Cranky musing

[shadowkat]

It's stuffy in the office today, put on the fan. Helped a bit. And the air finally came on, but am regretting wearing my work sweater (with zip underneath). Love them, but they are problematic when one gets hot. Can't exactly take the damn things off, you know.

Restrained myself from responding to a Bangle shipper who commented on one of my old Buffy reviews, can't remember which one. Deleted the email from the email queue not the post (it's still there - I'm just pretending it isn't which is rather easy to do since I rarely if ever re-read old posts let alone comments threads), to avoid responding. Because honestly? What's the point? This is one of those arguements that I've decided is unwinnable and useless to enter into on the net or real life, unless of course you want to frustrate yourself for no apparent reason. (I've got work and apartment hunting for that, don't need help from other quarters).

The arguement basically consists of this:

My romantic relationship is better and more canonical than your romantic relationship, and obviously the hero/heroine's true love is obviously this character. And you are an idiot for not seeing it my way and loving it the way I do. Nyah, nyah, nyah. (Examples: Doctor 10/Rose vs. Doctor/River vs. Doctor/Martha vs. Doctor/Donna or Spike/Buffy vs. Angel/Buffy, vs. Riley/Buffy, vs. Xander/Buffy etc...) This debate has zip to do with story, character evolution, theme, or anything = other than well my team is better than your team mentality. I'm tempted to tell the nitwits who attempt to engage me in this blather to go to a football or baseball game, preferably an away game with a bunch of fans who are rooting for the other team.

Folks - I liked Bangel back in 1997-2000. I grew up. Changed. Got older. Wisened up. And got over it. I'm not going to just devolve and like them again. I moved on with the story as I tend to do. If the story convinced me that they were still a couple or were meant for each other? Than sure, I'd be into them. But it hasn't. If anything it's (and by it's - I mean the Angel and Buffy tv series and the stupid comics) done the exact opposite, convinced me with absolute and unwavering certaintity that both of these characters (Angel and Buffy) would be better off with just about anyone else. And well shouldn't even be allowed in the same room together. There's absolutely nothing at all in either the series or the comics that can change my mind on that. Ever. If there was - I would have changed it. Ain't gonna happen. I'm more likely to change my mind about Sara Palin or George W. Bush...which also is highly unlikely to happen...

Comments

[elisi]

also Spike/Angel
Ooooh yes. And (for me) Jack/Ianto and Doctor/Master. Like you say, it's about the banter. (My litmus test - as it were - is whether you could put them in a bare room, all by themselves, and just watch them bounce off each other. (Not literally, although that is also an option.) If they can snark, argue and be funny all on their very own, I'm generally there.)

I think part of the reason people fight over it - is for some reason they think another fan's opinion will have influence over what the writers or story-teller will actually do.
That's... huh. I read RTD's The Writer's Tale recently, and it starts at the time when S3 of DW is just about to air. RTD is at that point beginning to plan S4. So all the rage and complaints that fans can throw at him literally make no difference because he's a year ahead. They dislike Martha's story? Tough, he's already busy writing Donna. I guess it makes more sense on a show where the characters don't change from season to season, but still, the writers will always be way, way ahead.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

guess it makes more sense on a show where the characters don't change from season to season, but still, the writers will always be way, way ahead

I think a lot of fans assume that they either aren't well ahead or they can change the outcome? Hence all the email campaigns (which annoy me to no end.)

Another thing that occurred to me...many fans will see something in a character or story that deeply offends them.
Example - Sherlock Holmes fandom had a kerfuffle a while back, because many fans were offended by how certain things were being depicted and did not understand why other fans weren't equally offended. Same thing happened in Buffy - Seeing Red and Lies My Parents Told Me - in which the fans who were offended and hated Spike or the story as a result, were furious with other fans who did not perceive it the same way they did. It was impossible for them to wrap their minds around the concept that what they perceived may not be what their friends did.
So they ended up not only judging the story, but also their friends or other fans who did enjoy the story and continued to enjoy or like the character - often harshly and unjustly. Not realizing by doing so - that they came off as self-righteous jerks/bullies for imposing their view on to everyone else. It's a danger - I think, we all run into when we do meta or critical analysis - of super-imposing our views onto others? I've certainly been struggling with it - and where exactly is that line I don't want to cross.

[elisi]

All fans should be forced to read Your Friends Are Not Watching the Same Show You Are (And That's Okay) before they join any fandom. It would stop SO much nonsense.