Doctor Who and the Protection of Life at All Costs
The moral case for caring about other people's lives more than your own.
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Most people believe that life is precious.
They don’t like when people die or get hurt in some way. As much as they can, they try to avoid situations and problems that are going to get them hurt or killed. It’s very hard to completely get away from all danger. Especially for those circumstances where you can’t see them coming like an accident or people who are likely to hurt you like criminals or those who just like destruction for its own sake. When a situation like this comes up, it’s good to have someone you can call on to save you and the people around you.
People who run towards danger rather than away from it are doing so because they want to save lives. At least on some level it should be the reason. To protect people from the inevitable tragedy of having to feel the loss of someone else. It’s very important to such a person to make people as safe as they can be. Sometimes even at the cost of their own lives. There’s something of a contradiction in sacrificing your own life in order to protect another life and yet people do it all the time. We think of these people as someone worth honouring. In part because if given the opportunity, so few of us would actually do it ourselves. This is understandable since we think of our own lives as worth protecting.
One of the best parts of Doctor Who is how dedicated The Doctor is to protecting life at all costs. There really isn’t anything they wouldn’t do to save pretty much any form of life. Even those who probably don’t really deserve it. Mainly the ones who are creating all the death and destruction. He would give up his own life just to make sure that even those who don't value life to the extent they do will not have to suffer such a tragic end. Some would say that those who don't value life the same way he does should not get such treatment. But part of believing life has value is not making such a distinction.
More often than not, The Doctor’s plan to stop an alien plan to take over Earth or trying to exterminate the universe involves wanting to stop everyone from dying. Saving life becomes so important that he’s willing to give up his own life for the protection of others. Living this way can be incredibly tragic because it means you have to put yourself on the line. At the same time however, it gives you a reason to enjoy life more than most people would ever really understand. Largely because you know that at any moment, it could be your last. You can almost get the kind of view of the world of a child. Everything is new and fascinating, even the things you've seen before.
It’s a beautiful thing to watch and you should do yourself a favour and explore the preservation of life at all costs by watching Doctor Who as soon as you can.
Check it out on BBC America where you can, on Crave in Canada, and BBC iPlayer in the UK.