A Rant That Will Probably Make Me Unpopular

[poliphilo]

I see there is much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth in fandom.

The movie Serenity (which I haven't seen) has divided the followers of the Firefly cult (I haven't see Firefly either.)

Oh come on guys, it's a story. It's fiction. It didn't really happen. That guy that got killed (and you're all getting so worked up about) didn't really get killed because he was never really alive. That was an actor. He got paid at the end of the day and is sitting comfortably beside his pool in the Hollywood hills waiting for his agent to ring.

It's the religion thing, isn't it? We stop believing in God, but it leaves such a huge, gaping, black hole and it hurts so much that we panic and rage and go round looking for things- any old things- to stuff into the emptiness. And so we start believing in Joss Whedon or that guy who made the LOTR films (whose name temporarily escapes me) or (heaven help us) George Lucas.

And just as true believers make themselves blind to the inconsistencies, impossibilities and stylistic infelicities in the New Testament, so fans convince themselves that their favourite TV shows and films aren't in fact a load of crap.

Look, I liked Buffy. I was sort of in love with Willow. But series #7 was garbage, you know it was.

And Lord of The Rings. I love Tolkien (not uncritically) but the movies kinda highlighted all his faults and failed to translate his real merits into filmic terms. Wake up, guys, those films are dull. As dull as the Pentateuch. And I for one never want to see another CGI battle ever again.

As for Lucas- everyone agrees that the prequels are horrible- so why do you keep going to see them again and again? Are you mad?

Wake up, think for yourselves, think critically. Stop being such sheep!

Comments

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

Thank you! NOt because I've even seen (or even heard of) Firefly or Serenity, they are just names suddenly appearing in various journals, but I'm always bemused by people who start to see hidden meanings in movies or books or whatever, the same as with the Kennedy and Martin Luther King conspiracy theories, Elvis and John Lennon not being really dead, whatever.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

People get tunnel vision. They get so they can only consume stuff that falls into a certain genre. They take their favourites way too seriously. OK, you found Serenity disappointing, fair enough- so go and watch one of the other hundred thousand movies that are out there. Plump for something in another genre, or outside genre altogether. Why not surprise yourself?

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

Have you noticed? Most people don't seem to like surprises.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, we all like to keep within a comfort zone. I'm no better than anyone else. But I think it's our duty (to ourselves and to Life) to try and push out our boundaries every once in a while.