Three Things: DVD commentary meme / meta rec / pimping TWOP's Twin Peaks reviews
I.
It may sound weird, given the tempo at which I've been producing fic (which, for me, is fast as hell) but I seem to be hitting a bit of a dry spell right now. I am writing (ST: TOS fic! My sweet old beloved fandom! *hugs show*) but progress isn't as fast as I hoped, so I'm going to try something to kick myself back into it. I've never done this meme, and I'd love to give it a try, so please, ask away:
If you've ever watched your favorite dvds, and then found yourself eager to hear exactly what the actors, directors, writers and even production designers thought about making the episode, the movie, or whatever - you'll know sometimes the best parts of dvds are hearing the commentaries. Getting into an actor's feelings about the character they play, getting the background behind a writer's plans and metaphors, even just getting the stupid anecdotal stuff that makes you laugh, it's all good.
Ask me about any story, and I'll do a DVD commentary for it! Satisfy your curiosity!
II.
I recently, and wholly by coincidence, bumped into this great piece of meta, now several years old but not less great for it. It discusses text and subtext in fics, specifically in slash fics but not only in those, and how different fen have different expectations of what should be made textual, or kept subtextual. Basically, the author distinguishes between two kinds of fen, "Cold Pricklies" and "Warm Fuzzies", who don't always find it easy to communicate.
Quoting: "The Cold Pricklies want to get gooey feelings of love and eternal devotion from their slash as much as anyone. But their melt-worthy goo has to be delivered mostly on the canonical/subtextual level of emotionality - meat you chew yourself, not pre-chewed. The Warm Fuzzies, on the other hand, appreciate subtext and 'manly handshake' moments in slash just as much as the Cold Pricklies-- after all, they appreciate them in canon-- but their warm fuzzies have to be delivered on the textual level, alongside the sexuality. They don't like having to chew down through the surface of a story to get to the yummy bits." Don't you just love that description? As for me, I'm most definitely the "Cold Prickly" kind, which I suspect will surprise no one. :)
III.
Have I ever mentioned how much I love Television Without Pity and its reviews? Well, all right, I can't generalize - of all shows I've seen the past years, I've only ever looked up a handful on TWOP - but what reviews I read there, I loved. Not that I always agree with them, but I adore the wit, and the mix of unabashed criticism and untempered squee. So every once in a while, I find myself looking up the reviews for a favorite show from the past.
Which I did for Twin Peaks, and it brought me to revisit one particular scene: the one where Albert Rosenfield comes back bearing news of Windom Earle, and in less than two minutes screentime gets more physical with both Harry Truman and Dale Cooper than he's ever gotten in the rest of the series combined. Just to make sure, I'm talking about the scene starting from the 6:05 minute mark of this Youtube clip. The TWOP review of this scene (the rest of which can be found here) had me grinning like you can't believe. And strongly suspecting the reviewer loves Albert about as much as I do. :)
"Doing his tired rebel swagger thing out the door of the interrogation room, Bobby walks by Albert "The Only Thrill" Rosenfield, who immediately reclaims the show and the planet as his own, calling after a departing Bobby, "Get a life, punk!" Heh. Albert shares a huge hug with Truman, which would be vaguely gay if not for the vigorous, manly slapping of the other's back. Actually, it's vaguely gay anyway. After the intros, Albert announces that he was given his "invite back to Twin Peaks," and pulls a document out of his silver briefcase that should be the Nielsen figures showing Twin Peaks has now fallen behind several late-night shows on the UPN, a netlet suffering from the obvious programming detriment of not being in existence yet, but still killing in this timeslot nonetheless. But, according to Albert, that's not why he's back.
The document turns out to be a glossy eight and-a-half by eleven of Windom Earle, wearing a fedora and sporting a Hitler-esque moustache. No wonder they've been unable to track down the man's whereabouts, using as they are this outdated photo of Windom Earle snapped at the "You Can Be A Rat Pack Member" costume photo booth inside the Excalibur. Albert tells Cooper and Truman that he's back as per Gordon Cole's request, "as he so succinctly put it, 'I'M WORRIED ABOUT COOP!'" Albert is so proud of his imitation he almost bows. Giggles everywhere. Even here. That was so Miguel's idea, overruling the director's suggestion that instead of imitating Cole, Albert should speak the words backwards and in German, all the while wearing a clown suit and crabwalking around the room through a giant pool of grape Jell-O. Because she's real arty like that. Albert unfolds a map of the U.S. on the table, pointing at a black half-circle drawn in marker straight through the middle of the country. Is that supposed to be a "C" for Cooper? That man really holds a grudge, y'all. (...)
Some really unnecessarily lush strings kick up abruptly (I'm sorry, is this Brahms: Runaway Videos or am I missing something?) as Cooper has a private moment by the window. Albert walks up behind him, putting a hand on Cooper's shoulder (is there one overarching stage direction for "vaguely gay," or did they have to stipulate a specific set of actions each time?) and tells him, "He's making his move, most definitely." So are you, friend. Or so it seems. Or so it vaguely seems. Albert then changes the subject to the topic of clothes (natch), deadpanning out of nowhere, "About the uniform... Replacing the quiet elegance of the dark suit and tie with the casual indifference of these muted earth tones, it's a form of fashion suicide. But call me crazy. On you it works." He tugs at Cooper's collar. Wow. I take back everything I said earlier. Well, the "vaguely" part, anyway."
Hee! Incidentally - this was the scene that convinced me, once and for all, of my personal fanon's Albert's love for Cooper, so I can't say I contest the "vaguely gay" interpretation. *g* Taking Truman in a bear hug, and following that up by a far-too-forced handshake with Coop? Hmmm. Cooper's face when Albert pats his shoulder? Hmmmmmmm... Yes, definitely something going on there, this fangirl says. (Though I'll grant, one could just as well interpret that hug with Truman as implying something. ;) Ah, well - the beauty of fandom. *g*)
It may sound weird, given the tempo at which I've been producing fic (which, for me, is fast as hell) but I seem to be hitting a bit of a dry spell right now. I am writing (ST: TOS fic! My sweet old beloved fandom! *hugs show*) but progress isn't as fast as I hoped, so I'm going to try something to kick myself back into it. I've never done this meme, and I'd love to give it a try, so please, ask away:
If you've ever watched your favorite dvds, and then found yourself eager to hear exactly what the actors, directors, writers and even production designers thought about making the episode, the movie, or whatever - you'll know sometimes the best parts of dvds are hearing the commentaries. Getting into an actor's feelings about the character they play, getting the background behind a writer's plans and metaphors, even just getting the stupid anecdotal stuff that makes you laugh, it's all good.
Ask me about any story, and I'll do a DVD commentary for it! Satisfy your curiosity!
II.
I recently, and wholly by coincidence, bumped into this great piece of meta, now several years old but not less great for it. It discusses text and subtext in fics, specifically in slash fics but not only in those, and how different fen have different expectations of what should be made textual, or kept subtextual. Basically, the author distinguishes between two kinds of fen, "Cold Pricklies" and "Warm Fuzzies", who don't always find it easy to communicate.
Quoting: "The Cold Pricklies want to get gooey feelings of love and eternal devotion from their slash as much as anyone. But their melt-worthy goo has to be delivered mostly on the canonical/subtextual level of emotionality - meat you chew yourself, not pre-chewed. The Warm Fuzzies, on the other hand, appreciate subtext and 'manly handshake' moments in slash just as much as the Cold Pricklies-- after all, they appreciate them in canon-- but their warm fuzzies have to be delivered on the textual level, alongside the sexuality. They don't like having to chew down through the surface of a story to get to the yummy bits." Don't you just love that description? As for me, I'm most definitely the "Cold Prickly" kind, which I suspect will surprise no one. :)
III.
Have I ever mentioned how much I love Television Without Pity and its reviews? Well, all right, I can't generalize - of all shows I've seen the past years, I've only ever looked up a handful on TWOP - but what reviews I read there, I loved. Not that I always agree with them, but I adore the wit, and the mix of unabashed criticism and untempered squee. So every once in a while, I find myself looking up the reviews for a favorite show from the past.
Which I did for Twin Peaks, and it brought me to revisit one particular scene: the one where Albert Rosenfield comes back bearing news of Windom Earle, and in less than two minutes screentime gets more physical with both Harry Truman and Dale Cooper than he's ever gotten in the rest of the series combined. Just to make sure, I'm talking about the scene starting from the 6:05 minute mark of this Youtube clip. The TWOP review of this scene (the rest of which can be found here) had me grinning like you can't believe. And strongly suspecting the reviewer loves Albert about as much as I do. :)
"Doing his tired rebel swagger thing out the door of the interrogation room, Bobby walks by Albert "The Only Thrill" Rosenfield, who immediately reclaims the show and the planet as his own, calling after a departing Bobby, "Get a life, punk!" Heh. Albert shares a huge hug with Truman, which would be vaguely gay if not for the vigorous, manly slapping of the other's back. Actually, it's vaguely gay anyway. After the intros, Albert announces that he was given his "invite back to Twin Peaks," and pulls a document out of his silver briefcase that should be the Nielsen figures showing Twin Peaks has now fallen behind several late-night shows on the UPN, a netlet suffering from the obvious programming detriment of not being in existence yet, but still killing in this timeslot nonetheless. But, according to Albert, that's not why he's back.
The document turns out to be a glossy eight and-a-half by eleven of Windom Earle, wearing a fedora and sporting a Hitler-esque moustache. No wonder they've been unable to track down the man's whereabouts, using as they are this outdated photo of Windom Earle snapped at the "You Can Be A Rat Pack Member" costume photo booth inside the Excalibur. Albert tells Cooper and Truman that he's back as per Gordon Cole's request, "as he so succinctly put it, 'I'M WORRIED ABOUT COOP!'" Albert is so proud of his imitation he almost bows. Giggles everywhere. Even here. That was so Miguel's idea, overruling the director's suggestion that instead of imitating Cole, Albert should speak the words backwards and in German, all the while wearing a clown suit and crabwalking around the room through a giant pool of grape Jell-O. Because she's real arty like that. Albert unfolds a map of the U.S. on the table, pointing at a black half-circle drawn in marker straight through the middle of the country. Is that supposed to be a "C" for Cooper? That man really holds a grudge, y'all. (...)
Some really unnecessarily lush strings kick up abruptly (I'm sorry, is this Brahms: Runaway Videos or am I missing something?) as Cooper has a private moment by the window. Albert walks up behind him, putting a hand on Cooper's shoulder (is there one overarching stage direction for "vaguely gay," or did they have to stipulate a specific set of actions each time?) and tells him, "He's making his move, most definitely." So are you, friend. Or so it seems. Or so it vaguely seems. Albert then changes the subject to the topic of clothes (natch), deadpanning out of nowhere, "About the uniform... Replacing the quiet elegance of the dark suit and tie with the casual indifference of these muted earth tones, it's a form of fashion suicide. But call me crazy. On you it works." He tugs at Cooper's collar. Wow. I take back everything I said earlier. Well, the "vaguely" part, anyway."
Hee! Incidentally - this was the scene that convinced me, once and for all, of my personal fanon's Albert's love for Cooper, so I can't say I contest the "vaguely gay" interpretation. *g* Taking Truman in a bear hug, and following that up by a far-too-forced handshake with Coop? Hmmm. Cooper's face when Albert pats his shoulder? Hmmmmmmm... Yes, definitely something going on there, this fangirl says. (Though I'll grant, one could just as well interpret that hug with Truman as implying something. ;) Ah, well - the beauty of fandom. *g*)