Fandom, Social Media, etc..
Apr. 6th, 2018 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. So I was tooling about on Youtube last night, mainly listening to various vocalizations of Pilat's Dream, and hunting info on Ben Daniels...when I accidentally hit an an old Dragon Con Buffy Panel from 2011. The odd bit about it -- is in the middle, a fan gets up and apologizes to the panel for the behavior of certain fans at the Friday Panel, two nights previous to that one. The people who weren't at the Friday Panel, which is basically just two people, are understandably confused. "Okay," says James Marsters, "What the hell happened at the Friday panel?" The fan gets nervous and says, oh, let them tell you. Then Brendan jokingly pretends to get up and leave the room. So, I get curious, and waste half an hour hunting down what happened. Surprisingly enough, I find it. It's over about a quarter of the way through Part I of the Dragon Con 2011 Buffy Panel with Eliza Dusku, Nicholas Brendan, Mercedes McNab, Julie Benze, and Claire Kramer.
What happened?
A fan in response to some snarky comment Brendan made (I couldn't catch it), says: "No wonder you and Dawn ended up together, you're both whiney."
Now keep in mind these panels aren't exactly easy for the actors. They come out sit at a long table, with coffee or water in hand. Notebooks. Pens. And microphones. On a stage sitting in front of a crowd of about 250-800 fans. Possibly less possibly more. Although the camera panned, so I'd say more. This event was packed. And it's usually in a large conference room at a convention center, not always with the best air flow. (According to reports at any rate.)
Also they've done a lot of them, and tend to answer the same questions. They don't paid a great deal.
Carrie Fisher discussed the whole con thing in The Princess Diarist also it was shown and mentioned in the documentary film on hers and Debbie Fisher's life. (I don't know how they do it. Just watching it makes me cringe. Which is why I could never get myself to go to those things -- hell, to me at any rate, is a fan convention.)
Brendan's response? He turns and looks at McNabe and then at Dusku, with a smile that sort of says, "They aren't paying me enough to put up with this shit, I going to go out and have myself a smoke."
So he does just that, he gets up and leaves. And all the other panelist's heads turn in shocked unison to watch him. They all have long hair.
The speaker states, as he is leaving, "Oh, poor baby, are you wounded, can't handle a little criticism?"
The other panelists are a bit flabbergasted. A couple are still looking out backstage, trying to figure out where he went. The speaker goes on. No clue what question they were asking. The panelists didn't really answer it.
Eliza at one point says..."Did he leave? He's probably just.."
Mercedes: No, I'm sure he just went out to get a cigarette.
Julie stands up and sort of goes to check. "No, he's not back there."
The audience twittering nervously in the background, decides to chant "Nick, Nick, Nick"
Eliza: "I have this feeling that we should go stand by our man or something.."
Someone else asks a question but it's muffled and they ignore it.
Julie: "And please remember that we have feelings too."
[Watching these things has made me appreciate Nick Brendan, Julie Benze, Eliza Dusku, and Claire Krammer a great deal. Julie Benze by the way is an excellent actress - I've seen her play four different roles, none the same, and all pulled me into the story.]
Nick finally comes back and sits down.
The fans applaud and one of them apologizes.
And I'm thinking at this point, no wonder actors are paid more than I am. Half of it is hazard pay. They have to deal with fans nitpicking at them constantly. I just have to deal with a few clients here and there. And I don't have to deal with them ripping into me on public, have it filmed and put on youtube, and various blogs.
Also felt a little sorry for the other fans, who had paid for the event, may have been huge fans of the actor and because of this one fan, lost their chance to ask him a question.
2. Out of curiosity is anyone watching Roseanne? Or rather, are you watching and just scared to admit it online? (Totally understand. I'm not, but have been tempted once or twice by the promos, which admittedly have some good one-liners. But hey, that's why they are promos. But I've got too many tv shows, too little time, hated the last two seasons of that series, and despise Roseanne for some of the same reasons I despise the Doofus. But if you are? Is it any good? Does it normalize the Doofus?)
3. The problem with social media is you can't always avoid people who will post things that will cause a spike in blood pressure.
They may have even friended you and you friended them, and whoops, appears you aren't quite as like-minded as you thought. Who knew? (Or if here, subscribed and granted access).
I'm also learning there are some things it is best not to discuss. For example? If you don't feel all that emotionally about something but the other person does, and they see it very differently than you do, then it probably is best not to go there. If you both feel strongly about it - don't go there.
You aren't going to change each other's perspective or mind. It's not possible to change someone else's mind or perception or beliefs. All you are going to do is piss them off. I know, been there done that. It only works if the person is open to it, or if there is a crack in there somewhere, in which they are questioning their perspective. But if they aren't questioning it? You won't get them to. Not on the internet and not on social media. Give up now.
After I said all that, I'll freely admit I have a tendency to do it anyway -- because I think, but maybe I can show them ...
It's stupid. It's sort of egotistical. But there it is.
My Aunt used to drive my mother crazy. In every argument she'd want the last word. Because for some reason she thought if she got the last word, she won the argument. Eh. No. Been there, tried that.
Doesn't work. In fact sometimes it's better to let the other person have the last word and just walk away from the argument. Or not engage at all. No response. Total silent treatment. That has worked wonders.
Anyhow this is all preamble for an argument I dodged just now with my Uncle. Who kept misreading me. We both loved Jesus Christ Superstar Live -- but he had a religious experience with the production. While I tended to experience it on a more intellectual level, with the spiritual there, but the intellectual there as well. And as a result, I saw certain lawyers, some of which challenge his political belief system, that I don't think he saw at all. To me they were obvious, but well..eh.
I decided not to bother and let it go. Whether he gets it or not, isn't really any of my business and it's not my job to try and explain it on FB. Better to let him think we're in agreement and at peace.
I've also backed off of political discussions on social media, such as the endless gun debate. "Oh we're going to figure this out, we're not as far apart as you think. Everyone wants to end the violence and be safe, we just are arguing about how to do it."
ME: Yeah, right. A portion of the population doesn't want to give up their blanket right under the law to own guns, sell guns, make guns, give up their guns. While the other (saner) half doesn't understand why we can't restrict guns or do away with them, because hello? Guns.
That's the fight. It's not how to be safe. It's over how much we can and should restrict guns. Stupid people.
But I've given up on arguing it with folks. I've voted for restrictions, My state has restrictions. My representatives and Congressmen, Governor, Mayor, State Senators, and even the ex-Mayor, Bloomberg, are all campaigning hard for stricter gun regulations and restrictions. As a result of the measures already taken, NYC and Boston, weirdly enough, are safer than Detroit, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Parkland, Nashville, and various others. I've donated money. I've tried to persuade people.
I've gotten nowhere.
I give up.
What happened?
A fan in response to some snarky comment Brendan made (I couldn't catch it), says: "No wonder you and Dawn ended up together, you're both whiney."
Now keep in mind these panels aren't exactly easy for the actors. They come out sit at a long table, with coffee or water in hand. Notebooks. Pens. And microphones. On a stage sitting in front of a crowd of about 250-800 fans. Possibly less possibly more. Although the camera panned, so I'd say more. This event was packed. And it's usually in a large conference room at a convention center, not always with the best air flow. (According to reports at any rate.)
Also they've done a lot of them, and tend to answer the same questions. They don't paid a great deal.
Carrie Fisher discussed the whole con thing in The Princess Diarist also it was shown and mentioned in the documentary film on hers and Debbie Fisher's life. (I don't know how they do it. Just watching it makes me cringe. Which is why I could never get myself to go to those things -- hell, to me at any rate, is a fan convention.)
Brendan's response? He turns and looks at McNabe and then at Dusku, with a smile that sort of says, "They aren't paying me enough to put up with this shit, I going to go out and have myself a smoke."
So he does just that, he gets up and leaves. And all the other panelist's heads turn in shocked unison to watch him. They all have long hair.
The speaker states, as he is leaving, "Oh, poor baby, are you wounded, can't handle a little criticism?"
The other panelists are a bit flabbergasted. A couple are still looking out backstage, trying to figure out where he went. The speaker goes on. No clue what question they were asking. The panelists didn't really answer it.
Eliza at one point says..."Did he leave? He's probably just.."
Mercedes: No, I'm sure he just went out to get a cigarette.
Julie stands up and sort of goes to check. "No, he's not back there."
The audience twittering nervously in the background, decides to chant "Nick, Nick, Nick"
Eliza: "I have this feeling that we should go stand by our man or something.."
Someone else asks a question but it's muffled and they ignore it.
Julie: "And please remember that we have feelings too."
[Watching these things has made me appreciate Nick Brendan, Julie Benze, Eliza Dusku, and Claire Krammer a great deal. Julie Benze by the way is an excellent actress - I've seen her play four different roles, none the same, and all pulled me into the story.]
Nick finally comes back and sits down.
The fans applaud and one of them apologizes.
And I'm thinking at this point, no wonder actors are paid more than I am. Half of it is hazard pay. They have to deal with fans nitpicking at them constantly. I just have to deal with a few clients here and there. And I don't have to deal with them ripping into me on public, have it filmed and put on youtube, and various blogs.
Also felt a little sorry for the other fans, who had paid for the event, may have been huge fans of the actor and because of this one fan, lost their chance to ask him a question.
2. Out of curiosity is anyone watching Roseanne? Or rather, are you watching and just scared to admit it online? (Totally understand. I'm not, but have been tempted once or twice by the promos, which admittedly have some good one-liners. But hey, that's why they are promos. But I've got too many tv shows, too little time, hated the last two seasons of that series, and despise Roseanne for some of the same reasons I despise the Doofus. But if you are? Is it any good? Does it normalize the Doofus?)
3. The problem with social media is you can't always avoid people who will post things that will cause a spike in blood pressure.
They may have even friended you and you friended them, and whoops, appears you aren't quite as like-minded as you thought. Who knew? (Or if here, subscribed and granted access).
I'm also learning there are some things it is best not to discuss. For example? If you don't feel all that emotionally about something but the other person does, and they see it very differently than you do, then it probably is best not to go there. If you both feel strongly about it - don't go there.
You aren't going to change each other's perspective or mind. It's not possible to change someone else's mind or perception or beliefs. All you are going to do is piss them off. I know, been there done that. It only works if the person is open to it, or if there is a crack in there somewhere, in which they are questioning their perspective. But if they aren't questioning it? You won't get them to. Not on the internet and not on social media. Give up now.
After I said all that, I'll freely admit I have a tendency to do it anyway -- because I think, but maybe I can show them ...
It's stupid. It's sort of egotistical. But there it is.
My Aunt used to drive my mother crazy. In every argument she'd want the last word. Because for some reason she thought if she got the last word, she won the argument. Eh. No. Been there, tried that.
Doesn't work. In fact sometimes it's better to let the other person have the last word and just walk away from the argument. Or not engage at all. No response. Total silent treatment. That has worked wonders.
Anyhow this is all preamble for an argument I dodged just now with my Uncle. Who kept misreading me. We both loved Jesus Christ Superstar Live -- but he had a religious experience with the production. While I tended to experience it on a more intellectual level, with the spiritual there, but the intellectual there as well. And as a result, I saw certain lawyers, some of which challenge his political belief system, that I don't think he saw at all. To me they were obvious, but well..eh.
I decided not to bother and let it go. Whether he gets it or not, isn't really any of my business and it's not my job to try and explain it on FB. Better to let him think we're in agreement and at peace.
I've also backed off of political discussions on social media, such as the endless gun debate. "Oh we're going to figure this out, we're not as far apart as you think. Everyone wants to end the violence and be safe, we just are arguing about how to do it."
ME: Yeah, right. A portion of the population doesn't want to give up their blanket right under the law to own guns, sell guns, make guns, give up their guns. While the other (saner) half doesn't understand why we can't restrict guns or do away with them, because hello? Guns.
That's the fight. It's not how to be safe. It's over how much we can and should restrict guns. Stupid people.
But I've given up on arguing it with folks. I've voted for restrictions, My state has restrictions. My representatives and Congressmen, Governor, Mayor, State Senators, and even the ex-Mayor, Bloomberg, are all campaigning hard for stricter gun regulations and restrictions. As a result of the measures already taken, NYC and Boston, weirdly enough, are safer than Detroit, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Parkland, Nashville, and various others. I've donated money. I've tried to persuade people.
I've gotten nowhere.
I give up.