The "Sociological Imagination" and Media

The "Sociological Imagination" and Media

Introduction

"Doctor Who," a fairly successful series first started broadcasting in 2005. The episode "Aliens of London," was the fourth episode of the first season of this science fiction series. In the episode, The Doctor returns to Earth with Rose in TARDIS, however, they land almost 12 months after they had initially left, instead of the12 hour window that they had been aiming for. Rose is frustrated as is unable to explain her whereabouts in the interim months to her family and boyfriend, and while expressing her feelings, witnesses the crash of an aircraft/spaceship through the Big Ben, which then lands in the River Thames (Davies, 2005). While people are relishing the possibility of contact with an alien species, The Doctor discovers that the "alien" pilot is none other than a modified pig through alien technology from Earth. Meanwhile, in the political environment of Britain, there is great confusion due to the fact that the Prime Minister cannot be found and the Member Parliament, Joseph Green is named the acting Prime Minister. Later on, he is revealed to be an alien himself, along with two other political appointees, who are seen celebrating (Davies, 2005).

This essay is geared towards analyzing the episode "Aliens of London" from a sociological imagination viewpoint. C. W. Mills (1959) has defined sociological imagination as a "quality of mind that enables us to grasp history and biography and the relation between the two within society" (Mills, 1959). It is basically a frame of mind by which we are able to sense the connection between our personal lives and the larger scale societal events. Its purpose is to look at the "bigger picture" with personal lives and public events serving as two parts of the system. It allows us to compute the daily occurrences in the society, beyond its facade (Mills, 1959).

Discussion

The episode, "Aliens of London" has helped the show transition into carrying out a mockery of the contemporary politics and its various institutions. The characters and events themselves exemplify an extensive commentary, in a paradoxical presentation. Towards the end of the episode, when the "aliens" are after one of the main characters of the show and the disappearance of the Prime Minister at the beginning is shown, an allusion to the Philippine journalists is made subtly, as they are regular victims of such "disappearances." Sociological imagination enables us to study not only the biography of an individual, but to establish that the biography in the largest state in the history and customs of society in which the individual lives (Mills, 1959). We can see how personal problems and social problems are associated with the recognition of the relationship between history and biography.

There are some interesting exhibits within the characters. We are always open to serious medical consequences for negligence, or (perhaps) see desensitization to travel, especially roses, because it distorts the sense of time. As they are now in London, in the 19th century at Cardiff Rose at home, ...