Doctor Who’s Amy Pond – Karen Gillan – Gets Naked (NSFW)

or, The Pornification of Amy Pond

Science Fiction and fan-created erotica (ie, porn, in fancy clothes) go way, way back… Slash—a term for fan fiction depicting romantic or sexual relationships between fictional characters—began with fan-written stories, often very sexually explicit, about Captain Kirk and Mister Spock from the original Star Trek TV series.

Since then, slash-type fan produced material has blossomed to cover a wide-range of television shows beyond Star Trek, and even some non-televisual popular cultural texts, and has been the subject of a number of academic studies. Science fiction and fantasy is still the genre within which most such fan creation takes place, though fans have branched out somewhat into other genres—and also into other forms beyond the original fan fiction short stories.

In recent years, fan videos have also become popular ways of exploring romantic or erotic subtexts—with fans splicing together clips from TV shows depicting steamy or suggestive moments with an appropriate song as soundtrack. Needless to say, both the use of the song and the clips violate copyright, but in general producers and studios have preferred to turn a blind eye to such practices.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer for years proved particularly fertile ground for fans‘ imagined relationships between favorite characters. Of course, Buffy made it pretty easy, what with the soap opera-like love lives of its characters. But even before Willow had come out and gotten involved with Tara, fans were already writing lesbian sex scenes between Willow and Buffy. Similarly, fans depicted a romance between Buffy and Spike long before that relationship actually actually appeared on the show, near the end of the series.

Given Doctor Who‘s strong fan base and long history, it’s no surprise that there has been, for a long time, a great deal of fan activity associated with what is perhaps the most popular sci-fi TV series of all time. And given the Doctor’s penchant for scooping up attractive young women to accompany him on his adventures in time and space, it’s also no surprise that there has been a fair amount of fan-created material exploring romantic and sexual relationships between the Doctor and his companions.

I was surprised, though, at how quickly a large amount of faked nudes and pornographic images of the latest companion, Amy Pond, played by Karen Gillan, appeared on the internet.

Fake nudes and fake pornographic images of pop culture figures are not slash, and mostly are not associated directly with the fan communities that spring up around TV shows such as Star Trek, Buffy and Doctor Who, and that generate the slash (and non-slash) fan fiction, fan videos and the like. (There is a related phenomenon of artistic, often drawn or painted as opposed to photographic, images of an erotic nature, generally pretty soft-core and romantic, and that does arise within fan communities.)

These fake nudes and porn shots have been around since the early days of the internet, when they circulated in usenet newsgroups devoted to such images of popular celebrities and public figures. They are made from nude photographs or porn images, downloaded or scanned in, which then have the faces or features of a celebrity “photoshopped” onto them, with varying degrees of skill. Most often they are clearly identified as fakes, but every now and then one is taken as possibly genuine, though usually not for long, and it seems to be a point of honor with many of the fakers to identify their work as such, and even to sign it.

These fakes might be dismissed as little more than technologically sophisticated versions of crude caricatures in toilet stalls, but it is also possible to see them in a much more disturbing light—as the products of, or fuel for, the deranged sexual fantasies of celebrity stalkers. The truth is probably closer to the harmless end of the spectrum. As long as there have been stars, and hormonally-addled teenagers, there have been sexual fantasies about stars. Photoshop and the internet have simply provided a way of producing elaborate visions of those fantasies, and sharing them. (All that being said, I do want to acknowledge that the women—and occasional man—depicted in this way well may find it disturbing and offensive regardless.)

As I said, though, I was a bit surprised at how quickly faked images of the Doctor’s newest companion appeared. Before the second episode of the new series of Doctor Who had aired, I’d already stumbled across one fake—albeit a fairly mild one, shared via a link in a chat session on a website devoted to Doctor Who (see below; there is some mild NSFW material below the fold, but nothing hardcore).

This faked, graphic nude—which references a famous nude photo of Marilyn Monroe—is by no means an isolated case. Faked nudes of Gillan/Amy Pond, of varying degrees of explicitness, have been popping up all around the internet, on sites devoted to celebrity fakes as well as some sci fi fan sites.

So far, I haven’t seen any faked hardcore images—which are fairly common with other fantasy and sci fi women, such as the stars of Buffy, Star Trek, Stargate and Charmed—but I’m sure they are out there, and more will rapidly appear.

Whatever you may think of the morality, fairness or appeal of such fake nude images of celebrities, it seems to me that the mainstream and fan hype around Karen Gillan as the Doctor’s new companion has been complicit in the rapid appearance and circulation of these images—the rampant sexualization of the discussion of Gillan/Pond generating a kind of porn-ification.

Over on tumblr, I fished this picture of Karen Gillan/Amy Pond out of a stream devoted to reposting porn images (who knew you could do that on tumblr? not me—I hadn’t used the system until Amy Pond sucked me in):

(via The Porn Cull, New Dr Who companion Karen Gillan [massively NSFW])

It’s apparently a legitimate picture, not a fake, and while it is quite sexual/erotic it’s not explicit. Nonetheless, it’s appropriate that this picture appeared in a stream of generally hardcore porn images, as it is this image of Karen Gillan that has been getting the widest exposure and in its blatant sexuality—almost nude, the inviting expression—has done so much for the instant pornification of Amy Pond.

(Ironically, I have yet to see a fake based on this photo; you’d think that because she is almost nude, and already in a sexually inviting pose, it would be an easy and obvious target for image-doctoring, but in fact her pose makes the creation of a explicit nude—bared breasts and/or exposed genitals—quite difficult. I’m guessing – I’ve never tried to actual do one of these photoshops, which seem to require a fair amount of skill.)

The same photo was used to illustrate a News Of The World article on the Doctor’s new companion: “Sexy Karen Gillan is set to be the real star of the new Doctor Who show”. With the headline “Red-y for action” accompanied by that picture, this piece left little doubt about what kind of “action” they thought Amy/Gillan was ready for… and did a lot for this pornification of Amy Pond. And that same inviting lingerie image has appeared in dozens of places around the internet, from the websites of mainstream commercial tabloids to a whole range of blogs and celebrity sites, pretty much always with a more or less titillating tagline like the one on the News piece.

The focus on Karen Gillan’s physical attributes rather than her role as the latest of the Doctor Who companions is regrettable. Gillan can genuinely act—she has none of the awkwardness that Billie Piper displayed in her first few outings as Rose, and she brings some real verve and presence to the role of Amy Pond. And the way she first meets the Doctor as a child and has her stories of that meeting dismissed as fantasy gives an interesting added dimension to their dynamic—or did, as it seems to have been dropped after the first couple of episodes. [Added note: It of course came back wonderfully later in the series.]

While most of the perving on the Doctor’s new companion has a distinctly boyish or blokey quality, Amy/Gillan’s charms have not been missed by the other side. Over on AfterEllen.com—”News, Reviews & Commentary on Lesbian and Bisexual women in Entertainment and the Media”—that same panty picture appeared in a “Karen Gillan appreciation post” with the caption “She’s the Doctor’s new companion and well she’s a goddess.”

Exemplifying the blokey approach, though, the online site for the UK’s Sun again used that same lingerie picture to illustrate another article that focused on her scantily clad sexiness above and beyond any real discussion of the show or her role on it:

Doctor Who’s new assistant looks fab in lingerie shoot: NEW Doctor Who assistant Karen Gillan looks simply out of this world as she lazes in her lingerie.
Karen will join new Time Lord Matt Smith next year when she makes her debut as Amy Pond in the fifth series of the BBC1 sci-fi hit.
And the 21-year-old will certainly brighten up the Tardis with her waif-like figure.
The flame-haired Scot is no stranger to stripping off – she donned a bikini in Channel 4’s The Kevin Bishop Show.
And she appeared in the last Doctor Who series – as a soothsayer in The Fires of Pompeii.
Phew! We all need to cool down after that. (via The Sun.)

Perversely (no pun intended), the somewhat sleazy sounding Hot Celeb Star Diary Blog did not use the popular panty picture, instead—shock—going for an image from the season’s first episode, albeit one of Gillan in her stripper cop uniform. Still, it was nice to see at least one article use an actual image from the show rather than that endlessly recirculated lingerie shot.

Karen Gillan in pantyhose: Karen Sheila Gillan (born 28 November 1987) is a Scottish actress who is best known for her current portrayal of Amy Pond in the British science fiction series Doctor Who. (via Hot Celeb Star Diary Blog.)

As The Sun noted, Karen Gillan has appeared regularly on The Kevin Bishop Show, a British sketch comedy show (which I have yet to see), and her appearances there have provided a wealth of bikini and similar shots for circulating as part of this “pornification of Amy Pond.” Again, any break from that one sexy picture of her in her underwear is welcome, I suppose, but it is clear that the news coverage is more interested in getting into her knickers than in exploring her role as the newest companion on Doctor Who.

Karen Gillan underwear: her greatest pictures and videos: “To celebrate the 23 day anniversary of Karen Gillan being on our screens in Doctor Who, we thought we’d take a look at the Scot’s previous TV and modelling career (ie shots of Karen’s underwear) … (via Celebrity News | Holy Moly!.)

New companion poses in her underwear – Page 2 – Doctor Who and Torchwood: “Did anyone see her dressed as Lara Croft (well Angelina Jolie playing Lara Croft) on Kevin Bishop last night? Nice! (via Digital Spy Forums.)

Another tumblr blog in which Karen Gillan appears is the recently-started fan-blog called The angels have the phone box, dedicated exclusively to Doctor Who-related images, and most of its posts to date have featured Karen Gillan/Amy Pond—some, such as the one below, with captions added:

This caption and an earlier image posted on angels show how even real Doctor Who fans such as the creator of angels have adopted a particular view of the Doctor’s new “companion” pretty much from the beginning, a view which is often very overtly sexual—though many Who fans are more focused on the romantic subtext between the Doctor and Amy. The sexualized view is exemplified in another posting on angels:

So Karen Gillan isn’t the sexiest woman alive then?
WOW if anyone knows where this is from LEAVE ME A MESSAGE IN THE ASK BOX!
(via The angels have the phone box..)

Here we have that “pornification of Amy Pond” in full effect—her instant sexualization, which we haven’t really seen with any of the previous companions of the Doctor and which seems to me a bit intense for a lead character on any TV show that isn’t overtly trashy and sexualized to begin with. You’d expect this focus on sexiness for a show like, say, Baywatch, or Melrose Place, or Gossip Girl, but for Doctor Who?

(An aside: angels‘s URL is wibbleywobbleytimeywimeystuff.tumblr.com—if this means nothing to you, you’ve probably only just come to Doctor Who. Go ask a longtime watcher about it, and then get that person to sit with you while you watch the episode to which it refers—about which my son still has nightmares. Yay quality television! Seriously, no one dies, there’s no blood, no dismemberment, and it still gives both him and me the willies. That’s what a good script will do.)

angels draws much of its content from the myriad of other tumblr feeds by Doctor Who fans, many of which have sprung up recently in response to the new Doctor and his new companion—such as  ONCE UPON A PIRATE NIGHT—aka amypond-.tumblr.com – from whence we have

…that look of longing. makes me ship them so hard! (via ONCE UPON A PIRATE NIGHT.)

The “ship” in the quote is a term from the fan fiction/video community and is short for “relationship.” To “ship” characters is to construct a fan text that explores overtly a romantic subtext between two characters—or sometimes creates a relationship even when one isn’t even hinted at on the show. Generally, shipping is less pornographic or explicit than slash.

(Wondering about that hyphen in the blog’s URL? So was I, and the explanation is as I expected: someone already grabbed the amypond URL/user name for love, amy pond. Sadly, they have just parked the name and haven’t done anything with it. They’re missing an opportunity—the consensus on the internet right now clearly is that you can’t have too much Amy Pond…)

Here’s another image from a tumblr feed of Karen Gillan/Amy Pond with a caption:

Despite the obvious “sex” aspect, this image—from ~hardertospell (missamypond: andriajeanne: …)—is really just humorous. I found it hysterical when I first saw it—even before I clicked to the subtext/buttsex angle—and it’s a great example of the kind of culture-modding wit that comes out of tumblr. But it’s existence nonetheless can be seen as drawing on and feeding into this rapid sexualization of the character of Amy Pond.

Karen Gillan has not been blind to this aspect of her exploding popularity, nor to her own part in fostering it, though she says it was not intentional:

My sexy look on new series of Doctor Who was an accident, says Karen Gillan: “NEW Doctor Who companion Karen Gillan has defended her short skirts and sexy image on the show. Karen, 22, plays Amy Pond and is seen at the start of the first episode as a police strip-o-gram. She then changes into other outfits that show plenty of leg and are sure to attract attention from teenage boy fans of the show. But Karen claims “the look” came about by accident. She said: “I tried on different things and when it came to the short skirts, I just thought it… (via celebriFi.)

Even if her sexy look came about by accident, it has clearly contributed massively to the pornification effect—in the way Karen Gillan’s character on Doctor Who has been discussed in the press, and on blogs and tumblr, and of course in the overtly pornographic fakes of her already circulation.

I’ll be interested to see how this progresses, as we see more of Amy Pond and Matt Smith’s Doctor. It’s clear that the writers and producers of this season of Doctor Who are indeed “shipping them hard”—we’ve never before seen so much overt romantic tension between the Doctor and his companion, not even with Rose and David Tennant’s Doctor, at least not initially. And the recent apparent death of Amy Pond’s fiancee would seem to clear the decks for more romancy moments. (I may be out of date here—as everyone in the US is, due to the crazy fact of showing the season at different times around the globe, creating truly outrageous opportunities for spoilers, about which I’ve complained already.)

I’ll leave you with my personal favorite of the various fakes of Amy Pond/Karen Gillan I studied as “research” for this piece:

This is very much what one would expect to come out of the Doctor Who fan community, rather than the porn fake community—though that is where I found it. It’s softcore, obviously, but more than that it is based on an image from the TV show, rather than a generic nude or porn photograph, and in the Doctor’s look it is clearly “shipping” the characters, rather than just constructing a titillating image.

If you are interested in the porn fakes, I have assembled a sample collection which you can download (adults only, please). Many of these images appear on Fake For Life – Nude Fakes, though they can be found on a variety of sites, and no doubt more images will be appearing there as well as elsewhere on a fairly regularly basis, as the pornification of Amy Pond… uh.. approaches a climax?

ADDENDUM

Since this post has been getting a lot of readers from the Doctor Who / Amy Pond fan community on tumblr, I wanted to add a few things. I love Doctor Who. I think Gillan/Amy is sexy. And I find a lot of the stuff posted about her on tumblr fun, funny—sometimes hilarious (Surprise Buttsex!)—and generally enjoyable, and I follow a number of the tumblr feeds devoted to Doctor Who / Amy Pond. I am also a fan of fan fiction (fan fiction fan?) and of “shipping”—in videos or in the captioned photos posted on tumblr.  I’m not even utterly opposed to fake nudes; if I was, I wouldn’t have posted that selection of them for download. But I was surprised, and a bit miffed, that Gillan’s undeniable physical charms seemed so quickly to swamp completely the discussion of Amy Pond, who I think is just wonderful, or of Gillan’s skilled portrayal.

Filed under: Pop Culture, Doctor Who, porn, science fiction