Victoria and Albert and the Waters of Mars

This is the post that was keeping me from posting to DW/LJ for the last month. I wrote it in London.

Hope it was worth it?

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Doesn't the subject line sound like a great action book for kids? Anyway, today was the day where I finally watched "Waters of Mars"* and also the day where I went to the V&A.

I only had enough energy for one floor, but I kind of fell in love with the V&A because it's so great from a historiographical perspective. Every museum has an agenda; the V&A is awesome in that it continues to wear its own on its sleeve so long after the end of the British Empire. May it never change.

Example: the India section claims to have only one small wall on "India and Britain" but the entire section is largely composed of:

• European Dresses made out of Indian cotton, with a special focus on printed floral patterns. (By European, I mean, of course, English, with some influences from France and Holland.)


• Dishware and candelabras made in India with British supervision.


• Explanation of the local governments c. 1890, all of which were established by the English.


• My personal favorite bit. As I described it to oliviacirce: "Here is that traditional trope of Indian art, the European being eaten by a tiger. It is a well-known allusion to the the Mahabharata."

Anyway, the conclusion is that ( the Doctor is clearly a symbolic representation of the British Empire )

* I THINK THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I HAVE EVER WATCHED WHO LEGALLY. Three cheers for timing a trip to England with an episode release!