sometimes i just want to say to people "chill, dude", but i never do
Sometimes . . . sometimes I mourn the show SGA (and SG-1) could have been. The premise is sound, the characters are engaging, and if carefully written it could have been . . . I don't know . . . perfect?
But that's almost always true, isn't it? There's so often such great potential--whether in a TV show or a movie or a book--and it is so rarely fulfilled. It takes a lot of work, skill, caring about all the little details, and a good pinch of something extra to move anything from "good" or "entertaining" to "extraordinary"--and when you're working on a deadline, it's really hard to manage all four. And even then, there's always, always room for improvement. Nothing is ever perfect, no matter how we wish it were.
I sometimes mourn the SGA that never was and probably never will be, and I sometimes wish that the writing team had a person in charge of continuity of characters and all those fiddly little details, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy the show for what it is: something a little silly, a lot fun, that sometimes reaches surprising heights and often tries too hard (or not hard enough) and falls down. It's entertainment. And as long as I don't expect it to be anything more than that, I am usually pleasantly surprised instead of disappointed.
This is brought to you by one too many negative reactions to "The Last Man".
But that's almost always true, isn't it? There's so often such great potential--whether in a TV show or a movie or a book--and it is so rarely fulfilled. It takes a lot of work, skill, caring about all the little details, and a good pinch of something extra to move anything from "good" or "entertaining" to "extraordinary"--and when you're working on a deadline, it's really hard to manage all four. And even then, there's always, always room for improvement. Nothing is ever perfect, no matter how we wish it were.
I sometimes mourn the SGA that never was and probably never will be, and I sometimes wish that the writing team had a person in charge of continuity of characters and all those fiddly little details, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy the show for what it is: something a little silly, a lot fun, that sometimes reaches surprising heights and often tries too hard (or not hard enough) and falls down. It's entertainment. And as long as I don't expect it to be anything more than that, I am usually pleasantly surprised instead of disappointed.
This is brought to you by one too many negative reactions to "The Last Man".
It's a pretty simple equation: really good canon gives me something to aspire to. Flawed canon makes me want to write -- either in that universe, or in one of my own. It's a very fundamental urge to do my own version of a story that's getting slightly mucked up on the screen -- maybe in that universe, maybe another, but in any case, it sets my inner writer going. Truly brilliant canon just makes me sit back and sadly languish because I'll never write that well and I'm afraid of accidentally stealing ideas from it and then doing something lame with them. If they were lame to start with (but promising) then I want to pick them up and polish them and make them good.
Exactly. It's the shows that don't live up to their potential that make me think and interact. If they're good, I get lost in the story for a little while, and maybe marvel at them, but I don't take them with me. It's the flawed ones that get under my skin and stick with me and wake me up in the middle of the night.
Speaking as a viewer, I might wish that SGA were done better, but as a writer, I have to admit it's a gold mine. After all, if the show were written the way I think it ought to be written, there wouldn't be any reason for me to write.
It's a TV show!
I don't think it's perfect by any means, but I accept it for what it is - the creative output of someone not me. I may disagree with some decisions, notice a plot hole, wonder why that went a certain direction, but I don't obsess over it. If they go a direction I can't stomach one day, I have a remote control. /rant
*sighs*
I feel better now. :)
I think that's a sane and lovely way to think of it. *adopts*
I've yet to see any show that's "perfect." There's always flaws, always nits to pick, and there always will be, even on shows that "seem" perfect.
That's why I never go into any show with any sort of expectations. I go in wanting to be entertained, not wowed or blown away. There have been episodes that have left me frustrated, then comes along episodes that totally make up for it. I used to think I was unhealthily obsessed with shows. Then I enter into fandom, and realize that my "obsession" is perfectly sane compared with other people's level of obsession.
What baffles me is that there are people who end up hating the show... and yet continue to watch it! And complain - to people who still love the show - how much said show sucks, seeking out sympathy they just aren't going to find.
Yeah, I don't get that either. It seems sometimes like they're watching the show in order to complain about it, which smacks of extreme sour grapes. Or something.
When I get really frustrated with fandom, I have to remind myself that for every whiner, there's probably a whole bunch of people who are happy to simply take the show on its own terms. We just don't hear from them.