Listensprechen wrote: A Tardis contributor wrote: ... Without Clara the Silence would have altered his timeline/ killed him. So honestly? I think they depend on each other and I just cannot say who's more important of the two. So I have to go for pure personal reasons and that means voting for Rose because I just can't get to terms with Clara. She's too perfect and too suddenly introduced as the one companion who doesn't only save one incarnation, no, but all of them. And it's like suddenly she's even the reason why the Doctor chose this TARDIS and it was all just a bit much for my liking. ...

"Did I mention the genius thing, yeah?" (Clara, as a Dalek)

In real life here on Earth, most people have a problem with coming to terms with any smart female. Just sayin'.

Oh, but I don't have a problem with smart women and I actually like it that Clara was a teacher by the time "The Day of the Doctor" happened. What I have a problem with is that she enters the show and suddenly everything revolves around her.

She's the only mystery worth solving, she's the one companion that knew all the incarnations, she's the reason why the Doctor chose this TARDIS, she's pretty and cute and smart and perfect. She enters the Doctor's life and he's acting like he's head over heals for her although he doesn't know her at all... to be honest, to me she's awfully close to a Mary Sue.

I am aware that saying that alone can start a war but I'd like to point out that this is just my personal view on her and that I don't mean to say my opinion is the one that counts. But in my eyes she has little to no character (and how I wish there was more depth to her!), a family and life that's just a plot device; all she's got is that thousands of copies scattered through time and space and who seem to have outshining every other companion's deed as their sole purpose - and that just doesn't work for me as a watcher.

I want characters like Donna, Martha, Craig, or yes, Rose and her family. They were often far from perfect, sometimes annoying or underrated (as in the case of poor Martha), with different levels and sorts of intellect but they were real. And I really hope that they'll improve on Clara in S8, give her a personality other than just being cute and smart because I want to like her and think she has potential. But so far, to me, she suffers from poor character development and being too important without any real motivation behind it.

And I just wanted to say that because I think you drew the wrong conclusions, assuming I just didn't like smart female characters.