I pretty much agree on this take on the Doctor. Well, not so much that his light-heartedness is always forced - it is sometimes, but he genuinely does enjoy himself a lot of the time. But the way he doesn't engage with most of the people he meets, to me it seems to be a survival instinct. The Doctor can see the whole of time-and-space - what exactly that means is rather up in the air, but it seems like he's got a view of the big picture on a scale that humans are hardly able to conceive. And death and destruction are an integral, eternal part of that picture, a part that the Doctor can barely stand to look at - old wounds, these days, and he tries not to get them ripped open again.
He can care globally/galactically/universally, he can fight for the future of the human race. But caring for individuals...if he cares too deeply for all the people he meets in his travels, he'd snap in a matter of days. He can risk having a few companions, a few people he can protect personally, and will do anything for, to stave off loneliness. But people die around him, a lot, and he couldn't save all of them no matter what he did...I don't think he can avoid that; he or the TARDIS is drawn to trouble, and trouble follows him (much of it not really his fault so much as the fault of being what he is). He does what he can to help, but... His emotional distance is the distance of an ER doctor in a constant state of emergency, always in triage mode, care for who can be cared for, savor your victories, and don't look too closely at who you're losing. In the Ninth Doctor I think this trait is magnified, because the war is so very much still in his memory; he's trying to escape, trying to run about having fun, but every time things go south - as they always do - he's on the battlefield again.
I find the Doctor fascinating because he is capable of such compassion, and yet can be so cold, so seemingly unfeeling. He loves the human race absolutely and yet gets so frustrated with humans. He'll fight to his last breath to save life, but he's not nearly as affected by death as one would expect him to be. (and I love the way the show keeps returning to these themes. The Doctor's the hero, but he's far from perfect...and I rather love him for it...)
no subject
He can care globally/galactically/universally, he can fight for the future of the human race. But caring for individuals...if he cares too deeply for all the people he meets in his travels, he'd snap in a matter of days. He can risk having a few companions, a few people he can protect personally, and will do anything for, to stave off loneliness. But people die around him, a lot, and he couldn't save all of them no matter what he did...I don't think he can avoid that; he or the TARDIS is drawn to trouble, and trouble follows him (much of it not really his fault so much as the fault of being what he is). He does what he can to help, but... His emotional distance is the distance of an ER doctor in a constant state of emergency, always in triage mode, care for who can be cared for, savor your victories, and don't look too closely at who you're losing. In the Ninth Doctor I think this trait is magnified, because the war is so very much still in his memory; he's trying to escape, trying to run about having fun, but every time things go south - as they always do - he's on the battlefield again.
I find the Doctor fascinating because he is capable of such compassion, and yet can be so cold, so seemingly unfeeling. He loves the human race absolutely and yet gets so frustrated with humans. He'll fight to his last breath to save life, but he's not nearly as affected by death as one would expect him to be. (and I love the way the show keeps returning to these themes. The Doctor's the hero, but he's far from perfect...and I rather love him for it...)