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Aug. 3rd, 2019 11:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatWhile it was thunderbolt and lightening, very very frightening...I was rewatching Infinity War, which I just finished watching on Netflix, and now Avenger's Endgame, that I enjoyed so much I bought it (the version with the bonus material) for $19.99 (which is actually cheaper than what I spent to see it in the theaters, yeah, I know, go figure.).
The lightening storm last night -- that didn't really appear to have much rain (at least not in my area - no clue about elsewhere), was like watching natural fireworks - and it was frightening in the way that well -- it could hit things. Although for the most part it seemed to sit back in the clouds. Interesting - we've had more frequent lightening storms in New York this year than in previous years.
Regarding Avengers: Endgame? I didn't have the issues some of the people on my flist and I've met elsewhere appear to have had with it. Mainly because I didn't really ship any of the individual characters (I liked them, but I wasn't obsessed or fannish about any of them or their relationships), nor did I have a pre-existing story or idea of where I wanted them to go in my head. I was more interested in the story as a whole and the embedded metaphors within it -- also I found it relatable in a way that I can't put into words. For me, the story is brilliant for the most part and the characters (sometimes annoyingly so, in character). What I liked about it -- was they were shown with flaws firmly intact. With competing egos, insecurities, and selfish intent that often got in the way of their mission or what they were trying to do as a team. (Very realistic and human. People are annoyingly selfish, insecure, with big egos.)
I was thinking about it last night, because I'd read a critique online about how Endgame screwed up Captain America's story. (I honestly didn't see that at all -- and I've watched all the movies several times, and recently.)
But I also am rather ambivalent about Captain America. The character has never interested me that much. I've never read fanfic about him, nor would I. I have seen him in the comics, but I haven't read his comics nor have much interest. This is also true of "Thor" -- I was always deeply ambivalent about Thor and Loki. I never read their comics nor have I read any fanfic related to them. Nor do I really want to. The Thor comic that I am reading is about Jane Foster and Loki, Thor himself isn't shown. I think the only character in the main Avenger's lineup that I might have been a little fannish about is Tony Stark -- because of Robert Downey Jr. And I have read one or two Iron Man comics, but I've never been interested in the fanfic.
I've picked up on a pattern among viewers of Endgame. The one's who loved the movie like I did, weren't invested in individual characters happiness. They hadn't written or read any fanfic on the MCU, they didn't necessarily read all the comics -- maybe dabbled. While the people who did read lots of fanfic, comics, and were highly invested -- were disappointed. They did love the movies, and they had seen all of them more than once -- but they hadn't gotten overly invested in specific character arcs. They weren't say just fans of Captain America/Bucky or Hawkeye. But fans of the "MCU" movie series as a whole. (When I discussed the films with a guy on a friend's FB post, he made a point of how comic nerds preferred Batman vs. Superman because they'd read the comic -- and it fit the comic perfectly. While the people who loved the movies or movie superhero fans preferred the MCU films and hated Batman vs. Superman, because the movies veered from the comic world. (As an aside, no, they didn't veer completely, and unlike the Batman vs. Superman comic which was a one-shot comic, the MCU films were based on a very convoluted story arc in the Avengers comics that contained characters that could not be put in the films for various intellectual property rights reasons. But in regards to how viewers react to content based on what they bring to it -- it is a fair point.)
This pattern is NOT isolated to the MCU films or Endgame. I'd dismiss it if it was.
But I picked up on the same pattern emerging with the Game of Thrones Finale. Whether you liked it or not, depended a great deal on what characters you were most invested in, and how emotionally invested you were in an outcome that was in your head or you saw coming. For example, my friends in Martha's Vineyard who binged the whole series in about two or three months, enjoyed the ending. They had no issues. They didn't analyze it, they weren't invested, they hadn't waited two years for the finale season. In addition, people online who were invested in Ayra, Jon, Brandon, Sansa and Tyrion's arcs and didn't care about anything else -- loved it. Those who were invested in Jamie and Dany, hated it. But, I noticed that among coworkers and people online -- the people who watched it casually liked the finale better than the "Fans" did.
Buffy? Same pattern more or less. Those who read a lot of fanfic and watched it in real time -- not on DVDs had more issues with the finale seasons.
What I'm picking up on -- is well, we all interpret the facts and images presented to us very differently. Almost as if we aren't watching or looking at the same thing at all. Also our memory plays tricks on us. For example? I recently was watching a television series and thought the writer was Barbara Wood. I clearly had that name in my head. I deleted the show. I got into a debate with someone on social media, who insisted no, that was Barbara Bloom, and the writers of the dialogue were Scott Sickles and... That night I went home and checked on Demand, the social media person was correct. I'd been doing more than one thing during the telecast, saw the name Barbara and my memory may have put it with another name I saw that same night.
It taught me that memory plays tricks on us. It's why every time we see something, we think -- wait I don't remember seeing THAT before.
I was watching Endgame last night and picked up on Karen Gillian's character carrying Stark and laying him gently in his pilot's seat for sleep. He'd been on the floor. I didn't remember seeing that scene in the movie theater. I rewound, fascinated.
And we focus on different things -- one person watching Endgame may focus on Captain America -- and his interest in Peggy, with deep annoyance, because they were invested in the Cap/Bucky relationship. While another may be focusing on Tony Stark, and how Cap related to him, and others do. And another might just be seeing Thor's annoying antics. And a third -- might be focused on Black Widow and relating only to her, and not seeing the rest. Someone else may be distracted by the time travel bit and how that works, and it doesn't make sense to them.
Then of course there's reading and writing fanfic, not to mention the source material, comics -- and if it conflicts with the story on screen, and you preferred the fic or comics better....This happened to me with the X-men franchise. Dark Phoenix, I liked better than most people did, because at least this time -- it was closer to the original source material. Also no Wolverine. But at the same time, I remember being annoyed that Magneto and Xavier got all the attention -- because the original source material and characters were vivid in my head. I liked Days of Future Past, one of the previous movies better -- because that original source material wasn't vivid in my head. It's why it can be heard for people who LOVED a book to watch a film adaptation of the book, unless of course it plays out exactly the way it did in their heads.
How we view things says so much about how we think and process information. And our decisions and behavior in response to that information. For example? Five people witness a crime. They will all respond to it differently. And each will see something different, their perspectives most likely will conflict or contradict each other. And what they each see will be affected by where they were in proximity to the crime, what they were thinking about at the time it occurred, physical limitations in regards to perception of it, and how emotionally they were invested.
If a convenience store is being robbed -- the person who visits it every day will relate differently than someone who just dropped in for a pack of smokes. Or the clerk behind the desk who is being robbed will see something very different than a teen hiding behind a stack of magazines, trying to call 9-1-1. Or say the old lady who brushed past the robber when he came into the store, on her way out.
Point of view fascinates me in stories -- because often the characters contradict each other in amusing fashions. It's also why I love to read reviews of things I've seen and see contradictory reviews or takes on the same show, movie, or art. Because we all see it so differently. And relate to it differently. Can art be persuasive and change things? Well on an individual level, yes, I think it can, but not necessarily en mass for the reasons stated above.
In other news, my allergies are still beating me up this weekend. I don't know if going outside and walking about will help.
The lightening storm last night -- that didn't really appear to have much rain (at least not in my area - no clue about elsewhere), was like watching natural fireworks - and it was frightening in the way that well -- it could hit things. Although for the most part it seemed to sit back in the clouds. Interesting - we've had more frequent lightening storms in New York this year than in previous years.
Regarding Avengers: Endgame? I didn't have the issues some of the people on my flist and I've met elsewhere appear to have had with it. Mainly because I didn't really ship any of the individual characters (I liked them, but I wasn't obsessed or fannish about any of them or their relationships), nor did I have a pre-existing story or idea of where I wanted them to go in my head. I was more interested in the story as a whole and the embedded metaphors within it -- also I found it relatable in a way that I can't put into words. For me, the story is brilliant for the most part and the characters (sometimes annoyingly so, in character). What I liked about it -- was they were shown with flaws firmly intact. With competing egos, insecurities, and selfish intent that often got in the way of their mission or what they were trying to do as a team. (Very realistic and human. People are annoyingly selfish, insecure, with big egos.)
I was thinking about it last night, because I'd read a critique online about how Endgame screwed up Captain America's story. (I honestly didn't see that at all -- and I've watched all the movies several times, and recently.)
But I also am rather ambivalent about Captain America. The character has never interested me that much. I've never read fanfic about him, nor would I. I have seen him in the comics, but I haven't read his comics nor have much interest. This is also true of "Thor" -- I was always deeply ambivalent about Thor and Loki. I never read their comics nor have I read any fanfic related to them. Nor do I really want to. The Thor comic that I am reading is about Jane Foster and Loki, Thor himself isn't shown. I think the only character in the main Avenger's lineup that I might have been a little fannish about is Tony Stark -- because of Robert Downey Jr. And I have read one or two Iron Man comics, but I've never been interested in the fanfic.
I've picked up on a pattern among viewers of Endgame. The one's who loved the movie like I did, weren't invested in individual characters happiness. They hadn't written or read any fanfic on the MCU, they didn't necessarily read all the comics -- maybe dabbled. While the people who did read lots of fanfic, comics, and were highly invested -- were disappointed. They did love the movies, and they had seen all of them more than once -- but they hadn't gotten overly invested in specific character arcs. They weren't say just fans of Captain America/Bucky or Hawkeye. But fans of the "MCU" movie series as a whole. (When I discussed the films with a guy on a friend's FB post, he made a point of how comic nerds preferred Batman vs. Superman because they'd read the comic -- and it fit the comic perfectly. While the people who loved the movies or movie superhero fans preferred the MCU films and hated Batman vs. Superman, because the movies veered from the comic world. (As an aside, no, they didn't veer completely, and unlike the Batman vs. Superman comic which was a one-shot comic, the MCU films were based on a very convoluted story arc in the Avengers comics that contained characters that could not be put in the films for various intellectual property rights reasons. But in regards to how viewers react to content based on what they bring to it -- it is a fair point.)
This pattern is NOT isolated to the MCU films or Endgame. I'd dismiss it if it was.
But I picked up on the same pattern emerging with the Game of Thrones Finale. Whether you liked it or not, depended a great deal on what characters you were most invested in, and how emotionally invested you were in an outcome that was in your head or you saw coming. For example, my friends in Martha's Vineyard who binged the whole series in about two or three months, enjoyed the ending. They had no issues. They didn't analyze it, they weren't invested, they hadn't waited two years for the finale season. In addition, people online who were invested in Ayra, Jon, Brandon, Sansa and Tyrion's arcs and didn't care about anything else -- loved it. Those who were invested in Jamie and Dany, hated it. But, I noticed that among coworkers and people online -- the people who watched it casually liked the finale better than the "Fans" did.
Buffy? Same pattern more or less. Those who read a lot of fanfic and watched it in real time -- not on DVDs had more issues with the finale seasons.
What I'm picking up on -- is well, we all interpret the facts and images presented to us very differently. Almost as if we aren't watching or looking at the same thing at all. Also our memory plays tricks on us. For example? I recently was watching a television series and thought the writer was Barbara Wood. I clearly had that name in my head. I deleted the show. I got into a debate with someone on social media, who insisted no, that was Barbara Bloom, and the writers of the dialogue were Scott Sickles and... That night I went home and checked on Demand, the social media person was correct. I'd been doing more than one thing during the telecast, saw the name Barbara and my memory may have put it with another name I saw that same night.
It taught me that memory plays tricks on us. It's why every time we see something, we think -- wait I don't remember seeing THAT before.
I was watching Endgame last night and picked up on Karen Gillian's character carrying Stark and laying him gently in his pilot's seat for sleep. He'd been on the floor. I didn't remember seeing that scene in the movie theater. I rewound, fascinated.
And we focus on different things -- one person watching Endgame may focus on Captain America -- and his interest in Peggy, with deep annoyance, because they were invested in the Cap/Bucky relationship. While another may be focusing on Tony Stark, and how Cap related to him, and others do. And another might just be seeing Thor's annoying antics. And a third -- might be focused on Black Widow and relating only to her, and not seeing the rest. Someone else may be distracted by the time travel bit and how that works, and it doesn't make sense to them.
Then of course there's reading and writing fanfic, not to mention the source material, comics -- and if it conflicts with the story on screen, and you preferred the fic or comics better....This happened to me with the X-men franchise. Dark Phoenix, I liked better than most people did, because at least this time -- it was closer to the original source material. Also no Wolverine. But at the same time, I remember being annoyed that Magneto and Xavier got all the attention -- because the original source material and characters were vivid in my head. I liked Days of Future Past, one of the previous movies better -- because that original source material wasn't vivid in my head. It's why it can be heard for people who LOVED a book to watch a film adaptation of the book, unless of course it plays out exactly the way it did in their heads.
How we view things says so much about how we think and process information. And our decisions and behavior in response to that information. For example? Five people witness a crime. They will all respond to it differently. And each will see something different, their perspectives most likely will conflict or contradict each other. And what they each see will be affected by where they were in proximity to the crime, what they were thinking about at the time it occurred, physical limitations in regards to perception of it, and how emotionally they were invested.
If a convenience store is being robbed -- the person who visits it every day will relate differently than someone who just dropped in for a pack of smokes. Or the clerk behind the desk who is being robbed will see something very different than a teen hiding behind a stack of magazines, trying to call 9-1-1. Or say the old lady who brushed past the robber when he came into the store, on her way out.
Point of view fascinates me in stories -- because often the characters contradict each other in amusing fashions. It's also why I love to read reviews of things I've seen and see contradictory reviews or takes on the same show, movie, or art. Because we all see it so differently. And relate to it differently. Can art be persuasive and change things? Well on an individual level, yes, I think it can, but not necessarily en mass for the reasons stated above.
In other news, my allergies are still beating me up this weekend. I don't know if going outside and walking about will help.
no subject
Date: 2019-08-04 03:14 pm (UTC)