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From: ins_akaa@jhunix.UUCP (Kenneth Adam Arromdee)
Newsgroups: net.tv.drwho
Subject: Re: Season Reviews, Season 22 pt. II (really vegetarianism)
Message-ID: <1405@jhunix.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 9-Dec-85 13:38:53 EST
Article-I.D.: jhunix.1405
Posted: Mon Dec  9 13:38:53 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 11-Dec-85 04:31:30 EST
References: <312@spock.UUCP>
Reply-To: ins_akaa@jhunix.ARPA (Kenneth Adam Arromdee)
Organization: Johns Hopkins Univ. Computing Ctr.
Lines: 36

In article <312@spock.UUCP> ckuppe@spock.UUCP (Charles A. Kupperman '87 ) writes:
>My personal viewpoint is that this story [Two Doctors] is a potential classic
>ruined by too many insertions.  The Androgums strike me as "another
>piece of brilliance from the late professor Kettlewell", or another
>ingenious race from Holmes.  Two Doctors succeeds because it has a clear
>moral point, in favor of vegetarianism.  The Androgums are simply
>exaggerated carnivores who include human beings in their diet.  Thus,
>calling them "cannibals", as Mary Whitehouse, a self-appointed
>television censor, did, is ridiculous.  The story is aided by good
>acting from all characters and Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines turn
>out marvellous performances.  This story will never be a classic because
>of the poor way the Sontarans were thrust in and the overfull script,
>but it will remain one of my favorite stories because of its innovative
>ideas and strong moral.

Disclaimer: I have not seen this episode.

On our 20-th century Earth, the only real thinking beings are humans.  In
a SF setting where there are other thinking beings, it would not be too
unreasonable to call "cannibalism" the consumption of one thinking being
by another, in which case this would indeed be cannibalism.

Furthermore, I do not see how this particular show could possibly be
a reasonable argument for vegetarianism, because there are no reasons
given not to eat animals that don't also apply to plants.  (I am not
saying there aren't any vegetarian arguments that do provide such reasons,
only that the show, as you describe it and as I have read about in other
reviews of, does not.)
-- 
If you know the alphabet up to 'k', you can teach it up to 'k'.

Kenneth Arromdee
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