This
Doctor Who episode is my favorite for so many reasons but I was especially pleased
with the way depression is handled. In the show, The Doctor and his
companion, Amy, have the opportunity to take Van Gogh into the future to
see what a success he will become. Amy is ecstatic, confident (as is
Vincent) that this will change Van Gogh's entire outlook on life.
After returning him to his timeline, The Doctor and Amy go back to the
museum where Amy is positive they will see additional paintings from Van
Gogh's later years.
Amy is devastated to discover that,
other than a few minor changes in some paintings, Van Gogh continued
unchanged down the path to his eventual suicide only a few scant months
after they visited him.
Amy: So you were right. No new paintings. We didn't make a difference at all.
The Doctor:
I wouldn't say that. The way I see it, every life is a pile of good
things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad
things, but vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good
things or make them unimportant. And we definitely added to his pile of
good things.
Some days the only thing that keeps me going
is my pile of good things. I think that's okay. I don't think we have to
feel or even act happy all the time. Life is a balance of every emotion
imaginable, and allowing yourself to feel them all in turn can create a
masterpiece.
"...to me Van Gogh is the finest painter of
them all. Certainly the most popular, great painter of all time. The
most beloved, his command of colour most magnificent. He transformed the
pain of his tormented life into ecstatic beauty. Pain is easy to
portray, but to use your passion and pain to portray the ecstasy and joy
and magnificence of our world, no one had ever done it before. Perhaps
no one ever will again. To my mind, that strange, wild man who roamed
the fields of Provence was not only the world's greatest artist, but
also one of the greatest men who ever lived." - Museum Curator, Doctor
Who
