REGINAROADIE'S BLOG

reginaroadie

The Narrow Mindedness of Fans (not us per se)
Thursday, December 29, 2005

Hey all

I'm killing time before my brother and me head to Moose Jaw for a family thing, and I was thinking about something.

I've read a lot of posts about Joss Whedon being The Master and that BUFFY/ANGEL/FIREFLY are the greatest shows ever produced and how anything out there that DOESN'T have Whedon's or any of his associates names attached to it is just garbage and not worth mentioning and that tv was only good when Joss had a show on.

It's this narrow mindedness that I find on the Internet that is the only thing that I don't like about these fan sites. Now, the community here is very warm and friendly and open minded and all that. But on occassion, I do see a "Whedon rules, everyone else sucks" post here that discourages me. And it discourages me, because there is so much good out there that people just walk past because of one prejudice or another.

In my 20 years on this planet, I have probably seen far more movies and tv than anyone I know. Some people consider me a walking encyclopedia of film and tv. And I know that there is far more out there for me to savor and discover. I know that on a film geek level, I am nowhere near say Quentin Tarantino or Martin Scorsese. But the joy in being a film geek is that I'm always discovering something new. Something richer and grander out there to make up for the mediocrity that's out there.

And I practice what I preach. Sometimes I go to something that I normally would not have an interest in and watch it so that I can discover its appeal or get a better understanding as to why people think this stuff is great. Two examples. Last night, I went to see PRIDE AND PREJUDICE at the Rainbow. Normally these Victorian era/Jane Austen/European costume films bore me to tears (AMADEUS was the only one I can stand because it's probably the best film ever made about the artisitc struggle), but I heard good stuff about it and how it's a sleeper hit, and so I watched it.

And it still bored me to tears.

But I gave it a shot. The same could be said for Ingmar Bergman. Outside of THE SEVENTH SEAL, I fucking hate the guy. And he's supposed to be one of the best filmmaker's EVER. But when I saw that SARABAND, the first film he's made in like 20 years, was being shown at the RPL, I went to it to see if maybe if he did something recent, I'd like it more. And while it didn't completely alienate me, it still wasn't my thing. Maybe if I'm older I would have dug it more.

Getting back on topic, Joss Whedon is a great writer with a fantastic imagination, no doubt about it. But I would rather watch an ep of SIX FEET UNDER to see a better depiction of the impact of death than "The Body" for the xth time. I'd rather listen to the dialogue that Kevin Smith has between his characters than with Joss's characters. On a visual scale, there are numerous filmmakers who have a better eye for composing images than Whedon. And for touching moments between human beings, indie cinema is the way to go, I feel. This is not meant to be inflammatory. I'm just saying that there's an infinite verse of amazing films and tv shows out there, and that it's worth discovering, even if Whedon's name isn't attached to it.

The way I see it, the movies and the tv shows that come out every year is like a pile of gravel. The majority of it is just pebbles and dirt. Sometimes you think you've found gold, but it's actually iron pyrite. But if you look close enough and realy get your hands and arms dirty, you can find the hidden gems in that gravel pile.

COMMENTS

Monday, September 4, 2006 9:58 AM

STINKINGROSE


Watched one episode of Buffy, thought it was OK, but I came in on the middle/end of a long ongoing plotline.
I try to avoid the "it" shows and movies because the hype is usually just that.
It's the unexpected discoveries like Serenity I love.
If everyone can mind their manners it will be a kinder, happier fanverse.

Thursday, December 29, 2005 9:27 AM

IMALEAF


I won't lie I never watched Buffy of Angel; never really interested in them, but I love Firefly. I also love Twin Peaks, Dead Like Me, Lost, Alias, Six Feet Under, and ER. I do think Joss has a mind that works in ways I will never understand to create somethings that I love. But I am not close minded to other writers, directors, or actors out there. And while I too throw in an ep of Six Feet Under so as not to watch Firefly all the time I find it comforting that I can also go back to the witty banter and verse of those people. Some of us are happy stuck in our ways, even if it is watching two ep of Firefly for every ep of Dead Like Me

Thursday, December 29, 2005 9:07 AM

CBY


No offence, but don't you think you sound a bit narrow minded yourself here in the other direction? ;-) Nevertheless, you can't change minds anyway. Just let the people do their mistakes.

Thursday, December 29, 2005 8:13 AM

SIMONWHO


Has anyone actually said "Only stuff by Whedon is any good"? Can you point to a post saying that?

And Joss isn't The Master. He's Xander, obviously.


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