Narvin! I have so many opinions about Narvin, yet I am not at all picky about other people's characterizations of him. I guess this is just stuff I keep in mind for myself.
1) Narvin goes in this little box in my head which I have labeled 'hard-working bureaucrats that I am obsessed with.' He certainly thinks he's a cool secret agent guy, but he cares about procedure and he gets annoyed by change and really, if it weren't for the fact that he actually is a secret agent, he would probably be buried under a pile of paperwork and never be heard from again.
2) Narvin is there to serve Gallifrey and her government, in that order. He's very loyal to Romana, and he will obey orders with which he disagrees. But he's hardly above sneaking through loopholes or ignoring the spirit of an order while obeying the letter, if he thinks Gallifrey would be better served by it.
3) Narvin is working in a job with a very high turnover rate. The fact that he's held on to his position in such turbulent times really speaks to his ability. His ability as a Coordinator, because his ability to act in a politic way is practically nil.
4) Narvin is always angry or unhappy about something. He does get little moments of wry amusement, but a content Narvin is a Narvin who is about to have something awful happen to him. Part of that is that he's constantly juggling so many issues that if he stops to be pleased with himself the rest will come crashing down. I think he's much more aware of that than Romana is.
5) Narvin is not a nice person! He's xenophobic and dismissive of views that run counter to his own. He's much more interested in security and expediency than other people's rights. To be fair, he's more interested in security than his own rights as well. He does become more flexible during the series, especially as regards Leela, but I still think this basis to his opinions is important.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2011-01-16 12:06 am (UTC)1) Narvin goes in this little box in my head which I have labeled 'hard-working bureaucrats that I am obsessed with.' He certainly thinks he's a cool secret agent guy, but he cares about procedure and he gets annoyed by change and really, if it weren't for the fact that he actually is a secret agent, he would probably be buried under a pile of paperwork and never be heard from again.
2) Narvin is there to serve Gallifrey and her government, in that order. He's very loyal to Romana, and he will obey orders with which he disagrees. But he's hardly above sneaking through loopholes or ignoring the spirit of an order while obeying the letter, if he thinks Gallifrey would be better served by it.
3) Narvin is working in a job with a very high turnover rate. The fact that he's held on to his position in such turbulent times really speaks to his ability. His ability as a Coordinator, because his ability to act in a politic way is practically nil.
4) Narvin is always angry or unhappy about something. He does get little moments of wry amusement, but a content Narvin is a Narvin who is about to have something awful happen to him. Part of that is that he's constantly juggling so many issues that if he stops to be pleased with himself the rest will come crashing down. I think he's much more aware of that than Romana is.
5) Narvin is not a nice person! He's xenophobic and dismissive of views that run counter to his own. He's much more interested in security and expediency than other people's rights. To be fair, he's more interested in security than his own rights as well. He does become more flexible during the series, especially as regards Leela, but I still think this basis to his opinions is important.