Sympathy for the angels: divine surveillance and sympathetic resistance in Doctor Who
Abstract
In “Blink,” the Weeping Angels are an alien species whose energy comes from the potential lives they take from humans. I argue that the Angels symbolize a divine surveillance – a totalizing form of surveillance afforded by a rhetoric of divinity – and explore its impact on individual and social bodies. Throughout the analysis, I engage with practices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to clarify the consequences. The symbolism of the Angels illuminates the warning, consequences, and modes of resistance in a surveillant society and argue that a significant consequence of living with Weeping Angels is the tendency to become a Weeping Angel.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Cultural Studies and Postmodernism
Utopian
Dystopian
and Speculative Fiction
Gothic Literature and Media Analysis
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 19–35
- Publication date
- 2 January 2026
- Language
- EN