SPOILER ALERT
This is a review of Doctor Who season 8 episode 7, Kill the Moon, and probably won't make any sense unless you have already watched the episode.
Kill the Moon clearly symbolizes the abortion debate throughout the second half of the episode. Many good moral questions are raised, and in the end the conclusion is left up to the audience, as most good art with moral/political undertones does.
The Doctor in this episode is blatantly pro-choice. His comment, "It's your moon, womankind. It's your choice" draws very obvious parallels to the abortion debate, and leaves no doubt that he is supposed to represent the pro-choice movement. He refuses to interfere with what he sees as womankind's choice, despite Clara's pleas for help.
On the other hand, companion Clara is clearly pro-life. She refuses to accept that killing the moon is her choice, and becomes furious with the Doctor for refusing to help her. She ends up ignoring humanity's decision and stops Lundvik from killing the moon. After all, “You can't blame a baby for kicking.”
I have to admit, I underestimated the writers of this episode at first. After the Doctor's sickening pro-choice rant and abandonment of the three women, I felt much like Clara at the time – betrayed and mad. I was ready to shut it off and watch something else. However, as the episode went on, the plot began to show the other side of the story as well. The writers weren't going to so easily let one ideology win over the other. The episode refused to become propaganda for either side, but instead thoughtfully showed the complexity and dilemma of the choice to kill or not to kill an innocent life.
At the end of the episode, Clara confronts the Doctor and rips into him for forcing her to make the monumental decision all by herself. This is where the pro-choice vs pro-life rhetoric really clashes. The Doctor explains, "I had faith that you'd always make the right choice. It wasn't my decision to make. I told you." Clara angrily responds that he was cheap and patronizing. The Doctor tries to tell her, "That was me respecting you," but Clara will have nothing of it. "Oh my God, really, was it? Well, respected is not how I feel... That is your Moon too, and you can damn well help us when we need it."
Although the situation they faced of course had many differences from the situation of a woman considering an abortion, the rhetoric used in the episode was almost identical to that used in the pro-choice vs pro-life debate. In the end, whether we view the morality of the episode as pro-choice or pro-life all depends on who we sympathize with more – the Doctor, or Clara. Was the Doctor acting unfairly and coldheartedly, or did he actually do the right thing?
That question also ties in nicely with the theme of the whole season: Is the Doctor a good man?
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