Sunday, August 31, 2014


"Doctor Who" criticised for scene in which characters tear out their hair after complaints from sufferers of rare disorder

No matter what you do, it seems you will "offend" someone

Doctor Who has come under fire after a scene featuring stars Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman pulling out their hair sparked complaints from sufferers of a rare disorder.

The BBC sci-fi show has been branded 'insensitive' following a scene which left sufferers of trichotillomania 'upset' and 'uncomfortable'.

Around 36 minutes in, the Doctor, who at the time was seen to be in an intense conversation with Clara Oswald (Ms Coleman), appears to begin to pull his hair out before then pulling out the hair of his co-star.  After pulling her hair out he remarks to Clara 'it was the only one out of place, I am sure you would have wanted it killed'.

Quickly after the short scene finished, sufferers of trichotillomania and Dr Who fans took to social media to slam the BBC for showing the scene which could be seen as a trigger to some people.

Trichotillomania is an uncommon way of harming where the inflictor pulls their hair out.  It’s classed as an obsessive compulsive  disorder and can affect anyone. Unfortunately there is still no known cure for the life-long disorder.

SOURCE 


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gee... I'm a little surprised.
They get upset about the hair-pulling (which was an essential plot point) and not a word about Vastra and Jenny's kiss?
(For those not familiar, Madame Vastra is a 70 million year old lesbian lizard-woman and Jenny is her wife)

Brian from Virginia said...

As someone who has watched the episode, let me explain one thing: the Doctor pulled one (1) hair off of Clara's head and one (1) off of his own. How the 'offended' managed to link those actions with trichotillomania is beyond me. To me it seemed as part of the episode's plot, but then I've only been a Doctor Who fan since 1977, what do I know? ;)

Jerry Doctor said...

I would have thought the cure for trichotillomania was as simple as it is obvious - baldness.

(Yes, I really am that insensitive.)

Anonymous said...

It would be nice if they could come up with a cure for the perpetually offended.

Anonymous said...

Since Madame Vastra is a lizard, then they the two are involved in bestially.

Bird of Paradise said...

Q. What Dr Who villain drinks too much? A. The cydermen