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

[bodhibird.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I'm not the only person who sees the fandom = religion equation. A lot of people do quite seriously find in television, films, or popular literature the level of meaning which used to be generally found in religion and its symbols and texts. I have been in fandom, so I can say this with confidence. In fact, in the days when I watched episodes religiously, as they say, and wrote fanfic, I used to complain from time to time, "I don't need a religion, folks--I already have one." Involvement in fandom should be a form of fun that enhances life, not a substitute for God.

That said, the more I hear about this movie, the less certain I am I want to see it....

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

"Involvement in fandom should be a form of fun that enhances life, not a substitute for God."

Yes indeed. These are TV shows and mainstream movies. They're light entertainment, for pity's sake.

"the more I hear about this movie, the less certain I am I want to see it...."

I'm getting to feel the same way.